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November 2nd, 2029 7 pm Albuquerque, NM

It was opening night of the University of New Mexico basketball season and I was nervous to say the least. We had practiced for almost two weeks now. The entire team was nervous.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Coach Caine asked us as we traded glances with each other.

"You guys are ready. It's your first game, you have nothing to prove." Coach Caine told us as we ran out of the locker room and to the gym.

"You're going to be fine, Tess." Meghan said coming up behind me to shot a ball into the basket.

"I know that. It's just pregame jitters." I told her smiling a little.

"So how much of your family is coming today?" Chelsea asked me.

"Try all of them. My parents are all ready in the stands and everyone else promised me they were going to be here." I told her.

"You're going to have your own cheering section by yourself." Meghan told me grinning.

"Probably. I just hope they don't do anything embarrassing." I told them bowing my head a little.

"That's what families do; they embarrass their children." Chelsea told me laughing a little.

"Oh don't I know that all too well." I told them shaking my head.

We continued to shoot around a little until our Coach Caine called us in. She looked at all of us.

"I don't care what the score comes out to be; I want you guys to play together as a team. Talk out there and make the other team think about what's your next move is going to be." Coach Caine told us.

"On the count of three, Lobos." Coach Caine told us as we all put our hands in the middle.

"One . . . Two . . . Three . . . Lobos!" We yelled before we watched the seniors head out to the court.

Coach Caine had promised to put Chelsea, Meghan, and I in for at least five minutes a game until we got comfortable enough to handle more. Coach Caine was fair and wanted to play the seniors for the majority of the time.

Before we knew it, the game was over. Chelsea, Meghan, and I had all played 10 minutes; which we were surprised at. We had managed to pull off a victory, 77-68. We were happy as we walked back into the locker room.

"I'm proud of you girls tonight. You played together as a team. And that's all I could ask for. No practice tomorrow night; I'll give you guys a day off." Coach Caine told us smiling.

"Great game, Tess." Meghan and Chelsea told me as I smiled at the two of them.

"Thank; you guys had a great game as well." I told them smiling.

"What are you guys doing tonight?" Chelsea asked me as I thought about it.

"I think there's a celebration at the East Towne Grill. You two are more than welcome to come if you want." I told them smiling.

"We might show up. I need to go back to the apartment and take a shower." Meghan told us.

"Yes you do, you stink!" I told them waving my hand in front of my face and making a gross face.

"You can't talk much, missy. You stink more than I do." Meghan told me as I quickly shook my head.

I quickly changed out of my jersey and into mesh shorts and a hoodie. I walked through the locker room and back out to the gym where I knew my fan club would be waiting for me.

I walked out to see my parents, all three sets of grandparents, and all of Troy and Gabi's friends standing around. They started clapping for me as I walked over to my parents.

"Great job!! That was an amazing game for you." Mom told me giving me a hug.

"I only played for 10 minutes, ma." I told her smiling.

"Your mom is right. You played amazingly tonight." Dad told me giving me a hug.

"I need a shower I know. Meghan and Chelsea pointed that out to me." I told them noticing their faces.

I walked over to my parents' parents and greeted them. I gave them each hugs and thanked them for coming out to see me.

"So what did you guys think?" I asked going over to Troy and Gabi's family and grinning at them.

"You were amazing. It was like seeing Troy play again." Jack told me giving me a hug.

"Why thank you. I only played 10 minutes so it wasn't much." I told them shaking my head.

"Only 10 minutes did a lot. You made 3 three pointers and a couple of 2 pointers. You ranked up 15 points tonight." Chad told me shaking his head.

"It was nothing. Let me start playing longer games and then we'll see what I can do." I told them as they each gave me hugs.

"I was impressed and I don't really like basketball." Sharpay told me smiling.

"They all told me that you didn't like basketball, so I didn't expect you to show up." I said looking at Sharpay.

"I wanted to come cheer you on. You played amazingly tonight, Tess." Sharpay told me.

"Why thank you. Thank you guys for coming out and watching me play." I told them.

"It's not a problem. We wanted to be here to cheer you on in your first big game as a college student." Carly told me.

"Thank you again." I said shaking my head at them.

"Hey, Tess we're going to head over to the Grill. Why don't you go take a shower and meet us over there?" Mom suggested as I smiled.

"I'm going over to the house because Meghan and Chelsea were arguing about who got the shower first. So I'll do that then I'll meet you guys there. I invited Meghan and Chelsea to come along." I told them.

"That's fine. We'll keep them entertained if they get there earlier than you do." Mom told me smiling.

"Behave, you guys. Don't go scaring them." I warned looking at them grinning.

We all walked outside into the semi-chilly air. I walked over to my 4-Runner and threw my stuff in the backseat. I got in and started driving to the house my parents had bought.

It was a three bedroom house that was painted blue and had a wrap around porch. They had put a swing up so I could come over and work on homework while swinging on the porch. It was a lot smaller than our house in Illinois but my parents didn't seem to mind. I pulled into the driveway and pulled the car to a spot.

I smiled as I grabbed my stuff from the trunk and headed to the steps. There was a figure sitting on the steps as I neared.

"Great game tonight." He said as a smile crept onto my face.

"I didn't see you standing with my cheering section." I told him while joining him on the step.

"I didn't want to take you away from your family. So I decided to meet you here." He told me.

"How did you know I would be here?" I asked him grinning.

"I heard you, Meghan and Chelsea argue who would get the shower first so I figured out would come here instead of the apartment." He told me.

