Chapter 26

                                    

                                          
Ballroom Extravaganza by DPR IAN
The following days didn't go as well as Chaeyoung wanted them to. Everyday she would come home to her mother asking where she had been and why she was getting home so late. In return Chaeyoung would lash out on her and lock herself inside her room. Whenever she was with her sweet Mina, everything felt okay. But as soon as she would get home, her world would be shattered over and over again by her mother. To makes matters worse, Chaeyoung was beginning to lose excitement upon waking up. 
"Hi, Love!" Mina greeted her during lunch. "This is what we're going to do today; I'll take you to lunch, right now. And I'll skip fourth so we have extra time with each other. You'll leave for your game and I follow the bus in order to be there on time. After that, we can hang out for a little. If you want? You don't have to agree. I just thought it'd be nice..." 
Chaeyoung had stopped her right there with a kiss. "I love it. Let's get going, I'm hungry" 
"Good. I am too"
Mina took her girlfriend by the hand and pulled her into the cold January air.  With big smiles, they hurried through the parking lot ignoring any body else that got in their way. Getting out of the lot was always a nightmare but today, Mina's car had been one of the first to leave without much of a problem. The team had plans of going out for lunch but of course, Chaeyoung would most definitely choose her girlfriend over them. 
On top of that, she felt a little too exhausted to even interact with anybody else. It had begun to weigh her down again and she didn't understand why. Everything was good; she had the most amazing her girlfriend, her friends were great, even the basketball team loved her. But every time she goes home, everything suddenly disappears into nothing. And she knew exactly why; her mother was slowly tearing her apart. 
"What goes on in your mind?" Mina asked on their way to lunch. "You've been quiet lately. Everything okay?" Her hand reached for Chaeyoung's alarmingly cold one. 
"Yes. I'm nervous" she lied. "First game in like a month. I feel a bit rough" 
The oldest gave her hand a light squeeze. "Hey you're like amazing. I mean you've never played before and you still made varsity" Mina's sweets words were enough to make her smile. "And I'll be right there cheering you on just  like I always will"
"You're amazing, did you know that?"
"You make me the person I am"
You're the love of my life. 
Chaeyoung would never love anyone other than Mina. 
Chaeyoung wouldn't even have the chance to.
They shared a warm meal together in which Chaeyoung nearly choked from having laughed a little too hard at one of Mina's corny jokes. One of the many things she loved about her. No matter how cringey and horrible her jokes were, she loved every single one of them. Mina noticed Chaeyoung's silence but decided to push it aside.  Instead, she asked questions about basketball and a few rules she had pretended to forget about. Anything to see excitement in her girlfriend's eyes.
By time it was Chaeyoung's time to go, she felt fully energized and was much more bubbly than she previously had been. Mina would actually stay back for a bit in order to give Mark and Jay a ride there after school. They agreed that carpooling was the best option. The oldest just hoped they were fast enough to get there before the game began. 
Mina's plan would've gone accordingly if the rest wouldn't have begged to stop at a gas station for snacks. And even more since Mark couldn't decide what to get. The oldest was beginning to lose her patience when Jay and Mark began to discuss what would be the best slushy to combine with the coke flavor. And finally, she lost it when Mark had gone up to her with five different bags of chips asking her to pick the worst one.