Paige shoots from the middle of the court and I watch as the ball goes straight through the hoop with a swish. She glances over at me with a smug expression.
"Wanna watch me make it without looking?" She asks me.
I feel like she's trying to impress me or something by the way she's been acting. Why doesn't she ask Liv or Jalen if they want to watch her?
"Wanna bet I can make it first try?" She asks me.
"Or second," she says, "Yeah, first or second."
"Go ahead," I tell her.
She holds eye contact with me as she dribbles before shooting without looking at the hoop. It bounces off the backboard, just missing the hoop.
"That was just my warmup," Paige tells me.
"Oh, okay," I say, a smile coming to my face.
Jalen rebounds it and passes it back her.
"I'm gonna make it for real this time," she tells me.
I look over at Liv who has been on her phone almost the whole time we've been here. Jalen isn't trying too hard to involve her or even talk to her and Paige is too busy showing me all her tricks.
Paige keeps her eyes locked on me as she dribbles and shoots. The ball flies through the air before going straight through the hoop.
I clap for her and Jalen compliments her in some basketball lingo I don't understand.
Paige looks super proud of herself but is trying to act like it's no big deal.
"I don't need eyes," she says as she plays with the ball.
"She's so humble," Liv comments.
"Well you'd be proud of yourself too if you could do that," I defend Paige.
Liv looks up from her phone to give me the stank eye.
"We should play two on two," Paige suggests.
"I don't play sports," Liv says.
"Neither do I," I tell her, standing up and urging her off the bleachers.
"You didn't think we invited you here just to sit and look pretty, did you?" Paige asks us.
"Yeah, I did actually," Liv says, sending Jalen a smile.
"We'll go easy on you," Jalen says.
He ditches his ball and him and Paige discuss the technicalities of how we're going to play.
"This is making me not wanna play anymore," Liv whines.
I kind of agree with her. Like they do realize this isn't a real game, right? I was a cheerleader in high school and Liv gets winded taking her dog on a walk.
"So me and Ella against you and Liv?" Paige says, passing the ball to Jalen.
"Sure," he says and goes to give Liv a fist bump.
Liv looks at him like seriously?
I feel embarrassed for having such a mean best friend.
She begrudgingly gives him a fist bump and we start to play.
This definitely isn't how you're supposed to play basketball, but Paige and Jalen have finished doing all of their actual practicing they wanted to do today.
"Shoot it!" Paige tells me.
I do as she says, shooting the ball at the hoop but Jalen stops it, grabbing it midair.
"Seriously?" Paige says, unimpressed by Jalen's block, "I thought you said we were going easy on them."
"Not that easy," Jalen says, dribbling the ball down the court.
He does a layup and Liv cheers for him. Eye roll.
"That wasn't easy," Paige argues, "You deliberately jumped in the air and blocked her shot!"
Okay, she doesn't need to get that fired up.
"My bad," Jalen says, passing the ball to Liv.
Liv dribbles the ball about twice before Paige comes up and steals it from her.
Liv scoffs, "Rude."
Paige passes me the ball and tells me to try again.
She goes over to Jalen and guards him, keeping him from away from me.
I shoot the ball from the free throw line and it actually goes in.
"Yeah, let's go!" Paige cheers me on.
She's been so nice and encouraging.
Jalen rebounds the ball, running and doing a slam dunk.
"Now look who's showing off," I tell Liv.
"I think I just creamed," Liv whispers to me.
Paige rebound it and runs the ball to our side of the court, shooting a three pointer.
"Threes like Clark," Jalen says with a devious grin.
Paige throws him a dirty look and corrects him, "Threes like Buckets."
"Who's Clark?" I ask and everyone's heads snap towards me.
"You don't know who Caitlin Clark is?" Liv asks me in disbelief.
"I don't watch sports," I shrug.
Paige has a smug look on her face as she tells me, "You don't need to know. You know who I am and that's all that matters."
Jalen laughs as he shakes his head.
"She's like the best women's basketball player," Liv says then glances at Paige, "No offense."
Paige's jaw drops.
"Well Clark never got injured," Jalen says, "If Paige weren't out last season she would still be the most talked about women's players."
"Yeah," Paige agrees, "Who got athlete of the year as a freshman?"
"Sorry," Liv puts her hands up in surrender, "I'm just saying she's the most famous."
I notice Paige's face drop and I can't believe Liv keeps twisting the knife.
