Zendaya's POV

Today is the big day, basketball team tryouts are after school today and I'm as ready for them as I can be. How tryouts work are simple. The tryouts are separated by grade, Freshmen go first on Monday and so on until Thursday when Seniors tryout on. Then the week after they do callbacks, for sophomores and up, depending on how you played and put with the team you tried out for to see if you fit well with the current members. Today is Tuesday the day of the sophomore's team tryout and even though I played last year I still have to try out for my new coach what I can do on the court. Any student can try out for any team as long as they show up on the correct day, you can even show up for all four days if you wanted, but the coaches recommend that the freshmen players only show for the first two days because the plays get more advanced each year.

 I hop out the shower and get dressed quickly so I can leave on time. Once I'm dressed I double check my gym bag to make sure I have everything for after school, a pair or shorts, a change of shirt and shoes, a towel, and a bottle of water. The only reason the water isn't there is because I put it in the freezer last night so it will last all day if I freeze it overnight. My phone goes off on the table signaling I have a text message. Only two people text me this early and I have a good feeling who it is this morning because Normani already texted me good luck with tryouts last night.

Diyonce: im nervous

Zeyonce: dont be youll be fine

Diyonce: yea but what if im not??

Zeyonce: Di this isnt varsity anyone who tries out is gonna get a spot on the team

Diyonce: thats easy for you to say you already have a spot on the team

I have a good feeling that this conversation is gonna take a while so I grab the rest of my stuff and make my way downstairs to finish this conversation while I eat breakfast. Mom already has my plate ready when I get downstairs, today's breakfast is eggs grits and home fries, so I put my bag down near the door and sit down to eat my breakfast.

"Thanks mom."

"You're welcome Daya. Who are you texting?"

"Dinah. She's worried about tryouts today."

"Tell her I said hi and that she has nothing to worry about. Tryouts at your level are just a formality."

"That's what I said to her."

Zeyonce: mom says hi and you have nothing to worry about

Diyonce: tell her hi and she has to say that shes a mom

"She says hi and that you have to say that you're a mom."

"Yeah but I'm not her mom I don't have to be nice to her just because she's your friend."

"That's what I'm trying to say. She don't want to listen to me though."

"Well her not listening is not gonna stop you from eating, so put the phone down and eat your breakfast."

Zeyonce: gotta go mom put her foot down

Diyonce: its cool talk b4 class??

Zeyonce: yea sure

Diyonce: aight later

I put my phone on the table and eat my food before my grits get too cold and become a brick on me. Dinah has become a great friend to me in the last month. She has really helped me feel more comfortable at school and I really needed that this year. She even saved me from Trevor's table at lunch telling him I would sit with her under the ruse of helping her study since her English class is right after lunch. Trevor is still acting weird and now that I sit with Dinah at lunch he's being incredibly distant on top of that. I tried talking to Normani about him but she just told me to wait it out "it wasn't like he talked a lot before anyway". Normani has been distant too. I figured that would happen though because we don't see each other every day like we used too. We still text and talk but only once in a while and not everyday like before.

 I have way too much on my mind today I need to get focused. I put my now clean plate in the sink and go to the fridge to grab my bottle of ice water out of the freezer and put it in my bag before I get ready to go. Today I decided to get a ride with Lauren because I don't want to have to deal with my dad anymore than I have to today already. After the volleyball game we started riding together to school. I didn't know Lauren had her license yet because I knew she did driver's ed over the summer since she wanted to get her license for her birthday back in June when she turned 16. Her dad told her if she did the work he would get a car for her when she got her license and when she did he gave her his old car like a week after school started. She's the first in our grade to get her license because she learned over the summer with the book from the DMV. We haven't even gotten the book in class yet. Our instructor said we won't start going over that stuff until after thanksgiving so why give us the book now when all we'll do is lose them according to her. I grab my phone off the table to text Lauren to see when she'll be ready to go so I can know when to leave out.

ZenZen: you ready?

LJ: yeah give me 5

ZenZen: okay

I put my phone in my pocket and go to double check my bag to see if I have all the things I need for the day like my headphones, phone charger, and keys. I even go upstairs to double check just to be sure I do. When I get back downstairs my mom pulls me aside to give me my lunch money before I leave.

"Here you go Daya. I slipped you an extra five for the snack box today."

"Thanks Mom."

"Have a good day okay. Love you."

