𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐄

|𝟒| 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

"Then I'm practically already on his dick." Sky finishes, smiling like she has not a single care in the world.

I wish I could smile like that more often.

Allie opens her mouth to say something but is interrupted by the simultaneous ping coming from both her and Sky's phones.

They both check their phones. "Practice." They chorus.

I furrow my eyebrows, looking at Sky. "I know Allie has to go because she plays ball but you don't... where are you going?"

"I didn't tell you?" She makes a face at her forgetfulness. "I'm going out for basketball until volleyball season starts back up."

"So everybody's playing basketball but me?" I shake my head, suddenly feeling this surge of disappointment toward myself flood through me. All because of one stupid boy.

"I'm sorry, Paisley." Allie frowns, giving my hand a squeeze. "I know how much you loved playing."

I shrug. "What's done is done."

"Sadly."

They grab their things and stand up off of the bench.

"Bye, Paise!"

"Later, Lee!"

I wave goodbye at them, standing up myself and gathering my trash to throw away.

It's strangely off-putting to be in this position. I'd always been told that I was an amazing player. I had amazing sportsmanship and was fast, pretty tall, every compliment any basketball player wants to get, I've gotten. But now, I'm outside of Monty's, wondering what warm-ups they're going to do today instead of dreading the warm-ups like I did just a few weeks ago before I got kicked off of the team.

I hate it. I hate this feeling of genuine boredom and the craving to grab a ball and throw it through a hoop. I mean, Kamden's got a basketball hoop at his house, but for some reason, since I got kicked off of the team, I don't even want to look at a ball.

Or any ball for that matter. Hell, I don't even think I want to see balls. Actual balls. Just the word balls makes me feel upset with myself.

But I guess there's nothing I can change. Like I said to Allie, what's done is done, and I can't go back. Not unless I happen to somehow create a time machine overnight.

Maybe if I analyze every time travel movie and...

No, I can't go back into a time travel phase.

Unless...

|𝔖|

I open the front door, shrugging off my bag before anything else. If you weren't aware, a woman's bag/purse is a scary place. And if you're a woman any similar to me and almost never clean out your bag and have such bad anxiety that you carry around a literal first-aid kit, then not only do I feel bad for you, but I also feel bad for the pack of gum at the bottom of your bag that's been there since you were in 8th grade.

"Hey." I hear from behind me as I kick off my shoes.

I turn around to see Kamden standing there with a bowl of cereal in his hands.

"Why are you eating cereal in the middle of the day?" I narrow my eyes at him. Everything Kamden does is questionable but really? I solely believe that cereal is a breakfast meal, if you can even call it that, that is.

The only time eating cereal after ten AM is acceptable is when I'm the one doing it.

He ignores me. "Weren't you just at Monty's?"