"Well she must not be too famous because I don't know who she is," I say.
Paige looks at me and a smile grows on her face.
"I don't know who Kaylie Clark is, but I hope she's soaking up all her so called fame while it lasts because it's gonna be over for her when Paige comes back this season," I tell them, saying her name wrong on purpose.
Paige struggles to hold back her grin as her ego visibly boosts from my words.
"Dang," Jalen says, "What happened to women supporting women?"
We all laugh and just goof off together the rest of our time at the gym.
The four of us go eat lunch together when we leave the gym.
After we eat lunch, we say goodbye and go to our separate cars in the parking lot, but Paige follows me to mine.
"Can I help you?" I ask her, unlocking my car.
Her hands are in her pockets and she looks at the ground, making her look nervous.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to come hang at my house," she says, her eyes looking up at me at the end of her sentence.
"Are you not inviting Liv and Jalen?" I ask her rhetorically.
She gives me a look and tells me, "Nah, I think they have other things to do."
"And I don't?" I scoff.
She grins, shrugging her shoulders, "What plans do you have?"
Truth is, I don't have any. I could study and get ahead on homework, but hanging out with Paige sounds a bit more fun than that. Just a bit.
"I don't have any," I tell her.
Her face lights up and she asks me again.
"So you wanna come over?"
I think for a moment before agreeing.
"Sure," I say and she smiles even bigger.
I follow behind Paige to her house. Liv left the parking lot before me so hopefully she won't suspect me going to Paige's. While she says she believes me when I tell her I only feel platonic about Paige, I still don't think she likes the idea of us being alone together.
I notice Paige's mom's car is in the driveway and I get a little nervous. I don't know exactly how she feels about me or if Paige has told her about our newfound friendship.
When we walk in, we're immediately met with Amy Jo in the kitchen.
"Hey, hon-" Amy stops when she notices me.
"Oh, hey Ella," she dries her hands off, coming over to greet me, "It's good to see you."
"Good to see you too," I tell her.
I feel so awkward right now but Paige acts like everything is normal, saying hi to her mom and taking her shoes off.
She takes me into the living room and I sit on the couch.
"I'm gonna go take a shower," she tells me, "but you can go where you want."
"You can stay down here, go to my room.... come with me."
She says the last part quiet, smirking at me.
When I look at her with a horrified expression, she quickly informs me it was a joke.
"Just playin, just playin," she says casually as if she didn't just make a suggestive joke about us.
Paige goes upstairs to take a shower and I stay downstairs. I know she probably needs one from practicing at the gym, but why does she have to leave me down here with her mom?
I know she offered for me to come upstairs, but after her little joke, I felt weird.
"So, how is college?" Amy asks me.
That's all people who don't know me ask me. And the people who do know me only seem to ask "Why are you hanging out with Paige?"
And then there's Paige. She asks me what I'm doing and how I'm doing and if I want to hang out. Next time someone asks, I'm telling them that's why I've been hanging out with her.
"Pretty good," I tell her, "I might get an internship next semester."
"Oh, that's great!" Amy smiles and joins me in the living room, sitting on the other couch.
"How many years do you have left of law school?"
"About four," I tell her, "But if I really crunch and take summer classes I could have my degree in just three more years."
Me and Amy small talk while I wait for Paige to get out of the shower. The awkwardness fades but doesn't completely disappear. I mean, I am talking to my ex girlfriend's mom for crying out loud.
After a while Amy goes and does her own thing in other parts of the house and I entertain myself on my phone.
"Can I get you something to eat or anything, Ella?" Amy asks me, coming back from another room.
"No, I'm good," I tell her, "We had lunch at the diner downtown."
Amy looks interested by my answer so I add, "With our friends. Liv and Jalen."
I then hear footsteps on the stairs so I look behind me to see Paige coming down in her bath towel. Nothing but her bath towel.
What. The. Fuck.
"Hey," she says with a smile, waltzing through the living room.
She's acting casual but I can tell she knows what she's doing.
"Paige Madison!" Her mom exclaims, "What on earth are you doing?!"
"Gettin my clothes out of the laundry room," she says innocently.
"You don't need to be walking around the house indecent when we have guests over!" Amy scolds her.
"It's okay, mom," Paige says, basically skipping out of the laundry room, clothes in her arms, "We're all girls."
Her mom sighs in exasperation.
