iloveit - bella hines

00

bella hines never chased.
she didn't have to.

girls tripped over themselves just to be noticed by her—on the court, in the halls, at parties where the music was too loud and the lights too low. she had that kind of gravity. the kind that pulled people in whether they wanted to be caught or not. confident. untouchable. dangerous, in a way that felt like a dare.

mila has known bella since high school. back when she was all sharp elbows and raw talent, when her attitude got her benched more than it got her praise. back when she'd first looked at her like she was something she didn't understand—but wanted anyway.

mila was the opposite of her. always had been. soft where she was sharp. careful where she was reckless. the kind of person who followed rules even when no one was watching.

and somehow, she stayed.
even when bella started changing.
even when girls started falling at her feet.
even when she started collecting them like trophies she never planned to keep.

but before the tension,

before the lines that kept getting crossed and redrawn,

before mila davis learned how much it could hurt, there was just bella.

—

they met when they were fourteen.

mila remembered it clearly because bella hines wasn't the kind of person you forgot.

she'd walked into the gym like she already owned it—late, unapologetic, basketball tucked under her arm like it belonged there more than she did. her hair was a mess, her uniform slightly off, and she had this look on her face like the world was already annoying her.

coach had been mid-sentence.

bella didn't care.

"nice of you to join us," coach snapped.

bella shrugged. "got lost."

"you've been here all week."

"still got lost."

mila had laughed.

quietly.

but bella heard it.

her head turned immediately, eyes locking onto mila like a switch had flipped.

and for a second—

just a second—

bella smiled.

not soft.

not sweet.

just... interested.

that was it.

that was all it took.

—

they were inseparable by the end of the week.

it didn't make sense to anyone else.

mila was... mila.

good. kind. predictable.

bella was—

not.

she skipped classes, talked back, played like she had something to prove every second she was on the court. she didn't follow rules. didn't listen. didn't care.

except - she listened to mila.

she walked mila to class like it was just something that happened, like it had always been that way.

"you don't even have this class," mila pointed out once.

bella shrugged. "i like the walk."

that was the first red flag.