"I'll try. Bye. Love you."

I kiss my mother on the cheek and head out the door to Lauren's car and she's walking out her house the same time I am so we will meet on both sides of the car. Lauren sees me by the car already so she unlocks it as she walks so I can get in the car to put my stuff in the back seat. I put my gym bag on the floor in the back and sit my book bag on the floor between my feet as I sit. I don't close the door yet because Lauren's car does not have the best leg room for someone as tall as me. Who did she have in this seat before today? Did they want to be pressed up against the dashboard or something?

"Okay you ready to go?"

"Yep just let me close my door and pass me the aux chord."

"You aren't getting the aux chord today it's my turn."

"But you can't have control of the music and drive it's not fair."

"It wouldn't be fair unless you had your license too, but you don't. Besides my car my rules. You can suck it up or you can walk."

"Fine but don't go full indie tumblr on me okay? And I get to skip any song I want to."

"Sure unless I say otherwise."

With that said we finally get out of Lauren's driveway and make our way to school. About five minutes into the drive Lauren's phone starts to ring.

"Hey see who that is will you?"

I look down at the screen and see a picture of Dinah pop up.

"It's Dinah. Want me to answer it?"

"Yeah but leave the aux chord in."

I swipe the screen to accept the call and the call plays through the car speakers.(AN: I do this all the time)

"What's up DJ?"

"Hey can you pick me up?"

"What happened to your long board?"

"The wheel is busted and I haven't gotten around to getting it fixed yet, so I might not be able to ride it to school for at least the rest of the week."

"Well I can pick you up but I already have someone in the car so you'll have to ride in the back."

"That'll be fine as long as I don't have to walk I'm good with it."

"Alright be there in five."

"Cool, later."

"Later."

The call ends and Lauren drives to Dinah's house to pick her up. Having been there before I know how far it is from my house and Lauren wasn't kidding about being there in five minutes. It's about a ten minute walk from my own house so the drive is really short. When we get to Dinah's house she is sitting on the steps in front of her house with two bags by her feet, her workout bag, and her book bag. She sees us in the car and runs up to the window on my side of the car like a puppy seeing their owner for the first time after a few days. She's so cute.

"Sup Lauren. Hey Z."

"Hey DJ hop in and we'll go."

"Alright and thanks for the ride Lauren. I got so many things on my mind today I forgot that my board was busted."

"Hey it was no problem plus I was already driving Z so it wasn't like I would say no to you while I drive her."

"You're a good friend Lauren, but can I get the aux chord because this music is not doing it for me.

"Hey don't look at me! Lauren wanted the aux chord and threatened to make me walk if I tried to take it."

"Well do you have the power to skip?"

"Yes within reason."

"Well I think this song deserves it. Don't you think?

"Yes I agree."

I hit skip and an old Bob Marley song No Woman No Cry comes on and I leave it because Reggae is a common ground for all of us so we listen to old school reggae for the rest of the ride. When we get to the school Lauren says we can leave our gym bags in the car, because we know they won't fit in our lockers along with our other stuff, and we can just get them later after school. 

Well all go our separate ways for the rest of the day and don't see each other until lunch. Lauren and I get there first and we split up Lauren makes her rounds to all her friends tables and I go grab a table for the three of us. During the car ride Lauren said she would sit with Dinah and I during lunch so it will be the three of us today. I spot a table up against a pillar and run to it to claim it. The pillars have wall plugs so you could charge your phone without having to move. I wait for Lauren to get back from her friends and Trevor comes up to the table and sits next to me.

"Hey Z you sitting alone today?"

"No Lauren is talking to Lucy and Dinah is doing the snack box so she'll be here later."

When I said Dinah's name he makes this face that I can't really read but I can tell he doesn't like Dinah.

"What is that face for?"

"What face?"

"That little scowl you made when I mentioned Dinah."

"I did not scowl and it's nothing I just don't like that you hang with her now."

"Why don't you like me hanging out with her?"

Dinah has quickly become the most popular girls in our grade in the few months she's been here because of her infectious personality and kind nature, so I want to know why he doesn't like her. 

"Because she just doesn't sit right with me. I have a lot of my classes with her babe and she acts different around you than in class."

"Well that may be true but you aren't going to stop me from being her friend."

"I wasn't trying to. You asked me a question, I was giving you your answer."

I look at him as he says it and he is telling the truth because he can't look at the person he's talking to when he lies.

