"Relax. I'm not here to fight," he said.
"Then what are you here for?"
"Can't a guy say congratulations?" He put his hands up. Mock surrender.
I kept walking. Didn't look at him. "Thanks."
"I mean it. Seriously." His voice was different than I expected—not the lazy cruelty, not the smirk. Something closer to genuine. "You've been killing it out there. Everyone's talking about it."
"Everyone?"
"The team. The coaches. My dad called me about it, if you can believe that." He laughed. I didn't.
We walked in silence for a few steps. The sun shining low through the trees. Students cutting between buildings.
"Look," Marcus said. "I know things got weird between us. I get why you said what you said. And I'm not going to pretend I didn't deserve some of it."
Some of it.Not all of it. Classic Marcus—the half-apology that left room for him to still be right.
"But we've known each other since we were eight, Alex. Our families go back decades. That doesn't just disappear because of one bad night."
"It wasn't one bad night. It's who you've always been."
"Fair." He nodded. Took it. That surprised me. "But people can change."
I almost laughed. Marcus Caldwell talking about change. The guy who'd called Remy a slur and didn't understand why it mattered until someone punched him.
"I'm not asking to be best friends again." He glanced at me. "I'm just saying—you're spending a lot of time with Riverside. New partner. New coach."
"So what Marcus?" I stopped and looked at him.
"Don't forget who actually knows you, man. The real you. Not the version you're performing for those guys."
The words landed harder than they should have. Because Marcus didn't know—couldn't know—that "the real you" was exactly what I was hiding. That the version of me he thought he knew was the performance, and the person I was becoming with Liam was closer to the truth than anything I'd ever shown him.
"I know who I am," I said.
"Do you?" That smile. Not cruel. Almost sad. "Because from where I'm sitting, you're turning into someone I don't recognize. And I'm not sure you recognize yourself either."
He clapped me on the shoulder. The gesture was warm and it made my skin crawl.
"Just looking out for you. That's what real friends do."
He peeled off toward the student center without waiting for a response.
I stood there on the stone path. The high from the water was gone. Marcus had a talent for that—walking into a good moment and leaving a bruise.
Don't forget who actually knows you.
Nobody knew me… that was the whole problem. Well… Liam was starting to know me.
I kept walking.
***
I was unlocking my dorm room dor when my phone buzzed.
The screen saidFather.
