Home Town Girl

24

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.