Tara's POV
June , 4th 2013
I woke up at 4:45 overly excited. I hopped out of bed and with no thought I got in the shower. I took a 10 minute shower and threw on pink yoga pants , a black workout shirt , Ugg moccasins , naturally curly hair with a pink head band. Lastly i put on eye liner and mascara. I left my room and Carl had set out my breakfast. Carl is like a friend to me , he's been our butler since I was born.
Carl: "Good morning Tara"
Me: " Good morning Carl " I said walking to my plate on the table.
Carl: " Your bags are all packed and by the door "
Me: " thanks Carl, are my parents home, or did they already go to set? " I asked taking a piece of Bacon and stuffing my face.
Carl: " no, they don't go to set until 10:00am "
Me: " thanks " I said as finished my last bite of food.
Me: " Carl, that was delicious ! Thank you ! I'm gonna miss that for a week. "
Carl: " And I'm gonna miss cooking for you, even when you don't eat it , you'll do great this week T "
I smiled and went up to my parents room and jumped on their bed. My dad wasn't up because it wasn't the usual time I got up for school.
Me: " wakeeeeyyy, wakeeeeyyy ! "
Mom: WE'RE UP ! "
Me: " today is the big day, you guys coming to drop me off? "
Dad: " of course baby girl "
Me: " well, GET UP ! It's almost time for me to leave " I said getting off of their bed.
Mom: " we'll be down in a second "
Me:"alright" I walked in my room to grab my purse and phone. Then went down the stairs to see my chauffeur (Gregory) and Carl putting my bags in the car. I am so excited to get out the house , from this life , it's going to be fun. I was just sitting on the couch scrolling through Instagram until my parents came down the stairs.
It was finally time to go! On the way to the school my dad gave me a black card and told me there's no limit. We were finally at the school, it was 5:30am. Our flight is at 6:00am but the airport was only about 15 minutes away. Gregory volunteered to take my bags in.
Me: " Bye mommy. Bye daddy" I kissed them and hugged them goodbye.
Mom: " Bye. Call us whenever you have free time. And I mean WHENEVER ! "
Me: " okay mom " My mom is kinda sad about this because this is one of the longest times I've been away without them and without Carl to watch me.
Dad: " bye baby girl. Be safe! And you heard your mother. Call us. love you!"
Me: "okay, I will. love you guys too ! Bye! " By the time I finished saying my goodbyes
Gregory was done taking my bags in.
Me: " thank you, Gregory! Bye." I hugged him.
Gregory: " Bye T " most of my parents workers call me T, not in front of my parents. Of course.
I walked up to the school, we packed our stuff in our party bus we were taking to the airport. Everybody was excited. If you didn't know we are the L.A Seahawks our colors are blue and white! Our team is a unisex team we have 26 teammates. 16 are girls and 10 boys.
We got to the airport and We checked in our bags. Before we got on the plane I texted Roc that I was about to board the plane. Him and Prod were getting on the plane an hour after us. I was sitting by my best friend on the team , Alexis. I put my iPod on shuffle and was ready to take this 8 hour flight to Miami!
We finally landed , it's 4:00pm L.A time but 7:00pm Miami time. The whole time me and Alexis were just listening to music, sleeping , and messing with our best friends that sat in front of us Don and Jovaughn, they were two of the boys that were on our team. We were the last team to get in Miami. Once everybody got their bags our coach bus was the last bus there, it had a big sign that said " L.A Seahawks " . The boys loaded the bus, we had to go right over to check in and get our playing schedule before we went to the hotel because we were late.
Everyone got a schedule. Now it was time to go to the hotel and unpack. It's now 8:30pm Miami time. Roc and Prod are already here in Miami and made it to the Marriott hotel before us. All the schools bunk at his hotel.
We're finally here at the hotel , and we are all checking in our rooms. My whole team took up about 27 rooms basically the whole entire floor. We all have our own rooms. Roc and Prod share a room but they are on the same floor, I just don't know there room number yet. I got my room key and everyone headed up. We're the 3rd floor. As soon as I got up to my room I called Prod : ( phone convo )
Prodyyy😊😊:" what you want nigga ?"
Me: "what's y'all room number?"
Prodyyy😊😊: "1..2 deez nuts"
Me: " Prod...forreal.."