I try to act relaxed, like it's no big deal, but the towel is quite short on her because of her height. I can't help but stare.
Dear god. I'm like a pervy old man.
"Come on, Ella," Paige says, heading for the staircase.
I'm so nervous. If I want to play this off like it's no big deal, I should just go up with her without hesitation.
I stand up off the couch and follow her. She waits for me at the bottom of the stairs instead of going up trusting I'll follow her.
That would be no big deal if she were wearing actual clothes and not a just towel wrapped around her that is dangerous short. The possibility of me seeing something is very real.
I look up. I just keep my eyes up as I follow behind her up the stairs.
We make it upstairs safely and Paige shows me to her room.
She dumps her clothes on her bed and when I realize she's going to get dressed right here right now, I turn my back to her, my cheeks burning red.
I hear Paige laugh lightly behind me.
"You can look if you want," she says cheekily.
What?! Why is she inviting me to look at her naked?!
"I think I'll pass," I say, my face continuing to blush.
"Oh," she says like her feelings are hurt, "I see how it is."
We're exes! She broke my heart! She left me! Now I'm being nice and letting us be just friends for the summer. That's how it is!
My stomach drops when I hear her towel drop. She's completely naked behind me right now and all I have to do I turn around.
After a moment, I hear her start to get dressed.
"Can you get me a bra out of my dresser?" She asks me.
I sigh. I'm about fed up with her antics.
"Unless you don't want me to wear one," she says.
I groan internally. What a double edged sword.
I hold a hand beside my eyes to shield my vision from her possible shirtless and bra-less state.
I open the top middle drawer of her dresser and cringe when I realize I still remember which drawer she keeps her bras and underwear in. It's fine. Most people keep their bras in the top middle drawer.
I grab the first bra I see, a black nike sports bra. Surprise surprise.
I cover my eyes completely with one hand and hold her bra out to her with the other.
Wait. Why couldn't she just get her own bra?
"Mm," she makes a noise of dissatisfaction, "Can you get me a comfy one?"
I drop her bra in exasperation.
"Please?" She adds sweetly.
"Go get your own bra," I tell her, turning around to go stand where I was.
She doesn't say anything else, getting her own bra out of her dresser and finishes getting dressed.
"I'm done now," she says when she is dressed.
I turn around to see Paige fully clothed as she plops down on her bed.
She pats the bed, summoning me to join her.
I go over to her bed hesitantly and she turns on the tv.
"Come on," she says encouragingly, "I don't bite."
I roll my eyes and sit on her bed with her.
"Unless you want me to," she adds with a smirk.
That's it. I'm done with her dirty jokes today.
"Stop with the inappropriate comments," I tell her, "Or I'm leaving."
Her playful expression drops and I feel bad. Why do I have to feel bad for her all the time? She's fine.
"Okay," she says quietly, "Sorry."
Now I feel like I've killed the mood. Crushed her spirits. Dulled her sparkle.
She looks through shows on Netflix quietly and I watch her as she does so.
"Hey," I poke her shoulder.
She looks over at me and I smile at her.
"I'm just kidding," I tell her, "I'm not actually going to leave."
She gives me a small smile and looks back at the TV.
"What do you want to watch?" She asks me.
"Whatever you want to watch," I tell her.
She turns on Outer Banks and I hold in a laugh. Of course she watches Outer Banks.
"So what kind of birthday cake do you want?" She asks me.
I don't know what she's talking for a second then I remember she promised to make me a birthday cake with her mom for women's Bible study.
"You really don't have to do that," I try to tell her but she shakes her head.
"No, I want to," she tells me, "I've been learning how to bake."
"Oh," I look over at her, "What's your specialty?"
She grins, glancing over at me.
"Brownies," she says.
I giggle because brownies are like the easiest thing to bake, but I don't tell her that.
"I'll have those then," I tell her.
"No, you need a cake," she tells me, "I need to practice my cake skills."
I think for a second before deciding.
"Chocolate," I tell her.
Chocolate is her favorite.
"Good choice," she says.
"Maybe one side should be vanilla for the people that like vanilla," I suggest.
Paige side eyes me judgmentally, "I don't like vanilla people."
I laugh lightly and we watch the show, relaxing.
Paige stretches and grabs the throw blanket at the end of her bed, covering us both with it.
My body goes tense. This feels romantic. But I've shared blankets with Liv and my sisters so it can be platonic.
A soft knock suddenly sounds at the door.
