thirteen
It's Friday. Less then 24 hours away from the dreaded hang out KK organized with the crew from the café. It was also 4 days after Athena had seen Paige's text then proceeded to throw her phone across the room but that was less important. What is important is that Athena will have to face that same blonde....again....and talk to her.
She had begun to plan it out in her head, meet up with KK, Ice, Azzi, Nika, and....talk with them all about school and sports, become best friends, have a throuple with Azzi and Nika, and ignore Paige until she dies! Simple!
Not.
The six foot basketball star is exactly how she is described, six feet and a basketball star. No one could ignore that even if they tried, which Athena would but fail. It was times like these that Athena wished she had her mom to lean on, she would know what to say. At the thought of her mom, she lightly ran her fingers over the tattoo she got for her. A small quote she always used to say to her, "stay focused, stay strong." tattooed on her left forearm in cursive letters. Just a reminder that she would always be right there with her, even if it wasn't physically.
She had other tattoos, most dedicated to her mom or dad but some others that she got just for her. Athena is a big believer in motivational quotes, having 5 quotes on her body, 2 from her mom, 2 from her dad, and one from her coach in high school. She also had tattooed the birth flowers of each family member in a vase on the right side of her ribs, it was small enough to be considered hidden, but large enough to slightly peek through when she wore a short shirt.
A text message knocked her out of the trance she was in, it was just a text from KK confirming she wasn't bailing on them. Like she had a choice when they all practically ganged up on her, making plans to physically kidnap her not caring if she saw them in the group chat.
Paige was pretty silent in the group chat, only texting a thumbs up of conformation, which was weird for her. Back in high school she spammed Athena every chance she got, telling her every move like a sports commentator. Paige hadn't texted her again, getting the hint that Athena didn't want to talk to her after she left her on seen, which she could see because she left her read receipts on. All hope went out the window the minute after she saw Athena read the text then didn't respond.
Paige was just hoping for a chance to maybe explain herself, try to fix what they had. The blonde had truly missed the brunette, she thought about her almost daily even before she transferred to UCONN. The transfer just multiplied everything by 10. Her thoughts? Athena. Her actions? Reminding her of Athena. White roses? Well of fucking course.
She physically ached thinking about the girl, on the edge of tears each time. Azzi was her therapist, coming to her room and ranting about Athena for an hour every other day. The other days she ranted to her camera app.
Paige was both extremely excited and wanted to crawl into a hole and rot there. She had no clue what to say to the girl, it's not like Athena would seek her out to talk to her but Paige sure would. But then again Athena might punch her straight in the face if she spoke to her about this in front of everyone.
She just wants another chance. A chance to make it right, a chance to talk it all out and have her best friend back. She just wanted Athena back. So Paige declared she would do every thing in her power to earn back Athena's love, she was willing to get on her knees and beg just for her to look at her. She didn't even want to think about what she would do for Athena to forgive her, but it was extensive.
Athena only let a few people inside her bubble, Paige being the first outside of her family, and quite possibly the last. She trusted that girl with her life, spending years building a relationship with the blonde. Only for her to break it with a few sentences.
Athena basically shut down, similar to when her mom died, she stopped talking, only when necessary would she speak. It was borderline pathetic the hold Paige had on her. She spent months crying in her UCLA dorm room at 4am just wondering what she had done wrong.
Paige was the same, not shutting down fully but definitely lost her spark. The spark only Athena could bring out in her. Both of their teammates forced them to go out on nights, and slowly they let go of the past, for the moment, only to go home full of alcohol and debating if they should just call the other.
"Paige! Can you believe we are hanging out with the Athena Booker tomorrow?! That's crazy, right?!" KK said, busting into Paige's room.
"yeah...crazy..." Paige dryly responded, still staring at her phone which just so happened to randomly, unexpectedly, uniquely, be on Athena's most recent instagram post.
"Girly what is your problem?? Do you hate her or something?? Why are you acting like she's your mortal enemy??" KK persistently asked.
"I don't hate her and she's not my mortal enemy."
"Do you wanna jump her bones or something because you look at her like you do."
"what the fuck, no i don't" well...
"Tell that to your face." KK shrugged as she backed out of the doorway, into the hallway.
"I don't!" Paige shouted after KK.
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Saturday. The day Athena marked in her calendar as 'hell day??' Unsure about how today would go. She had a plan for ignoring Paige, and if she behaved, maybe they could talk after. Maybe.
They had planned, actually KK had planned, to meet at the basketball players dorms, because in her words, "it's easier for one person to get out the door then 5 basketball players." Valid.
Athena basically stared at her ceiling until she had to get ready. She only put on light makeup and something nice but still comfy. She played her hype playlist she used for soccer because she definitely needed to use it to get hype enough to face Paige after, one, leaving her on read, and two, the last 3 years of her life.
