Coach Dresden’s voice echoes in my head.Show up like the best version of you.
I toss my bag into the back seat and climb in. With the engine still off, I try to block out everything weighing on me—playing my best game, getting the scholarship, and somewhere tangled right in the center of all of it…
Rue.
The girl who has lived in my head rent-free since middle school. Even the number on my jersey makes me think of her.
12. The last age I was before she started thinking of me as her worst enemy instead of her closest friend.
I’m not sure if I chose my number subconsciously because of her or not, but it’s way too hard to believe she had nothing to do with it. These days, it seems like she’s part of everything I do.
The minute I get home, warmth wraps around me like a blanket. Pots clatter in the kitchen, and the faint hum of Olivia’s music drifts from the living room to the entryway. I already know how much I’ll miss all these sounds when I go off to college. Just thinking about it makes me soak it all in even more.
I’m halfway up the stairs when a head pokes out from behind the banister. “Ooooh.” Olivia’s eyes light up like she’s about to narrate my entire life. “He’s back.”
“Hey.”
“You look like you just lost your playoff game, or something. Did Coach Dresden destroy your soul, or what?”
“Yes.”
She snorts. “Good. Builds character. Now come here. We need to talk.” She drags me to the living room by the sleeve of my hoodie.
I drop onto the couch with a groan, leaning my head back. “Liv, I just had a terrible practice. Can you antagonize me tomorrow?”
“Who said anything about antagonizing? I want updates.” She plops next to me with a throw blanket. Chai Guy runs up to her from his fluffy little bed next to the fireplace and curls up in her lap.
“Updates on what?”
She frowns. “Rue, obviously. You know, the girl you’re fake dating but not actually fake dating because you’re in love with her?—”
“Liv.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine. I’ll be normal. How are things going?”
I drag a hand down my face. “I don’t know.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened. But my time with her is running out and I don’t know what to do about it. The musical is this weekend, and then our fake relationship is supposed to end.”
Olivia sighs, crossing her arms like talking to me is her daily charity work. “It’s time for you to open up to her. You can’t just assume she already knows how you feel.”
I nod, staring down at my hands. She’s right. As scary as it is, it’s time for me to tell Rue how I feel about her.
She lets the silence settle, then she grins. “Also, just to be clear? She totally likes you back.”
My heart trips over itself. “She does? You think so?”
“Oh, for sure. It’s so obvious.”
“She’s an actress,” I remind her, but Olivia shakes her head.
“No. I can see through that.”
My heart skips at the possibility of Rue actually liking me back the way I like her. It makes my thoughts scramble together in a dizzying sprint until I feel like I might pass out from excitement. It makes me scared to hope too much in case it’s not true.
Olivia sighs. “You really should go shower or something. You smell like gym floor and despair.”
