Page 11

MAYA

I had no idea what kind of DM I was supposed to send to a superstar college basketball player.

Theo had asked me to message her so casually that it had initially been fine. I was cool, collected. I knew what I was doing. She’d been the one to ask, so the ball was technically in my court, so to speak.

After the game, Iris had relentlessly teased me about being a future WAG—which I’d finally learned was wives and girlfriends in relation to sports—all the way home, and I’d spent the whole time insisting that it wasn’t anything.

And there were points when I almost convinced myself that it was true, that everything with Theo really wasn’t that serious to me, and this was all for the story, the bragging rights.

The buzz of the alcohol had helped significantly in keeping me sane and confident. I felt like the coolest version of myself. I had basically the female college-level LeBron James telling me to DM her. That was the definition of hot girl shit.

But it was much easier to be confident immediately after the game, when there was still alcohol coursing through my bloodstream and I hadn’t gotten in my head yet.

I’d even kept the high going when I’d gone out after the game with Iris, hitting up a house party down the street hosted by some of her friends.

The whole night, I thought about Theo in passing—her arms during the game, the confidence of her playing.

The way she moved around the court like she knew everyone was there to see her perform.

The game had been fun to watch, but it’d been impossible to keep my eyes off of her when she was playing—and I wasn’t even sure if that was because she was hot or if it was because she was just that enjoyable to watch.

I’d carried the warm, intoxicating buzz that came with being around Theo close to my chest all night.

I wasn’t such a cool girl that I was going to wait days to reach out, but I couldn’t bring myself to send something immediately.

I wanted to keep the feeling going, and I was scared it might go away as soon as I messaged her.

I wasn’t sure I was ready for the bubble to burst yet.

It was such a fresh, fragile feeling I’d never experienced before.

I’d also clocked that I was the only girl she’d spoken to in the stands—other than the people who wanted autographs—but that didn’t mean I was the only girl on her radar.

Not that I cared.

But either way, I didn’t want to come across as too eager.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she was tired of people being excited to meet her, excited for their chance to be with a star player.

I had to find a balance in there somewhere—genuinely glad to be talking to her, but not too into it.

A normal amount of excitement, whatever that meant.

It wasn’t until I got home, hopped in the shower, put on my pajamas, and was left alone in my quiet room with no Iris to keep my mind busy that reality sank in.

Thinking about DMing Theo was a hell of a lot easier than actually drafting a DM to her.

I rolled over onto my side. It was rounding on three in the morning, and I was sobering up from the game and the party after.

Not a single DM idea I had felt right, and I was starting to get in my head about it now that the alcohol was leaving my body.

Was a simple hey good enough? A remember me ?

I didn’t want to completely embarrass myself right off the bat with the first message. I could absolutely still fuck this up.

But I didn’t even know why I cared so much. She was hot, but lots of people were hot. She was a basketball player, but I didn’t even like sports. None of it made sense. There was no reason why she was the specific person who caught my eye.

I put my face into my pillow and groaned. I didn’t even know Theo McCall, and she was driving me crazy.

I turned over again, staring at the streak of moonlight coming through my curtains. I had to get over this somehow.

And maybe getting over it needed to include getting to know her.

Part of my identity at this point was never wanting to get too close.

I loved to flirt and loved the game of getting someone’s attention.

But I never wanted to actually keep it; it was never that serious.

And it was usually because there were things about them that I couldn’t get around, tiny icks that ruined the whole thing—the way they ate, their hobbies, their opinions on completely minute things.

I was quick to get into something and quick to leave.

I just had to find something that would make me want to leave Theo McCall.

I woke up to my alarm the next morning, groggy and confused.

I didn’t remember falling asleep, but I knew I definitely didn’t get enough of it.

My phone was still in my hand, and I panicked for a moment, wondering if I’d sent Theo something in the midst of being exhausted.

But when I unlocked my phone, there was nothing—only Theo’s Instagram page.

