Page 49 of Full Court Crush

She opened the curtains, letting bright light into the room, before sitting on the sofa. She tried to bask in the quiet, but her mind was full of anxious energy as memories of the night before made her shiver. The clock on the sideboard showed it was a little after twelve, so she pulled out her phone and typed a quick text to Sonia, asking if she was awake yet. She needed to put this energy somewhere, and talking it through with her best friend seemed like a good idea. Sonia must have sensed her need, because a few minutes later, she was video calling Keira.

“Hey.”

“Hey, I’m just getting ready to head to work, what’s up?” Sonia turned and put something in a bag Keira heard rustle off screen. She’d leant the phone against something as she moved about the room.

“Why does something have to be up?” Keira asked.

“I know you,” Sonia replied, staring directly at the screen. Keira shifted on the sofa.

“There may have been an…incident.”

“Oh?” Sonia picked up some sports tape and scissors and put them in the bag.

“I slept with Amelia.”

For a few torturous seconds there was silence as Sonia finished packing. She seemed to be weighing her words.

“Was it bad?”

“No?”

“Then why are you so worked up about it? You’re practically vibrating in that chair.”

“I don’t know what it means.”

“Ah, you see, when a woman loves another woman…” Sonia began with a smirk on her face.

“Shut up.” Keira laughed.

“Well, what d’you want it to mean?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed.

“Have you asked her about it?”

“No, she was gone by the time I woke up. She had to go to work.”

The look of doubt that fluttered briefly across Sonia’s face expressed everything Keira was trying to say. Had Amelia really needed to go to work, or was she just avoiding Keira? Was this just a one-off, to get it out of their system, or did it mean something more?

“Sounds like you need to talk to her.”

“I know.” Keira ran her free hand down her face. “But what am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, thanks for the sex, I really like you and if this was a one-night stand it might break my heart’?”

“Maybe don’t word it quite like that,” Sonia chuckled. “Look, I gotta go or I’m gonna be late.” Sonia said, picking up the phone and sitting down on the bed with it. “Whatever happens, I’m here for you, okay? Plus, congrats on punching above your weight. Didn’t think you had it in you.” She winked.

“Hey!” Keira exclaimed. “Wait—how do you know what she looks like?”

“Oh, we’re best buds on social media, didn’t you know?” Sonia chuckled. “Byeeeee!”

Sonia hung up, before Keira finished processing. She just stared at the now blank screen, jaw half open.

Nothing good can come of them being friends on social media.

The rest of Sonia’s words hung around in her head, and her fingers hovered over the text chain she had with Amelia.

What on earth would she say? Everything she wanted to say sounded needy and desperate. Eventually, she decided it was not the kind of conversation they should have over text. Plus, if Amelia really was at work, she wouldn’t be able to reply anyway, and Keira thought the waiting might kill her.

She sighed and leant back into the sofa, pulling a cushion to her chest and hugging it, her fingers playing with its frayed edges. A small stain on the fabric caught her attention, and suddenly it was like a barrier had lifted, and she could see every microscopic speck of dirt, on every surface, in detail. She’d been so busy with basketball she’d neglected the house, the space in which her dad spent most of his time when he was not in the hospital. It was a depressing place to try to heal.