Falling For The True Heiress

Classes went on like any other day till the bell cut through the middle of fourth period.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

It wasn’t for lunch this time. It was for sports.

Every Tuesday was Sports Day at Westbrook, and every student was required to pick at least one activity to participate in. There were dozens to choose from—basketball, volleyball, badminton, baseball, boxing, taekwondo, gymnastics, tennis, table tennis, cricket, handball, rugby, archery, swimming, even chess for the ones who’d rather sit than sweat; card games; and Scrabble for the less athletically inclined. For most of the school, Tuesday was the best day of the week, hands down.

The hallways emptied out fast, as students rushed toward the locker rooms to change into their sportswear.

"Lia," Daniela said, swinging her bag as she walked beside me. "Which one are you doing?"

"Hmm. Basketball, I think." I said, draping my arms around her neck.

"Then I’ll join your team too." She said, looking down with a smile.

"I’ll join—" Sylvia started, but Camila cut her off before she could finish the sentence.

"Sylvia is joining my team." Camila interrupted, wrapping her arms around Sylvia and tugging her sideways.

~~~~~ Flashback (Third-person POV) ~~~~~

Earlier that morning, in the car.

"It’s Sports Day today, right?" Daniela asked, watching the school gates come into view through the windshield.

"Yeah. Why?" Camila asked, pulling into the lot.

Daniela leaned her head against the window. "I want you to help me get closer to Amelia."

Camila let out a soft laugh. "So now you want me playing Cupid?"

"Call it whatever you want," Daniela said, already pushing her door open.

This girl is determined to turn me into a matchmaker. She’s going to keep pushing until she ends up with a broken heart, Camila thought, shaking her head as she stepped out and locked the car behind them.

~~~~~ End of Flashback ~~~~~

Camila was in the badminton club, and she was also the captain of her team.

We headed to the lockers to change. Xander and his usual circle of friends passed by, then stopped. His attention skipped right over me and landed on Sylvia.

"Sylvia." He said, smiling. "Which sport are you doing?"

"What’s it to you?" She asked, frowning.

Xander was on the football team. But there was a time when a guy tried pursuing me, and Xander ended up joining that same team just to keep an eye on things and scare him off. And now here he was, asking Sylvia about her team.

My hand curled into a fist before I’d even decided to do it. Daniela noticed instantly, reaching over and smoothing her palm gently over my knuckles until they loosened.

I glanced at her and managed a small smile. She nodded back—it’s fine.

"If you don’t leave," Sylvia said, raising her hand in warning, "I’ll assume you’re asking for another slap."

Instead of backing off, Xander’s smile only widened, something lighting up behind his eyes that I recognized immediately from the cafeteria.

Xander glanced at me once, then back at Sylvia. "Fine. Bye." He said and walked off with his friends trailing behind him.

"Your fiancé is a special kind of person." Camila muttered near my ear.

"He’s not my fiancé," I said, irritated.

Camila just smiled like she’d expected exactly that reaction.

"Looks like the mad dog’s gone. Let’s go, Lia," Daniela said, tugging me by the hand.

I looked back just long enough to wave at Sylvia and Camila before following her toward the court.

The court was already crowded by the time we got there. Students were sitting on the bleachers, some already filming with their phones.

"You’re really good at this, right?" Daniela asked, bouncing beside me.

"I used to play with my dad sometimes," I said, tying my hair into a tighter ponytail.

"I believe you," she said, smiling confidently even though she had never seen me play before.

The coach blew the whistle and called out the names for the lineup. I was forward. Daniela ended up as guard, staying close to my side of the court the whole time.

The game started.

Vivienne was on the opposing team, which I should have expected. The moment the ball was tossed, she looked at me like this was personal now too.

I caught the first pass, pivoted, and drove toward the key. A girl from the other team rushed at me, but I faked left and slipped past her, scoring an easy layup.

The bleachers erupted into cheers.

"THAT’S MY LIA!" Camila’s voice rang out clear over everyone else, and I didn’t even have to look to know she had abandoned her own badminton warmup just to come watch.

Daniela was grinning so wide I could see it from across the court.

The game kept going. Vivienne got rougher every time I touched the ball, pushing harder than necessary during rebounds. The referee didn’t call most of it.

"She’s playing dirty," Daniela muttered, jogging beside me during a break.

"She’s always like this," I said, shaking out my arm.

