𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐥 ◜ 𝚙𝚋. ◞

CHAPTER TWO.

GUESS WHO'S BACK.

PAIGE STARED WITH A SCOWL AT HER PHONE AS HER EYES SCANNED A RECENT ESPN ARTICLE. Paige was convinced that the writers of those types of articles were just people that were itching to talk shit about anything or anyone that was more successful than them. 'Did Paige Bueckers of UConn's Women's Basketball Team Fall Off?' The title read. Nothing could have pissed her off more.

But she knew not to fret about it, because she'd be coming back to show all those ESPN writers who she was. It was a couple weeks into the season and Paige never felt better about her knee and her ability to play. Her doctors said she was good to get back to practice since Paige claimed she wasn't feeling any pain at her last few appointments. On top of that, her private lessons with Quitéra were really starting to pay off. And now, with everything going on, the girls were only a few weeks away from their first game of the season against Dayton.

Now that Paige's confidence was back, she was prepared to work in order to play at least once this season. Another day, another grueling practice. Except Paige had on her practice clothes rather than the sweatpants and hoodie she usually wore to watch her teammates. She walked over to Geno as soon as she stepped foot into the gym for practice.

"I want to play today." She said to him.

"Paige—"

"My doctors cleared me, I feel confident that I can play, so that's what I want to do." She quickly intervened before he could turn her down. "I've been out for too long, Geno. It's time."

Geno got quiet and thought about the words he would say next. But seeing that Paige would be stubborn he let out another one of those sighs and gave Paige a nod of approval.

The blonde was smiling ear to ear upon hearing that. She set her bag down on the bench and stretched her arms, not being able to contain her excitement to practice with her team again after so long. One by one, everyone started piling into the gym for practice.

"Guess what?" Paige bit her lip to hold back a huge grin as Nika walked over to her. "Coach is letting me practice today."

The Croatian girl squealed with excitement and hugged Paige, some of their teammates walking over and Nika spreading the news, everyone celebrating. Paige smiled to herself as she watched everyone grow excited about having one of their leaders back on the court even if it was just for practice before her eyes caught Quitéra walking in the gym. Paige walked over to the girl as she sat down, noticing how she seemed sad.

"Hey, Quitéra." Paige noticed how her words knocked the girl out of her trance.

"Paige." She smiled at her.

"Geno's letting me practice today." The blonde announced.

"Oh!" Quitéra smiled bright and pat Paige's arm. "Type shit, Bueckers. It's because you work so hard."

"Nah," Paige shook her head and stepped close. "It's because you've been helping me out. And I really appreciate it."

Quitéra's lips parted as she looked at Paige, her heart rate picking up at the words. The freshman looked up to Paige for a long time, ever since the girl got a name for herself in the basketball world. So getting praise like that was going to do it every time for her even though Quitéra acted tough.

"I didn't do anything..." She smiled bashfully and looked down at her feet.

"Well, you not doing anything was everything to me." Paige spoke seriously yet softly. "So, thank you."

Quitéra nodded in response, looking Paige in the eyes. Paige nudged her arm with her fist before turning away to join the rest of the team to mess around before the start of practice.

Quitéra licked her lips as she stared at the older girl, stopping herself after a moment and turning to look at her shoes. Paige Bueckers was straight out of a dream with her kind words and charismatic persona. She admired everything about the upperclassman.

Her daze was cut short when her phone buzzed in the pocket of her shorts. She pulled her phone out and read the message from her mom. Her eyes scanned the message, her body growing tense. She swallowed harshly as she shut her phone off, tossing it face-down onto her bag. She shook the words she just read off her mind and walked onto the court to join her teammates, acting cool and confident like usual.

( VAL'S NOTE )