THE DAY had finally come, the season opener game was tonight. The girls were all on the bus waiting since it was an away game.

"Alright girls, we'll be leaving in 5 minutes. Make sure you all have everything you need and get psyched up. This game will set everything in place for the rest of the season, so let's win it yeah?" Geno's loud voice echoed around the bus. His last sentence causing an eruption of cheers and applause from the team.

Jenessa was sat next to Nika, near the back of the bus. She had one airpod in and was curled up in her seat. "You're lucky I love you JJ." The Croatian girl laughed. "What?" Jenessa furrowed her brows, confused. "The window seat, next time I get it." She continued and Jenessa made an 'ohhh' sound and nodded with a smile. Bumping their shoulders together.

"You nervous?" Nika asked, turning her body to face the girl. "Its my first game as a Uconn player, and my first game since my injury. Im so excited but extremely nervous, yeah. I just dont want to make a fool of myself, if I fail tonight, the media's words will have been right." Jenessa confided in Nika, knowing the older girl always had great advice and knew how to comfort JJ. Which was one of the many reasons Jenessa loved her with her whole heart.

"JJ, you're going to do great, you're a demon under pressure! We are all nervous, and its normal. But the second we step foot on that court and that buzzer sounds, all of it washes away. We've got your back, thats what teams are for. Even if you mess up, we will be there. And the media's wrong, Jenessa Jayde is a force to be reckoned with." Nika wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. Jenessa rested her head against Nika and smiled, her heart warming at the kind words.

After about 30 minutes, their bus came to a stop, all the girls collecting their stuff and hopping off the bus.

Once they entered the gym, they immediately went into game mode. Warming up, stretching, a tense atmosphere surrounding them. They watched as the stands slowly filled with students from Dayton and Uconn, along with parents and teachers, a season opener game being one of the most popular.

The girls were doing a shooting drill, when Geno called them all over. They jogged to the benches, grabbing their water bottles. "Game starts in 5, you all ready?" Geno asked and everyone nodded. "Alright, we're gonna start with Nika, Paige, Aaliyah, Jenessa, and KK." Everyone cheered and pat the girls on their backs with smiles.

Geno pulled JJ and Paige to the side, both feeling a bit confused at the action. "You two are our secret weapon, no one's seen you play together since you were teenagers. And the bond's only gotten better, however we cant let them know this early on. Especially since if everyone knows you two have that connection on the court, teams in the future will tear you apart, making your plays unusable. So I want you to keep it a secret, use it wisely. And make sure they fly under the radar, I also want to make sure you both are feeling up to this, neither of you are in pain?" He stands with his arms crossed, examining the two.

"Im good coach, and will do." JJ nods, and Paige agrees. "Alright, go out there and ruin them." He smirks and they both perk up, confidence flowing through them. They jog back to the team and they all start hyping each other up.

"Let's do this Huskies!!" KK screams and everyone makes barking noises in response. The buzzer finally sounds and the 5 starters all run on the court. Aaliyah takes the jump, and gets them the ball.

102-58 Uconn wins.

Paige and Jenessa kept their plays to a minimum, trying to make it not obvious that they always knew where each other were on the court without even a glance, JJ only passed Paige the ball once without looking, in the moment she forgot to look first to play it off as if she was trying to see if someone was there. It was a behind the back pass, she knew Paige was on her left at the three point line and had shaken off her defender briefly.

One second the ball was in JJ's hands, next thing everyone knew was it was swooshing through the net from Paige's direction. The camera's hadn't even had time to switch to Paige the play was so quick.

Everyone who played breathlessly got on the bus, feeling exhausted. However, excitement and enthusiasm radiated off of the whole team after the huge win.

After celebrating, Paige sat in her seat next to KK. She felt disappointed in herself, she played good for her time spent on the court, but knew she could've done more. Wanted to do more, but eventually her knee got the best of her and she had to sit. Paige had made an insane amount of progress, but still felt her knee was controlling her, and hated it.

"Paige, don't get all in your head, you played great." KK's voice snapped the blonde out of her trance, being able to tell her upperclassman was spiralling. "I know, I know. Thank you. You were fucking amazing KK! You ain't playin' like a freshman." Paige joked, lightening up the mood. KK bashfully smiled and looked down at her lap, her cheeks flushing red at the compliment from someone she so deeply looked up too.

