Page 134 of Triple Play
But in two weeks, I have to choose between watching the biggest game of their lives or pursuing my dream.
And I have no idea how to do both.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAMPIONSHIP & CHOICES
Elise
The Johns Hopkins interview is in six days.
Playoffs are in six days.
Same day. Same time. Three hundred miles apart.
I’m lying in Grant’s bed at 3 AM doing math that doesn’t add up no matter how many times I recalculate. Drive time: four hours minimum. Interview duration: probably two hours. Game time: 7 PM.
It’s impossible.
“Stop thinking so loud.” Grant’s voice is rough with sleep. His arm tightens around my waist.
“Can’t help it.”
“Try.”
On my other side, Jordie shifts. “She’s doing the thing again.”
“What thing?” I ask.
“The thing where you try to solve impossible problems through sheer force of will.” Wyatt’s voice comes from the other side of Jordie.
“It’s not impossible. I just need to—”
“Choose,” Grant finishes. His voice is careful. Too careful. “You need to choose.”
The word sits there like a grenade.
“I’m going to the game,” I say.
“Elise—”
“I’m going. You can’t make me go to that interview.”
“It’s Johns Hopkins.” Jordie props himself up on one elbow. “It’s your dream.”
“You’re my dream too. All of you.”
“That’s—” Grant stops. Starts again. “That’s not how this works.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’re twenty-one years old playing a game. You’re trying to save lives. There’s no comparison.”
I sit up. All three of them are looking at me now in the dark.
“Don’t do that. Don’t diminish what you do like it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters,” Wyatt says. “But not more than your future.”