"Hm . . . and you decided to come meet me and give me a proper kiss for playing the best game of my college career?" I asked him.

"It's the only game of your college career." Nolan told me as I smiled at him.

"Thanks for ruining the moment." I told him leaning over and giving him a simple kiss.

Nolan and I had met in our Psychology class the first day of school. We had started a conversation which led to a first date which ended up leading us to dating. We had been dating since September 21st so we've been going out for a little over a month.

"Why don't you come inside and settle in while I go take a quick shower?" I asked him unlocking the door.

"That sounds good." He told me following me into the dark house.

I flipped on some lights before rushing upstairs. I took a five minute shower. I threw on some jeans and a long sleeve shirt before throwing my hair up into a ponytail and headed back downstairs.

"How do I look?" I asked walking over to the couch and twirling around a little.

"Gorgeous as always. You took a quick shower." He told me as I smiled at him.

"I always do." I told him leaning over and giving him another kiss.

"What are your plans tonight?" Nolan asked me as I smiled at him.

"There's a big celebration at the grill. Want to go as my date?" I asked him smiling.

"I would be honored to escort the woman of honor to her party." Nolan told me as I laughed.

"I love you." I told him simply as he looked at me.

"And I love you too, Tess." He said kissing me simply.

I pulled back before standing up. I motioned for the door as he grinned.

"You can't be late to your own party can you?" Nolan asked m eas I smiled.

"Nope I can't. Let's go buckaroo." I told him suddenly excited to see everyone.

We hopped into his truck and he started driving to the restaurant. We were singing along to the radio as he pulled up to the place. He got out and came around and opened my door for me. I took his outstretched hand as he helped me out of his truck.

"Are you ready to go, m'love?" He asked me in a fake British accent.

"I certainly am. Let's go." I told him as he led me into the restaurant where all of our friends and family had gathered.

"Oh so this is why you took so much longer?" Chad asked as I walked over to the bar.

"If you love me, even this much, you would shut up before I have to pound you." I told him holding my fingers about an inch apart.

"Shutting up currently." He told me zipping his lips as I laughed.

"Hey Nolan it's good to see you again." Sharpay, Kelsi, Kristin, and Taylor told him as they walked over to me.

"It's good to see you guys again. Tess I'm going to talk to your mom and dad for a minute." Nolan told me as I smiled.

"All right. I'll be over there in a minute." I told him watching him walk over to my parents.

"You're happier!" Taylor squealed as I smiled at the four of them.

"I am defiantly happier and it's because of Nolan." I told them smiling.

"Aww look at her. She's in love." Kelsi pointed out to me.

"I think I am. It's a good feeling." I told them watching Nolan interact with my parents.

"How do your parents feel about him?" Kristin asked me.

"They like him. Daddy likes him because he plays basketball just like I do and mom likes him because in her words, he's handsome." I told them shaking my head.

"Girl you know how to pick 'em. He's a cutie." Sharpay told me smiling.

"Girls you four are my aunts yet you're acting like my sisters." I told them laughing a little.

"We're just saying you know how to pick them!" Taylor told me shaking her head.

"May I remind you that you four are happily married?" I asked them grinning.

"No reminder needed her." They told me shaking their heads for effect.

"Good because I didn't want to tell you that." I told them smiling.

I excused myself before walking over to where Nolan and my parents were talking. I slipped my hand into Nolan's and listened into their conversation.

"She played brilliantly tonight, if I may say so." Nolan said as I blushed a little.

"It was a good game but I could have played better." I told them smiling.

"Got practice tomorrow?" Mom asked me as I quickly shook my head.

"Nope Coach Caine gave us the night off." I told them smiling brightly at them.

"Lucky Coach Drake told us we've got practice from 5:30 until 7 tomorrow morning." Nolan told me as I pouted my lips a little.

"Aww you poor baby." I told him as something caught my attention.

"Can everyone quiet down for a minute?" Chad asked standing on chair.

"I just wanted to say congratulations to Tess for having an amazing game tonight. You will gain much more experience as you continue to play more games." Chad told me as I smiled at him.

I smiled at him as everyone toasted me on having a great game. Nolan pulled me close to him and kissed the top of my head.

The rest of the evening we hung out and people kept coming up to me and congratulating me on my game tonight. I smiled at them and told them thank you.

"Hey mom, dad." I said coming up to them.

"What's up Tess?" Mom asked me as I smiled at her.

"Nolan's going to take me back to the house. We're going to study and then I'm going to head back to the dorm." I told them.

"If we don't see you later, good luck on your test tomorrow." Dad told me kissing my cheek.

"Thanks. I'll see you guys tomorrow for dinner." I told them.

"Bye Tess and good luck on your test tomorrow." Mom told me as I said my final goodbyes.

Nolan drove me home and pulled into the driveway. We got out and headed inside. We settled on the couch and cracked open our books. We studied for a little while until I started to doze off.

"How about you stay here tonight instead of going back to the dorm?" Nolan suggested as I smiled at him.

"I think I will. I'll walk you to the door." I told him getting off the couch.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning in class." Nolan told me as I smiled at him.

"I love you and thank you for being at the game tonight." I told him smiling.

"Not a problem. Good night and sweet dreams. I love you too." He said leaning down and kissing me.

I watched him walk to his car and back out of the driveway and drive away. I curled back up on the couch and drifted off to sleep.

"TESS!!!" I heard someone familiar calling me as I woke up.

There you guys go. One more chapter to go. If you guys have questions, feel free to send them to me!!!! Feedback would be most appreciated!!!