Chapter 40 baby!

So I started writing the next chapter in class and then I finished the next chapter and then I started the next chapter...

This means you might get another update soon and also that someone should probably stop me.


Reese took a few days to sleep in before her unofficial basketball camp began. It was unofficial in that it was just her, Sara, Addison, and Bonnie meeting in the park and practicing from early morning until noon. Bonnie's older brother had a morning shift and had agreed to shuttle the girls to the park. At the end of the practice, someone's parent would come, provide lunch, and drop the athletes off at home. Reese thought that this was the very best way to spend a summer ever. Luca- who was up early for other reasons- disagreed, but they both supported each other.

"Bonnie, you're getting really good at defense, do you want to practice shooting for a while?" Reese asked, having stepped into the role of coach, basketball tucked under her arm.

"Yeah, sure," the muscular girl agreed, holding a finger up and panting a little bit, "can we take a water break first?"

"Water break or Zayne break?" Addison teased since they'd all noticed Zayne skate up to the court and pretend that he wasn't waiting for Bonnie. They'd gone on one tentative date and they clearly had feelings for each other, so Zayne came to support Bonnie at practice.

"Bonnie's thirsty," Sara joked, and Bonnie blushed.

"Guys, stop it. I just want a drink."

"A tall glass of water," Addison snickered.

"Alright, enough," Reese instructed, "Five-minute break. Then we'll practice shooting." Reese grabbed her own water bottle, covered in stickers that Luca had designed. Sara followed her as Bonnie headed off to talk to Zayne and Addison went to a nearby bathroom.

"They're super cute together," Sara mentioned, nodding towards Bonnie and Zayne.

"I guess. I'm just glad Zayne's not trying to be a bad boy anymore. It got old."

"Yeah… Hey, do you want to have a sleepover tonight?" Sara nudged Reese with her arm.

"The four of us? Sounds fun. I'll have to ask my mom and dad, though."

Sara shifted from foot to foot, "Do you want to have a sleepover, just us two?"

"Oh, okay, yeah, why no? We can watch Brave again."

Sara laughed, "We're not going to watch Brave again."

"Fine… You sure the others won't mind?"

"Of course not. We'll have other sleepovers this summer."

"I guess you're right." Reese had to admit that she didn't always understand the intricacies of friendships. Luca had this way of making all of his dozens of friends feel equally important. Reese only had her three really good friends and a handful of Luca's friends that didn't make her uncomfortable. And honestly? The idea of that changing terrified her. It shouldn't have, Scout had been a change and he was good, so was Bonnie and to some degree Zayne. They were all good changes. But she was worried the next change would be bad.

She checked her watch, she had two minutes left so she stretched and did a quick patrol of the area. There was Zayne and Bonnie chatting it up, Addison and Sara had started talking as well. There were a few rambunctious children playing on the nearby playground, accompanied by tired-looking adults in a variety of outfits. Closer to the court an older black lady sat reading a newspaper, occasionally glancing up at them. This annoyed Reese a little. Zayne was enough of an audience and even he was pushing it.

So Reese did something a little ballsy.

"Hello, Ma'am, I hope the noise from our practice isn't bothering you. But if it is, I'm sure there are plenty of other benches away from the court where you can read your newspaper."

"Don't worry about my newspaper, young lady. Go back to your practice." The way the older woman said young lady made Reese's skin crawl so she simply scowled and walked away. She knew that if her dad were here he'd chastise her for being rude but he wouldn't be here for another hour. And five minutes were up, so it was time to get back to work.

For the rest of practice, she could feel the woman's eyes on her. It just made her feel angry and play harder, tearing up the concrete court. Why couldn't that old bat just leave? At this point, it seemed deliberate. Finally, Wasabi drove up, Zayne skating off to who knows where and the other audience member gathering up her things. Wasabi glanced at the old crone and frowned, herding the girls towards his car.

When Noodle Burgers had been acquired and everyone had been dropped off, Reese asked about sleeping over with Sara and prepared for the evening, nervous but excited about her first solo sleepover. She wasn't exactly sure what they could do, just the two of them, but Sara was sure of herself. She'd had her mom order them pizza and dragged Reese to her room after dinner.

"Practice was good today," Sara said encouragingly, sensing that Reese was a little out of it.

"Yeah, but I hate spectators. It's a closed practice!"

"It's a public park, and Zayne isn't that bad…"

"No, Zayne's fine. It was that weird old lady who wouldn't leave."

"You just don't like strangers."

"No, seriously… She was staring into my soul." Reese shuddered.

"Well, she's not here now. What do you want to do? We could watch Solo. I know it's your favorite bad movie."

"Eh... I don't know. I still haven't been to that many sleepovers."

"Oh, here's an idea, but it's kinda out there…"

"What've you got?" Reese offered Sara a smile.

"My cousin Antonio doesn't think I'm girly enough, which, you know, gross. But he got me a cool set of nail polish and I haven't tried them out yet."

"I'm not really a nail polish person…" Reese said hesitantly.

"I know, and we can wipe it all off if you hate it. I just think everyone would be super surprised if we did up our nails."

Reese imagined Luca's shocked expression when he realized he wasn't the only pretty Tomago anymore.

"Okay, why not? What colors do you have?" They poured over their selections and took their time painstakingly painting each other's nails. Sara went especially slow with the deep shimmery purple Reese had chosen, holding Reese's hand in hers as she painted.

"Do you like it?" Sara asked when they were done, admiring the fiery red on her own nails.

"It feels really weird, but it looks incredible. Thanks for inviting me Sara, this has been really nice."

"I also have leftover beads from Valentine's day, if you want to make more friendship bracelets…"

"Yeah, don't push it," Reese laughed, glancing at her nails and smiling, forgetting the weirdness of this morning entirely.