all in one - jordan poole
"HI UH, RESERVATION FOR THE DUBS I THINK?"
The hostess smiled brightly and led her over to the secluded area somewhere in the restaurant. The restaurant was dim and dark, lots of blood red kind of gave off a spooky vibe. It was beautiful though.
Calm chuckles began getting louder as the hostess turned another corner and she was welcome to an assortment of people.
Teammates, wags, coaches.
"Shh, shes- welcome to Golden State! " They all cheered in unison, clapping.
A bright smile formed on her face as she jumped shockingly. "Goodness, " She gasped. "Thank you so much."
Zaharia took a seat between Audi, Juan's girlfriend, and Jordan. "Thank you."
Zia knew it wasnt Gary's birthday, it was simply a trope trying to steer her away from a surprise dinner.
Jordan gave her a side hug, rubbing her upper arm a bit. And good lord, he looked nice. "You smell good." Zia spoke in his ear as he raised a brow. "Thank you, your fivehead- "
"No."
"This has been a private tradition for god knows how long, " Coach Kerr began, taking a sip of his drink.
While Zia and Audi began making conversation on her feelings about being on the team, Jordan just sat there and admired the girl.
For one, it was a blessing being able to play on the same court as her, but the outstanding friendship they had created in less that 3 days never failed to amaze Jordan.
How they already had inside jokes and nicknames, or how Jordan had already found something to tease her about.
Friendships were usually difficult for Jordan, as he was very quiet and sometimes awkward, but there was something about Zaharia that simply attracted friends, and well, Jordan was one of them.
They could talk about almost anything and not get bored or silently watch a movie and simply fall asleep in eachothers presence.
He couldn’t help but ignore the fact that she was absolutely gorgeous too. It was like she was a model, a future all-star, and a normal person all in one.
That was the first thing that they saw her as, a model.
Juan, Gary, even Klay admitted it.
Take a basketball prodigy and the prettiest girl on earth, and it was Zia.
Or that’s what Jordan thought.
°°°
" Alright yall, get home and rested. Gotta be at the airport at 9:15 tomorrow." Coach spoke as he got up from his chair and placed his wallet back into his pocket.
Surprisingly, the dinner had been on him, which once again sparked joy in the girl.
Zia had walked out of the restaurant shoulder to shoulder with Jordan, who walked her out to her car. "You looked nice today Z. " He cleared his throat as he coughed out.
Once again, that unknown feeling in Zia’s stomach came back and she felt like she was 13 watching a one direction video again. "T-thank you. um, " she gulped, avoiding eye contact. "See you on the plane?"
" You know it, bye Z."
He engulfed her in another hug, walking his lengthy self back over to his car.
and left Zia, once again, longing for his touch.
" Zion! Please make sure you let the dogs out before you leave." Zia shouted lastly as she left the door.
In hand, she had her go-bag, her snack bag, and her phone as she rushed down the stairs of her apartment complex.
She was running late, probably because she had spent all night on the phone with Karla, who was obsessing over Jordan and Zia’s relationship.
Somehow, God had answered Zia’s prayers as the traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as yesterday.
The morning city air was cool and relaxing as it blew throughout her hair. Her messy ponytail flying everywhere due to the open sunroof.
Getting on the freeway, she opened Jordan’s text thread where the address for the private airport was. He had sent it at the buttcrack of dawn, surprising because he didn’t go to sleep until late either.
Dark Red by Steve Lacy began to play as Zia Rahomes bopped her head to the music. "Don't you give me up-" She sang along as she swiftly merged lanes.
Zia felt bad that her oversleeping was going to cost the team something, she didn't know what it was yet.
Originally, they were planning on taking off to Philly around 7:30, but it was now 7:15 and Zia want anywhere near the runway.
Something about being late formed this pit in her stomach that she wanted to rip out. It was like, embarrassing, stressful, and simply awkward all in one.
That's one of the reasons why Karla was always 5000 hours early to everything, but her best friend's ways didn’t seem to pass down to her.
Zia was a very oblivious person when it came to time. Oftentimes unaware that it was now 4 am and she had to be somewhere in the morning, causing her to have a horrendous sleep schedule and look constantly dead.
Lucky for her, when needed, Zia got these bursts of adrenaline that always helped her on the court, or when anything she needed to do was important.
Not the best but Zia often ran on energy drinks too. Despite her knowing that the small cans were literal science experiments, she couldn’t help but drink them until her fingertips started tingling and she wanted to jump off the walls.
That was another thing Zia’s trainer would yell at her for, but she didn’t care. Zia knew that she was healthy enough and kept in shape that she could almost do whatever and it wouldn’t be a threat to her body or career.
And being nice to her body was important to Zia.
When she was younger, and even when her parents passed. She would go long periods of time without eating, or intentionally scratch her forearms.
When Zia was stressed, she had awful ways to cope with it, and starving was one of them.
It took her a while for her to start eating again and eating good amounts too. Now she was an eating machine, and never failed to work it off in the gym or on the court.
Zia quickly parked her car and ran out to the plane. Her watch reading 7:41. Well shit, Zia thought to herself as she panted up the stairs.
"Oh look who decided to show." Steph teased.
Zia raised an eyebrow, taking a seat beside Jordan on the couch. "Hey i literally woke up at 7 to my dog sitting on me. Thank Zato for waking me. " Zia stated matter-of-factly as if it was a flex.
Juan laughed, getting fully invested in his Uno came with Gary. The stares clearly stated the professionalism in the game and Zia wanted nothing with that, so she sat back as the plane took off and began eating her chips.
"Holy shit Z, you plan on sharing?" Jordan exclaimed as he peaked into the girl’s snack bag. "Ill pass, " She joked, nodding her head.
Jordan ("pooled" did you like my joke, no? okay ) pulled out a small package of skittles and ripped it open with his teeth, causing Zia to raise her brow. "Okay animal i see you. "
Jordan snickered as he placed the small piece of plastic in the trash, picking all of the green candies out first.
" Someone has favorites," Zia observed as he munched on the green, then red, purple, yellow, and lastly orange.
Jordan was surprised how much Zia actually payed attention to him. Girls like her usually never had the time of day for Jordan.
"I do have my favorites indeed. What's yours?"
"Red, " Zia grinned, and with that, Jordan used his fingertips to dig into the rest of the bag, pulling out a singular red skittle.
"Good luck skittle. "