The Follow-up

Ava’s POV

By the time I make it back to my dorm, the Chronicle feels heavier in my bag than it should.

It’s just paper and ink, words on a page. I know that. I wrote them. But now those words have a face. A smirk. A voice.

Reckless looks pretty good on me.

His words replay like a song I can’t turn off. I drop my bag onto my desk, the paper sliding halfway out, headline glaring up at me like a dare. Across the room, Lila is perched on her bed in pajama shorts, balancing a bowl of popcorn on her knees while flipping through flashcards for her psych midterm. She glances up as soon as I walk in.

“You’re back late,” she says, voice teasing. “Another intense Chronicle mission?”

“Something like that.” I kick off my sneakers, trying to sound casual, like I didn’t just spend the last hour replaying a smirk over and over.

Her eyes narrow, sharp in that way only Lila can pull off. She doesn’t buy it, but she doesn’t push either. Lila has a sixth sense for when I’m hiding something. She also knows when to let me stew in it until I crack. She pops a piece of popcorn into her mouth and goes back to her cards, though I can feel her curiosity pressing against me like static.

I sink into my desk chair and flick on the little lamp. My notebook lies open where I left it, pages crowded with shorthand and cramped scribbles from the past week. Ethan’s name threads through them like a bold underline, appearing again and again.

I tell myself it’s just because he’s the story. That’s all.

But when he stood in front of me earlier, holding up the paper like a prop, I’d expected anger, arrogance, maybe a lecture. Instead, he grinned. Teased me. Turned reckless into a joke instead of a criticism.

And for one traitorous moment, I forgot I was supposed to be objective.

---

The next morning, Maya corners me in the newsroom before I’ve even had time to caffeinate.

She slaps a fresh copy of the Chronicle down on my desk, grinning so wide her dimples practically puncture her cheeks. “Front page, Ava! Do you see this? Do you see this?”

Her voice is so loud that heads swivel from nearby cubicles. I press a finger to my lips. “It’s just one article, Maya.”

“Just one article?” She collapses into the chair across from me like she’s fainting from disbelief. “Ava, you just wrote the piece everyone’s talking about. The cafeteria was buzzing this morning. Half the journalism faculty quoted you in class. My Uber driver last night even said, and I quote, ‘That kid Cole? Reckless but brilliant.’”

I raise an eyebrow. “You’re making that up.”

She leans in, lowering her voice dramatically. “Okay, maybe my Uber driver didn’t say that, but you get the point. People are talking. You’ve got momentum. And you can’t stop here.”

I blink at her. “Can’t stop?”

“You need a follow-up.” Her eyes gleam with that relentless Maya energy, the kind that could power the entire newsroom if we bottled it. “Dig deeper. Make it a series. The rise and risks of Ethan Cole. Readers would eat it up. Think about it—front-row access, raw honesty, peeling back the myth of the golden boy.”

I chew on the end of my pen, nervous. “Do you think he’d even talk to me again?”

“Of course he will. Didn’t he already?” She smirks knowingly. “Besides… athletes love attention. Just maybe don’t call him reckless to his face again.”

Heat crawls up my neck at the memory of Ethan smirking when he did exactly that himself.

---

That afternoon, I pass the gym on my way to class. The sound of sneakers squeaking and the dull thud of a bouncing ball echo through the double doors.

I pause at the window, my notebook clutched against my chest like armor.

On the court, Ethan is in motion, and it’s impossible not to look away once I start watching. He drives past a defender, pivots, and sinks a jumper with effortless grace. The crowd isn’t here today, no roar of fans or pounding band music, but he plays with the same intensity, as if every shot matters.

It isn’t just the points that catch my attention. It’s the little things.

The way he pats a teammate on the back after a missed layup. The way he actually listens when my dad—Coach Reynolds—speaks, nodding instead of zoning out like half the roster. The way he refuses to slow down, even when everyone else is flagging, sweat dripping down their necks.

Brilliant. Reckless. Both at once.

For a moment, I see past the headlines. Past the myth. And what I glimpse is more complicated, more human.

Maya’s right. There’s more here than one article.

---

That evening, I pace the hallway outside my dorm with my phone pressed to my ear. The fluorescent lights hum faintly, and the echo of my footsteps makes me sound restless, which I am.

“You were right,” I blurt before Maya even says hello.

“Of course I was,” she replies smoothly. “What about this time?”

“The follow-up. There’s more to him than just the game.”

“Obviously. The guy’s a walking headline.”

“No, I mean…” I lower my voice, leaning against the cool wall. “It’s not just about basketball. There’s something personal under the surface. You can feel it.”

Maya hums knowingly. “Careful, Ava. You’re starting to sound like you like him.”

I roll my eyes, though she can’t see it. “I don’t.”

“You sure?”

“Yes,” I say firmly. But even I can hear the thinness of my conviction.

Because the truth is, I don’t know. I don’t know why my pulse raced when he leaned in at the gym, voice low like we were sharing a secret. I don’t know why his smirk keeps replaying in my head like a clip on loop. And I definitely don’t know why I’m tempted—so tempted—to peel back that confident mask and see what’s really underneath.

---

Back in my dorm, the room is quiet. Lila’s already asleep, the glow of her fairy lights casting soft shadows against the walls. I move quietly, slipping into my chair and opening my laptop.

The cursor blinks on a blank document, patient and expectant. The Chronicle’s draft page waits for me to give it something.

I start typing slowly, the words coming hesitant but steady, like testing the water before diving in:

The public sees the star. But what they don’t see is the weight behind the spotlight, the balance between brilliance and breaking point. To understand Ethan Cole, you have to look past the points on the board and see the person running the court.

I pause, rereading, my chest tight.

Because this isn’t just about the story anymore.

It’s about Ethan.

And that terrifies me.