Cause I only see you don't want nobody else, 
I wanna be down, I wanna be down

Quincy - 5:30 PM

how long has it been since you talked to normani?

Dinah - 5:31 PM

almost a week...

Quincy - 5:33 PM

/: did you ever call that number i sent you?

Dinah - 5:35 PM

haven't had the time too... I've been having games back to back almost. who's number is that anyways?

Quincy - 5:36 PM

a friend of mine, i thought maybe if you called, you'd talk to them since they're going through the same thing as you. it's good to do, especially in moments like this. idk just tryin to help you, bc i care.

Dinah - 5:37 PM

thanks (: maybe i'll call when i get back home.

Quincy - 5:39 PM

where are you now?

Dinah - 5:40 PM

Colorado, I have a game tonight.

Quincy - 5:41 PM

when do you go back home?

Dinah - 5:45 PM

at the end of week. 

Quincy - 5:45 PM

well, good luck with your game. Promise me you'll call the number?

Dinah - 5:47 PM

uhhh, no promises, but i'll try.

"Dinah, you got it tonight? You've been doing really well these last two days, just pull through tonight, and we got it in the bag, okay?" Coach said to me before we all exited the sprinter van.

All eyes were on me and I nodded my head, slipping my earphones back into my ear. Coach smiled excited, and we all hoped out of the van. I stayed behind from the rest of the girls, mainly just wanting to walk into the gymnasium by myself.

"Are you okay?" Lauren asked me. I had noticed that she stopped walking once she realized I wasn't with all of them.

"No, I feel so pressured..." I answered truthfully. "I feel like if I don't do good, we're gonna lose. There has been many times where some girls haven't had there best days, but we still won, I don't know why Coach is doing this to me." 

"She didn't mean it like that, she wants us all to do good, especially you. Don't take it too personal babe." She wrapped her arm around my shoulders as she stood on her tip toes, pulling me into her. 

"It's annoying." I groaned, pushing her off of me. 

"Of course it's gonna be annoying, you're going through a bad situation at bad timing." She commented.

"Extremely bad timing..." 

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, me and Normani had a talk..." She mentioned.

I looked at her and she made a face. "I'll tell you later."

"Thank you. When we get back home you can tell me."

"If I even remember..." It was evident she was trying to make me laugh. She wasn't the best at trying to make people laugh when they're upset, but I laughed for her sake. 

As we walked into the gym, the other team was already doing their warm ups. They all looked like they were ready, you could see the determination in their eyes, how they carried themselves, they looked ready to win.

I felt a small hand on my back and looked down and noticed Ally had been standing next to me "Don't let this get to you kiddo. Cmon, everyone is in the locker room." 

I followed the smaller girl into the locker room and put my bag down. We did the basics, go over what coach wanted us to do, picked the starting players, and so on. 

"You ready?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah."

"You sound hesitant..." She pointed out.

"Well because I am."

"Remember what I said earlier. Don't stress about it." She winked at me.

I left the locker room and we did our warm up drills. I felt the other team looking over at us, and it almost felt as if they were laughing. I know they probably weren't laughing, but my anxiety was getting the best of me at the moment. 

As we walked out onto the court, I placed my headphones on, tuning out everything around me, including people. I was not going to get intimidated by the other team. 

In the audience, I had noticed a girl with long, dark hair, chatting amongst her friends, I completely stopped what I was doing, and I felt my heart drop to the floor. Almost everything around me stopped, and I stood there waiting for her to turn around. Did Normani really show up to this game? Did Lauren set this up?

She had been laughing and smiling, I could tell, but it was killing me waiting for her to turn around and notice me, like high school days. I placed the volleyball between my hip and my arm, sliding down my headphones to wrap around my neck. As soon as I was going to speak her name, she turned around, and that's when my I felt everything in me shatter, almost as if I was hit by a bullet. 

The rush of excitement I had was gone, and the feeling of hopelessness came back. We had made eye contact as she walked down the bleachers, shyly, and awkwardly. She pushed her hair behind her ear, turning back around to listen to what her friend had to say. Laughing and giggling, then right back to coming down the bleachers. Seconds later, there she was right in front of me.

