Packing It Up

May 14th, 2024

University of Iowa, Iowa

The final roster of who made the Aces came out a day ago. Kate managed to score one of the twelve roster spots on the Aces and she could not be more happier.

To be drafted was a dream to Kate. To make the cut was Heaven. Kate was in the WNBA and she would be living in Las Vegas in just a few days from now. She was playing on the back-to-back WNBA Championship team with the best player in the league, A'ja Wilson.

Dyaisha Fair who was also at Kelsey's Dawg Class had made the final roster as well. Elizabeth Kitley, who played for the Virginia Tech Hokies, had suffered an ACL tear in her last college game. Kate knew Liz quite well when Kate and Georgia were dating. Of course they just said they were best friends to Liz and she believed it. Dyaisha though, Kate started to get closer with her during the Dawg Classes but prior to then, she didn't really know much of her.

Kate hasn't seen Caitlin since the day of the draft and it honestly made Kate upset but she understood. Both of the girls were so busy, especially Caitlin. Caitlin has been travelling all over the country and hasn't had the time to go to Iowa whether it was to see her family or even try to finish packing her room up.

But right now Kate was outside of her apartment; the place she felt like she hadn't been in so long. Instead of using her key to go inside, she decided to knock and hopefully surprise a little someone who has been hibernating in there.

"Kate! I feel like I haven't seen you in so long I could cry." The price on Gabbie's face was priceless when she saw her now former roomie knock on the door. Gabboe was also leaving as she was now going to the University of North Carolina to pursue a masters in occupational therapy.

"Well I can assure you that we both definitely will be crying in a few hours." Kate accepted Gabbie's warm embrace and they hugged each other so tight it felt like both of their bodies were about to snap in half. It wasn't just not seeing each other for a few weeks that made this hug really special but because it was the last moments of them spending time in the apartment they both dearly loved.

"So you need to tell me everything that happened. Anything and everything that is going on with you because your life is so busy now I thought that you forgot about me." Gabbie's sarcasm made Kate smile out of embarrassment.

"I could never forget you Gabbie. But everything has been good. Me and Nika are in a great place right now, I feel myself getting more prepared for the WNBA everyday, and I am preparing myself for the big transition to Las Vegas."

"Ugh that's right you're a Vegas girl now. So much different than a Midwesterner. Come on, let's sit and chat then we can start to pack." It wasn't a secret why Gabbie wanted them two to just sit down and chat. If they sit down, it just makes the moving out process a whole lot longer. It just lets them forget about real life for a good few minutes.

"So are you excited to be going to North Carolina? Getting new best friends?!" Gabbie rolled her eyes and pushed the blonde playfully because of her comment.

"Shut up Kate. You and Caitlin have been making a ton of besties. I've seen the Instagram's. And I need to be friends with people who can cook more than just Kraft Mac n' Cheese." Now it was time for Kate to playfully push Gabbie because of her comment.

Kate has tried to become a better chef overtime but everything she makes either turns out overcooked or undercooked. Never what she wants the result to be. She was okay at cooking but would never voluntarily cook unless it was for Nika. Kate does want to get better at cooking though so she could make Nika all of her favorite Croatian meals. That was her motivation.

"I'm trying to learn, I swear! Besides, ordering out food in Vegas is expensive and I'd rather save my money and I guess go to a grocery store and buy. That's what Kelsey Plum told me."

Gabbie widened her eyes as Kate just proved her point. "See?! You literally just proved my point. Now you're besties with Kelsey Plum. What about the girl, me, who had to suffer eating your burnt food for four years straight?!"

Kate plugged her ears with her fingers trying to ignore Gabbie and began to stand up. "La la, sorry I can't hear you Gabbie. I guess we have to start packing it up." As Kate was walking to her room, Gabbie kept throwing pillows at her.

The obnoxiousness of Kate was something that always irritated Gabbie but was something she was dearly going to miss. Not only will she not have Kate, but she also won't have Caitlin. Gabbie's nights that were filled with loud voices are soon going to be nights full of silence.

Kate opened up her bedroom door and Gabbie was close behind her. As soon as the blonde opened the door, she just froze, taking it all in. This room was her safe space. It was there for her through all of the tough times.

This room was there for her when she lost two championships, when Nika broke up with her, as well as Georgia, when she was missing home, through everything. Where was Kate supposed to go now?

She looked around the room, examining it one last time. The matching pairs of shoes she got with Nika in Myrtle Beach were still hanging on her shelf, same with the basketball. Her countless loads of guitars, and the one she bought in Myrtle Beach to impress Nika was standing right beside her bed.

