“No, the day of the first game of the season is always the worst.

It’s because most of the team went home over the summer holidays and there’s a bunch of new players who have no clue what they’re doing yet. Noelle worked really hard to get them all into shape.”

I nodded, thinking back to all the evenings she had spent in the gym instead of our room over the last few weeks. To keep up the conversation, I asked, “Did you go home over the summer?”

“Yeah, I spent three weeks in Marseilles. Noelle came with.”

“She didn’t go home to her parents?”

Jasper only shook his head.

Before I could ask why, Seth chimed in. “Do you think they’re going to win?”

“Better hope so,” Jasper laughed. “Otherwise you’ll be screwed, princesse. There’s little that Noelle hates more than losing.”

“I think I can handle it,” I said, but got drowned out by the loud cheers and whistles that suddenly erupted in the crowd around us as Seven Hills’ basketball team burst through the doors. Noelle was in the front, wearing the team’s blue-and-white uniform, a few curls escaping from her ponytail. A grin more enthusiastic than I had ever seen on her was lighting up her face, her eyes brighter than the neon lights on the ceiling.

When Jasper whooped loudly, she turned to us and gave a short wave.

My hands were already hurting from clapping so loudly, but I didn’t stop until the opposing team entered the court and everyone settled down.

While her team got into formation behind her, Noelle walked to the midcourt line to exchange a few words with the other team’s captain and the referee. Then, with a whistle and deafening cheers, the game started.

I really didn’t know much about the rules of basketball, so most of the time I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I joined in whenever the others were cheering or booing. Being in the first row felt much more engaging than I had expected; more than once I flinched when the basketball got thrown in our general direction, the floor vibrating beneath my feet as the players darted past.

Towards the end of the first half the teams were tied at twenty-nine points each.

However, I didn’t really care about the score—my eyes were mostly trained on Noelle. She was the fastest player by far, always showing up where no one had expected her to and effortlessly stealing the ball from the others. There was a heat in her eyes that I had never seen before, something wild about the way she grinned when her team scored. This was Noelle in her element, I realized. This was Noelle when she cared.

Halftime lasted twenty minutes, as Jasper informed me, enough time for us to get snacks and for me to have a quick chat with a breathless Amelia.

Fifteen minutes into the break, Seven Hills’ team returned from the locker rooms. Noelle gathered everyone around her and addressed every player individually. Even from here I could tel how fiercely she was speaking, waiting until the person she was talking to nodded before she moved on to the next. I could only imagine what it felt like to have her talk to me like that, intense and in charge. I hated that my heart skipped a beat at the thought.