Crossing the line

18: How it Started

JAKE - summer before (his) Senior year and (her) Ava's sophomore year

The sound of the basketball bouncing on the pavement was the only thing I could focus on. The steady rhythm, the way the ball felt under my hand as I dribbled up and down the driveway. I wasn't the best player on the team, but I held my own. More than anything, basketball was a way to clear my head. And I needed that tonight.

Liam was inside, finishing up homework or something, while I stayed outside to get a few more shots in before the sun went down. It was the summer before senior year, and everything felt like it was on the edge of changing. College applications, the future-none of it seemed real yet, but it was creeping up fast. Too fast.

I aimed for the hoop, launched the ball, and watched as it swished cleanly through the net. I smiled a little to myself, satisfied. But before I could grab the ball, I heard the front door creak open behind me.

"Jake, you've been out here forever," Ava's voice called from the porch. "Aren't you tired?"

I turned around, wiping the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand. Ava stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, her arms crossed over her chest. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, a few strands falling around her face, and she was wearing one of those oversized T-shirts she always slept in, the kind that swallowed her whole. She looked... different. I don't know when it had started, but at some point, I'd stopped seeing her as Liam's kid sister and started seeing her as... well, Ava.

"Not tired," I said, shrugging as I jogged over to grab the ball. "Just working on my form."

She rolled her eyes, but there was a smile tugging at her lips. "You've been 'working on your form' since you got here this afternoon. Don't you ever take a break?"

"Gotta stay sharp," I teased, tossing the ball up in the air and catching it. "You never know when Coach is gonna call me up to varsity."

Ava laughed, a sound that seemed to linger in the summer air longer than it should. I don't know why, but lately, every little thing about her stood out to me. The way her laughter carried, the way she teased me and Liam, how she always seemed to be around, even when I wasn't paying attention. But now I was paying attention. Too much.

"Yeah, well, if Coach saw you out here right now, he'd probably tell you to sit down and take a water break," she said, stepping off the porch and walking toward me.

I was about to toss the ball toward the hoop again when she stepped into my space, close enough that I could smell the faint trace of her shampoo. It was distracting. I couldn't focus. My hand froze mid-shot, and the ball fell out of my grip, bouncing off the ground before rolling away. I felt my face heat up, a strange reaction I hadn't been able to shake around her lately.

"You okay?" Ava asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Uh, yeah," I mumbled, looking anywhere but at her. "Just... missed the shot, I guess."

She smirked, bending down to grab the ball. "Missed it? You didn't even take it."

I tried to laugh it off, but it came out awkward and forced. God, when did this happen? When did I start getting tongue-tied around her? This was Ava-Liam's little sister. The girl who used to chase us around with water balloons and get mad when we didn't let her hang out with us. But now, she was standing here, teasing me, and all I could think about was how close she was, how her smile made my stomach do weird flips.

"Here," she said, tossing the ball back to me. "Show me what you've been working on all day."

I caught the ball and tried to focus, tried to just do what I'd been doing for hours. But with her standing there, watching me, it felt different. More pressure. I faked a shot, then dribbled past her, running up to the hoop and laying it in, but when I turned around, she was laughing again.

"What?" I asked, feeling a little self-conscious.

"You get so serious when you're playing," she said, shaking her head. "It's just basketball, Jake."

"Yeah, well, it's important," I said, trying to sound like I wasn't affected by her at all. "Gotta keep practicing if I want to make the team this year."

"I know," she said, her smile softening. "But you don't have to prove anything to anyone, you know that, right?"

Her words caught me off guard, and for a second, I didn't know what to say. There was something about the way she said it, like she believed it, like she actually thought I was good enough just as I was. No one else ever said stuff like that to me. Liam sure didn't. It was always about pushing harder, doing better. But Ava... she saw me differently.

I shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Yeah, I guess."

She tilted her head, watching me with those eyes that always seemed to see right through me. It was unnerving, but in a way that made me feel... important. Like she was really paying attention.

"Do you ever do anything for fun?" she asked, stepping closer again. "Or is everything just basketball and proving yourself to people?"

I chuckled, more at the way she was looking at me than the question itself. "What do you mean? I have fun."

"Oh, really?" she challenged, crossing her arms again. "When's the last time you actually did something fun? Like, not sports-related."

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. I realized I didn't have an answer. I'd been so wrapped up in basketball, in trying to be the best, that I hadn't thought about anything else.

Ava must've seen the look on my face because she grinned, like she'd just won some secret argument. "That's what I thought," she said, nudging me with her elbow. "You need to loosen up, Jake. Life's not all about proving stuff to other people."

I stared at her, the way the last bit of sunlight hit her face, the way her eyes sparkled with amusement. And that's when it hit me. This wasn't just a crush. This wasn't just me noticing she'd grown up or thinking she was cute. This was something more, something that ran deeper than I was ready to admit.

I was falling for her. And I was in trouble.

Because falling for Liam's little sister was the one thing I wasn't supposed to do.

I swallowed hard, trying to push the thought away, trying to remind myself that this was Ava. We were just messing around, talking like we always had. But the way my heart was pounding in my chest told me otherwise.

"I, uh... I think I'm gonna head in," I said, taking a step back, needing some distance before I did something stupid, like reach out and brush that stray hair out of her face.

Ava looked surprised, but she didn't press it. "Okay," she said, still smiling. "But next time, I'm gonna beat you at Horse."

I laughed, relieved for the out. "We'll see about that."

As I turned to head inside, I felt her watching me, and I couldn't shake the feeling that things had just changed between us. And not in a way I could ignore.

But as I walked through the door, the weight of what it all meant settled over me.

I liked Ava. And it was going to get messy.

Because Liam could never know.