Behind The Cameras

Chapter 84

Peyton POV:

It's the morning of the championship game and I can tell Paige is extremely nervous because she's not talking and is pacing back and forth her hotel room.

I let her pace for a few more minutes to give her some space to calm down but after a couple more minutes she hasn't stopped so I stand up and walk towards her and wrap her in a hug. She immediately hugs me back and puts her head in the crook of my neck.

"Relax. It's gonna be okay" I tell her softly while rubbing her back

"What if I let everyone down?" She admits

"You won't let anyone down. This isn't a one person game. It's a team game. And if the press doesn't notice that then it's on them. But you will play great just like you always do, so stop overthinking"

"Everyone's counting on me though" she says

"Why do you think that?"

"Because every headline is 'Paige Bueckers leads UConn to the National Championship' 'Will Paige Bueckers be able to lead her team to victory tonight' 'Does Paige Bueckers have what it takes to lead her team to victory' and if we lose tonight then all the headlines will say I wasn't good enough" she says picking her head up and looking at me

"First of all I'm gonna take your phone if you won't stop looking at all the headlines" I joke to hopefully cheer her up a little and it works because she lets out a small laugh "And second I think you're forgetting about your fans. Not the people that write articles about you for their job. But the people who have been here and supported you all season. The ones that scream your name after every shot you make, the ones who wait in a line just for a photo with you, the ones who understand your just a human being just like them. And yea if you guys lose tonight they might be a little upset but they will get over it knowing that you guys gave it your all, that's all they could ask from you guys."

"I don't wanna let them down though"

"I know. And knowing you, you will give it your all until the time on that clock runs out. So stop worrying and just go out there and play the game you fell in love with as a child. I'll love you no matter the outcome, so will your family, so will your team, and so will your fans. Just have fun" I say sincerely

"I don't know what I did to deserve you, I love you so much" she says pulling me in for another hug

"I love you too" I say softly kissing the side of her head as we just hold each other for a little bit.

A couple minutes later of us still hugging each other Nika walks in the door with breakfast in her hands.

"I'm definitely interrupting something aren't I?" Nika says which makes Paige and I both laugh

—

UConn is playing Stanford in the Championship game and it's a sold out game. Paige was actually able to get me, Christyn's girlfriend and her family court side seats which I was happy about because I think it makes Paige not overthink as much because every time the game stops to inbound the ball or a free throw or something, she looks over at me and I give her a reassuring nod and smile that she's doing great.

I can tell that she's really determined to win this game and that even though they are losing by 3 in the 4th quarter with 5 minutes left, she's not leaving without that trophy. So Stanford isn't about to know what him them.

Paige is going after every lose ball, sprinting on both sides of the court, blocking shots, she's basically doing everything.

Right now UConn has the ball right in front of where we are sitting. Paige passes the ball to Liv, but it hits off her fingers and starts coming to where I'm sitting. But then I see Paige in the corner of my eye start sprinting over to save the ball from going out of bounds.

I stand up, knowing if I don't she's gonna run me over. But Paige grabs the ball with her hand and throws it to Evina before she loses balance and falls out of bounds. Luckily I'm there to catch her before she falls and we watch as Evina catches the ball and shoots, nailing a 3 pointer, tying the game, which makes the crowd go crazy.

Paige turns to me with a smile and gives me a wink before she turns back around and runs back to play defense.

"She's cocky that one" Christyn's girlfriend says from next to me

"Tell me about it" I say as I sit back down with a smile on my face.

The rest of the game has been UConn and Stanford exchanging baskets one after another. So with 30 seconds left it's tied 71-71. Stanford has the ball right now and they shoot a 3 but it bounces off the rim. Everyone is trying to get the lose ball but no one can get control of it, until Paige jumps on top of it at the same time a Stanford player does and gets hit it the nose, making her get a bloody nose. But she doesn't let go of the ball until the whistle and the refs call a jump ball with UConn's possession.

The refs also call an injury timeout for Paige to get checked out. When she's walking to the bench holding her nose I can hear her tell Geno "I'm staying in this game" which just makes me laugh because she quite literally isn't going out without a fight.

After a couple minutes Janelle wipes the blood from her face and sticks a piece of gauze up her nose to contain the bleeding for the last seconds of the game. While she was dealing with her nose Geno was drawing up a play for them.

Shortly after the timeout is over and the teams walk back out onto the floor and get into position. Paige is inbounding the ball so the ref hands her the ball and then blows his whistle signaling her to begin.

She is able to pass the ball to Christyn who instantly gets double teamed so she passes it back to Paige once she's inbounds. Then Paige gets double teamed so she passes it to Aaliyah with 20 seconds left. Aaliyah passes it back to Paige who tries to cut to the basket but get cornered so she quickly passes it to Evina, now with 10 seconds left.

Paige runs up to half court to get open and Evina passes it to her but she immediately gets double teamed with no where to go with 5 seconds left on the clock. So she does the only thing she can. She shoots. From half court. And the arena goes silent as they watch the ball.