A/N: Thanks for all the reviews.

Chapter 3: Basketball

Paige woke up and did her morning routine. Took a shower, brushed her teeth, got dressed and brushed her hair. Paige stood in front of her bathroom mirror looking at herself. She decided that her mid-back wavy black hair should be put up in a ponytail. She wore ratty low ride jeans with rips in her knees and a black tank top that showed some mid-drift. After Paige decided that she looked fine, she went back into her room and put on her black converse shoes.

"Honey, breakfast is ready!" Paige's mother called up. Paige grabbed her denim jacket and the basketball from the closet, then jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen. The kitchen still had some boxes littering the floor, but most of the appliance's and dishes were put away. A plate with jelly toast was in front of Paige's mom.

"Ma, could I just eat an apple? I'm not that hungry." Paige asked pushing her plate away from her.

"Sure, honey." Elizabeth said. Paige grabbed an apple and started walking out the door.

"Lata, Ma." Paige said leaving the house. She ate the apple and threw it away in a trash can in town. Paige glanced around at all the people walking in town, some openly watched Paige walk, which she ignored. Once she made it a ways out of town, she was happy, all those people were getting to her. Finally, Paige spotted a basketball court, which was surprisingly vacant. The basketball court was near a park that had an ice cream parlor across the street. Paige walked up to the three point line, dribbling the basketball. She shot the ball and made the basket. She kept it up, missing some shots.

Elsewhere

Sheryl was happily eating her ice cream walking down some paths in the park with Gerry and Julius. They promised to take her for ice cream after practice. Right now they were walking through the park with Sheryl in between them. Suddenly Sheryl stopped and watched a girl shooting hoops.

"Look at her." Sheryl said pointing to the girl, who was playing basketball. Gerry and Julius stopped talking and looked where Sheryl was pointing.

"Woah. She's good... for a girl." Gerry said in amazement. Julius nodded in agreement. Sheryl ate the rest of her ice cream before walking into the court.

"Hey!" Sheryl said. Making the girl on the court to turn around.

"Yes?" the girl asked. Holding the basketball.

"Your pretty good at basketball." Sheryl stated, cutting to the chase. The girl raised an eyebrow looking down at Sheryl.

"Thanks, I think. I'm Paige and your?" the girl said, dribbling the ball absent-mindedly.

"Sheryl Yoast. And that's Julius Campbell and Gerry Bertier." Sheryl said pointing to Gerry and Julius, who shook hands with Paige. Paige smiled as she shook their hands.

"Nice ta meetcha." Paige said, now holding the basketball still. She glanced down at her watch, her eyes widen when she realized the time. "It's be cool meetin' ya, but I need to get home. I'll see ya around, alright?"

"Yeah, okay. You'll play basketball with me next time, right?" Sheryl asked in a somewhat hopeful voice. Paige smiled.

"Sure. Next time we'll have a game." Paige said promising as she walked away. She waved a goodbye to them.

"Do you think she's from around here?" Julius asked. Gerry shook his head.

"She plays sports. I like her." Sheryl said. Julius and Gerry laughed.

"Of course you would, kid." Gerry said. Sheryl glared up at him at the word, kid.

"Don't call me that." Sheryl said. Gerry laughed again ruffling her hair, which she swatted his hand away.

Elsewhere

As Paige walked back to her house, she thought about those people she met at the basketball court. Maybe people here aren't all that bad... but I haven't been to the school yet. So, there ain't no way to actually tell if this town's gonna be alright. Paige thought. She still noticed that people in town were staring at her, some of the women passing her were whispering and pointing.

Jeez, you think they would try to be discreet about it. Paige kept on walking, ignoring the stares. Once she got to her house, she darted in and jogged up to her room. Just two more days until school.