The soccer player grabbed her keys and headed out the door, fighting the thought to cancel last minute and say she had Bronchitis. She didn't, obviously, and she couldn't even if she did have Bronchitis. KK had been so thrilled about this that she would feel so horrible if she missed it. Athena figured out quickly that she was definitely the loud one of the group, the others just dealing with it and staying in their zone most of the time.
Athena thought this would just be a simple 2 hour, maybe 3, easy, hangout but oh how wrong she was about to be.
She arrived at the dorms, knocking on the door she was greeted by none other then the girl she left on read. Paige stood in matching, navy blue sweats and hoodie with her hair pulled into a slick back bun. Athena absentmindedly checking her out, "hey" she mumbled.
"Hi." Awkward.
Paige stood with her hand on the door, staring at Athena. Athena staring back for a moment, then breaking contact, then repeating the process. They stood there for what felt like hours, and Paige was about to speak but she was cut off by Nika, "P let the girl in!"
Paige mumbled a embarrassed 'sorry' then moved to the side to let Athena walk through, closing the door behind her. Athena was greeted by all the girls she expected to see plus a few extra, who she assumed to be other people on the team.
She made herself comfortable, sitting on the couch while waiting for everyone. Once everyone was in the common room, she stood up and asked if everyone was ready. They all replied, expect Paige, and headed out the door.
Athena didn't know where they were going, KK planning this whole thing from start to finish, "So KK, what are we doing?"
"Well! First we are getting food because we are starving. Grampy worked us to the bone today." KK responded, getting in the white car.
Everyone else piled in the back seats, leaving Athena to ask, "who's going up front, and also who is driving?"
"Oh you get to be up front, being the guest and all, and P is driving." Nika answered.
Athena was going to protest but KK shouted at her to get in the car. She was now terrified of hangry KK and got into the car...next to Paige. Driving Paige. Naturally her eyes drifted to the driver, seeing her put the car in drive and rest her hand on the top of the steering wheel, resting her other hand on her thigh.
Athena stared a little too long at the hand on her thigh, then broke her stare by conversing with the people sitting behind her. Paige tried her best to keep her eyes on the road, and she did, but every chance she had, she looked over at the brunette. She wanted so badly to grab her hand and ask her to tell her everything was ok, but she also wanted to just talk to her.
The chaos behind her driving gave her a slight chance to talk to her, so she reached her free hand over, hesitating before gently tapping Athena's thigh. Athena looked over at the touch, staring directly into Paige's eyes. Holding eye contact with Paige was like riding a bike, something you can go forever without doing but you never really forget how to.
Paige took a minute to find the words then softly spoke, "can we please talk? please?" She was grateful it was a red light right now, because she wanted to look at Athena when she said this, hoping to convey all her regret into one look, "i really have some things i need to tell you, so please?"
The light turned green but Paige didn't notice, only caring about the green she was currently lost in. A car honked at her, drawing her attention back to the road and some hate from the girls sitting behind her.
Athena was at a loss, on one hand, she had been waiting years for this, for Paige's explanation, but on the other, did she really want to hear it? Hear some lame ass excuse as to why she told her it was all 'a big mistake' and 'something we never should've done.' Why she broke their code. She should keep that to herself.
Athena nodded her head anyway, she was never one to be able to reject Paige, even now. Paige smiled and focused back on the road, "after we are done here, come back with me to my room. we can talk there."
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Lunch went smoothly, Athena easily falling in with the group. Making jokes, telling stories, and showing off her tattoos when asked about them.
Paige was enthralled with every word she spoke, wanting to digest each syllable she said. She had begged Nika to let her sit next to her while they were waiting for the food. Nika ultimately agreed once Paige offered her 20 bucks and free coffee for a week. Paige had a dopey smile on her face, sitting next to Athena was the littlest of things but not to Paige.
Paige made to get as close to her as she would allow. It was a small booth so they did have to squish together but Paige was more then happy to squeeze next to Athena. She was in contact with the brunette the whole time. Weather it be their thighs or shoulders touching, or their hands brushing after both going for the ketchup at the same time, she didn't care, Paige took anything she could get at this point.
Paige noticed Athena's leg still did the thing where it bounced every time she was even semi nervous and she had to fight every cell in her body not to reach out and place it on her thigh, just like she did when they were younger. She couldn't do that so she just stuffed her face with fries instead.
After lunch, there was a fair in town and KK somehow managed to get tickets to so that was their next stop.
Athena had her arm slung around Nika and Azzi, walking in sync with their legs, as they walked around the fair. KK spotted a soccer booth, where you had to kick the ball past the goalkeeper to win a prize. Naturally KK dragged Athena towards the booth and begged the older to get her the giant dolphin stuffed animal prize.
Athena agreed and took her place behind the soccer ball, she wasn't wearing great shoes for kicking but that still didn't matter. The guy working the stand tried to protest saying, 'she's fucking Athena Booker, that's cheating.' but shut up when Paige handed him 20 dollars. Athena decided to do her normal routine when taking a penalty kick, dragging it out just for KK.
