“First. You?”
“Fifth.”
“See you around then.” Ethan turned to leave, then stopped. “Hey, Alex?”
“Yeah?”
“For what it’s worth?” He shrugged, hands in his pockets. “Most people at Kingswell are pretending. They’re just pretending different things. You’re not as alone as you think.”
Before I could respond, he walked away. I stood there for a long moment, watching him disappear down the hall.
I thought about my father’s voice.At least you’re not like James.
I thought about James at Christmas. How happy he’d looked before he disappeared from our family.
That’s what happened when you stopped being perfect, when you chose yourself over the name—you became the cautionary tale.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
I reached the fifth floor and unlocked my door. The room was exactly as I’d left it, perfectly organized and perfectly empty.
I sat on my bed and pulled out my phone, and looked at Ethan’s contact information. I thought about texting him. Saying thank you. Saying something.
But I didn’t.
Not that night.
Three days later, I emailed Ethan’s portfolio to Coach Eldridge.
He hired him on the spot.
And Ethan became the team’s media coordinator. More importantly, he became my friend. The only person at Kingswell who knew me, and didn’t need me to be perfect.
The only person who made me think that maybe I could be myself and not lose everything.
And he waited.
For a year, he waited for me to be brave enough to tell the truth. To stop performing. To be myself instead of the person my father needed me to be.
Until I made him stop.
Until I walked into his room drunk and desperate and tried to use him as an escape hatch from feelings I couldn’t control.
Until I proved that even with someone who offered unconditional acceptance, I was still too much of a coward to be honest.
But that was a year later.
That night—that first night in the diner—I was just a scared freshman who’d found someone who might understand.
And for a little while, that was enough.
Chapter 2: Alex
The hours crawled by like torture.
I watched race after race—JV fours, varsity pairs, Marcus and Collins won doubles. Each one tightened the knot in my stomach until I could barely breathe.
And then, finally, the official’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker.