Prodyyy😊😊: " alright, alright....12E. You coming through?"
Me:" of course."
Prodyyy😊😊: "Hurry up. "
Me: " damn nigga... Open the door. "
Prodyyy😊😊: " aiight. " and he just hung up....that was rudeI got to their room and prod was at the door.
Me: " prodyyy! "
Prod: " no nigga, you late"
Me: " woahhh, where's my roc?"
Prod: " idk you tell me"
Me: " I'm getting about tired of you Mohawk. " he chuckled and I pushed pass him into their room to see Roc sitting on the bed.
Me: " So you were right there the whole time on the bed...And you didn't say anything? Okay I see how you feel." I playfully folded my arms and turned away from him.
Roc: " awee Im sorry." He got up and unfolded my arms and turned me around.
Me: " it's okay baby" I pecked him and cheesed. Haven't seen him for almost the whole day. New record.
Prod: " stop with that lovey dovey shit." He sat down on his bed
Me:" awww forever alone "
Prod: "shut up -_-"
Me:" anyway, I have bags still downstairs you guys wanna help me take em up? Please?"
Prod:" knew you wanted something , volunteering to come over here. The real Tara would've told us to walk our asses to her room.. Why can't the boys on your team do it? "
Me:" they're lazy selves? Uhmmm no. "
Roc :" fine." He got up off his bed.
Prod:" I guess I'll help too." He got up too. And we walked to the elevator. I have the most bags out of all the girls on the team. When the elevator stopped there were different teams and coaches meeting and greeting each other. Don and Jovaughn were down here, trying to get girls numbers. I wanted to go mess with them but I know Prod and Roc would be mad if I just left them to carry my bags.
It's now 3:00 in the morning I'm finally finished unpacking. I made Roc and Prod help me unpack, and when Alexis finished she came and helped too. Don and Jovaughn were there too because they are some of Roc and Prods best friends. But of course they were no help at all. For dinner all of us just ordered pizza. I haven't had pizza in SOO long. It was good, Once everybody left out my room I called my parents...of course they were sleep. But they still answered after about 4rings.
( phone convo )
Daddyyyy💰❤:" hello ? "
Me: " heyyy daddy ! "
Daddyyyy💰❤: " Tara ? What you doing up?"
Me: " I just got finished unpacking. I just wanted to tell you and mom goodnight "
Daddyyyy💰❤:" well your moms sleeping, she's tired from all that shopping she did while I was on set"
Me: " well tell her I called and tomorrow I'll call earlier so I can talk to mom and you can tell me about your movie."
Daddyyyy💰❤: " ok , I will. Goodnight baby girl love you. "
Me: " goodnight love you too. " I hung up getting ready to go to bed. I took a shower and washed my hair. I felt refreshed, all that sweat and stuff was not working for me. I put my nightgown on and went to sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be a workout.
Maras POV
June 4th, 2013
I woke up at 5:15. I showered and brushed my teeth. Once I got out I put Adidas running shorts , a white crop top with a pocket and original Adidas with naturally curly hair. I went out to my living room and my pops was dressed , watching TV and eating donuts. I grabbed one and he grabbed my bags and put them into the trunk of our Chrysler. We played music in the car ( Don't think they know by Chris Brown and Aaliyah). Once we arrived at the school I saw a school bus outside. My team is unisex but there are mostly boys , except for me and my friend Arielle. Me an my pops got out the car and we headed to the trunk
Pops: "have fun" he said pulling my bags out the trunk. I hugged him and grabbed my bags out of his hands
Me: "I will pops"
Pops: "I love you"
Me: "I love you too" he handed me a wallet with 300$ inside "try not to spend it all Ava and don't forget to contact me"
Me: "I will pops , bye" I walked in the building then to the gym. My whole team was in there.
Ronnie: "nice to see you gorgeous.... AT 6:15" I looked at the clock on my phone
Me: "shit! I'm sorry y'all"
Coach C: "Let's go team"
Team: "Roger Coach C" my coaches Coach C and Coach Daryl taught us to reply with that when they make a team wide statement. When we all stood up 2 boys on the team grabbed my bags and put them in the bus like gentlemen. The ride to the airport airport was fun , we're like a family.
Eric: "if we do good we'll be in the final game!"
Elijah: "WE WILL! We're going to get our play time schedule today" we arrived at the airport at 7:15 and the boys carried my bags of course. We got to the check-in and baggage check and the coaches did everything so all we did was give them our bags. We boarded the plane at 7:50. I sat next to Ronnie. He like my best friend on the team. We listens to music during the 4 hour flight. We arrived in Miami Florida at 12 Chicago but 1:00pm Florida time. Me and the other 19 of my team mates got off the plane and grabbed our bags from baggage check. We left the airport and got on the coach bus that was out side with some one standing in front if it with a sign with the words "Chicago raptors" on it. We arrived at the Marriott hotel and I gotta key for me and Arielle's room. My team took up 12 rooms in this hotel. Every coach in this team has their own suite and us teammates have regular hotel rooms that we share with another team mate. If Arielle wasn't on this team I would have a room all to my self because girls can't be bunked with boys. Even though I want my own room I'm happy she's here because that's my role dawg! We unpacked everything and and we're watching TV. We have a whole day to our selves. Today is just check in day the games start at 1:00pm tomorrow. All of the teams stay in this hotel. We were chilling in our room and we heard someone banging a beat on our door. I jumped up and opened it because it was annoying me. I opened it
Me:" Ron and Eric ! What the heck!?" they laughed and barged in. They each jumped on the beds. We both looked at them.
Ron: " let's go to Miami! "
Me: "We are in Miami!"
Eric:" NO ! Let's go outside in Miami"
Me, Ronnie, Eric and Arielle are like the closest friends on the team.
Me:" we have no car!"
Ron looked at me like I was crazy.
Ron:"WE'RE ATHLETES! And you're over here talking about some ( does air quotes ) " we don't have a car ". I laughed
Arielle:" I'm in, let me get dressed" she got up and went to the bathroom to put on a sundress.
Ron:" you gonna get dressed too? " he said to me
Me: "I am dressed!" They laughed
Eric:" that's why Glyn calls yo ass little boy"
Me: "they call me little boy because I'm always breaking your girly ankles"
Ronnie: "oooooooohhh" I laughed. In basketball if someone moves too quickly and you trip trying ti follow them then it's called breaking your ankles
Arielle came out an was ready to go. We left the hotel room and hit the streets. We walked into stores and girls were all in Eric and Ronnie's face. Me and Arielle walked off and made a plan.
Me:" You get Eric and I'll get Ronnie"
Arielle:" Bet!" I walked to Ronnie who was flirting with some girl.
Me:"RON! The fuck you doing flirting with this girl? You know you supposed to be buying infamil for Ron JR!" I said holding my stomach in a ratchet voice. His jaw dropped as well as hers.
???: " I'm sorry" the girl said walking away, I busted out laughing.
Ron:" The hell was that Mara ?" I couldn't stop laughing
Me:" Nigga, she lives in Miami, we're from Chicago..You'll never see her again. " we all walked out the store. My phone rang. I looked down and got excited.
Ron:" must be Ray" I answer it.
Me:" You here?"
Ray:" yeah, just checked in my room with prince."
Me:" yay! Me, Ari, Ron and Eric went down town but we should be back soon"
Ray:" take your time "
Me" okay"
Ray:" bye"
Me:" byeee" and with that he hung up. We took a tour trolley downtown. And of course the girls were loving Ron's yellow ass. He refused to say anything because he knew I would ruin it. When the trolley stopped I hopped out. I called Ray.
Me: " what floor y'all on ?"
Ray:"E , the room is 13E."
Me:" okay" I headed to the 5th floor after I told my friends where I was headed. I got to 13E which is Prince and Ray's room and knocked a beat on the door and Ray opened it and pulled me in with a hug.
Ray:" Maraaaa!"
Me:" hey baby!!!!" I hugged him for a whole excited that he was here once we let go I jumped on Princeton
Jacob:" MARAA!" He said catching me.
Me:" hey bestie" we all talked then headed to my room where I told Ari, Ron and Eric to meet us. We ordered pizza and drank pop while watching TV. Me and Ray snuggled up on the couch and the rest of them just chilled spreaded out on the beds. At 7:00 pm Me, Eric, Ari and Ron headed to practice. It sure was a workout. I landed on a dunk I think I just wasn't landing them because I like when Ray catches me. But when he's not there another teammate has to do it and I don't like it as much. Practice ended at 10:00pm. We received our schedule today. After practice Ari and I went to our room and showered i called my ad and told him about my day. then headed straight to bed. I'm so ready to play!
