Is this the final stop? (Toni Shalifoe)

Chapter 21

Martha squeals as she holds her best friend in a big hug. Marty almost lifts her off the ground, and Toni can feel her feet starting to hover. Toni lifts them up in excitement and Martha spins her in a circle.

"Oh my God, how are you here right now?!" Toni basically screams at her.

Martha throws her head back, laughing, completely enjoying seeing her friend lose it, "I couldn't miss your very first game, now could I?"

Toni squeezes into her again, even tighter, making sure she's real.

"You're here," Toni breathes out. Thankful, relieved, and so damn happy.

"And I'm staying here," Martha whispers.

Toni immediately separates from Martha and cocks her head, "What do you mean?"

Now it's Martha who can't contain her excitement, so she jumps up and down when she reveals, "I'm moving! My mom got a job here!"

"Holy shit. No way. No fucking way, Marty!"

"Shalifoe!" The coach calls out from the locker room door.

Toni turns to see her coach squinting at her, Toni spins back to Martha with pleading eyes.

"Go, I'm here now," Martha says, and she means it.

And this time it's Martha who squeezes Toni's hand twice. This is where Toni learned it. Toni gives her a wide grin and jogs back into the locker room.

Martha makes her way into the gym and Shelby does a double take. She knows she recognizes the brunette from FaceTime, but she has to blink a few times to make sure her mind isn't playing tricks on her.

"Martha?!" Shelby yells, the other girls look at Shelby then at each other. Shelby skips over to her.

And yes, Marty, Toni's bestie, showed up to see her first game.

"Shelby!" Martha squeals and holds the blonde.

"What in the world are you doin' here!" Shelby exclaims.

"I wanted to surprise her!" Martha says with the most genuine smile that Shelby's ever seen.

"Well, it's the surprise of a lifetime—"

"I just ran into her in the hallway, pure coincidence, but it was perfect."

"I sure am sorry to have missed that reunion," She says, then grabs Martha's hand and leads her back to the girls at the bleachers. "Wow! Can't believe I'm seein' you in 3D. Has anyone ever told you that you have the most drop dead gorgeous eyes?"

Martha curls into herself, sheepish and blushing a bit.

"I have someone y'all need to meet. This is Martha, Toni's best friend," Shelby says, almost presenting Martha to the group. They welcome her with open arms. Literally. Fatin is basically jumping on her, swinging an arm over Martha's shoulders.

"You're a bad bitch if Shalifoe is your bestie. And are you carrying a deck of UNO? I already love you," Fatin says, spying the cards in Martha's hands.

"I thought we could all play and get to know each other during halftime or something! It's a great insight into people by how they utilize the draw four card. You can tell a lot about a person by that."

"I like her," Dot announces.

"I, for one, think there are more lethal cards in UNO than draw four," Nora proclaims. "Reverse can really be a game-changer."

"Shit, you and all your games," Rachel rolls her eyes. "But it's cool that you came for Toni. Respect."

"Please sit! Sit!" Shelby exclaims, making a space for Martha, even dusting it off with her hands. Shelby plops her down.