It was the morning of the basketball game and the coach dropped the players name to participate. Flora was expecting her name to be on the list but instead of was Kyle they picked.
They went to the changing room to dress up before the game and then Flora stormed in.
"You took my spot, Kyle. How do you think that makes me feel?" Flora's voice cut through the hallway like a slap and Kyle stepped back, startled.
"I didn't ask for this, coach made the call."he said but Flora's face burned red.
"You knew I was benched because of that sprain, and you didn't say anything! You smiled and practiced like nothing happened. That's fake, Kyle. That's you."
"Flora, don't do this here..."
She threw his team jacket at his chest.
"We're done. You and me? Over." she said before she stormed off, leaving behind stunned silence and a stunned Kyle.
Across the hallway, Cyma had just zipped up her warm-up jacket when she saw it happen. She hesitated… then walked over to Kyle, who stood still, jacket balled in his hand, staring at the ground.
"You okay?" she asked gently and Kyle exhaled, jaw tight.
"Guess I'm the villain now. Didn't mean to be." he said and Cyma leaned on the wall next to him.
"You didn't steal anything. You earned that spot. Flora's hurt, yeah, but she's mad at the situation more than you." she said and he glanced at her.
"You don't hate me too?" he asked and she smiled slightly.
"You didn't take my spot. I'm still here. And we've got a game to win, remember?" she said and Kyle let out a short laugh.
"You're seriously motivating me right now?" he said and dhe nudged his shoulder.
"You'd better drop 10 assists or I'm pulling you off the court myself." she said and he grinned. "Let's go make it worth it, Cy." he said
A mirrored ballet studio, the lights white and harsh. Jenna stands in the center, posture off, knees bent the wrong way. Angela circles her like a hawk.
"Again. And straighten your turnout, you're not skating." Victoria said
Jenna tries to follow, her toes wobbling in her pointe shoes. She loses balance, nearly falls.
"You move like you're apologizing to the floor." Tiffany said dryly and Jenna winced, embarrassed. Cherry catches her eye through the mirror, offers a nod of quiet encouragement.
"Don't think about doing it right. Feel the rhythm. Let it move through you." Cherry said softly stepping beside her
Jenna exhales, tries again. Slight improvement, but the effort shows in every line of her body.
The scoreboard read 51–50. Tension hung thick in the air.
Cyma dribbled past two defenders, eyes darting to the clock: 9 seconds left.
She spotted Kyle cutting to the wing, and with no hesitation she passed—clean, fast, sharp.
Kyle caught it in motion and—swish—nailed the jumper just before the buzzer.
Final score: 53–50. They won.
The crowd exploded. Kiara, Tyler, and Leo stood from the bleachers screaming. Coach threw her clipboard into the air. Cyma collapsed on the court, breathless and laughing.
Kyle rushed over and pulled her into a hug.
"We did it. We actually did it." he said
Their teammates surrounded them, cheering.
Kiara, Vinny, and Leo ran down to the court. Tyler was a few steps behind them, arms open and a grin spread wide across his face.
"My champ! You did it!" Tyler said
"We did it, me and Kyle. That last shot..." cyma said laughing breathlessly but before she could finish, Tyler pulled her into a tight hug. And then, without warning, he planted a kiss on her lips — gentle, but firm, and in front of everyone.
Cyma blinked in surprise — then smiled, but not everyone was smiling.
From near the bench, Morris, their team captain, watched like he'd just been sucker-punched. His arms were still crossed, but his nails were digging into his sleeves. His face stayed unreadable — for a second — until he turned, grabbed a towel, and flung it at the wall behind the bench
Cyma was still flushed, spinning from the win, Tyler's kiss, and the attention. She walked over to her bag near the bleachers. Morris was waiting by the chairs, pretending to be busy tying his shoelace.
"You good, Captain?" she asked
"Yeah. Congrats." he said without looking up
"Thanks. Means a lot." she said
"Guess Kyle earned his spot today." he said finally meeting her gaze
"He did. You made the right call, even if Flora didn't think so." she said nodding slowly
He stood up, towering just slightly over her, but something was different. His usual cool, cocky energy had dimmed.
"Tyler's really out here making moves, huh?" he asked and Cyma blinked.