Tara's POV
June 5th 2013
I woke up 5:30am Miami time. This jet lag stuff is really killing me. It should be about 3:30 in L.A, it's 5:30 and I'm supposed to be downstairs by 6:30am. The only way I'm gonna make it on time is if theirs a miracle. I checked the time and got up immediately. I started to do my hygiene routine which usually takes a hour itself...I had to cut it down today. I put on my white and blue Adidas jumpsuit on, everyone on the team has one of these. Then, I put my hair in a slick back ponytail. The only makeup I put on was waterproof mascara and eyeliner, I wasn't trying to sweat out my makeup during a game as big as this...Been there, done that, it's over with. I had to do a extra thing before I went down to the lobby. I had to take off my nail polish! I tried to do it as fast as I could, but then I looked at the time it was already 6:45. I grabbed my adidas bag and went straight to the elevator. I texted my dad letting him know that I was up and was about to begin my big day.
The elevator opened and I didn't see anybody that was on my team. I went outside and didn't even see our bus. I called Alexis and she answered! Hallelujah! She told me everything how they were waiting on me then just left me. I instantly thought of Roc. I called him and told him everything and he agreed in taking me. He got a rental car for the week. I waited in the lobby for him until I saw him come towards me.
Me:"thank youuu so much babyy !!!"
Roc:" no problem just try not to be late next time." I kissed him and we started walking to his rental car.
Me:"I'll try....no promises " he laughed knowing I was serious.
We got the gym.. I said bye grabbed my bag and walked in.
Coach K:" nice to see you at 7:00!!!" She's always tough on us
Me: "sorry"
Coach Carter: "don't let it happen again"
Me:" I won't "
Coach K ( K stands for Kelsie which is a girl) and Coach Carter are married they're my coaches.
I walked in the corner and Jovaughn just happens to pass by.
Jovaughn:" damn. Miss perfect is not perfect all the time. "
Me:" shutup Jovaughn"
We continued practicing until it was game time.
Mara POV
June 5th, 2013
On game day I woke up at 9:00 and to Ari jumping on me
Me: "IM UP!" She stopped
Arielle: "coaches said we have to be dressed in practice clothes and practice is at 10 but the busses come at 9:30" she was dressed. I threw on my practice clothes, for practice the girls shorts are shorter than the boys and we all wear the same raptors t-shirt with any shoes , so I was wearing D-Rose crazy light basketball shoes , I brushed my teeth and put on deodorant and put my messy hair in a bun. Me and Arielle ran out to the bus at exactly 9:32. Ron was stalling trying not to get us left by faking like he couldn't walk up the stairs. It was hilarious. Once we got there he was all of a sudden cured. I sat next to him and Ari and Eric sat with other people.
Ron: "y'all really owe me man!"
Me: "we do! Love ya Ronnie boy!"
Ron: "yea , yea, yea" we arrived at Miami's Fitness Gym (not real) we all hopped off and went to the court. We did our regular warm-ups then made teams to play against. I couldn't land my dunks and my coach was getting pissed
Coach Daryl: "GROSS! LAND THAT SHIT!" For some reason Ronnie never gets in trouble
Ronnie: "coach , she's like 2 inches tall , it's amazing she can even get up there , let go Mara" I let go, we practices until 11:30 then headed to the hotel
Coach C: "get dressed and be down here by 12:30" we headed up to our rooms
Ronnie: "we'll come to y'all before we go down playas"
Ari: "iight playa" she replied playfully
Me: "okay" on game day I'm usually just really to myself because of nerves but on the court it always becomes energy. It's game time!
Omniscient POV
At 1:00pm all the teams arrived at the Miami National Gym the biggest stadium in Miami the teams that are in the competition has to beat out al the other teams. They started with 100 other teams, then 50, 20 now there's only 10 teams left. The winners takes home $100,000 for their school programs more specific, may e sports. Second place gets a $50,000.
The locker rooms are like 2in1. They have one door but two locker rooms one side is the girls the other side is the boys, and in the middle is where they have the coaches speaks and stuff like that.
