I join Sara and Jasmine outside, and soon we’re on our way to the housewarming party. It’s a get-together at a condo in Coolidge Corner in Brookline with a sliding glass door that opens the terrace up to a pretty, starry night. Sara introduces me proudly to her friends, and they all go slack-jawed when they hear I’m possibly on my way to the Olympics. A lanky guy in a chambray button-down brings me plastic cups of beer—apparently, the real glasses haven’t even been unpacked yet—and shyly asks for my phone number at the end of the night. He’s so not my type that the request catches me off guard, and even though the prospect of dating someone new still feels too strange right now, I give it to him. