The Beauty of Basketball (Paige Bueckers)

Chapter 32

Lemme stop playin with yall and update this bihh

Third person pov:

It's been three days since the party. Since Amari went missing. It had affected everyone, even people Amari didn't know personally. Everyone who knew her got quieter. Nobody wanted to talk because they knew Amiri would be brought up. Everything reminded them of her. But out of everyone Paige had it the worse. Paige couldn't sleep and was barely eating. Her performance in basketball had gotten worse. She didn't even go to the gym in the mornings. Which was an everyday routine for her. She mostly stayed in bed. She had bags under her eyes, her lips were chapped and her hair was messy. She didn't want to talk to anyone if it wasn't Amari. Social Media wasn't helping. It was everywhere. Paige couldn't escape. And the slideshow audios would make her cry every time.

Paige often caught herself counting the hours. She didn't know what was happening to her. She was going crazy and she absolutely hated it. Paige didn't like not being in control. It was a characteristic both her and Amiri shared. Midnight would hit and Paige would be washing dishes silently or sleeping. She had nothing else to do. Tears were always prickling her eyes. Threatening to escape. Threatening to reveal to the world how vulnerable she actually is. At times sobs would escape. She would grab a pillow and hold it. Just like how she would hold Amiri.

As time passed the sadness turned into guilt and anger. Paige would ask herself repeatedly "Why didn't I go with her?" It wasn't Paige's fault but she was starting to believe that it was.

Paige didn't have Amiri, she was definitely not alright.

Right now Paige was laying in her bed looking at the ceiling. Paige knew that she can't let herself go. She worked too hard and came too far to go back. She stretched in bed, then got up and headed to the kitchen.

"Hey you" said Azzi

"Hey" Paige said softly

"How you feeling?"

"Tired that's all"

"I know there's more but I'll leave it alone"

"Thanks"

"You hungry?"

"Yeah"

"I can make something for us to eat or we can DoorDash your choice"

"Whatever is easiest. I don't really care"

"How hungry are you?"

"Pretty hungry"

"Okay well then we'll DoorDash"

"Find with me"

"What you want?"

"Wingstop"

"Kkk what you want?"

Paige's heart dropped. A frown formed on her face but she quickly replaced it with a smile. Amiri always said that.

"Um just get the boneless meal and we can split it"

"That works, anything to drink?"

"Nah we have soda here"

"You right. Our doordasher is Austin"

"I bet he drives a lifted truck"

"I bet he's blonde and has cowboy boots on"

"Omg yes"

"We gon have to see"

Azzi and I sat on the couch, watching a movie, waiting for their food.

Ding dong

The doorbell rang, alerting the two girls that their order had arrived. Azzi opened the door to a big man, who might have been Mexican. She didn't want to assume.

"Here you go" he said.

"Thank you"

"Hey ain't you that basketball player?" He said pointing at her.

"Yeah I am" she laughed.

"Yoo big fan, sorry about what happened to that girl. Prayers goes out to her friends and family"

"Thank you so much"

"No problem have a blessed day"

"You too"

Paige closed the door and sighed.

"He didn't look like how we expected him too" Azzi said

Paige laughed.

They ate their food on the couch and continued the movie.

Paige felt her phone vibrating. She picked it up and saw that Imani was calling. Azzi noticed this and paused the movie. Paige answered and put it on speaker at full volume. It was quiet.

"Hello?" Asked Paige looking at Azzi.

They could hear Imani frantically breathing. She was shaken up.

"She's sitting on the couch."