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Shay waited for Layne to get into her car and drive off before she removed her mask to take in some much-needed fresh air. Then, she got into her own car and started on the drive home.
She thought back to Eliza when she hit the highway. They’d been so wrong for each other, and it was easy to see that now, so Shay wondered why she hadn’t seen it at first. She’d gotten a text from Eliza not long after the lockdown had started because Eliza had gotten it, so she was warning her that she might have it, too. Shay had been fine somehow, though; she hadn’t even shown a single symptom. She considered herself lucky because if they’d still been together, they probably would’ve had sex when Shay got back from the tournament and spent the night together, making it more likely that Shay would’ve gotten it.
Eliza seemed to be doing okay. Shay checked in every few days, and the woman appeared to be out of the danger zone, but everywhere Shay looked, things were getting worse. People were dying of this thing. And while some people cared about others and were taking precautions, others certainly weren’t, and that put people like Layne’s mom and soon-to-be Layne herself at risk, too.
On paper, she and Layne didn’t make much sense, either. They had basketball in common, but not much else, and even with basketball, Shay had always taken that more seriously than Layne had. Still, she couldn’t seem to get enough of Layne these days. She always wanted to be talking to her and ached to be able to see her in person, to be able to hug her, kiss her again, and maybe even do more.
They still hadn’t talked about the kiss, but Shay suspected neither of them wanted to talk about it right now because they couldn’t do anything about it anyway. They were on their way to different states and wouldn’t see each other for a while. Bringing it up would only make it hurt more that they couldn’t have what they wanted.
Of course, Shay wanted to kiss Layne again, but she had no idea how Layne felt about that idea, so bringing it up soon might help to at least know. That way, Shay could put Layne solidly in the friend basket and not keep her in the possible romance basket, which was where she wanted Layne to be.
???
“Hey, Shay.”
“Hey, Coach,” Shay said hours later, when she was lying in her new bed and had expected the call to be from Layne.
“I’m calling all the seniors tonight to tell them that I think I’ve got some good news. Nothing is officially official yet, but we think the NCAA is going to give an additional year of eligibility to anyone who was here at the time this all started.”
“What? Really?”
“Like I said, it’s not officially official yet, but I’ve been in talks with the athletic directors of each department and all the department heads. If the NCAA doesn’t approve that for everyone, they’ll likely still approve it for any senior who was in an active season when the shutdown happened.”
Shay shot up out of bed and stood.
“You mean, I can come back?”
“You can stay on as a fifth-year senior, yes. It’ll mean you’d have to defer your graduation, and you’d still be a student, so let that sink in, too. We’re going to honor any scholarships, and you know I’d love to have you back next season.”
“Yes. What do I have to do?” she asked excitedly.
“Nothing yet. Like I said, we’re still working through all of the details. This has never happened before, but it’s the right thing for them to do, and I think they will. When it happens, I’ll let you know. When will you fill out your intent-to-graduate form?”
“I already have, technically.”
“Okay. I’ll follow up on that and make sure they hold on to any senior’s form until we know what’s going to happen so you can decide what you want to do.”
“Thank you. God, I might get to play again?”
“It looks that way, yes.”
“Hey, have you called Layne yet?”
“Stoll? No, not yet. She’s on my list, but I’ve got Martin and Hilton next up.”
“Coach, do you mind if maybe I tell her?”
“You want to tell Stoll the news?”
“Is that okay? Or do you have to do it?”
“Can you make sure to tell her that it’s not–”
“Officially official? Yeah, I can.” Shay chuckled. “I just think she could use some good news right now, and I’d selfishly like to be the one to give it to her, if I can.”
“Okay. But you tell her to call me with any questions and that I’ll call her with an update when I have one.”
“I will. Thank you, Coach.”