Just as I was about to say fuck it and roll over, Iris knocked on my bedroom door.

“Maya! You up? We should get moving soon. I have a smoothie made for you already.”

I debated on telling her I couldn’t go anymore. It was so much easier to agree to go out for an early morning workout when I was sober and not exhausted. But right now, I was experiencing a hangover and my body felt like a bag of sand. I couldn’t workout under these conditions .

But I also didn’t want to leave Iris high and dry. And it’d been too long since I’d last been.

“I’m getting up,” I said, mostly to myself.

“I’ll be in the kitchen!” she responded, way too chipper for the circumstances.

“Okay,” I said, half-groaning.

I dragged myself out of bed and pulled on workout clothes. By the time I had my hair up, I was back in the swing of things. Despite being exhausted, it felt good to get up and actually get myself moving instead of moping around and letting my hangover win.

I met Iris in the kitchen where she was drinking a green smoothie. Her blonde hair was tightly braided, and she was wearing her favorite matching set. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Sickly.”

“Sorry,” she said with earnest empathy. “I would’ve let you stay in bed if you wanted to.”

“This is good for me. I should get up,” I said. “I had a hard time falling asleep.”

“Up all night messaging Theo?”

My face went hot as I poured out my portion of the smoothie into a cup. I leaned against the kitchen counter. “No, I haven’t messaged her yet.”

“Up all night fantasizing about your lover-to-be? Decided to play hard to get?” she teased.

“I wouldn’t blame you for being into her.

She’s a lot of fun to watch on the court.

Totally different meeting her than I thought it would be based on how her games go.

But she only bickered, like, once with the refs this game, which is low for her. Maybe she’s mellowing in her old age.”

“It was cool to see her out there,” I admitted.

“Would you wanna come to another game with me?” Iris asked, practically fluttering her eyelashes at me.

The thought made me surprisingly uneasy—the thought of seeing Theo again in general made me uneasy. But it also excited me. The flutter in my chest was something new and I liked it and was scared of it in equal measure.

I just wasn’t sure it was worth it to really lean into. I could easily run from it all before it actually turned into anything, leaving it so Theo was never anything more than a memory.

Then I remembered: find something that would make you want to leave . I had to hold myself to that promise; otherwise, I was going to waste my senior year of college away pining over some random athlete I wouldn’t remember in two years.

“Yeah, I’ll go with you,” I said.

Iris cheered. “This is the best early Christmas present I could ever ask for. I would say I’m surprised watching Theo play was what did it for you, but she tends to have that effect on everyone.”

My stomach knotted. Little did Iris know that was exactly my fear .

Because Iris and I were up early on a Friday morning—by design, neither of us had morning classes on Fridays—there weren’t many people at the student gym.

Since we’d been coming here around the same time for a few weeks, we’d gotten used to seeing most of the same faces and knew the general routine of what equipment would be open.

But as I was wandering around, I couldn’t help but feel pairs of eyes on me. I glanced down and patted myself, making sure I hadn’t somehow forgotten a shirt or pants or something. My period had ended last week, so I knew it couldn’t possibly be that.

I looked around, eyeing the curious faces. Maybe I had something on my face or my hair looked like shit.

“Do I look weird?” I whispered, leaning toward Iris.

“No, why?” she asked, completely oblivious to what I was seeing.

“I feel like people are…looking at me,” I said.

Iris looked at me, surprised and visibly weirded out. She playfully pressed a palm to my forehead. “Are you feeling okay? Not that I think people even are looking at you, but you’ve never once been the kind of person to shy away from attention.”

“I’m not shying away, it’s just…” I looked around, catching the eyes of a girl nearby who’d been looking at me. I felt like a teenager who’d smoked a bunch of weed and then been dropped in a grocery store. I leaned in even closer to Iris. “I really think they’re looking at me. ”

“Maybe you being a weirdo who’s frantically looking around is catching people’s attention,” she teased. She put her headphones on. “Everything’s fine. Go workout.”