Rivals Pt. 01

"Second rule, I've already stated it, but I'm going to state it one more time, only speak when spoken too," Fionna says. "Third rule, the hygiene of the house is now your responsibility. It will be your duty to make sure the weekly cleaning list is taken care of each week. If the trash is ever full, take it out. If they're dishes in the sink, wash them, dry them, and put them back in their place. Got it?"

"Understood," we all say not in unison.

"Rule 4!" Cat says. "You all are to remain sober for the entire season. If we need a DD, one of you will be called to pick us up and drive us around."

"If you don't have a car, you can drive one of ours. But so help me god, if one of our cars gets scratched, there will be hell to pay," Kennedy adds.

"Also, nothing said behind closed doors in a team meeting can be repeated outside of the team," Fionna says as she looks at every single one of us."

"Listen," Kennedy says as she let's go of Cat. "We're successful because we're more than a team."

"We're a god damn family," Fionna says. Her words echo in my head.

"That means, you will have each other's backs no matter what. Any questions?" Kennedy asks.

We all start shaking our heads.

"Good, now you've got your work cut out for you. This house hasn't been cleaned in a long time and none of you can leave here until it's spotless. The list is posted on the corkboard up in the kitchen. You better get to work if you want to leave her at a decent time," Fionna says. We all scramble to climb out of the basement. Dannielle sighs all the way up the stairs.

Looking at the list, it's really not all that bad. Nothing I haven't done at my job. "I'll clean the bathroom."

"Seriously? Why would you want to do the bathroom?" Sarah asks.

"I'm used to cleaning bathrooms. I've got cleaning bathrooms down to a system," I say.

"Fine by me. I'll take a crack at the mountain of dishes," Sarah says.

"I'll be damned if I clean up after them," Danielle says.

"Have you ever cleaned a day in your life?" I ask.

"Pff. No. That's what you pay people for," she says, flipping her perfect blonde hair.

"You know, somehow I'm not surprised," I say.

"I'll dust and vacuum," Maly says.

"I guess I'll clean up the trash and take it out," The only other freshman I don't know. I think her name is Leena?

"This is so stupid." Danielle opens up the fridge. "Oh my god, this is so disgusting. There's no way I'm going to clean the fridge out."

"Fine, we'll just clean it out ourselves," Sarah says. "And when Kennedy asks us why you're not helping out, well just tell her you're not committed to the team."

"Urgh," She growls out. "I did not come here to be someone's maid."

And yet, she bucks up and starts to clean the fridge out.

"Since we have to do this weekly, I say we just start a rotation," I shout out.

"Obviously!" Sarah shouts back from the kitchen. God, I can't stand her, but I'd rather spend all day with Sarah than a minute with Daniele. At least with Sarah, even though I may not like her, I respect her. She works hard and she is at least a team player. Daniele complains constantly, she's selfish and is so arrogant.

Cleaning the house doesn't take us nearly as long as they made it to be. We're out of there before 10. "You know, that wasn't so bad," I say as we walk out.

"Are you serious?" Danielle says.

"Ehh, I'm used to cleaning. I do at home, I might as well do it here too," Sarah sighs.

"You know, Walk on is right about you, you can't possibly be rich," Danielle says to Sarah.

"I know, right? That's what I've been trying to tell her, but I swear she just doesn't listen," she retorts. I'm not sure whether I should feel insulted or if I want to laugh. You know, Sarah's actually kind of funny.

"Will you girls ever stop arguing?" Maly asks.

"Well, maybe if they ever stop talking. Then I'll have nothing to argue about," Sarah says with her bright smile. I've never really noticed it before, but it can light up the night better than the moon and stars. The way she wears her blonde hair in a mess or tied up in a ponytail as she did during practice, just doesn't really fit the whole picture I painted in my head of her. I just always assumed everyone who went to a private school were always wealthy rich kids who never work a day in their lives. Sarah's definitely not at all like that. She's funny, she works hard, she's a team player and she doesn't complain.

--

Sarah's POV

The Next Morning

"What are you doing up?" Marcela asks me as I sneak out of our bunk room.

"I could ask you the same thing," I say, grabbing my shoes and getting my gear ready.

"I always get up this early. I like to get a good practice in first thing every day."

"You've got to be kidding me," I sigh. How do we have the same routines? I need to beat her. Fuck, why do I feel this way for someone from Boyne City? But she's so fucking adorable. And... I just love to mess with her. The way she nerded over the starters was the cutest thing I've ever seen. A bit pathetic and she's definitely a dork, but she's so... Beautiful.

We both grab our gear and head out of the dorm. We walk the entire way to the gym in silence and All I can think about is what I could say to ease the awkwardness. I wish I could just tell her the truth. That I had a crush on her since the first time we played against each other in 8th grade. She's one of the reasons I work so hard because I want to impress her. I want to tell her how much I love how dedicated she is to become the best. The way she works so hard to achieve her goals just causes something inside me to burn hot.

I love how flustered I can make her. I just hope she doesn't hate my guts for pushing her buttons. I just can't help myself when I'm around her. She's just so damn cute. She's kind of a girl scout. Always doing the right thing. Always expect the best from other people.

