"Dean, that's great!"
"Yeah, it's good news. Full ride scholarship, as long as my knee heals okay."
"Which it will."
"It's looking that way. I'm already getting range of motion back."
"So what are the schools?"
"They're not the big schools I wanted. They're smaller, but I'm good with that. I've given up the idea of going pro. I just want college paid for."
"Where are the schools?"
"Idaho, Oklahoma, and Texas."
I feel my smile dropping as I realize he'll be moving away. I will too. We'll both be moving next year. I've been trying not to think about that but I need to, because it's going to happen.
"Which one are you going to pick?"
"I don't know." He looks down.
"What's wrong? You don't seem very excited about this."
"I am. This is what I wanted, but I can't be happy about it, knowing I have to leave you."
"I'll be leaving too."
He looks up at me. "So what does that mean for us?"
"I'm not sure." I pause, my heart already aching at the thought of leaving him. I finally found someone who understands me and loves me and lets me be myself. I don't want to lose him. "Maybe we could go somewhere together."
Dean shakes his head. "I don't want you picking a school based on where I end up. That's not fair to you. You could go anywhere you want, and you should."
"Is that what you want?" I ask, feeling like he's pushing me away again.
"No." He looks in my eyes. "I want you to go with me. But I can't ask you to do that."
"You could. Doesn't mean I'll do it. Tell me what you want, and let me make the decision."
"Okay, then yeah, I want you to go with me. I want us to be together. I don't want to lose you."
I smile because that's exactly what I wanted to hear. "I'll consider it. I'm not making any promises, but I will tell you that one of the colleges I'm considering is in Dallas."
"Huh." His mouth creeps up to a smile. "That's interesting, because the school I'm leaning towards is in Dallas."
"You're not just saying because of what I just told you?"
"I've always wanted a Texas school. Ask Danny if you don't believe me. If I didn't stay around here, it was going to be Texas. I got an offer last year to play there but Coach said it's off the table. It was one of the big universities. They don't want to risk taking me on their team when they can't see me finish the season."
"What about the other schools? Do you know anything about them?"
"No. Coach is coming by this week to go over all that."
"Maybe this will work out after all," I say, feeling hopeful. I didn't lie when I said I was looking at a school in Dallas. I haven't told my parents yet. They think I'm only looking at schools on the coasts. Only my sister knows I'm considering Dallas. She lives there and loves it, and she'd love to have me close by.
"Your turn," Dean says. "What are you hiding from me?"
"I'm not hiding it. I just don't want to talk about it. It's not like anything's going to happen."