"It was a kiss, and he's my man" she said
"Right. Still…" he paused for a while and kicked at the ground
"He waited long enough to make it count." he added and she raised a brow.
"Why do you care?" cyma asked
Morris didn't answer immediately. Then he gave a half-shrug, eyes briefly softening.
"I don't know… maybe I should've made my move sooner." he said and she stood there, quietly but not confused cause she knew exactly what he meant.
Cyma sat alone on the bench, untying her sneakers. Kyle approached with two soda cans and sat beside her.
"To your passes," he said, handing one over.
"To your shot," she replied, bumping her can into his.
Later that evening, Kiara, Leo, and Vinny had taken Cyma out for celebratory drinks, non-alcoholic slushies, of course. Tyler had his arm casually around her shoulder. They were laughing about people's failed attempt to dunk during halftime.
" You know I hope we remain friends for ever" Vinny said interrupting the discussion
" We would" cyma said looking at each one if them faces
" Yeah" Leo said and they all smiled
" I love you guys" Kiara said
" We love you too" Tyler said
" Speak for yourself" Vinny said and Kiara faced him
" So you don't love me back?" She asked acting all cute
" I do but.... Not as much as I love..." He paused
" Love who?" Cyma asked
" My..myself" he said
" Liar, you have a crush and you're keeping it from us" Kiara said
" Fine, it's Jenna" he said and everyone acted so surprise even though they saw it coming
" Wow" Tyler said
" Does she know?" Leo asked
" She literally told me she likes me" he said
" I mean does she know you like her back?" Leo asked
" I don't know" he said
" So you've not told her" Kiara said
" I mean I don't know if she's even taking it as a joke or being serious about it, it's just so weird and a lot for me to take in. I feel we are better of as friends and not especially what happened with me and....."
" We understand" Kiara said cutting him shut as he was about to expose him and Elena's kiss
" I feel should tell her how you feel, or try to be there for her anytime she needs someone to" Tyler said
" Well, as far as I know Jenna she's selfish but whatever she wants as hers... She'll definitely make it hers" Leo said and Kiara ringtone distracts them
She checked the caller ID and saw it was Peter calling.
" Looks like someone's gotta go" cyma teased as she guessed it was Peter
" I'm so sorry guys" Kiara said packing up
" Seriously, can't he spend just thirty minutes without you" Vinny said
"You'll understand when you fall in love" Tyler said looking at cyma
" Okay, I think I should be on my way too. I can't be here and getting oppressed when my babe is waiting for me" Leo said getting up as well
" I'll leave as well, you both should enjoy" Vinny said to cyma and Tyler as they left them there
Kiara got home and saw Peter sitting on the chair in the living room, he was looking down.
" What's up?" She asked as she sat beside him
" I missed you" he said hugging her
" You scared me, I thought something happened" she said as he released her
" You know I can do one minute without you" he said
" Yeah yeah, but you can hang out with your guys but you can't allow me to do the same in peace" she said pouting
" I'm sorry, but you actually promised to send tonight with me. Besides no one is home" he said
" Your mum?"she asked
" She's out till tommorow" he said
" No wonder you called" she said
" Yeah, cause I missed my girl. Don't I have the right to do so again?" He asked placing soft kisses on her neck
" You have every right to" she said pinning her lips to his.
" Peter, I left my phone I don't know where" Mrs Simon said coming in and they separated
" What's going on here?" Mrs Simon asked with confusion written all over her face
" Mum, I thought you were going out" Peter said
" Were you two just kissing on my couch?" Mrs Simon asked looking so serious
" Your phone" Peter said picking it up from the couch and stretching it over
" I'm damn serious Peter!" She yelled which made Kiara shiver a little.
