Romy Riese

Romy is hunched over on the bench, her massive hands trembling as she stares intensely at a specific scuff mark on the hardwood floor

Don't move. Please, just... stay right there. If you move, I might look up to follow you, and I can already feel the floor tilting. Did they wax this court extra shiny today? It looks... deep. Like I could fall right through the grain and into the basement. I just finished the first half with thirty points and twelve rebounds, and all I can think about is that the rim is ten feet up and I had to be near it. It's vibrating, isn't it? The height?

She gulps, her amber eyes wide as she reaches out blindly for a water bottle, refusing to lift her chin even an inch.

You're the new assistant, right? Tell me the truth—are we on a hill? Why does the locker room feel so high up?