[ON HOLD] when emma falls in love, kate martin

4. pick somwhere and just run

CHAPTER FOUR.
narrative

iowa v. nebraska-kearney: october 28, 2022
final score: 108-29, iowa wins
carver-hawkeye arena

"Oh my gosh, Emma!" I hear someone say from beside me, breaking me out of my conversation with Lily Matthews, Caitlin's girlfriend. I already see a little bit of a dirty look on Lily's face before I even turn around to see who it is.

I wish I never even looked.

Vanessa stands at the empty seat beside me, a friend behind her. She has a smile on her face as she sits down, "I didn't know we'd be sitting together!" she says.

"I didn't know you remembered my name," I say and she laughs, taking my words as a joke even though I really meant them. I was kind of hoping she didn't remember my name.

She pushes my shoulder like we've known each other forever, "You're so funny," she says, looking past me to Lily, "I'm Vanessa."

"Lily," the blonde says shortly, "You're the girl Kate won't stop talking about?"

Vanessa's mouth opens almost in shock, "Kate talks about me?"

I nod, "Non-stop."

The girl smiles to herself before placing her hand on her friends arm, "How rude of me. Emma, Lily, this is my friend, Eva," she introduces her friend and the two of us just wave at her.

Lily and I go back to our conversation, talking about how we thought the game was gonna go (we did not know how the other team played at all, so we just said that our girls were going to win). Then she brought up Caitlin which made me smile. Seeing Caitlin happy has always been a joy of mine and she's been very happy with Lily.

After a bit, the actual game started. Carver was packed since it was the home opener and first game of the season. As the game went on, it was almost a no brainer that we were going to win this game. Going into halftime the score was 61-15, but I kept whatever I had to say to myself, unlike Vanessa.

At one point, she tapped my shoulder and pointed at one of our players, "God, why is number 2 even playing? She can't make a shot," Vanessa says with a laugh, probably hoping I would laugh along. The girl she was talking about was actually 2-5 from the 3 point line. Sure, it wasn't much, but she was doing better than whatever Vanessa was talking about.

"She's a freshman and it's her first game, lay off," I tell Vanessa and I can see her roll her eyes a little bit. I think she was a little upset that most of the bench was playing more than the starters. Kate only played for 12 minutes the whole game.

I look at Lily who has a dirty look on her face after hearing mine and Vanessa's entire interaction. The blonde leans in closer to me, "Taylor's playing so well tonight, don't you think? She's number two, right?" Lily says loud enough for the girl beside me to hear her.

A small smile appears on my lips, "Hell yeah, and Hannah? She's so good," I reply, praising the players.

It's easy to say that Vanessa didn't talk to either of us for the rest of the game.

After the game (which we won 108-29), we waited for the girls with Vanessa and Eva. When Caitlin came out, she hugged Lily tightly and it made me smile, watching as Lily whispered how proud she was of Caitlin.

Caitlin gives me a side hug when Lily pulls away, "Good job tonight," I tell her with a smile before pulling away and looking for Kate.

When she comes out, she spots us immediately and a smile blooms on her face, but she's not walking toward me, Lily, and Caitlin. She's looking past us at Vanessa, "Hey, Ness," the blonde says with a smile, opening her arms to the brunette. Normally after games, she'll come up to Lily and I and hug me immediately, telling me about how she felt during the game and I would tell her that she did great.

"We're on nickname territory already?" Lily says, not loud enough for the two embracing to hear.

I let a sigh fall from my lips, "Yeah, I guess," I reply to the blonde, watching Kate and Vanessa, a pit in my stomach. I look to Caitlin and Lily, their eyes already on me, "What?" I ask gently.

Caitlin just shakes her head a bit, Lily having a small concerned expression on her face. Why are they concerned? For me? I'm fine.

Monika and Sydney join our small group as Kate walks up, "Hey, guys," Kate says, Vanessa and her friend at her side, "This is Vanessa," she says, introducing her to the ones who haven't met her.

Caitlin gives her a tight-lipped smile, "I'm Caitlin," she says. Monika and Sydney introduce themselves.

"We've met," Lily says with a smile that I can tell is fake.

Vanessa nods when Kate looks a little surprised, "Eva and I were sat by Lily and Emma," she tells my friend, "We had a great time, didn't we?" Vanessa looks between Lily and I.

I nod, "Yep, amazing," I say shortly, a small, forced laugh falling from my lips as Lily shakes her head, but it goes unnoticed.

Vanessa turns to Kate, "Well, my friend is meeting up with her boyfriend, do you want to hang out?" she asks Kate. To no surprise, the girl nods.

"Just let me run home and change first," Kate says before looking at me, "You cool if I hang out with her for a bit?"

"Yeah, just text when you're on your way home," I tell her.

Vanessa smiles, "Dinner? I'll send you the address and we can meet up?" Kate nods again before Vanessa saunters off, giving the rest of us a smile and a small wave.

I look at the rest of the people around me, "I'm gonna head out, don't feel well," I tell them, not wanting it to awkward between Kate and I right now. She barely even acknowledged me besides when she walked up with Vanessa, "See you at home," I say to Kate.

"Good job tonight guys," I tell them, walking behind Caitlin and Lily to reach an exit.

I don't even know why I felt like this. Kate could have a girlfriend. She was just my friend. So why was seeing her with Vanessa so hard?

vanessafraser 5m

emmasantos
replying to vanessafraser's story
so cute!!

vanessafraser
ty!
vanessafraser
if you could put in a good
word for me (even though
we're having the BEST time)
i would appreciate it :)

emmasantos
mhm totally!!

authors note
emma and lily 🤝 not
liking vanessa