CHAPTER SIX...

The day of Melo's first Drew League game was very chaotic. Melo's whole family was showing up, and he was doing everything he could not to get in his own head.

"Yo, Dip. You just gotta chill." Gen chuckled as they both lay on his bed back at his house, listening to music while chilling out on their phones. Well, Gen was on her phone while Melo lied his head on her lap watching. "We'll just pull up, you'll mop the floor with them, and then we can go eat."

"'Mop the floor?'" He asked incredulously, almost immediately sitting up. "What are you, eighty?" He laughed as she blushed uncharacteristically.

"Don't laugh, we know my speech is really white sometimes. We've talked about this."

"Yeah, alright." He chuckled, standing up and pulling her with him. "Leggo."

The game started off slightly rocky, with a turnover from Melo since he was adjusting to the game style initially. He was also on edge because Gen was there, and anytime she was, he wanted to impress her. Just like he tried to serenade her when they were about fifteen with his pull-up half-court shot. That clip never got old for her, and anytime she saw it repeat on her feed, she liked it immediately. It never failed to make her blush.

Eventually he turned the game around, moving with speed and agility that was crazy for his height. He knew how to finish a game, make it flashy, and end up winning by twenty.

Once he was done packing up, and he had answered any questions with the media, talked with the family, and gotten positive feedback from his dad, he met Gen back at the parking garage. "Hey." She smiled softly, hugging him tight around his waist because even though she was a taller girl, her arms naturally rested there. He hugged her back around her shoulders, looking around quickly to make sure no one was creeping on them as he then led her to the passenger seat of the lambo.

She had been sitting up front with Gelo and his girlfriend, but had quickly slid out like Melo told her to when the game had thirty seconds left. She was ready to congratulate him, already at the car with his postgame playlist ready.

"Can we get food now?" He asked slyly, pulling out of the parking spot attractively with his hand across of the back of her headrest in a way that made her want to blush as she looked up from her phone and smiled cutely.

"You got it done, so yes."

INTERVIEWER: STEVE
LAVAR AND TINA BALL RESIDENCE

"So between G League and abroad, what are you thinking?" Steve, another one of the producers of the Ball Family's show, "Ball in the Family," asked LaMelo during his interview.

"I really have no idea what to do at this point."

"Looks like you have a big decision to make. Clock's tickin'."

END OF INTERVIEW

No shit.

Melo knew, even back during that interview, that he had limited time. Limited time with his family, with Gen, before his whole life became basketball. The Drew League ended as quickly as it started, with a disappointing but rewarding defeat in the playoffs, finishing the season.

Sad because it was a team that Melo flourished on, but rewarding because he had more time to spend with Gen over the next three weeks before he officially left with Coach Jermaine, or JJ, for Australia and the NBL.

After they had spent time tons of time together, Zo had moved out to Louisiana with DMo due to the trade, and he now belonged to New Orleans Pelicans, reluctantly leaving Zoey—his daughter with Denise—back in L.A. since he and her had not been getting along and she had chosen to stay. Melo would leave in a couple days for Australia.

They had also just gone to the family barbecue, and LaVar did not stop hounding Melo since he and Gen had gotten there a bit late. He had wanted to get his car windows tinted for the longest time because of all the privacy invasions he and Gen had been on the receiving end of. But LaVar didn't get that.

"I don't care what goes on between you and your little girlfriend." He spoke frustrated. "Man, you're leaving in a couple days! What were you thinking?"

He was thinking that he would be driving his car when he got back anyways. Of course he'd never say that out loud, but it was what both him and Gen were thinking, even though she was standing just a couple feet away.

'Little girlfriend?' Damn, she thought she was more than that to the family. To LaVar. She had made sure to never be a distraction to Melo, and he did well even when she was there. In fact, she made him better. He wanted to do well in front of her, especially so his dad couldn't use her against him.

He had seen how his dad had used his older brothers' girlfriends as an excuse to why they didn't do well, and he sat in the corner, cringing internally every time. It was an awful thing to say you were a distraction when it came to the family, and past women had been dragged through the mud because of what LaVar had said when it came to his boys. He would never let Gen be seen that way. Even if it meant that he was seen as incompetent by the person he looked up to most.

His dad.

"I miss you." Gen cried silently into the phone. Melo had been out west in Australia, and she had been traveling the world to expand her career. Her name, much like Melo's, had become a hot topic alongside her sisters' and Kendall's in the fashion world. She was spending every other night in a different country, and the anxiety she started to feel was insane.

What especially set her off was when she was flying on planes at least five times a week. Similarly to Kendall, it was giving her a phobia of flying, and she couldn't handle it anymore.

That night on a flight from Dubai back to L.A., a fifteen hour flight, she woke up feeling like she couldn't breathe. It was February of 2020, and she had been traveling for months, since last summer when Melo left. She had been trying to keep herself busy, but it had only made her feel worse.

Her friend and Manager, Naveya, had tried to get her to calm down with the rest of her makeup and outfit team, but she couldn't. She just couldn't catch her breath.

"I know, I know, but you need to breathe Jenny." He spoke unusually sweetly. He knew she had been struggling, he just didn't know it was this bad. She hated talking about her problems because he was struggling with the upcoming draft that was fast approaching, and he couldn't fly out to see her any time he wanted. Sure he had seen her for her birthday and Christmas, but he missed her every other day he wasn't there.

She whimpered, her voice cracking as Melo became panicked on the other side. Her team was sitting outside of the small cabin she was using for sleeping as Naveya recorded her from outside of the room, just to show Gigi and Bella. Even Kendall, knowing she struggled with severe anxiety for the same reasons.

"Ay, Ay, Ay! It's alright. Guess what?" He asked as she looked down at her phone confused, as if she could see him.

"What." She hiccuped, looking back to Naveya who shrugged having heard him since the volume was turned up on speaker phone.

"I'm back in L.A."

"Already?" She asked in shock. It was only the middle of the season since it was January. He was scheduled to stay out there for a while.

"Yeah. Got this bruised bone in my foot that won't recover just staying out there. I've been back home for a few days waiting to surprise you, but you had to go and ruin that, huh." He teased as she giggled tearfully and he smiled a bit on the other end.

"I guess I'll see you soon then." Gen sniffled, instantly feeling relief. She was going to see her best friend, and not be all alone at home dealing with her anxiety. Until she realized she was going to be spending thirteen or so more hours on the plane.

"I know it's not a solution, but just hold on 'till y'all get here." He spoke sympathetically.

"Alright." She said, not feeling like she could speak much anymore. It was scary to be in tons of different countries when she didn't know who was caring for her. She was only nineteen after all. Yes, she had Naveya, but being with Naveya wasn't the same as seeing her family or best friends. After her house had been robbed this past year, she had become afraid of being alone. Maybe seeing Melo for a while would fix this.

"Okay. See you soon baby."

"Bye-bye."

She couldn't sleep, so all she could do was put her headphones on and close her eyes, trying not to think about the long flight ahead of her.