The room quieted automatically.
“You’re talented,” he said, looking directly at me. “But talent meansabsolutely nothing if your head isn’t in the game.”
Nobody moved.
Coach rarely singled people out in front of the whole team.
“You think scouts care about your last name?” he continued. “They don’t. They care if you can perform under pressure.”
That one landed.
Hard.
Because everyone in the room knew exactly who my father was.
And exactly what came with it.
Coach looked at me for another second. “Fix it.”
Then he left.
The room stayed quiet for a beat.
Before Luca finally muttered, “Well. Damn.”
ROWAN
New York.
The second Professor Bennett mentioned it, the entire room changed.
People actually sat up.
Phones disappeared.
Nobody even pretended not to care.
“These placements are highly competitive,” Bennett continued. “You’ll be working directly with media executives for six weeks.”
Okay.
Yeah.
This was huge.
I started writing notes immediately while Mia leaned toward me whispering, “You’re absolutely getting one.”
“That’s optimistic.”
“You practically live in this department.”
“Yeah, so do six other terrifying overachievers.”
“True.”
Fair enough.
Professor Bennett kept talking about interviews, portfolios, networking events.