"So shall I play some music and we get to tearing down and packing?" Gabbie didn't want to push Kate's buttons. She knew to take her time with Kate because if she didn't Kate would become a mess of emotions.

"Let's get tear this shit up Ms. Marshall."

And without further ado, Kate and Gabbie went straight into putting everything in boxes. They decided to leave the more sentimental things, like the pictures on the walls, for last. Start with the easy stuff, end with the difficult stuff.

Kate began with her closet and the first thing she picked up was her favorite and first hoodie Nika gave her. Instead of putting it in a box or a suitcase, she put it on. It just felt most appropriate.

The process of packing was taking surprisingly quick. Of course there was still a lot of shit to get done but there was definitely a dent made. All that was left was her desk, bed, guitars, and the photos on the wall. Those were all going to take quick though and before they know it, Kate's room will be empty.

Goodbye Iowa, hello Las Vegas.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

University of Connecticut, Connecticut

School was now ending for Nika but the only difference is now she won't be returning here in the fall. She will be in flying and moving across the country in just a few days. It was a bittersweet feeling for Nika. The good thing was she was closer to Kate now than they were during college.

Visits to each other wouldn't be very frequent still. Even if they didn't have the busy schedules that they did. The brightside is that they got to see each other four times in these next few months from games only.

As soon as Nika arrived home from Miami she immediately started packing everything up. It was better to do it now than to do it later and let her emotions overcome her. She's the same stubborn and tough girl that she was a year ago. As promised, she has changed for the better because of Kate but that doesn't mean that she's going to let other people see her cry.

There are a few things Nika has yet to pack up though. Aaliyah had packed just about everything up and Paige didn't even get started on her room. Azzi has begged Paige several times to get the process started but Paige has yet to accept the People's Princess's offer. When Paige packed her room up, it meant that everything was becoming official.

Her best friends would be leaving her and they won't be her roomies next year.

"Fuck twin, your room is a fucking mess, you need to start cleaning this up before I put a fucking leash around your neck and make you clean it up with your mouth." When Nika opened up Paige's door, she saw Paige playing Fortnite with clothes and blankets scattered everywhere on her floor.

"Shh stop Nika I'm about to die...Fuck." Paige looked away from the screen and looked at her twin. "Thanks a lot twin, you made me die."

Nika evilly smirked as she made her way towards Paige. She picked up a shirt and held it up to Paige. "You need to clean this shit up."

Paige waved Nika off as she turned off her TV and began to pick up the clothes from off her floor and onto her bed. "I don't want to. I don't get why I need to move out of here and move just down the hall. I feel like you and Lilli are betraying me even though I made the decision of staying another year."

"Sorry twin. It's what's best for the both of us. But since you're gonna be such a stuck-up right now, help me finish my room." Nika placed both of her hands on her hips as Paige sighed and followed Nika towards her room.

When Nika opened the door to her room, it was practically empty. The only things that were taking up space were the photos of her and Kate or things she got with/from Kate to cherish them as amazing memories. There was also a photo of her with her family in Croatia in 2017 hiking. Her parents loved hiking. Nika didn't get the memo though and became a basketball player.

"Damn Nika, you able to sleep in here when it's so what's the word... It's like your personality...Oh! Boring."

Paige began to laugh at her own joke and laughed even harder when she received a slightly hard push from the Croatian. "Shut the fuck up P, before I fuck you up and you can't play basketball no more."

These were the kind of interactions both of them were going to miss. The times when they can just joke around with each other knowing that they are all harmless jokes, but also how they could have the most serious conversations with each other and they will always be there for one another. Unless they murdered someone or something.

"Okay so you basically know everything about me and Azzi, what's been going on with you and Kate. All I know about you two recently is when I hear your guys' FaceTime calls, the Kelsey Plum Dawg Class, and when everyone heard about you and Kate during the after-party on Draft Night."

Nika was ready to punch Paige from the mention of draft night. It wasn't bad like a bad thing they did. "You and Azzi did the same thing so shut the fuck up you hypocrite." Nika watches as Paige carefully starts placing photos hanging on Nika's wall in a box. "But yeah, we're doing good. Both excited for the transition into the W. We've had talks about potential visits since we know the schedule so..."

Paige nods as she looks into Nika's mirror and flexes her biceps. "Oo, what a muscle mummy I am." The weight room has become one of Paige's favorite places to be. When she tore her ACL, the only sort of activeness Paige was able to get was hitting the weight room. Ever since then, Paige has gotten tougher and stronger, mentally and physically.

"What ever happened to what was going to become an annual trip? Where were you guys going to go? Vancouver? What happened to that?" It was genuine curiosity Nika had. She remembers Paige being excited for it but hasn't heard much about it in a few weeks.