"Okay well want sit with us? Maybe you can get to know Dinah when she hangs with us."

"I don't know I don't want to intrude..."

"Oh come on you don't even have to stay here you can eat at your table and just hang later. Please?"

"Okay I can do that just stop with the pouting it's way to cute."

He kisses me on my cheek and says he'll be back later and gets up from the table to hang with his friends. As he walks away Lauren sits down in the spot on the other side of me. I assume she is waiting until Trevor is out of earshot to speak because she doesn't start talking right away when she sits.

"So, what was all that about?"

"Oh well that with Trevor? Well first he asked me if I was sitting alone and when I said I was sitting with Dinah he reacted really weird about me sitting with her like this is the first time I've ever eaten lunch with her."

"Well want to know what I think?"

"Sure Lauren what do you think about the situation?"

"Well I think he's jealous."

"WHAT?! How?"

"Well not in the romantic sense but he is jealous of Dinah. Before you and Dinah became friends this year you spent all your time with him. He never had to ask if you were free or if you weren't gonna sit with him at lunch because you had no other options, or you were to shy to use your other options. Now you barely hang out with him unless Dinah cancels or you cancel on her to be with him, which is rare, I think he feels jealous that you're doing things without him."

"Well Lauren if that is the truth I wish he would talk to me about his feelings. For all I know he might think that I've been cheating on him with Dinah for the last month and that's why he hates her."

"Well it could be that too."

"Lauren be serious!"

"I am being serious Zendaya! You have no idea what is going on in his head. Dinah is gay and you are bisexual. He could very well be thinking that! You won't know what is going in his head if you don't talk to him about it."

I think about Lauren is saying as we get in line to get our food and whether I want to admit it Lauren is right. Until Trevor and I sit down and have a real conversation about things we will keep going through the motions and continue to have a farce of a relationship.(AN: trying to save yourself from a dead end that's gonna happen anyway #PoorZendaya) 

After we get our food and sit down I steer the conversation to lighter subjects like Lauren's date the other night. One of her friends I can't remember the name of had set her up with this guy named Brad who is apparently some foreign exchange student from the UK who is only here for the semester. I know Lauren didn't want to go on the date because even if the date went well the relationship would have a time stamp on it because he would have to go back to the UK eventually and she hates long distance relationships.

"How was your date over the weekend? You never told me."

"It was an okay time, but I'm not really into him."

"Well what did you do?"

"You know how on tumblr there are those posts about ideal dates?"

I nod because I have seen them when I go on tumblr myself from time to time, mostly because I follow her and she reblogs them a lot.

"Well he must follow me because he recreated one I liked from a week ago. He bought two disposable cameras and gave me one and said "if anything catches you eye capture it's gaze" which is a great line because you know I love photography. He then takes me to the pier, the one all the senior citizens go to not the new one near the beach, and we just walked and talked for most of the night. Then when we get halfway down the boardwalk and he takes me to that sushi place over there. The date was perfect."

"If the date was perfect what was the problem?"

"The problem was that it was too perfect. It felt like he was trying to hard and not trying enough at the same time. The whole night something didn't sit right with me. It was like he was hiding something the whole night."

I nod at what she says and after about two minutes of eating in silence Dinah jogs up to the table with her tray and the snack box. The snack box is a box full of, candy, chips, a few pickles, and candy bars. Each lunch period a student in the JROTC program sells the items in the box until it's empty and then takes to boX back the the classroom when they're done. The JROTC program does this all year to fund raise for their military ball at the end of the year and if you get picked to handle the box you were considered lucky. She motions for me to grab her tray because it looks like the box is slipping from her full hands. I wait until she puts the box under the table to hand her the tray back.

"Thanks Z the box is heavy today. I think it's full."

"You didn't look to check or watch them restock it?"

"No I was running late from Ms. Lovato's classroom she wanted to talk to me."

"You don't need another tutor do you because Lauren is better at math than me."

"Nah it had to do with volleyball, but you got jokes today Z that was actually funny."

Dinah chuckles and starts eating her lunch. The topic changes around in our conversation until we finally settle on music and we end yup talking about TIDAL for some reason.

"I just don't think TIDAL is going to work with the price they have it at to start out."

"I agree but you gotta admit it is a big deal that all these major artists are apart of it."

"Yeah I agree with Zendaya. People are going to sign up just because of the names attached to it."