Mara's locker room
Coach Daryl:" okay so we play whoever wins the third round the first game is in stadium 7 the same competition is going on in stadium 8, but it's the other 5 teams. Out of those teams we won't play any if unless we beat #3 and #4, then we will play the winners in #5"
Coach C:" now let's go sit in the front row with the other teams that are waiting."
Coach Daryl:" now let's GO!" They all followed out of the locker room and into the stadium passing other teams and people paying to watch them play. They were in stadium 7, Mara sat next to Arielle with Ron on the other side of her and Eric on the other side of Ari.
Ron:" I love game day"
Mara:"why?"
Ron:" because you don't talk"
Me:" shut up" she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around to see Rayan and Jacob.
Mara:" Hey" she hugged them
Jacob:"we know how you get in game day , we just came to let you know we're here"
Mara:" thanks , go find seats"
Ray:" okay babe" they walked back to their seats. Mara sat there silent while her team mates conversed
Meanwhile with Tara.................
Tara always seemed quiet on game day. She never really talked to anyone. Roc texted her to let her know him and Prod were there, they knew how she got on game day.
Jovaughn:" ayeee, Tara you iight?" He always asked her this before a game.
Tara:" yeah " right after he asked the question he'll call don over to loosen her up before a game by making her laugh. It worked every time. As much as they mess with each other and claim that don't like each other ( not like that ) just like siblings ,he always had her back. Coach K and Coach Carter came in and explained their day and schedule to them, all Tara wanted to do was relax but she couldn't she needs to focus. It's game time.
Mara's team
The 3rd game was finally up and it was time for Mara and the team to play, they were first up against the Atlanta sharks. They got in line up and were ready to play , of course the ball started off in their hands.
Mara:" I'm open!" She screamed to the boy with the ball being cornered he threw it to her and she caught it. She used her shortness to slide threw and she took it to the hoop.
** fast forward ** it was almost the end of the game and Mara had the ball. This tall girl pushed Mara down to get the ball. Mara slid on the floor, Prince was In the bleachers flinching hard when she fell.
Ref:" Foul! 2 free throws for #1 " Mara walked up to the free throw line and made both of the shots. #10 the girl who pushed her had a little problem with that
#10: "midget got lucky" Mara didn't like that at all. Mara stormed up to the tall girl looking up at her.
Mara:" what ?"
#10:" small trick, you shouldn't even be here you're like 2 feet tall "
Mara:" WANT ME TO SHOW YOU WHY IM HERE!"They heard the ref blow his whistle and with that Mara walked off after 3minutes of playing she got the ball.
( in Mara's head )
" I can do this, just do it, show her why I'm here! Mara just do it" and with that she took the ball with one hand with 10 seconds on the clock and the score was tied she took it to the hoop and dunked it over like 5 people and landed it. Ron ran over to her screaming along with the rest of the team, they carried her then the buzzer rang.
Ref:"Game 3 goes to Raptors.. game 4 is Raptors vs. New York Ice" they were too excited.
Ray's POV
I was watching Mara's game then I had to use the bathroom.
Me:" Jake , I'll be back, text me if I miss anything."
Prince:" Im recording it Ray, and get me some nachos." He handed me money and I left the stadium. I went to the restroom then to the concession stand. The concession stand gives you a good view into the other stadium. I saw a sign that said " L.A Seahawks win game 3. " I looked at the team and saw a VERY familiar face. I walked inside and went up to her but she was wearing a L.A jersey.
Me:" Mara! What're you doing over here ?"
????:" My name is Tara, and I don't know you." I walked off to the side answering a text.
Omniscient POV
Jacob texted Rayan saying
Jacob:" OMG ! MARA MADE A DUNK! Where are you?"
Ray:" OMG! Did she land it ? I'm next door." The Raptors had 10 minutes to move to stadium #8. Mara ran into the stands to Jacob.
Mara:" OH MY GOSH ! Did you see that??"
Jacob:" Hell yeah I saw that!" She jumped on him and hugging him excitedly.
Mara:" where's Rayan?!"
Jacob:" next door"
Mara:" let's go ! " they walked out of the stadium and next door to stadium #8. Mara spotted Rayan she ran up to him.