After what felt like an eternity, the team was finally back on campus. They all huddled up outside the bus and congratulated each other again before parting ways.

Jenessa trudged towards her car, bags slung over her shoulder when she felt a presence trailing behind her. "You need something?" She asked, assuming it was Paige.

"A ride? I carpooled with Aaliyah and Ice." Jenessa nodded silently and Paige jogged to catch up, she slid into the passenger seat a couple seconds after JJ shut her door.

The ride to their dorm building was quick, a peaceful but quiet atmosphere filled the car. Some radio station coming from the speakers. "You did good today." Paige's voice barely above a whisper, she had wanted to talk to Jenessa all day, but kept backing out. "Thanks, you did too Bueckers."

"Almost ratted us out with that one pass though." The blonde laughed, gently elbowing JJ. The two always used to ride together on the way back from games in the past, only being able to handle each other after bad ones. They knew one another inside out, and how to deal with their emotions. "I know, my heart dropped to my stomach after I did it." Jenessa lightly giggled, it felt like the two were teens again.

"Jenessa, can I ask you something?" "Go ahead."

"Did you go to Iowa to avoid me? I know you were offered a scholarship here, it was our dream school. Why turn it down?" Paige turned her head to stare at the brunette as she drove. She watched as her grip tensed on the steering wheel.

"Honestly? Yeah. My wounds were still fresh back then- and when I saw you committed, I just couldn't. I knew Iowa was going to be almost as good for me as Uconn would've been. And Cait was thinking about committing, so we did it together." Jenessa admitted, seeing no point in lying about her decision.

Paige sat silently, her eyes burning holes into the side of Jenessa's face. She tried to piece together a response, one that could potentially reconnect the two, but she couldnt. The blonde felt worthless, she was always so good at making plays, figuring things out, on the spot. She always knew what to do, but with Jenessa, her mind just went blank.

The two felt like it was one step forward, three steps back with them in a constant cycle of heated arguments, tension so thick you couldn't cut it with a knife, to feeling like they were teenagers again, best friends who just got each other. Loved each other, cared for so deeply, to complete radio silence.

Paige eventually tore her eyes away from the brunette, as much as she wanted to stare at her for eternity, memorizing every single thing about her again, she knew she couldn't. She didn't deserve to, Paige Bueckers was officially beat, she cant have something she wants.

Jenessa crawled under her covers, moonlight seeping through her window being the only thing illuminating her dark room. She rolled onto her side and picked up her phone, a notification from Caitlin catching her eye.

sista4life 🩷

i watched your game, you did amazing

im so proud of you JJ

nessa babes 🤍

im gonna cry thank u cait

being on the court without you is weird

sista4life 🩷

i know its weird for me too

just isnt the same without my girl by my side

but i can already tell you're thriving at Uconn

you're meant to be there, you are a star nessa, and Geno trains stars

nessa babes 🤍

you are the best thing thats ever happened to me

i wouldnt have gotten this far without your support C, thank you for everything

sista4life 🩷

no need to thank me

but it's appreciated

i love you, and go to bed!!

nessa babes 🤍

mom modes back on i see

i love you too, goodnight cait

sista4life 🩷

goodnight JJ, talk tmr!

A small smile creeped its way onto Jenessa's face, her heart warmed as she reread the messages. She know's she'll always be grateful for Caitlin Clark, her ride or die, forever.

She made a mental note to talk to the Iowa girl about how they will be each others maid of honours, and have to live side by side, in beautiful houses, kids who are best friends, and of course the Paige situation.

Quickly, sleep submerged her and she drifted into the land of dreams, a certain blonde making an appearance.

Paige laid awake, staring at her phone, an album full of pictures of her and Jenessa. She felt tears prick her eyes and glide down her cheeks. Paige had never felt this much intense guilt before, and so much heartbreak.

How do you move on from a girl your heart beats for? One you cant have because of something you did as a stupid teenager in denial. One you so desperately crave, as if your lungs would collapse without them around. She let out a few muffled, quiet sobs as she gripped her hair in her hands, pulling on it until it hurt too much to handle.

Paige fell asleep with tear stained cheeks, and a gut wrenching amount of pain and guilt.

DENNY'S CORNER

hello?? #1 in paigebueckers??

AND gained like 2.5k views in a few days?

thank u SO much

pls comment guys dont be a silent reader!!

hope u all are enjoying this so far 🩷