JC recognized the girl as Ashley Calloway, the sophomore star player of the girls basketball team. She was in the driveway with an orange ball in hand, facing against a boy. She dribbled the ball easily and had a wide, sparkling smile on her face. The other boy said something and pushed some of his long black hair from his face. She smiled even more.
JC pulled the car out front, keeping the drive clear for their game, and got out with her pink ballet bag over her shoulder. Ashley had a redder version of JC's applesauce hair, cut to just above her shoulders. Like many other redheads, her skin was lighter and pocked with freckles.
She noticed JC, then took off around the boy, moving so fast toward the basket above the garage door. But the boy was able to keep up all the way to the basket. Ashley went up, but turned her body away from the basket and toward JC.
"Jenny, think fast!" She shouted and sent the ball flying right to the ballerina. And JC's body just . . . reacted. Nerves fired and muscles moved on autopilot. JC let her satin bag slip from her shoulder, step up and catch the spinning ball right at her. It moved so fast, but it didn't matter. The ballerina set and jumped, launching the orange ball in a tall, graceful arc. Everyone watched, JC most of all, as the shot, while beautiful and gracious, went high and clanged off the wall two feet above the board.
JC frowned, but Ashley broke into laughter. "Marcus," she said, "this is my sister Jenny. The Ballerina."
Marcus nodded, "Hey."
"Jenny, this is Marcus."
JC waved, and looked between the two. He seemed older. Older than Ashley, and maybe herself. She felt a protective older sibling feeling grow inside her and eyed Marcus carefully. Looking for . . . Something. She didn't know what, but would know it when she saw it.
"Well, this is perfect timing. We were waiting for you to come back so we could take the car and go see a movie."
JC noticed there were no other cars in the drive, so Marcus didn't have a car at the present. Odd. Very odd. JC didn't know if it was a linger portion of Jon that was making her over analyze Marcus. Not that it mattered, really. It was tiring to think of Jon and JC as separate people, and easier to follow her instincts.
The ballerina nodded to Ashley, "Have fun." Ashley nodded and smiled, then ran to get her purse and jacket from the front porch. JC picked up her own bag and went toward the house. She waited long enough to watch Ashley and Marcus speed away in the car JC had just come in. So she shared a car with her sister. That would be different.
She sighed and opened the door to her house. JC, back when she was Jon, was used to a calm, quiet house. The life of an only child. So she was unprepared for what she found when she went inside her new home . . .
