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He squeezed his towel and then tossed it to the side. “It’s one exam, Dakota.”
“It’s never just one.”
Without thinking about what I was doing, I rested my hand on his arm, bicep twitching briefly under my touch. Trace looked down, but amazingly, he didn’t pull away, and for a moment I thought it was because he found comfort in it.
“It decides my future on the team. It’ll just be this one time.”
The words hung between us, and I stilled. That was the saddest thing I had ever heard, but it was also the reason I had to keep fighting his mindset on this. If this team and his future were so important to him, he needed to get out before he actually endangered himself.
“If you fail this exam, you’re out,” I whispered.
He nodded solemnly, telling me everything I needed to know, but I still believed that there had to be another way. Corruption was never the answer in cases like these, and that was because we always had options. If he would only listen, I could help him explore the alternatives.
“And you think this is the solution?”
“It’s the one I have available right now.”
“There are other, safer options.”
His laughter was bitter and short-lived. “They don’t work fast enough, and they sure as hell don’t guarantee anything.”
I was annoyed, and I was sure he could see it. For a person like me, that answer didn’t make any sense. I studied and worked hard to be where I was, and it wouldn’t mean as much to me if I had taken the easy way out. So why was he so comfortable with it?
“Nothing is guaranteed, Trace. All you can do is work hard and try your best,” I said, backing off just a little. “If it works, it’s great, and if it doesn’t, you try harder next time.”
“I don’t have time for hard work, but this gives me a shot.”
“At what cost, though? If this comes out, you could lose your entire career. Is one exam really worth all that?”
He looked away briefly, and when he looked back, his expression had shifted. He wasn’t as frustrated anymore, but there was something more pained and raw hiding beneath his gaze.
“I didn’t grow up with options,” he said, sounding completely defeated. “I had one way forward. I could work hard and put everything else aside so I don’t screw up or fall behind.”
I stayed quiet, relieved that he was finally opening up, even if it wasn’t with the cool and collected attitude that I had hoped for. This was a start, a way for him to see what he was doing, and maybe then I could try again.
“Getting here wasn’t easy. I didn’t have friends, and I spent my days wasting away in my room because I needed to spend every free minute I had studying, but staying here is even harder. What happens if I mess this up over one class and lose it? What do I do then?”
I swallowed hard as his words tugged at my heartstrings, but I didn’t interrupt because I honestly couldn’t. If I had to say anything at that point, my voice would crack and the wall that was holding my emotions back would shatter.
“I have three sisters.” His voice was rougher now, more pure. “They’re watching my every move, so I can’t afford to be the one who drops the ball.”
“And this is the example you want to set for them? Do you want them to cheat their way through life too? Or are you trying to show them there aren’t consequences to taking the easy way out?”
“Please don’t go down that road.”
“Do you think they’d be okay with what you’re doing now? What would they say when they found out what you had done to stay on the team?”
Blotches of red broke out across his face, showing me just how angry my words were making him, and that was exactly what I needed. I needed to push every possible button to make sure he understood this.
“You don’t get to bring my family into this.”
“Then stop acting like your actions don’t matter.”
“It matters a hell of a lot more than you think,” he said, tossing his towel aside.
“Then start treating it like it does.”
Trace closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The air around us was thick with tension, and it was getting worse by the minute. Neither of us was willing to back down, and that seemed to be pulling us closer together.
