Page 40 of Never Say Never
The insults do the opposite of psyching me out. They only fuel my determination to prove Katrina wrong with my play.
The fact is, I’ve been dealing with petty comments about being Paul Parker’s daughter almost my entire career, including within my own high school AAU team. Only at UConn was the environment safe from that kind of jealous sniping.
Of course, no one wants me to earn my placewithoutany connection to Dad more than me.
“I will, thanks,” I say to Sarah, not having it in me to say more.
“And legit, ignore any crap like that. Coach Anker is fair, and when you start, it’ll be because it’s the right thing to do. You’re the best of your year, okay? We’re fucking lucky that the Surge could move up the draft to get you.”
“Thank you, Sar.” My irritation starts to ease as her affirmations penetrate my mind.
Once we’re done eating, we both make our way to practice, and I try to push our conversation out of my mind.
Annoyance prickles when I see Katrina, but I ignore her and pay attention to Coach Anker instead.
Now that we’re in season, practices are shorter and less intense. We start with a shootaround and some drills, and then break apart for individual training.
Do I still serve Katrina some side-eye once in a while? Yup.
But I also nail all my individual drills, remembering that the best revenge against shit-talkers is taking their spot. Or however the saying goes…
It’s onlyfour when I get home to my townhouse, and knowing that with the endorsement situation it’s probably best to rip off the Band-Aid, I call Mom.
Reflecting on Dylan and Sarah’s advice, I lay everything out for her, suggesting we set up a call with Aiden as a possible agent and Taylor on the PR side.
To my shock, she sounds relieved.
“Sweetheart, you don’t know how happy I am to hear this.”
“Really?”
“Oh definitely. The most important thing to me is that you are in the best position possible. I’m your mom first, right? And they’re going to know how to do it better than me, as much as I wish I could do it all.”
I let out the breath I’ve been holding the whole day. “Thanks for understanding.”
“It’s going to be good for both of us. Honestly, I’ve been feeling so bad about not handling all these pieces the way you need.”
Her words awaken a new awareness of the pressure she’s been under with my business needs. Still, I value her opinion and know she’ll make sure my interests are protected.
“I’m glad this may take some of the burden off you then. Will you sit in on all the calls though? You’re going to catch things and think of questions I won’t.”
Her answer comes quick. “Yes, and I’ll even set up the calls. One less thing for you to manage.”
It’s only a day later that she’s able to organize the meeting.
When Mom reached out, Aiden had suggested we talk to him and Taylor at the same time. Apparently, they share many clients and Aiden thought it helpful that they would have the benefit of each other’s ideas.
At nine sharp on the following morning, we’re all on Zoom.
“Hi, Avery, so nice to meet you,” Taylor says as we’re connected. “I watched some of the game yesterday. You’re all looking great.”
Last night was our second regular-season game, another win. I’d shot four for six, again off the bench.
“Thank you. Nice to meet you too. And hi, Aiden, good to see you.”
“Glad to be here. I’m looking forward to seeing how I can help.”
Mom takes control of the conversation from there, laying out the feedback she’s gotten from the network via Kayla and the SkyHigh team. It’s not fun to hear that people think I’m too grumpy in public, or whatever was implied by the comments, but Taylor and Aiden need the information.