"Come in," Paige says.
The door opens and Amy Jo peaks her head in.
"Hi girls," she whispers, "I just wanted to see if you're staying for dinner, Ella?"
"Oh, um," I sit up, "Probably not-"
"Please?" Paige asks me.
Her little "please" and her pretty eyes looking at me make me cave.
"You don't have any other plans, right?" She asks me.
"I guess not," I tell her then look at Amy, "I'll stay for dinner."
"Okay, sounds good," Amy Jo smiles and leaves, shutting the door quietly behind her.
Paige ends up getting sleepy, probably from her practice with Jalen all day before they invited me and Liv.
She keeps subtly leaning closer to me and I act like I don't notice. Maybe she doesn't realize she's doing it.
That's what I think until her head finds its way to my shoulder.
She rests her head delicately on my shoulder, gently like she's not resting it down all the way.
This is definitely not platonic. I can't let her do this. My instincts tell me to push her off, but I don't want to. The thought of pushing her gentle little head that's trying to so politely rest on my shoulder hurts my heart.
So I let her. I let her lay her head on my shoulder.
When dinner is ready, Paige groans, not wanting to get up.
"Come on," I tell her, going to get up but she wraps her arms around me, keeping me on the bed.
"Let me go!" I tell her, cringing at myself giggling annoyingly.
I try to push her arms off me but she's too strong.
I struggle to get off the bed and she finally lets me go, her wrestling with me probably waking her up all the way.
Amy Jo fixed spaghetti with salad and garlic bread, the whole nine yards.
Paige sits next to me at the table in the spots where we always used sit.
"This is really good," I tell Amy when we start eating.
"Oh thank you, sweetie," she tells me.
She really went all out with dinner tonight.
"Yeah, thanks mom," Paige says politely, "It's delicious."
Amy looks at her daughter, skeptical of her sudden manors and appreciation.
"You're welcome, Paige," she says.
We eat in silence with the living room tv playing at a low volume.
Paige's knees bumps mine lightly under the table. I think it's an accident until she does it again.
I look over at her and she smiles at me. I smile at her and bump her knee back.
I feel eyes on me so I look up to see Amy looking at me and Paige with watery eyes. I look back down immediately. Why is she crying?
"It's just like old times," I hear Amy say, her voice shaky.
I look up to see her wiping her eyes discreetly.
Well this is awkward.
"Mom," Paige mumbles to her mother as if telling her to get it together.
"I'm sorry," Amy whispers with a sniff, pulling herself together.
The rest of dinner goes nicely, casual conversation and even a little laughing.
When we're done eating, Paige takes my plate from me and I try to protest, going to rinse my own plate off but she doesn't let me.
"Thank you so much for dinner," I tell Amy, "It was great."
"Of course," she tells me, "It was great to have you here."
"Can I help you clean up?" I ask her, going to grab a pot as she starts whipping down the counters.
"No! No, honey," she tells me, "Me and Paige have got it."
"Are you sure?" I ask.
"I'm sure," she assures me, "It's no problem at all."
"Well, thank you again," I tell her, "I guess I better get going."
"No!" Paige objects, "Don't go yet!"
"It's getting late, Paige," I tell her, grabbing my things and heading to the door.
"You could spend the night," she offers, following me to the door.
"But I don't have any clothes or anything," I tell her.
"You know you can wear my clothes," she says, "You can use any of my stuff."
"Paige, don't pressure her," her mom says from the kitchen.
The look on her face makes me want to give in, but I can't.
"I'm sorry," I tell her genuinely.
"But I'll see you at church and bible study tomorrow," I say in attempt to cheer her up.
"Okay," she gives up, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," I tell her.
The way she's standing there all defeated, droopy shoulders and sad eyes, I can't just walk out the door. I have the urge to comfort her.
I step closer to her, wrapping my arms around her torso in a big hug.
She doesn't respond at first, seeming surprised, but she eventually brings her arms around me, hugging me back. Her arms tighten and I can't help but notice how much bigger and stronger her arms have gotten since high school.
This feels amazing. I've missed hugging Paige.
We pull apart and she now seems a lot happier.
"Bye," I tell her with a little smile before finally leaving.
A/n: Do you guys like the flashback chapters every other chapter or would you like them less frequent?
I'll definitely still be doing them as they give more insight to Paige and Ella's past and help explain a lot of things, but I'm just wondering if every other chapter is too much lol.