Chapter 3: Lines We Shouldn’t Cross
904 Words
The squeak of sneakers echoed across the empty gym. Amelia sat halfway up the bleachers, her elbows resting on her knees as she watched the basketball practice below. The large windows of the Westbridge gym let sunlight spill across the polished wooden floor, making everything glow slightly.
On the court, Ethan dribbled the ball before passing it to Lucas.
Lucas caught it smoothly and shot.
Swish.
The net snapped sharply as the ball went through. A few of Ethan’s college teammates clapped and whistled. “Show-off,” Ethan called, grabbing the rebound.
Lucas only smirked. “You’re just mad I’m better.”
Amelia rolled her eyes from the bleachers, though she couldn’t stop watching. She had told herself she only came because Sophie insisted they stop by after school. But that wasn’t the full truth. The truth was… she wanted to see him.
Unfortunately, Sophie had left twenty minutes ago for cheerleading practice, leaving Amelia alone in the bleachers pretending to scroll through her phone. Below, Lucas wiped sweat from his forehead with the edge of his shirt. Amelia immediately looked away. Her heart was beating faster than normal. She hated that he had that effect on her. As if sensing her gaze, Lucas looked up.
Their eyes met.
Again.
The same intense eye contact from the party returned instantly. Lucas held her gaze for a moment longer than necessary. Then Ethan threw the ball at his chest.
“Focus, man.”
Lucas caught the ball easily, but Amelia noticed something strange.
He didn’t look back up again.
Practice continued for another fifteen minutes before the coach finally blew his whistle.
“Break for ten.”
The players scattered, grabbing water bottles and towels.
Amelia quickly stood.
Maybe she should leave before.....
“Amelia?”
She froze.
Ethan jogged over toward the bleachers, sweat dripping from his hair.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Just watching,” she said casually.
Ethan narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Watching what exactly?”
“The game.”
Before Ethan could question her further, one of the players shouted his name from the other side of the gym.
“Hold on,” Ethan said. “Don’t disappear.”
Amelia nodded.
But the moment Ethan walked away, she grabbed her bag and slipped quietly down the hallway.
She didn’t want another awkward moment with Lucas.
Unfortunately…
The universe had other plans.
As she turned the corner near the locker rooms, voices stopped her.
Ethan.
And Lucas.
They were arguing.
Amelia instinctively stepped back, staying hidden behind the wall.
“You need to stop looking at her like that,” Ethan said sharply.
There was a pause.
Lucas sounded calm when he replied. “Looking at who?”
“Don’t play dumb.”
Amelia’s heart pounded.
“She’s my sister,” Ethan continued. “And she’s seventeen"
Another pause.
When Lucas spoke again, his voice was lower.
“I know how old she is.”
“Then act like it.”
Amelia pressed her hand against the wall, barely breathing.
Ethan sighed heavily.
“She’s always had a crush on you,” he said. “You know that.”
Lucas didn’t answer immediately.
When he finally spoke, something in his voice sounded tense.
“That’s exactly why I’m staying out of it.”
“Good,” Ethan said. “Because nothing about that situation ends well.”
A long silence followed.
Then Lucas spoke again.
“Relax, Ethan.”
His voice was controlled now.
“She’s your little sister.”
Another pause.
“And I know exactly where the line is.”
Amelia felt something twist painfully in her chest.
“Good,” Ethan repeated.
Footsteps started moving toward the hallway. Amelia quickly slipped away before they could see her. Her thoughts spun the entire walk home. She’s your little sister. I know exactly where the line is.
The words repeated in her head like a broken record. By the time she got home, she went straight to her room.
Her desk was covered with textbooks—chemistry notes, math homework, and an essay she needed to finish for literature class.
Amelia sat down and opened her laptop.
“Focus,” she muttered.
She started typing.
But after five minutes…
She deleted the entire paragraph. Her mind kept drifting back to the gym. To Lucas’s voice. To the way he had looked at her.
To the way he had said he would stay out of it. Amelia groaned and dropped her head onto the desk.
Why did that bother her so much?
It wasn’t like anything had ever happened between them.
Nothing had even started.
And yet…
Something about hearing him draw that line made her chest feel strangely empty.
She grabbed her phone, intending to check a message from Sophie. But instead, her screen lit up with a notification. A new photo had just been posted.
Vanessa Hale.
Amelia opened it before she could stop herself. It was a picture from earlier at the gym. Vanessa stood beside Lucas, smiling brightly, her arm around his shoulder.
The caption read:
“Practice visits ❤️”
Amelia stared at the photo.
Then she locked her phone and pushed it away.
“Focus on your studies,” she whispered to herself.
But the problem was…
No matter how hard she tried…
She couldn’t stop thinking about Lucas Knight.
And the line he said he would never cross.
- Writer