With less than a minute left, the score was tied. I got the ball, dribbled twice, and looked for an opening. Vivienne was right in front of me, arms raised, daring me to try something.

So I passed it instead, straight to Daniela, who had cut toward the basket without me even noticing.

She caught it and scored immediately.

The buzzer rang seconds later.

Daniela threw both arms in the air and ran straight at me, hugging me so tightly she nearly lifted me off my feet.

"We did it!" She said, laughing.

"You did it," I said, laughing too, trying to wiggle free. "I just passed the ball."

"A perfect pass," she said, like that settled everything.

Vivienne stood across the court, glaring, clearly annoyed about losing. I gave her the smallest, fakest smile I could manage.

From the bleachers, Camila was already filming everything, saying loudly that she was sending the video straight to Sylvia.

I looked around the crowd for Sylvia without really meaning to.

She wasn’t there.

Camila jogged down from the bleachers a few minutes later, holding two bottles of water. She tossed one to Daniela and handed me the other.

"You were really amazing out there," she said, smiling.

"Thanks," I said, taking a sip, still catching my breath.

I looked past her, looking around the crowd again.

"Where’s Sylvia?" I asked, trying to sound like I didn’t really care.

Camila raised an eyebrow. "Why? Miss her already?"

"No," I said quickly. "I just thought she would be watching, since she made such a big deal about Xander earlier."

"She’s still stuck doing badminton drills with my team," Camila said, shrugging. "Coach didn’t let anyone leave early today."

"Oh," I said, taking another sip just to have something to do.

Camila stared at me a little too long, that same smile creeping back on her face.

"You sure you’re not a little disappointed your biggest fan wasn’t here to see that layup?"

"I don’t need a fan," I said, capping the bottle harder than necessary.

"Mm-hmm," Camila said, clearly not believing me. "Sure you don’t."

Daniela, still excited from the win, looked between us, confused. "Are we talking about Sylvia?"

"No," I said.

"Yes," Camila said at the same time.

Daniela just shrugged and drank her water, while I tried hard to act like I wasn’t thinking about Sylvia at all.

The coach blew the whistle for the second half.

I overheard a girl whispering to her friends nearby. "Did you hear Xander Vale is in badminton now?"

My hand tightened around the bottle immediately, crushing it. Camila looked at me, her eyes widening with fear.

I turned and walked straight back towards the court without a word. Daniela jogged to catch up behind me.

I didn’t even wait for the whistle to fully finish before I was moving.

The ball came toward me, and I caught it harder than I should have. I drove straight into the key without thinking, without caring who was in my way.

A girl from the other team tried to block me. I pushed past her shoulder, harder than the rules probably allowed, and scored.

"Foul!" Someone shouted from the sidelines.

The ref didn’t call it. I didn’t slow down to find out if he would.

Different thoughts kept running through my mind, so much so that I didn’t even realize I was still standing on the court.

Why is Xander even allowed to just switch sports whenever he wants? Why does no one stop him? Why does Sylvia have to deal with this just because she stood up for me?

The ball came back into play. I stole it right off Vivienne’s hands before she even saw me coming, and she stumbled trying to recover.

"Watch it!" She snapped.

I didn’t answer. I just ran the length of the court and scored again, my chest heaving, my jaw tight.

The crowd noise faded slightly in my ear. I could only hear my breath and the squeak of shoes.

Daniela called my name from somewhere behind me, telling me to slow down, but I barely heard her. I caught the next pass and didn’t even look for an opening; I just forced one, pushing past two defenders at once.

And it went in.

The score climbed faster than it should have, because I wasn’t really playing like it was a game anymore. Every shot felt like I needed it to land harder than the last one.

By the time the whistle blew for a timeout, I was breathing hard, sweat running down my face, my hands still stinging from how many times I’d ripped the ball away from someone else.

Daniela walked up to me slowly. "Lia," she said carefully. "You’re scaring people a little."

I looked down at my hands. They were shaking.

I hadn’t even noticed.

I turned and walked off the court.

I went to my locker, grabbed my bag, and walked through near the badminton court on my way out. Xander was there, smiling at Sylvia, who looked openly annoyed by whatever he’d just said. My fist clenched again on its own, and I kept walking, faster now.

"Lia!" Camila came running after me. "Where are you going?"

I didn’t stop. I didn’t turn around. I crossed the main corridor and walked straight out to the parking lot.

"I’m really the worst," I said, finally turning to face her once I reached my car.

Then I got in and drove off.

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