caitlin c. 22

:4:

the weekend came fast and we were on our way to the first game of the season. we are playing Hudson State University this morning, and i am surprised at how calm i am.

well i take that back. i'm anticipating the game which is making me jittery and my mind is going a million miles per minute. i just want to get out there and really play, i mean who on this team doesn't?

i have my headphones in listening to music, resting my eyes. to be honest, i really do prefer a.m. games because i feel more pumped. the only problem is the struggle i have when i have to get up at the break of dawn to get on a bus.

gabbie and i are both sleeping on each other, as well as the rest of the team. once we arrived, we headed to the court for pre-game practice.

i linked up with caitlyn to practice our pass. "hey" i said.

"top of the morning y/n, how are you feeling?" she asked while dribbling the ball a bit. "i feel good, im a little anxious, but nothing i can't handle" i wave it off, asking how she is doing. "same here" she answers with a flash of a smile. we separate and begin practicing our pass.

every now and then we will encourage eachother. "let's gooo" i say as caitlin makes yet another three pointer. i swear that girl is amazing.

coach bluder and coach jensen have us lined up to practice our free throws for a few minutes before heading to the locker room.

we put down our stuff and sit around coach bluder. "do what you do best, girls. this is our first game of the season, we gotta assert ourselves in the lineup. yes?" we are nodding our heads, mentally preparing ourselves for the game. we gather our stuff that we need for sidelines and head out.

i instantly notice the large crowd being obnoxiously loud. we take our spot around coach once again to hear the starting positions.

•caitlin's pov•

as we are walking to the court right before the game, i notice y/n's vibe change. i'm walking to the gathering by the coach and listen in. i stand by y/n and keep my elbow against hers, to let her know that i'm there for her. she looks my way and smiles.

i guess i never got the chance to realize how pretty y/n is. i mean not like the way i tell my friends they're pretty, but the way where it's attractive.

hm.

after zoning out for a second, i head coach bluder conclude, "...just get out there and put all your training into action."

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

we are halfway through the game, with a few seconds left until halftime. i'm on the left court, seeing that we are set up to execute y/n and i's strategy. hannah is dribbling towards me and passes me the ball. i instantly make eye contact with y/n, and pass her the ball.

she shoots and scores a three. amazing.
the buzzer goes off and we make our way to the locker room to cool off a bit. we say hi to the little kids in the stands as we are walking.

•y/n's pov•

i'm in the locker room, sipping my water and chatting with monika and caitlin. us three have gotten pretty close over the past few days. texting eachother, sending tiktoks, having sleepovers. they are by far the funniest people i have met.

although, right now we are discussing plays and debriefing.
"man, that one girl that was always trying to block me got on my nerves."
"moni, i hate to break it to you, but that's the whole point of defense." caitlin said jokingly. i chuckled before saying "she's kinda cute though" i put my hand over my mouth for dramatic effect. i was half joking, but there was something i noticed in caitlin's demeanor. it was almost like she was taken aback or...i don't know.
"y/n stop hitting on every girl you lay eyes on!" monika says while laughing, pushing me a bit.
"hey hey it's not my fault," i put my hands up in defense

at that moment coach bluder comes in and starts discussing our next course of action.

"alright, great game so far ladies. we gotta keep this momentum going, this is only the start of our journey. we have to take it game by game, though. again, keep the same momentum. i'm sure the other team is discussing ways to block our current strategies, so let's switch it up..." we are all listening intently, nodding our heads. once coach bluder is done we all stand and get together. "iowa on three, 123! iowa!" we knock hands, pat eachother on the back, and encourage eachother to finish the game strong.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

we got a minute left on the clock. we are far ahead of HSU, and we can tell the other team is trying to score every chance they get. coach bluder's words are echoing in my head, "keep momentum...start of our journey..." i dribble to the opponents side of the court, and i see one of the girls from the opposing team trying to block me. i decide to throw her off because i see kate not far behind me, and caitlin is positioned center. i slyly pass the ball to kate and run to left court. she passes it back to me and, yet again, a girl is trying to block me. i pass the ball to caitlin before the girl shoves me a bit. i don't give a reaction or anything because in my opinion, it wasn't that hard.

i see caitlin realign and shoot. gaining three more points, the game is over and we won. all of us run to our coaches and silently celebrate.

i'm caught in a hug by monika, and soon get thrown into caitlin, squeezing them both. i'm so proud of us, this is only the beginning. we line up, shake hands with the other team, and gather our stuff before heading onto the bus.

once again, i am sitting with gabbie, sleeping the whole way home. it feels good to start off strong.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
la la la la la la la
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^
ifykyk

let me know your thoughts so far! i would greatly appreciate it <3