"We were supposed to go in a few weeks but then we decided to change and push it go June." Paige flopped down on Nika's bed as Nika joined her. "It was kind of perfect. You getting drafted to Seattle which is so close to Vancouver. Eh, kinda. Three hours. We left it on hold in case you and Kate didn't make the cut which we all believed you guys would but just in case y'know. So we pushed it to a date when we could see you guys verse each other on the courts."

Not many things make Nika emotional in a good way but this gesture Paige and the other's did definitely is making Nika feel some type of way. "That's so sweet of you guys. I'm so grateful to have you and them." Nika rested her head on Paige's shoulder as Paige had found a new sense of confidence because of her great plan.

"Okay twin you can stop now." The Croatian didn't listen to Paige and still had her head on Paige's shoulder. "Come on Nikaaa. We need to finish packing your room up. It's almost done."

"Well the gesture you and everyone else did is now making me not want to pack up anymore because I'm going to miss you so much. I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish going through this process without crying."

Paige couldn't even argue with Nika. Paige was feeling the exact same as well. No one wants to pack their room up. Ever. The room they've been in for years, the room that saw them through their worst and best. Sometimes it's hard to move on.

"Whelp, we can't just sit here forever. I wish we could but we can't. How about you FaceTime Kate. She'll talk you through it." Nika raises her head from Paige's shoulder as she squints her eyes. "Not like that, not like that. Get a new mind twin. Dirty."

Nika did want to laugh with the way Paige said what she said but she decided not to. Instead, she turned on her phone and FaceTimed Kate who answered in one millisecond.

"Hey babe, are you okay?" Kate was currently doing the same thing that Nika should be doing. She was with Gabbie in her now almost empty room.

"Hi baby. I'm okay. I'm just struggling to pack my room up and Paige is trying to help me. Key word: trying." Nika's words made Paige's jaw drop as she was now semi-offended. "Seems like you're doing better than me with this transition?"

Kate smiled on the other end of the phone. "It was hard at first but Gabbie has really been helping me pack my room up. Sorry to hear your left with Paige and not Lilli."

"Am I just like invisible or something?!" Paige was starting to become a little aggravated but not seriously.

"But yea, everything's been fine. We're almost done with my room and then we all move out of the apartment completely in a few days. I'm sad to leave but I'm excited for Vegas. Just think about how going to the W has been your dream and you're finally accomplishing that goal. Don't forget that."

Kate was right. Then again, when was she ever wrong? Getting into the WNBA was the one dream Nika has had since she was young. The times when she would watch games on YouTube live streams just because she lived across the ocean. Now, it was finally her moment to accomplish what she always dreamed of.

"You really know the right words to say, don't you princess?" Kate felt the red raise to her cheeks as Nika said those words.

Suddenly, Nika was now ready to pack this whole room up. Greater and better things were going to be coming to her; she just had to let a few things go. And one of those things was her bedroom. The things you have the longest are the hardest to let go but the easiest to feel the most free from after.

"I'm glad to see you still haven't put our matching shoes in any of your boxes yet. Mine are still up too." Nika flipped the camera screen to show Kate the matching pairs of shoes they got at Dick's Sporting Goods.

"Well, now we can get new matching basketball shoes and wear them when we first verse each other."

Nika smirked. "I like that mind of yours, princess." The phone on both ends were quiet for a minute until Nika spoke up again. "How about we put them away together now then."

"Deal."

And with that, they both grabbed their matching shoes from wherever they were lingering in their rooms and showed them to each other one last time before placing them in both of their boxes designated for their shoes.

It's weird to think about but shoes also do hold a lot of great memories. Throughout this process, Nika found the shoes she wore when she pushed Kate on the court (yes she remembers the shoes), Kate saw and remembers the shoes she wore the day of both the breakup and the day that they got back together. Weird.

A new era in both of their lives were beginning but they both had things they would like to bring into this new era. The opportunity they got to play at the Division 1 level was now coming to a close but they now had the opportunity to play at the highest level they could.

The transition was going to be easier for them than most because they had the person they loved by their side, going through the same struggles and experiences as well. It was going to be hard to adjust living somewhere new, especially for Nika since she was moving further across the country, but she adjusted just fine when she left Croatia.

When one door closes, a new one opens up. This league is where Nika and Kate will now want to stay forever. They are going to have the best times on the court and also maybe the worst times. But through it all, they have each other. That's what really matters.

Authors Notes:

Apologizes for the shorter chap just ran out of things to say😂

Big transition next chapter into the life of two new WNBA players!

Once again hope yall enjoyed this chapter. 6 more to go.