"Did either of you sign up for it?"

"Not yet but I'm planning on doing it."

"Yeah you see the way my bank account is set up right now it was better for me to wait to sign up."

Lauren and I laugh at Dinah paraphrasing Kevin Hart and Dinah throws her trash away and gets the snack box from under the table.

"Hey Z get me on snap real quick."

Dinah hands me her phone, already unlocked, so I do as she asked waiting to see what she does.

"Hit record now! Attention sophomores the JROTC snack box is now open! Look for the fine Polynesian in the back of the lunchroom if you want a treat. "

 I send both the short videos straight to her story and put the phone down. Almost as soon as I posted them there is a huge crowd forming around the table wanting to buy something and she goes to work. This is Dinah's first day in charge of the box and she is a total salesman in the making. She works the crowd like magic making them laugh so they buy more than they were planning. Once the crowd gets smaller I see Trevor in the back of the line. I give Lauren a tap and when she looks at me I point him out with a smile, because he actually came back and is gonna sit with us for the rest of lunch. In hindsight he probably waited until Dinah was busy to come over but he still wanted to make me happy despite the fact that he doesn't like her for some reason.     

"Hey Trevor what can I get you man?"

"Uh let me get two bags of Frooties and a Milky Way."

"I don't have anymore Milky Ways I sold the last one. I still have Twix and Baby Ruths tho if you want some chocolate."

"Nah it was gonna be for Z because she loves them, but I'll still take the Frooties."

"Okay one dollar then."

He hands over the money and when he gets his candy he sits down next to me and starts to separate the colors by which ones he likes the ones he doesn't. Listening to his and Dinah's conversation I realize he doesn't know, or remember, that my favorite candy bar are Baby Ruth and Twix. Luckily Dinah knows this and threw him off the Milky Ways.

"Babe."

"What?"

"Milky ways aren't my favorite candy bar Twix is."

He looks at me as if he's remembering something he forgot and he nods.

"My bad babe I must have mixed you up with my favorite candy bar by mistake. Hey Dinah?"

"You want a Twix don't you?"

"You heard that didn't you?"

"Not like I was ease dropping or something! I'm less than three feet away from you. The Twix will be one dollar."

He hands her the dollar and she hands me the Twix in her hand.

"Z you want anything else?"

"Yeah give me two Baby Ruths and a bag of Frooties and Chews."

"Four please."

I hand her the five my mom gave me this morning and Dinah puts the same dollar Trevor gave her in my hand. She then takes my items out of the box and places them on the table in front of me.

"Alright I'm going to go take the box back. Be back in five."

Dinah carries the almost empty box out of the lunchroom and back to the ROTC room. She gets back really quickly and I think she ran to and from the ROTC room so she wouldn't miss anything. Not much actually happened while she was gone and I didn't expect much to happen actually. Lauren has her eyes so in her phone I'm afraid she'll go blind and Trevor is still separating his candy. Watching him do this is really annoying because he is way too focused on such a silly task for such a long time. Trevor looks like he has OCD right now it's freaking me out.

When he FINALLY finishes color coordinating his Frooties he puts them in his pocket he looks up at me and Lauren but doesn't actually say anything, so we sit in silence until Dinah comes back. God I hate that he's so quiet all the time. Like talk please! I can't take all this silence!

"So when are your tryouts Trevor?"

"Tomorrow. I'm only trying for varsity because coach told me I didn't have to tryout for the sophomore team. Yours are today right?"

"Yeah the sophomore tryouts are today."

"But I thought you were trying out for varsity?"

"Yeah, but I still have to show up and I'm going to support Dinah because she's nervous about tryouts."

"That's really nice Z."

"Thanks Lauren."

I see Trevor out of the corner of my eye as I turn to Lauren to reply to her and he makes the same face he did earlier. I guess he thought he would get away with it because I wasn't looking at him. This boy should know by now that he ain't slick. I catch him every time he does stuff like this. Dinah comes back and the bell rings shortly after and the rest of the day moves slowly and quickly at the same time and it is the weirdest combinations of feelings I have ever felt in my life.