Mara:" RAY ! DID YOU SEE ME DUNK?!?!?" He stood frozen
Jacob:" the fuck is wrong with you?" He pointed to Tara they both looked and so did Tara and her friends. Chresanto walked over to them. Mara and Tara walked up to each other and stared deeply trying to find differences. Ray looked up at the billboard projector and they were zoomed in on Mara and Tara with the caption " seeing double?"
Ray:" do you see this?" He said to Jacob and the boy next to him who was Chresanto.
Chresanto: " hell yeah, the one in the blue is my girlfriend "
Rayan:" Red is mine"
Chresanto:" what's her name?"
Rayan:" Mara" Chresanto froze shocked
Chresanto:" well her name is Tara" Ray and Prince gasped then Craig walked up.
Craig:" who's that? "
Chresanto:" Mara"
Ray:" when's her birthday?"
Chresanto:" July 4th" ( GCO= gets cut off )
Ray:" 1996" he said shocking Chres they both walked up to the girls.
Chres&Ray:" y'all are twins "the girls turned and quickly
Tara&Mara: " how do you know?"
Ray:" exactly"
Chresanto:" y'all names are Mara and Tara and y'all have the same birthday" the girls gasped
Both:" Independence Day?" Everyone giggled at the way they kept talking at the same time
Craig:" oh snap"
Prince:" yup, same date"
Don:"TARA! It's game time! Let's go next door"
Tara:" don't leave! I'll be back" she ran off next door and Chres, Craig, and Don followed.
Coach C: " Mara you'll sit the first half out to rest" she did as told. Her team won and so did Tara's team. Everyone cheered and the ref yelled.
Ref:" LAST TWO TEAMS ARE SEAHAWKS AND THE RAPTORS!"
The Seahawks walked in the gym and the girls saw each other thought " I have to play against her!?!" the ball started off in Tara's teams hands. That was a first for Maras team. Maras team knew they had to step their game up on this one they actually had competition. Both of the teams were getting points in.
** fast forward ** there were 15 seconds left on the clock. The teams were tied and Tara's team had the ball.
Tom ( Tara's teammate ): " Tara here! " but he accidentally threw the ball to Mara and everyone gasped.
( in Mara's head )
Dumbass! But I only have 7 seconds left and I'm far from the hoop , but we need this money" she closed here eyes and threw the ball from the three point line. She heard everyone cheering. She opened them a big sign read " CHICAGO RAPTORS 2013" she was so excited .
Announcer:" Raptors win the 2013 basketball champion ship prize of $100,000, Champion Trophies and gold medals per player. Seahawks wins the second place prize of $50,000 and trophies per player congratulations to both teams." It's tradition to shake the hand of the opposing team. Once Tara and Mara got to each other they smiled. Both teams went out for a victory dinner. Once they got back.
Mara's POV
2:00 June, 6th 2013
I just got back from celebrating and now I need to text my pops and fill him in.
Me: "POPS WE WON! I MADE A WINNING 3!!!"
My nigga👌: "I knew you could do it baby girl! I'm so proud of you!"
Me: "thank you so much pops! Tomorrow we have the whole banquet with all the teams and I have it wear a dress 😒"
My nigga👌: "you'll look amazing , I did make you 😏, Did ray give you the gift?"
Me: "I guess .... You're not cute 😂😭 ,nopeeeeee"
My nigga 👌: "tell him to give it to you next time you see him... He better not be in your hotel room at 2:00 am!"
Me: "he's not pops, I'm headed to bed , night lil nigga"
My nigga 👌: "I'm lil nigga? Then you must be midget nigga , night"
Me: "OMG I HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS GIRL ! She had the nerve to call me a midget on the court"
My nigga 👌: "awee shit , go to bed , call me tomorrow and fill me in"
Me: "ok , ok , ok good night" I'm off to bed. I laid in bed and all that runs through my mind is that girl Tara like we looked JUST ALIKE! People always tell me I look like people and I never see it but this girl... That was weird. I'll see her again tomorrow.
Tara's POV
12:30 June, 6th 2013
We didn't win , but it's okay. I mean Tom didn't know what he was doing , he was in the zone. Of course we're kinda bummed about it but I mean we look EXACTLY alike! Creeeepppyyyy. I'm just gonna have to sleep on it. Goodnight.
Omniscient POV
Look at the pictures and stay tuned for next chapter !