The morning air felt crisp, the streets already humming with life. Charlotte Graves stood at the edge of the sidewalk, waiting. It was 9 a.m. sharp. She smoothed the hem of her light-blue dress, her reflection bouncing back faintly from the shop window nearby.
"Do I look… beautiful in this?" she whispered to herself, tilting her head and checking her hair again in the mirror. The confident captain of the Thunderhawks girls' team was nowhere to be seen, this was Charlotte Graves the older sister, nerves pricking her chest like pins.
Her mind drifted back to the moment that led her here.
…
It was after practice yesterday. The team was cooling down, water bottles cracking open, jokes filling the gym. Ethan was wiping sweat from his brow when Charlotte suddenly walked toward him.
"Ethan… can you come with me tomorrow?" she asked, voice steady but her eyes betraying the faintest tremor.
The gym fell silent for a heartbeat. Then—
