Effervescent

CHAPTER 1 - You accidentally killed someone.

Cara sat in the stands with her best friend Drew. The game had been a rollercoaster and there were twenty six seconds left on the clock. The ball was in the enemy's possession and the score was tied. She sat with her palms covering her face, anxiety building up when an opponent player charged towards their basket but before they could score, Christian, her twin brother, intercepted and the ball was now in her team's possession. The crowd roared but Cara's eyes were drifting to the clock which showed twelve seconds left. Christian crossed the half line, dribbling with elegance and manoeuvring his way on the court and passed the ball to Jayden, the team captain. Once the ball was in his hands, it was only a matter of seconds before he scored, Christian knew it, Cara knew it, hell, the entire stadium knew it. With three seconds on the clock, he attempted a 3 pointer and just as swiftly as he had thrown it, the ball went through the basket and the buzzer rang indicating the game's end and declaring Zachary Wellington Academy as the champions for this year's season.

The crowd roared and chaos broke out everywhere. Happy smiles were seen in every corner of the stadium. Typing with the speed of the Flash with her chubby fingers, Cara shot a quick text to her mother about the wonderful outcome of the game. Her happiness knew no bounds and she felt a proud feeling surge through her for her brother's accomplishment. She ran down to the court where everyone was already celebrating and threw her body on her brother's form.

"Easy there tiger, you don't want to break me." He chuckled.

"Shit, Coco, I'm so fucking proud of you." Cara sniffled, happy tears in her eyes.

They broke apart and Christian felt his heart warm at the sight of his sister being his support system. He hated seeing tears in her eyes, regardless of them being happy so he wiped them away and then tickled her sides to make her break out into a rambunctious laughter.

A deep husky voice broke their display of sibling affection, "Yo Chris, victory party at my parent's guest house, come on."

Cara looked up to see Jayden smiling at her brother. She couldn't help but feel nervous being in such close proximity from him. She had always been fond of him ever since they first came to the academy four years ago. Back then, Jayden was an awkward lanky teenager with braces and acne but he was extremely sweet. Cara had been partnered with him for a science project and developed a crush on him but she never had the courage to admit it. Not like she even had the opportunity, they weren't friends, they hadn't spoken to each other after the project was done. Then puberty hit him hard and Jayden transformed into some sort of a sex god. His skin cleared, his lanky figure became more muscular and his braces had come off. His brown hair was glossy and his matching chocolate brown eyes, enticing.

Cara knew she stood no chance. She was of average height, around 5'6", had ebony black hair and grey eyes, thick arms and thighs and a small belly pouch classifying her as slightly overweight. She wasn't insecure, in fact, she was the most confident girl out there, the life of the party, but she knew that Jayden had a type. She also knew that if he wanted to be friends with her at all, he would've spoken to her after the project, he had her number. It's not like she didn't try, she always acknowledged him in the hallways or in their shared classes but she saw how he forced a smile when he saw her. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable so she stopped acknowledging him.

Cara gave her brother one last hug, "Enjoy and don't drink too much, we can't have a repeat of when you thought you had accidentally killed someone."

Christian grumbled and stomped his foot childishly, "That was one time, also, you aren't coming?"

Cara switched her gaze to see Jayden staring at her intently so she decided to be polite and congratulate him, "Congratulations, you played really well." He nodded in response and she swept her gaze back to her brother. "Not tonight, I have an assignment to submit before midnight. Call me if you need anything, okay?"