Page 27 of Broken Ties (Rixon High 4)

“It’s his top pick, he’s going to be devastated.”

No.

No.

I scanned the empty hall, checking that the coast was clear before inching closer.

“The bottom line is they have better players on their list. Aaron is good, but he’s—”

“Not good enough.” Mom sighed, and I could imagine her brows pinched with motherly concern.

“What do we do now?”

“Wait to see what Connecticut and Iowa say. Maybe try and get him to think about some Division II or III teams. He might stand more of a chance. Or he stays the course, applies to one of his top picks for an academic program and tries to get a spot as a preferred walk-on.”

“Money isn’t a concern.”

“I know that, and you know that, Mya,” Coach said. “But Aaron won’t see it like that. Being a walk-on is…”

“He’ll see it as a failure.”

Damn right I would.

No one worked their ass off for all these years and dreamed of being a walk-on.

I knew Pittsburgh was a long shot but it didn’t make hearing that they didn’t want me any easier.

Not when I wanted it so badly.

“Anyway, I wanted to give you a heads up. I’m not going to tell him yet.”

“Good. I think that’s for the best. It might affect his concentration if he knows now, and you have some big games coming up.”

“I’m glad you agree. Aaron is an important part of the team. The guys all respect him. They listen to him. We need that right now.”

“You know, he was so excited to be named captain. This is going to hurt him, Jase. And I don’t know how to protect him from that.”

“You don’t,” he said flatly. “You just be there to pick up the pieces. I need to get back—”

I darted around the corner of the hall, pressing my back against the wall as I inhaled a ragged breath.

It was a strange thing to watch your childhood dream go up in smoke. All I’d ever wanted was to be a Panther.

Ezra was right. I didn’t talk about it a lot because deep down, I knew it was long shot. But I refused to be deterred by fear. Choosing instead to work harder, to push harder. To paste on a smile and pretend everything was fine, when really, I was a nervous fucking wreck that I might not make it.

Fuck.

I pounded my fist on the wall behind me. I still had two backup colleges. It wasn’t over yet.

But damn if it didn’t sting.

Then it occurred to me, Mom and Coach Ford didn’t plan on telling me, not yet. And maybe it was to protect me, yeah. To keep me focused on the team, the upcoming games.

Or maybe it was because they didn’t want to deliver three loads of bad news.

“What the fuck crawled up your ass and died?” Nathan Carrick snickered across the table. The guy was an asshole, but he was still my teammate. After some shit between him and Ezra at the beginning of the season, Coach Ford insisted we keep the peace.

It was last period and I’d barely been present. The teacher had called on me to answer a question at the beginning of class, and I’d completely fudged my response, gawking at him like an idiot. Carrick had teased me about it for the last thirty minutes, so I’d thrown a pencil at his head.

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