She has never seen Mrs Simon this angry and with the look of things Peter isn't going to make this so simple
" Kiara!" She called which made Kiara snap out of her thoughts
" Ye...yes.. yes Mrs Simon" Kiara muttered
" I need an answer, what's going on here?" She asked
"Um...I..we..it's not... OMG...I...." Kiara struggled to find words
" And so what if we were kissing" Peter said
" Kiara, I'm asking you something" she said still facing Kiara
" And I answered you, we were kissing. What's the big deal about that?" Peter said
" I'm talking to Kiara, stay out of it" she said facing Peter before she turned to face Kiara again
" Kiara, don't let me repeat myself" she said grinning her teeth in anger
" At this point, Kiara just wished the ground could just open up and swallow her or she could just teleport
" Kiara" she called again like she was giving her a final warning
Kiara cleared her throat to talk but her mouth couldn't just open, her throat felt dry all of a sudden. The highest she could do was to make a slight sound
" Hum" Kiara said nodding timidly
" Why?, are you drunk?, did he force you?, was it a dare?... Just tell me why I saw you two about to make out on my fucking couch!" She yelled dropping her pause on the couch
" Mum, if you have any questions.. then direct them to me. Why face her?" Peter said and she faced him
" Okay, answer me then. Which kind of situation or circumstance would make you two ... Just explain yourself" she said
" She's my girl" he said and she chuckled dryly
" I guess you don't understand my question" she said
" I understand, you're the one not understanding. We are a couple, I'm her man and she's my girl" he said and Mrs Simon scoffed before facing Kiara
" Is what he's saying true?" She asked and Kiara nodded
" When, how?. You two were never on good terms" She added
" It just happened" Peter said
" Break up"
" Huh?"
" You heard me, I don't know how you want to do it but you two can't be together. You're fucking cousins"
" Distance cousin"
" I won't let this happen, not under my roof. You two can't be together, it's either you break up or Kiara goes back to where she came from"
" Mum"
" Save it Peter, I've baby sited her enough. It's time for you to pack" Mrs Simon said
" Mum, you aren't being considerate right now. What's so bad if we are together"
" It is, everything about it is bad. This is how it starts, then she moves to other guys and then spoil your entire life... But I won't let that happen to my only son. I should have known better than to let you in here, I thought you'll be different from your mother" she said and faced Kiara
" My mother?" Kiara asked so confused
" I'm calling your mum, you aren't staying here one more night" Mrs Simon said walking over to give Clara a call
" Hey, don't mind her words. She's just a bit upset, she'll cool down later" Peter said holding Kiara hands
" Peter" Kiara said giving him that look
" No, no. I'm not going to break up with you over a baseless argument with my mum" he said
" Peter" she said giving him the look even more
" Kiara, no. She would calm down and learn to accept us together sooner or later. I'll talk to her, there's no need to worry about it" he said
" Peter, try to understand" she said
" I understand, and I need you to understand as well. Our bond, our love, our relationship is stronger than it to end now cause someone isn't comfortable with it. I'll talk to my mum, just go to your room and get some rest" he said placing a soft kiss on her forehead
He was being gentle, calm and adamant at the same time. She knew he was stubborn, he would do what he wants but she didn't want it to be an issues, she didn't want to be the cause of a rift between mother and son. Series of questions ran through her mind, what did Mrs Simon mean by her mother?. What did her mother do?, whose life did she ruin?. These thoughts were popping up in her mind as she went back to her room.
Jenna sat between Victoria and Cherry on the wooden floor, sipping water and laughing about a moment she almost kicked Tiffany during a turn.
"I thought you guys hated me." Jenna said softly
"We might have" Cherry said
" We actually do" Victoria said and cherry hit her hand slightly
" But we respect you now." Victoria said not meaning it at all but she knew that's what Cherry wanted her to say
"You're not the best ballerina yet, but you're a fighter. And that counts more than you know." Cherry said and Victoria rolled her eyes behind.
Jenna smiled genuinely, eyes shining with renewed belief.
" Shall we get back to training" Tiffany said interrupting them
Jenna stood up and took her stance as usual and Cherry adjusted Jenna's arms mid-twirl, guiding her gently.
"Don't force it. Flow. Dance like you're telling your own secret." Cherry said
Jenna's feet stumbled again. Angela clapped rhythmically, her posture like a general drilling a soldier.
"You land like you're angry at the floor! Soften it. Make gravity your partner." Victoria said
Jenna collapsed onto the mat, drenched in sweat and Cherry tossed her a towel.
"So this is what dying feels like." Jenna said laughing breathlessly
"No, this is what ballet feels like." Tiffany smirked
"And you're getting better." Cherry smiled