Loving The Bad

T H R E E

PRESENT

KAITLYN

It's been two years since I've been at Hayden and everything's going pretty well. I work at the coffee shop down the street which is a ten-minute walk from my dorm. Having a job really helps out because it helps me pay for my dorm and my school fees. 

Ever since I moved from Ottawa, I decided to change myself. I wanted to be different. I didn't want what happened in Ottawa to happen here. So I went to the gym five days a week to keep myself active and also played basketball on my spare time.

I decided to focus on school first before playing for the Huskies and that was two years ago. It was now the end of summer and tryouts were tomorrow. 

To be honest, when I first moved here, I didn't really click with anyone. Even though everyone was friendly, I decided to stay in my shell.  I wasn't ready to explore people just yet, knowing what will really happen if I saw people's true colours.

"Kaitlyn, did you hear?" Nicole asked me, disrupting me from my thoughts. Nicole is one of the employees at the coffee shop that I talk to from time to time. Only when were working. "I heard our manager talking on the phone, well she was yelling. Apparently, the business is going down."

"What do you mean business?" I ask, "The shop, it's closing down."

"Why?" I can't afford to lose this job. The only reason why I'm even surviving is because of this job. "I don't know, but the boss has been telling people to pack up." s**t, this cannot be happening, not right now.

"So then what are we going to do?" I ask and she shrugs, "Dunno, I guess find a new job?"'' But suddenly, people just don't hire you on the spot anymore. I sighed, "Well it was nice knowing you, even though you're always quiet, you were good company." She tells me and I laugh out, "Yea, it was nice working with you too."

Not even an hour later, my boss tells me I'm fired. I guess he didn't want us knowing that the business was closing. When I got to my dorm, I quickly went on my laptop and searched for Part-time jobs. I sat there for about two hours, applying for every single job opening. I honestly didn't care what job it was if it paid well.

I decided that was enough and called it a day and headed to bed.

Waking up early was the hardest thing to do, considering I went to bed late all summer. Was this tryout really worth it?

I quickly took my time in the shower, then after I put on my Nike elite shorts and socks then put on my sports bra while putting on my Nike 'just do it' shirt.

I put my Kyries in my bag as well as my basketball and my water bottle and put my slides on.  The tryouts were taking place at the school so it was literally a two-minute walk. When I got to the gym, I didn't expect a lot of girls to be here. 

I didn't expect them to be that good.

Lucky me

I enter the gym and sit on the bench so I can change into my shoes. After putting them on, I do a couple of stretches just so I don't pull anything. 

I grab my basketball and go to the nearest net just to shoot some shots. Just as I was about to take another shot, a ball collided with my face. "Ah!" I screamed in pain. 

"Oh Shiiiiit, my bad fam. You good?" It took me a while to get my sight back but when I opened them, a brown-skinned girl with box braids greeted me apologetically. "It's okay, it's fine," I say shrugging it off because it honestly was not a big deal. She looked at me again to make sure I was okay before she left. 

The coach finally called us in, making us do a couple of drills to test our skills. I feel like I was blessed with height because I was taller than most girls on the court.

"Alright, girls that are aged 20, go with Coach Della. Ages 21, go with Coach Winters." I went towards the other side of the gym towards Coach Della and realized there were only 12 of us. I guess this is our team. "Hi everyone, I will be your new coach for this season. I'm guessing this will be our team because of how many girls that are here." She looks around and noticed that we had just enough for a team. "Everyone say your names and one thing about yourself so that we get to know a little bit about you." She concludes and we gather in a circle. 

"I'll start," the girl I bumped into earlier says, "My name is Paulette and I like to eat." She stated proudly and everyone in our group laughed, "Hi, my name is Harper and I'm an artist." The girl in the blond says while fidgeting with her basketball. "Hi my name is Nicky and I like to eat Pizza." The Asian girl with black hair said. She's actually pretty, her smile can make anyone day. "Umm, my name is Trin and...I don't know what to say," the light skin girl chuckles out and everyone laughs with her.

 "My name is Kaitlyn and I hate school," Everyone laughs at my statement, "I think we can all relate," Trin adds and everyone agreed. "My name is Emma and I like to travel a lot." We all nod at her, "Hi, my name is Clarisse and yellow is my favourite colour" Clarisse looked really intimidating. her face just gave you the 'f**k off' look. I made a mental note to not get attached to her.

"Hi my name is Julia and I like to make t****k dances." The girl with the long wavy brown hair says and everyone just shook their heads. "Um, my name is Tia and I'm very quiet." She looked so cute, like a little mouse and she sounded quiet. "My name Is Marlowe and I like to smile a lot." She said while smiling, "Naw, I think that trait goes to Julia," Trin calls out and Paulette, Trin and Julia laugh.

I guess those three knew each other.

"My name is Olivia and I speak french." The dark skin girl with braids said. Her and Paulette looked pretty close. I still knew nobody and I liked it that way. "My name is Jeevi and I don't know what to say about me," The team just nodded while we went onto the next person. "My name is Ally, and I like playing basketball." I guess she didn't know what to say so she said what was obvious. 

"Ok, now that we know each other, we're gonna scrimmage for the rest of the tryout, just so I know how all of you guys play," Coach says while we followed her up the court. As coach promised, we scrimmaged for the rest of our tryouts and I ended up unintentionally making some friends on the court.

 "Kaitlyn, you go to school here right?" Clarisse came up and asked me and I nodded while taking a sip from my water bottle. "Do you live in the dorms here?"She asked while she sat down, taking her basketball shoes off, "Yea, why?" I respond and she sighs. "I'm trying to move out of my parent's house. So if you don't mind, can I stay with you? You know, like the other half of the room? I'll also pay half the rent too." She suggests and I sigh, "I mean, I just lost my job today," I groan. "We'll find one together." She promises and I smile.

"So, can I move in with you?" She asked

"Yea, of course."