INNOCENT - paige bueckers

5. real life!

IT HAD BEEN a few days since the party. faye had spent them finishing setting up her dorm, practicing for basketball, and getting to know the girls she would be playing with.

she had actually grown to enjoy spending time with all of them, especially one certain tall blonde girl.

it was monday, which meant two things. one, she had been in connecticut for 4 days, and two, it was the first day of school.

to say faye was nervous would be a huge understatement. she was practically crawling out of her skin.

a common misconception people had about faye was that things came easy for her. many believed she had it all, intelligence, wealth, talent. that was the person she pretended to be, but she was far from it.

in truth, nothing was ever easy for her. she always had to try try try. in school, she spent hours upon hours studying and doing seemingly pointless extra credit assignments just to get ahead. in public, she always had to make sure to smile at the right people and say the right things, constantly worrying if she was going to mess up and make a fool of herself.

the only thing she feared more than failure was the idea that one day she wouldn't be able to find the real faye under the mask she wore. she did not want to become her father and his shelves with untouched books.

so she was stuck between being what she thought everyone wanted her to be, and who she really was.

basketball was never like that. there was no need to pretend when you were on the court. it also helped that it seemed to be the one thing she didn't have to torture herself for to be good at.

sure, she worked hard to be good, harder than most, but she enjoyed it. she enjoyed every second of it, because for the first time she felt like she belonged to something.

now, with her nerves eating away at her, she couldn't focus on anything. her mind was everywhere and nowhere, scattered trying to do a million things and not actually doing anything.

she rushed to get ready, trying to make sure she didn't forget anything. ice sat on her bed, looking at faye with a half-amused, half-worried expression.

"you know we still have like 45 minutes before our first class, right?" she said, sitting up and leaning against the headboard.

"i know, i just don't wanna fuck up and forget something that i'll need later on." she said. she was desperately trying to find the stack of sticky notes she swore she had put on her desk the night before.

"faye, calm down. it's not as bad as you think it is, it's basically just sitting around listening to a prof drone on. plus, it's the first day of school, they aren't going to make you do any actual work." ice had been trying for the past hour to calm her down, but it had little effect.

"i know that, but still. i'm just scared that i'm
not gonna be good enough. like what if i don't pass my classes this year? what if i'm not good enough at basketball? what if-"

"are you hearing yourself right now? your one of the smartest bitches i know. didn't you graduate with like a 4.0? and basketball, your amazing at basketball. there's no need to worry about any of that." ice had gotten up and placed her hands on the girls shoulders, in a reassuring way. faye nodded, trying to convince herself that what ice had said was true.

they spent the rest of the time slowly getting ready, making small talk while they picked out their outfits and did their hair.

after they'd finished getting ready, they got into their respective vehicles and drove off to the main buildings, where the classrooms were held.