"Are you okay?" She chuckled.

"Yeah, I just thought you were a friend of mine, sorry." I told the girl.

She wasn't Normani.

She nodded her head and walked off.

I watched for a little bit as she walked away. I wanted her to be Normani so badly, the anxiousness I had, waiting for her to turn around, the excitement, all in a matter of seconds, turned into sadness and back to feeling shitty.

"Why'd you stop?" Ally came up to me.

I looked down at the smaller girl and waved my hand dismissively. "Nothing really important."

"Cool, i guess, well the game is starting and we need to huddle up." She jogged off to our bench, where the rest of the girls had been waiting for us. I trailed behind her, my eye's were still locked on the "Normani look-alike."

Focus Dinah, focus.

I repeated that over and over again in my head since the only thing I had been able to think was Normani. What it would've been like if she had been at the game, how exciting this night probably would've been, just the thought of her being around. 

Tonight, the crowd had been very energetic, everyone was pumped up, cheers were chanted, lot's of "Let's Go Rebel's" for the opposing team, the gymnasium was roaring. 

It had been getting around to the last set of the game and it had been 24-24, and whoever wins this, they will go to the finals and compete against one more team. 

"Do whatever it takes to keep the ball in the air, we got this in the bag girls. Don't lose focus.

We rushed back onto the court and I went to my position. The opposing team was serving and once we got the ball, we were trying to run out the clock. Lauren had hit it high up in the air, and it was almost about to hit the net, and I ran from the corner and jumped up, spiking the ball, giving us the winning point.

The team rushed around me, and hugged me. My hair had been getting ruffled through by coach, and Lauren kept nudging me.

We're going to the finals.

Getting back to the hotel, the girls had stayed up to eat dinner and instead of going with them, I wanted some alone time so I went back up to the room. I was finally able to kick my feet up, relax, play my music, and relax, hopefully.

I looked through old text messages I had with Normani, as well as videos. I couldn't believe I was able to have someone like her in my life and now all of sudden, she's gone.

"What are you doing up here?" Lauren came into the room. "You got us into the finals and you're not celebrating with us." She pouted.

I paused the music and placed my phone down next to me. "Just not in the mood."

"Why? Because of Normani?"

"Kinda, I saw a girl that looked like her at the game." I announced, frowning slightly.

"Ally told me..."

"It just sucks, knowing she's actual out of my life..."

"Stop," She smacked her lips together, flinging her arms in the arm. "she isn't,  we just gotta work things out." Lauren replied.

"And if they don't?" I questioned.

"Then a friendship nor any type of relationship wasn't meant to be." She stated, shrugging her shoulders lightly. "Listen, come downstairs, eat some food with us, we won't speak of the games, or Normani, even though today's game was amazing." 

I looked at her and she smiled at me, and I chuckled a little bit. "Fine, I'll come down. What's on the menu?" I asked.

"You'll have to wait and find out." She winked. "Let's go, I'm hungry." She said, gripping my wrist trying to pull me out of bed.

We get downstairs, and all the girls are laughing and having a good time, including coach. "Look who got out of  bed!" Ally announced, standing up and coming over to me. "She doesn't look too grumpy does she?" She joked.

I rolled my eyes, shoving the smaller girl off of me. As much as I didn't want to hang out with the girls, it was actually much needed. We bonded, had a few jokes here and there, talked about some memories, and just general girl talk. I pretty much forgot that I had been upset.

"You seem pretty happy." Lauren mentioned to me on the side. "I'm glad you're having fun." She smiled at me, shoving me playfully.

"It was needed, this is almost therapeutic." I nodded with a small smile. Me and Lauren's attention had shifted to my phone as it rang.

"Is it her?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Just a random number, I'll call them later. Speaking of numbers, I have to go call this number Quincy told me to call." 

I had walked outside to the balcony and dialed the number. It rang a few times before I picked it up.

"Hello?"

A deep voice answered the phone, leaving me a little shocked since I was expecting it to be a girl.

"Hey, um, Quincy told me to call? I'm Dinah I don't know if you heard about me."

"Oh, yeah! He told me a lot about you. He didn't really know how to talk to you about what you're going through with Normani, and I offered to help, since I'm going through the same thing."

