Part-436

  James shrugged, like it was no big deal, but Lily wasn’t buying it for a second. She’s known James her whole life, and she could see right through the casual act. There was definitely something else going on behind his eyes – a spark of interest, maybe even a little thrill.

  It was subtle, but it was totally there, hiding beneath the ‘just something to do’ vibe.

  Lily hopped onto the edge of his desk, making herself comfortable amongst the chaos of papers, her smirk just getting wider. “'Something to do'?” she repeated, totally mocking his deadpan tone.

  “Seriously? That’s it? No secret burning passion for the game? No wild fantasies of becoming the next LeBron James?”

  “Nah,” James said, but this time, there was a tiny pause before he answered. Like he was thinking about it for a second, or maybe just not completely convinced himself.

  “Hmmmm,” Lily hummed dramatically, tapping a finger on her chin like she was Sherlock Holmes solving a major mystery.

  “Basketball now… let’s see, st year we had the intense chess club phase, before that it was all about the super serious debating society… oh, and who could forget your brief but very dramatic fling with the photography club?” She started ticking them off on her fingers, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Dude, you’re basically an extracurricur activity tourist, aren’t you? Sampling all the local fvors.”

  James just rolled his eyes, cssic James move, but you could tell he wasn’t actually mad.

  More like that kind of brotherly ‘ugh, sisters’ exasperation. “Alright, alright, I get it, point taken,” he conceded. “So I try out different stuff.

  Big deal, right? What’s so wrong with that?”

  “Whoa, hold up, no judgment here!” Lily said, throwing her hands up in mock defense. Her tone was still light and teasing, but you could hear a little shift in it now, a touch of something softer underneath. “Actually, in a weird way, it’s kind of… impressive? You’re like a human all-you-can-eat buffet of after-school clubs.

  Sampling everything on offer, getting a little taste of this, a little taste of that, but never really… you know… committing to the full five-course meal.”

  She leaned in a little closer, her voice dropping, the pyful teasing melting away completely. Now it was just pure, unadulterated sisterly concern radiating off of her.

  “But real talk, James,” she said, letting the joking tone vanish. “Are you actually enjoying it? Like, really enjoying basketball? Or is this just… you know… fvor of the month club, part two?”

  James actually paused for a second, like he was properly thinking about her question. He gnced down at his hands, fiddling with something invisible, then looked back up at Lily, his face thoughtful.

  “It’s… different,” he finally said, speaking slowly, like he was choosing his words carefully. “It’s… more… engaging than I thought it would be.”

  “Engaging how?” Lily pushed gently, wanting to hear more, wanting him to actually open up and expin what was going on in that head of his.