Number one and only. [Nicholas &team]

Chapter 1 - The Queen of the Court

Northbridge High didn’t just look like a school — it looked like the setting of every high-budget sports drama ever filmed. The gates were wrought iron, the lawns perfectly trimmed, and the main building rose with tall white pillars that screamed prestige. The school crest — a silver hawk clutching a basketball — gleamed above the entrance, sunlight bouncing off it like a spotlight.
And if Northbridge High was the stage, the basketball court was its beating heart.
The outdoor court was massive, with polished maple flooring that shone under the mid-morning sun, a giant scoreboard looming overhead. Banners in blue and silver rippled in the breeze. On game days, it became the loudest place in the district, and today was no exception.
Students flooded the bleachers, shoulder to shoulder, phones in hand, the noise level already near stadium volume. A few had painted streaks of blue across their cheeks; others waved hand-lettered signs that read things like Go Hawks! and Ava 4 MVP.
Somewhere near the front, a group of girls were recording on their phones, their voices overlapping in excited chaos.
“Northbridge’s gonna crush them!” “Forget the team, Ava’s gonna crush them.”
A few rows over, two boys leaned forward, eyes locked on the court. “She’s unreal,” one murmured. “Bro, she’s the reason I even come to games.”

Down on the court, Christine Lee was already on her feet, cupping her hands around her mouth. “Let’s go, Ava! Show ‘em how it’s done!” she shouted, her voice carrying over the crowd noise. She grinned, phone ready to capture every second.
Near the bench, the girls’ basketball coach — a tall man with a whistle around his neck and the kind of posture that made players straighten up just by standing near him — clapped his hands. “Focus, Thompson! We’ve got thirty minutes till tip-off. Warm-up sharp.”

And then, like she owned the air she walked through, Ava Thompson stepped into frame.
Before she even touched the ball, the bleachers erupted. Phones shot into the air, camera flashes went off, and someone somewhere screamed her name so loud it almost echoed.
But Ava barely flinched — she was used to it. Her long ponytail swayed with each step, her blue jersey — number 7 — perfectly fitted, the Northbridge logo bold across her chest. She jogged toward center court, sneakers squeaking, the basketball tucked under her arm.

Maki, captain of the boys’ team, strolled over with his usual lazy confidence. He leaned close, one hand resting on his hip, and whispered something only she could hear.
Ava smirked, adjusting her grip on the ball, but didn’t answer.
Behind them, a wave of shrieks hit the air like a crashing tide.
“Oh my god, it couple!” “He’s totally saying ‘I love you’ right now.”
Christine, sitting nearby, scoffed. “Please. If Maki ever confessed, Ava would probably dunk on him for it.”
Still, the cameras didn’t stop clicking. Every glance, every tilt of their heads was immortalized in someone’s Instagram story before the moment was even over.

The warm-up began.
The camera from the school’s live broadcast zoomed in on the ball, capturing each rhythmic dribble as it hit the court. The sound was sharp, crisp, filling the mic. Slowly, the shot panned upward until it found Ava — her gaze fierce, shoulders squared.
“And here she is,” the announcer’s voice came through the speakers, smooth and reverent, “Northbridge High’s very own basketball queen, undefeated since her first year — Ava Thompson!”
The crowd roared like it had been waiting all morning for that name. Ava looked over her shoulder, waved once, and the noise somehow got louder.

Half an hour until the game. The girls’ team — all in their matching blue jerseys — spread out across the court for stretches and passing drills. Maki, still hanging around, bent down to murmur more so-called tips, and the crowd responded on cue: “It coupleeee!” “They’re perfect together!”
Some girls were already replaying the moment on their phones seconds after recording it.
Christine just rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, “You people seriously need new content.”

And somewhere far from the court, in the quiet hallways of Northbridge High, a new student had just stepped through the front doors.
He didn’t know it yet, but his life — and Ava Thompson’s — was about to get a whole lot more complicated.