"You like a guy?" 

"No, it's a girl, she's my best friend, but she's not seeing that everything she ever needed is right in front of her, and I don't know how to express it to her."

"Tell me about it, you're afraid of losing her?"

"Yeah, she's a real good friend I have, and I'm not going to let my feelings get in the way of this."

"Me too, and it's like you're holding in so many feelings, and you're afraid if you let them out, you won't have them in your life anymore. There's no good ending to it."

"I know, it sucks. Do you think she has feelings for you?"

"Not at all, I'm just a friend."

"Well you don't know that really."

"Does she have feelings for you?"

"Yeah, I heard from people we hang around, she does have feelings for me, but she isn't ready for a relationship."

"Well, it should be evident that you like her though, right? If she has feelings for you, and you have feelings for her, they should show when you guys are around?"

"Not necessarily, I don't really show them in front of her, I try not to."

"Why?"

"Because, she falls in and out of love with people, and I don't feel like the time is right to show them, she doesn't show hers either."

"But, all you guys are doing is playing with each others emotions, you know she feels the same. How do you expect something to happen, if one of you doesn't make the first move?" 

I paused for a moment, realizing I answered my own question.

"You suggest that I make the first move?"

"Yeah, because she's waiting for you, that's all it is. She won't do anything, unless you do something first."

"And if it goes wrong?"

"Then, it wasn't meant to be. Most likely, it won't go wrong. Trust me."

"Thanks, for all this. I'll talk to her first thing tomorrow. I didn't catch your name by the way, what was it?"

"Dinah, and yours?"

"Ron, nice talking to you."

"You too."

I walked back into the lobby, all the girls had been gone, and Lauren had been siting in one of the chairs reading a magazine waiting for me. "Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?" She chuckled, placing the magazine down in front of her.

"I answered my own question."

"What?" She said confusedly. 

"I answered my own question to my own problems, what time is it?"

"It's pretty late," She glanced down at the time on her phone. "Why do you ask?"

"I was gonna call Normani."

"Whoa." She looked at me with her eyes widened, then slowly her facial expression changed, and she had cocked her brow, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you sure about that? I mean, are you ready to talk to her? As much as I want you too, I just don't want you getting hurt again."

"The only thing that's hurting is not being able to speak to her." I walked past her and started heading towards the elevator, and she followed behind.

"When do you plan on calling?"

I made a face, knowing if I call anytime during these last couple days of the finals, I'll most likely be messed up. 

"At the end of the week." I answered. "I don't want to be distracted these last few days."

Lauren nodded her head in agreement. "That's understandable," She stated. "I'm proud of you, these last couple of days you really seemed to be getting back to yourself." She smiled, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"Almost there," I replied with a small chuckle as we stepped into the elevator. "Everything takes time. I'm trying not to be too happy, because I don't want to hear something and get hurt." I frowned a bit. I'm trying to remain, neutral since I don't want to get all happy and excited, just to end up, getting my feelings even more hurt, looking stupid.

"Agreed, well, I guess we'll just have to see what happens when we get back home." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Three more games, then I can handle this situation." I said to myself.

-

After winning our last away game, legs sore, muscles aching even more from being crammed with small leg room on the five hour flight, we finally landed in New York. 

Getting off the flight, all the girls were greeted with their loved ones, either it was family, or their spouses. I was hoping at least Kyle would be here, but since I hadn't talked to him the whole I was away, I doubted he'd actually show up. 

Standing their awkwardly, I looked around to see if I saw anyone I knew, and no one showed up for me. It wasn't like I was hurt by it, it was just weird because everyone was with people, and I was just... there.

A few moments later, I noticed a familiar face off in the distance, coming up to me. I squinted my eyes, and as they got closer, I knew exactly who it was. Normani.

I looked down at myself and adjusted my posture, and fixed up my clothes a little bit, even though I looked like I didn't know what showering or doing laundry was, I still tried looking my best.

"Hey," She spoke as soon as she got close to me.

"Hi." I said awkwardly.

It has been almost a month since we actually talked.

"How was the trip and the games and stuff?" She asked.