She strided towards the ball and perfectly hit it with her laces, sending it into the top left corner of the goal. The horn of the machine went off, signaling she won, and she went over to the guy to collect her dolphin. All the other girls were stood with their jaw dropped, they knew she could kick hard, but watching it live was a whole different thing. And that was just in her tennis shoes, what the fuck could she do in her normal cleats.
Athena handed the dolphin to KK then took off towards the food stands. Paige followed right on her tail, "damn you kick hard hat trick...would hate to be the goalkeeper on the other side of you." she joked.
Athena laughed, genuinely laughed, not forced or anything, a real laugh. Paige smiled, that short moment feeling like the old them, the better them. Athena didn't even notice the use of her nickname by Paige, mainly caring about getting a churro but also not caring.
Paige was thankful she didn't, because she was worried she would've been the next target for her foot if she did notice. The girls joined Athena, all getting churros and continuing their wondering.
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It was around 9pm when everyone started getting tired from all the walking, eating, and activities they did. They piled into the car, same seats, and headed back to the dorms. Athena was so lost in the day, she almost forgot about what lied ahead, almost. She was hit with the cold truth when Paige asked to confirm about their...talk.
Paige parked the car right outside the dorms, announcing they were here to the half sleeping girls in the car. They all slightly perked up, just enough to get up and out the car and to their rooms. Paige unlocked the door and held it open for everyone, including Athena, then followed behind her.
She pointed Athena in the direction of her room, promising to be right there. She had to grab a glass of water to prepare herself for this, then another for Athena. Paige carried the two waters to her room, opening the cracked door she saw Athena mindlessly looking around her room.
She stopped when she saw the picture of the two of them, the same one from that article. She smiled to herself, reaching out to touch it, "that's my favorite one of us." Paige spoke, noticing the girl staring at it. Athena retracted her hand and turned to face the blonde.
Paige handed her the glass of water that was for her and shut the door. She sat on the edge of her bed and patted the space next to her for Athena to sit. Athena put her water down on Paige's desk, then sat down next to her, keeping a respectful distance between the two.
Paige chugged her entire water before she said anything, "Ok uhm...im just gonna get- get right into it." She shifted nervously, now facing Athena, "I'm sorry. I'm more than sorry, I'm- I'm so, extremely sorry Athena i can't even begin to describe it. I don't know what the hell i was thinking then, my actions and words are unforgivable and i never should've done any of it." Paige paused for a moment and licked her lips, "I was scared. Actually terrified. I got into the idea that you wouldn't want to talk to me anymore when you were at UCLA. That you would be too busy for me and realize your life was better without talking to me. I mean you were going to a school that was on the other side of the country from me. I guess i just thought that i would save us the trouble of trying to make our friendship or relationship or whatever the fuck it was work and make you hate me instead. So you didn't have to worry about making time and could just focus on soccer." Paige sniffed, "It's stupid, i know it is, i know that now. And i wish i could go back and take it all back, but i can't and i- I'm just really really fucking sorry Thea...I'm so sorry."
Paige was borderline tears at this point, and so was Athena except she let one slip. All this time she thought Paige hated her, wanted nothing to do with her anymore. But that was completely wrong, she was trying to look out for her, in the most stupid way possible.
5 minutes had passed, 5 minutes of silence, "please say something, yell at me, hit me, hug me, i don't care just say something, please." Paige begged, reaching up to wipe a lonesome tear from her eyelid.
Athena couldn't. She quite literally had no words. Her mouth wasn't functioning like she wanted it too. She wanted to tell it she forgave her, that she was a fucking idiot, or that she didn't care and wanted her back but nothing. Literally nothing came out.
She always thought actions spoke louder then words, and with the combination of Paige's actions and words, there was no way she was not going to forgive Paige. She was her weak spot, from the minute they met to the minute they pass.
"you are a fucking idiot." Athena finally spoke, quiet enough she wasn't sure if Paige heard her, but with the deafening silence in the room, she definitely did.
Paige softly chuckled, "i know....i'm sorry. I just want you back in my life, i don't care how. I need you to survive, these past few years have felt like i've been drowning."
Why? If this is how she felt they why did she do it? Why didn't she just talk to Athena about it? They talked about it so many times, how they would fly out to see each other in their off seasons, how they would facetime every night for Athena to tuck Paige into bed for the night with the time difference, how they would make it work.
"I'm here superstar....I'm here." Athena said as she pulled Paige into a much waited hug. Paige melted into the girl, extremely familiar with the feeling, she too wondered why she did it when her hugs felt like this. One hug from Athena, in Paige's mind, would solve all the worlds problem. She was like a fluffy, heated blanket, something you never want to let go of.
Paige rested her head on Athena's shoulder, just like she always did with everyone, but with Athena she had her face towards her neck, inhaling her scent. The same scent she's had since she was 12.
It definitely wasn't enough, the apology, but they would get to that later, this was enough for now.
"You know you're going to have to work for my trust again, right?" Athena said, soft enough to not break their moment.
"I'll do anything."
And she would. Paige would literally do anything for Athena.