As we enter the gym, I head over to the other side of the court and start to warm up as I steal glances over at her while she works on her dribbling drills. She wears the same kind of headband Kennedy wears and it does a great job of holding all that black hair that I just want to run my hands throughout her face. The fact that she's almost a head shorter than me only adds to how much I adore her. And those wide hips...

No... I can't get caught up in Marcela. I came to this school to make something of my life. I fought so hard to get where I'm at. I can't stop. I won't stop. Not for Marcela, not for anyone. I'm going to become the best basketball player ever and I'm going to get my degree. I'm going to do something great with my life. I owe it to my mother. That's what she'd want.

We both work hard, pushing ourselves. Working on our drills. I spend every minute, practicing various shooting and dribbling drills. I shoot around the arch until I can't miss. I practice my shot off the dribble. I work on my crossover and other dribbling techniques. By the end of it, I've worked up quite a sweat.

I glance over at Marcela and she's still going strong. God, what has possessed this girl? She goes at it as if she had an endless supply of energy. Like the energizer bunny, she just keeps going and going. I can't let her outwork me! Not today. Not ever!

By the time she finally calls it, we're both drenched. "I'd thought you'd quit a long time ago," I say as she changes out of her basketball shoes."

She only laughs. "Yeah, right. You wish."

No not at all. "You know, there's no way you're ever going to surpass me, right?"

"Sarah, it's only a matter of time," she says, looking up at me with those dark brown eyes. It's like staring into the night sky at the twilight of dawn the way the lights sparkle off of them.

"Only in your wildest dreams, Rambler. What even is a rambler anyways? Like a wheel with wings? That's such a stupid mascot," I say as I take a seat next to her and change out of my shoes.

"Hey, I didn't pick the mascot, but at least we never had to recruit to win games," she says.

"And that's why you never won a game," I say. "If your school would've recruited me, you'd be state champions."

"As if," she says.

"Okay, Dandi," I say with a smirk.

"Oh shut up!" She spits out as she gets up and starts to walk away. I quickly get my shoes on and catch up to her.

"Awww, did I hit a nerve?" I ask.

"Don't you have something better to do than annoy me?" she asks.

"But annoying you is so much fun!" I laugh as I trail behind her. My eyes slowly take all of her in. Her silky black hair that seems to shine as the morning sun hits it. The way her ass just eats up those shorts... And the way those calves flex with every step. God I knew college would be hard, but I never thought it'd be this hard. I'm going to have to go take an ice-cold shower to get rid of all these thoughts and feelings.

"So... What classes are you taking this semester?" I ask as I walk up beside her.

"Why do you care?" she asks.

"Oh come on. I know we're "rivals" and all, but you're the only person here that I know. You're so lucky to have Cat, I'm not going to lie, I'm totally jealous," I admit.

"Well... I guess you're right. Cat is more like a big sister than a best friend per se. Even though we grew up next door, she was 2 years older than me and she was the coolest girl at school. She wasn't your typical superficial popular girl or anything. She was just so chill. I admired her and even wanted to be like her ever since we met. So it's not like I was ever invited to her house for slumber parties or anything," she says.

"But even still, she's someone you can talk to, right?" I say.

"Yeah, true. Still, I'm kind of shocked to see her with Kennedy. I had no idea," she says.

"Really?"

"No. Not a clue. As I said, I was never really invited over or anything. She treated me like an annoying kid sister. Don't get me wrong, she was always nice to me and always gave me rides to school and whatnot, but I was never the one she came to tell all her secrets to," she says.

"So what do you think about her being... Gay?" I ask. I don't know what exactly I'm hoping for.

"Oh, I have no problem with it. I'd never judge someone," she says.

Does that mean she's straight? God... That's just like me to fall for the straight girl. "Cool..."

"You know, I gotta say, you're not who I expected you to be," she says.

"And what exactly were you expecting?" I ask.

"I thought everyone who went to private schools were stuck up bitches that were spoiled rich kids," she says.

"Oh? While I thought everyone that went to Boyne were hillbilly farmers who were missing teeth," I say. She snorts out a laugh.

"I guess, you're not so bad." I can feel the heat rush to my cheeks over such a simple compliment.

"Yeah, you're not the simple farm girl I thought you were. Besides, I'd much rather hang out with you than Danielle," I laugh.

"Finally, something we can agree on. Danielle is the worst," she says.

"Right? And you thought I was an uppity rich bitch. That girl takes the meaning to an entirely different level," I laugh.

"No joke. Could she be any more superficial? I'm so pissed she got the best of me during practice yesterday," she says.

"Don't sweat it, you only made one mistake. Besides, even with that mistake, I thought you played so much better than she did," I say.

"Are you kidding me? She beat me almost every time we faced off. If I don't get my shit together, I'll be the one getting cut," she says.

"Yeah, right. Are you kidding me? They all love you. Danielle may have talent, but she's not a team player. You heard what Kennedy said, the team must always come first. That's not who Danielle is, but you've proven yesterday that you're more than willing to put the team first," I say.

"You really think so?" she asks.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I'd choose you on my team. Especially over Danielle," I tell her as we arrive back at our dorm. Her face blooms like a rose bush and I can't lie, it's really melting my heart.

As we walk in, the annoying voice of Danielle makes my skin crawl. "Do you really think so? Yeah? God, maybe tonight after practice you can come over..." she says on her phone.

I can't help but roll my eyes. I can only imagine the type of guy that would get with this hoe...

***

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