 When the bell rings at the end of the day I get Lauren's keys from her to switch my bags, putting my book bag in the car and grabbing my gym bag, I grab Dinah's bag too because it would save time, because I'm already here so I might as well grab it, I head inside to meet Dinah at her locker, which is not that far from mine, to give her her gym bag and get changed together. She has her face in the locker not paying attention to her surroundings and I think this is the perfect time to prank her. I wait until she takes her head out of her locker, less possibility to hurt herself by hitting her head on the top of the locker, and I strike. I run up to her as quietly as I can and grab her sides and pull her back into my arms. She jumps and yells a little until she turns her head and she sees it's me holding her and she slaps at my arms.

"Z! Oh my god I can't believe you just did that!"

"I can your reaction was priceless. I don't even care how you get me back. It was worth it."

I put her down and remove my arms from her waist and slowly let go of her, but she pulls me back in for a hug and holds me there for a bit then lets me go. 

"Are you going to come with me to get my bag from Lauren's car?"

"You don't have to I got yours when I got mine. It's right here on the ground."

I make a show of pointing to the ground where her bag has been this whole time in front of the locker next to hers since I pranked her.

"Oh cool thanks Z!"

She bends down to grab her bag and we head to the girl's locker room to get changed. After we get changed we join the rest of the few girls in the gym and wait for the coaches to arrive to start. After about five minutes a man and two women walk into the gym. One of them catch my attention because I see it's Chef Curry from class. Coaches can be any staff member in the school as long as they aren't the administration, and that is a national rule, because they can change grades and stuff like that.

 The rest of the girls start to filter out of the locker room because tryouts start at four and last I checked it was 3:45 so we're about to start soon. One of the, I'm assuming, coaches pass around a clipboard to write our names, grades, and if we've played the sport before. Once the clipboard is passed around the gym and comes full circle back to Chef Curry, he hands the clipboard to one of the women and starts to address the gym to begins the tryouts.   

"Welcome ladies to tryouts. I am going to be your coach. My name is Stephen Curry. A few of you are in my classes and know a little about me but for those of you who don't I played basketball throughout high school and college and was on my way to the league but an injury made me change my plans.

I am new to coaching the girl's team this year but I have coached the boys team here for three years. Here with me is my assistant coach Kehlani and one of the nursing students from the nurse's office Ally Hernandez. Today's tryout will be simple. You will be tested on three things: how well you play, how well you work as a team, and how well you can follow and execute a play. We will start with Kehlani showing you the warm-ups and stretches. Kehlani you have the floor."

 After he finishes he takes the clipboard from Kehlani, and she leads us through the stretches and warm-ups. After that Coach Curry goes through the list of names and puts us through a skills test where he goes through a list of terms and things we should be able to do as players and each person has to execute them to their best ability.

 He then splits us all into groups of five and since Dinah and I were two of the tallest here we couldn't be on the same team together. Once we were in the teams he gave us a ball and said make at least three passes before we could even attempt a basket, and each person had to make a basket before the teams could switch. 

After each section we took a break for water or a breath for five minutes and then begin the next one. The last activity we stayed in our groups of five and coach Curry taught us two plays a offensive one and a defensive play to do on the court against another group. My group got paired up with Dinah's and and we played against each other for our turns. Since I didn't really have to tryout I went a little easy on Dinah so she would look good to the coach, but I still made her work for it. Each group of ten went twice doing both plays twice, one time through just passing the ball around and another trying for a basket. After the last group went coach blew his whistle and we stopped and went to listen to what he had to say, because he only blew his whistle to get our attention to say something. 

"Alright that will be all for today. The list of who made it will be posted next week. You are all free to go. Make sure you get home safe."

I look at Dinah next to me and she is sweaty and out of breath just like I am, and I pat her on the back and she she leans into my shoulder for a bit then we get dressed to go. We would shower here but the showers in the upstairs gym have probably haven't been used in years so I don't trust them.

 When I get to my bag I turn on my phone on and text Lauren to see where she is because she couldn't really leave when I still have her keys in my bag. She had debate practice so she wasn't just up at the school for no reason waiting for us. She's in the lunch room at the vending machine so I finish getting dressed and Dinah and I get her and head home. In the car Dinah falls asleep in the back of the car and after a minute I fall asleep too. When I wake up Lauren is parking in her driveway so I start grabbing my stuff and go into my house so I can shower and eat and pass out in my own bed.

AN: Long time no update huh? I'm sorry this took such a long time but with school happening I don't have much time to sit down and write but I hope this makes up for it hope you enjoy this and I'll see you soon.

Happy Reading 

Peace, 

Meags