𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒅 ⭐︎ 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒆𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔

everything has changed

"all i know is we said "hello"
and your eyes look like comin home
all i know is a simple name
and everything has changed"

<3

Madison

"You're going to be fine, calm down," Valentina said through the phone as I brushed my hair for the ten thousandth time this morning.

"What if they don't like me, Val?" I stressed, letting yet another 'what if' come from my mouth.

"They will! You're an amazing person and an even better photographer." She tried her hardest to calm my worries, which was much harder for her to do over the phone than it would be if she had been here.

It was my first year at UConn, and my first year without Valentina by my side, who got accepted into Iowa State University. Over the summer I had been offered a job on UConn's media team as a photographer for the women's basketball team. Meaning I would be taking photos of them at every game and some practices. Don't get me wrong, I was super excited for the job. Photography was my passion and favorite thing in the world, it just wasn't the same without Val.

"I wish you were here." I huffed, putting my hairbrush down and grabbing my backpack with all my supplies in it, finally getting ready to leave.

"I do too, Maddy." She replied in the same low tone I had. We exchanged a few more words before I left my apartment, and walked to my car.

I had only talked to Geno, the coach, so this would be my first time even speaking to any of the girls. My thumbs tapped nervously on the steering wheel as I thought about all that could go wrong.

As I walked into the building, I sent Val one last message, before I walked into the court and met the girls.

"just got here, wish me luck"

"good luck xx"

Smiling softly down at the message, I slid my phone into my back pocket, pushed the wooden doors open and walked into the court.

At first, all the girls were simply practicing, shooting the ball around and dribbling.

That was until Geno greeted me, and all their heads turned in my direction. Geno brought me towards the court, asking all the girls to come meet me.

"Girls, this is Madison Monroe. She'll be the team's new photographer."

"You can just call me Maddy."

As the girls came to greet me, the first one was a tall brunette who held the basketball at her side before extending her hand.

"Nika." We exchanged a smile and I shook her hand. Then came the next girl.

"Azzi." She took my hand just as Nika had. A couple of other girls had come to say hi and introduce themselves, while some others stayed behind and continued their practice. But just as I was about to grab my camera, one last girl came to introduce herself.

"Paige. Nice to finally meet you." She smiled warmly, extending her hand.

"Yeah. You too." I returned the smile, locking eyes with hers. I took a little longer with Paige than I did with the other girls. There was something about her, I couldn't take my eyes away.

I softly let go of her hand, my eyes still on her as she walked away swiftly, returning to practice.

I reached down and grabbed my camera out of my bag, placing the strap around my neck and bringing it up to my eye. I snapped a few test photos, scanning through them to make sure everything was working fine before I brought my camera back up and continued to take pictures of the girls.

I made sure to get photos of every player, and multiple group photos. But before I knew it, practice was over and everyone had head to the locker rooms.

I turned back to my stuff, getting everything ready for me to go, but that's when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder.

"Hey." The blonde greeted me again.

"Hi!" I smiled, turning around with my camera still in hand.

"Can I take a look?" She asked, nodding her head down to the camera. I obviously nodded and handed her the camera, watching as she flickered through all the photos, before handing it back to me.

"Those are really nice." I smiled at her compliment, turning to continue gathering my things and placing my camera in my backpack, swinging the strap over my shoulder.

"Hey, maybe I should give you my number. So you can know when games are and everything."

"Oh, sure." I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and handed it to her, watching as she typed in her phone number.

Paige giving me her number honestly worked, since I wasn't given a schedule on practices or games. And I also just wanted Paige's number in my phone but was way to shy to ask for it.

"Here." She handed the phone back to me, before turning around and sprinting off to the locker rooms.

As I started walking out of the court and back to my car, I quickly started calling Val.

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hi!
first chapter done!!
hope you enjoyed and I promise its going to get better.
bye 😘