"They were good, we, well, I was off to a bad start, but I gradually got into it, we have a few more games after this, so hopefully we win them."

"That's nice."

"Yeah..."

There was an awkward silence between us, both of us trying to avoid making eye contact with each other.

"I'm shocked to see you here, I mean not in a bad way, I'm happy you're here. I just wasn't expecting this." I explained.

She smiled a little bit and looked up at me. "That was the point. I'm a little shocked too."

"How'd you know I was coming home?"

She pointed subtly at Lauren who had been talking to a few of her friends.

"Of course," I laughed, feeling like I accomplished something because Normani laughed as well. "Well I'm happy you're here." I smiled.

She reciprocated the smile, "I am too," She told me. "I actually came down here for a reason." She stated.

"What's up?" 

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out for something to eat or something? You may not even want too, it's completely understandable if you don't." She announced to me.

"No, it's not a problem, I would love too actual." I replied.

"Thanks, are you available anytime this week?" She asked.

I pulled out my phone and checked my calendar to see if I had placed anything down at all. Tomorrow was the day I was going to meet up with Ron. I had talked to him earlier this morning, and turns out he's in New York and he wanted to meet me in person. 

"I'm available tomorrow night? Is that okay?"

She nodded. "Are you only available tomorrow night, because you want it to be like a date?" She  questioned, with a small smirk on her face.

It took me a minute to take in what she had said. "Wait, what?" If my hearing is right, I'm pretty sure she just mentioned the word, 'date'.

"Nothing, it was a lame joke. It wasn't meant to come out like that," She chuckled awkwardly. "It sounded better in my head."

"Whatever." I shook my head.

I felt a little weird hearing her say that, not like a bad weird, more of "what was that supposed to mean" type of weird. Confused, mainly. Was that like a sign that she knows that I like her? 

"Normani!" My train of thought had been interrupted, by hearing Lauren's voice behind me. 

Normani had a big  smile across her face and held her arms open for Lauren. Lauren ran to her, hugging her tightly, and the two swayed back and forth for a few seconds. "I missed you!" Lauren said once she pulled away to look at her.

"I wish you were this excited to see me." I interrupted.

"I see you everyday." Lauren rolled her eyes. "But I haven't see you in forever!" She said once she turned back towards Normani. "How've you been?"

"Good, same ol' same ol'." She mentioned. "You?"

"I'm sore as fuck. I can't feel my legs." Lauren winced once she grabbed her thigh. "I need an ice bath asap." She said looking over at me. 

I had been staring at her for a while, hoping she'd get the hint and leave.

She narrowed her eyes at me, and finally got it. "Oh, had I interrupted something?" She asked.

"Actually, um, no. I was just getting ready to leave." Normani said.

Damn.

Lauren smacked her lips together, "Man, I was hoping we could all go grab a bit or something. It'll be like old times." I looked at her again, wanting her to stop talking. "But, it's late and everything and I can't walk any further." She mentioned.

"Yeah, we can do that some time soon." Normani replied. "So I'll see you tomorrow night?" Normani said, a little quietly, almost shyly, as if she didn't want Lauren to hear. 

I nodded my head, "Yeah, for sure."

"Where are you headed to now?" She asked, Lauren had been waving bye to her friends, so she wasn't paying attention to us.

"My apartment." I answered.

"I could give you a ride if you want?" She offered.

I looked at Lauren who hadn't been paying attention, knowing she was gonna be my ride home. "Yeah, can you?"

She smiled and nodded. "Let's go, so we can beat the traffic."

"I'm getting a ride with Normani." I told Lauren.

She made a face at me, and nodded. I shook my head and laughed at her. I watched as she ran off with a few of her friends. 

"You ready?" Normani asked me.

I nodded my head, and she had offered to carry my bag, but I declined the offer since it had been one of my heaviest bags.

"I didn't know you drive?" I said once I got into the car, "When did this happen?"

"Not too long ago, like probably last week?" She said unsurely, "It's not my car though, it's a friends of mine, I'm just borrowing it till I get mine."

"When's that?" I asked.

"I'm currently saving up for it, hopefully soon. How was the trip?"

"Okay I guess." I chuckled lightly, since half of the games that I played had been terrible. "Could've been better, but we just have one more game."

"When?"

"This weekend. We have a couple of days off, but out of one of those days, coach wants us to do a workout session as well as practice." I announced. I could already feel the soreness of my body that is bound to happen on that day. Thinking about it already makes me feel like death.

"Sounds like hell." She laughed.

"Well, it is called Hell Day for a reason. Consist of suicides, cupcakes, running walls, sideline, bleachers, all that." I explained.

"Hearing that, I feel bad for you. I can only imagine." She shook her head. "For dancing, we do a lot of sit ups and stuff like that, as well as cardio, we don't really do all that you do."

"Oh how's dancing been going for you by the way?"

"Nice, we're preparing for this fundraiser we're holding for kids in need, so I'm pretty excited." She said happily, adding a little shoulder dance when she finished.

"Oh wow, that sounds like fun, where is it at?" I asked.

"Central Park. It's called Move It. It basically is going to be raising money for young kids in need, like foster youth, homeless children, and more. I'm so excited for it because I love kids and there's going to be so many littles ones running around. Afterwards we get to show them a few dance routines." She explained to me joyfully.

"That's so sweet Mani! When is it?" 

"Next week, it starts at noon." She informed me.

"Would you mind if I came?" I asked her.

She hesitated slightly, and pursed her lips together, I don't know if she was expecting that. "Yeah, you can come. I don't mind. There's going to be a lot of people there anyways."

"Cool." I replied awkwardly.

Did she not want me there? Did she only say yes, because she didn't want to be rude about it?

The rest of the ride was okay, even though it was only like fifteen more minutes, but there were quiet moments here and there, kind of felt awkward. What she had said at the airport had still been on my mind and I was trying to piece it together.

"I guess I'll see you later." She said once the car came to a stop.

"Yeah, I'll see you later." I responded smiling at her before I got out of the car. "Text me." I added on, before shutting the door.

"I will." She smiled and waved, and I had turned back around, heading towards the apartments.

"Like a date." I said to myself, still trying to figure out if she was serious or not. 

I shook my head and headed inside. Lauren had already been inside, and she had been crashed out on the couch. She jumped up frantically when I came in, and her body relaxed when she realized it was me.

"Gosh," She said running her fingers through her hair. "I wasn't expecting you to come this early." She said, throwing herself back on the couch. "How was it?"

"Weird... she wants to hang out, but in the airport she said 'like a date' but she said she didn't mean it like that."

She made a face and shrugged. "That's weird, she was acting a little strange. Are you going to hang out with her though?"

"I think so, I don't know, I can't be throwing myself off again. We have one more game and I have to do the best I can do so we can win. I'm barely getting back on track, I can't let feelings get in the way."

"True." She said. I noticed she had been falling back asleep so I walked off and headed to my room. "Oh, someone left you some flowers, I don't know who they're from, they're on your desk though." Lauren shouted from the couch.

I turned my head and notice a big batch of purple and white flowers sitting on my desk. I walked over to it and searched for the card. 

I hope these make you smile,

the way you make me smile.

This card is cheesy I know,

but I just want you to know

you're on my mind everyday,

every minute,

every hour,

every second,

These feelings for you are forever

and I just want you to know that.

I felt my heart flutter, and I couldn't help but smile. I searched for the name, but nothing had popped up. This feeling of love I had had suddenly turned into confusion. Who sent me this? Had it been Normani? 

I doubled checked again, but it wasn't her handwriting. So either it had been Kyle or Vince.

I tried calling both of them and no answer. 

After thinking long enough, I had texted Tandy if he sent them, and he said it hadn't been him. Who else could it have been?

It had been a long day, so I shook my head and grabbed my clothes to take a shower. I had been starting to get caught up, and I can't let that happen. There's too much on my plate for me right now, to consume myself with a bunch of feelings and thoughts. I need to focus on the game and school right now, those are the only important things right now. Nothing else. No matter how much I want to think about Normani, I can't right not. Unfortunately. 

AN: Sorry guys for the long wait for this chapter, I have just been super busy with school and finals, but I finally have the time. I'll try to update as much as possible. Love you guys. (: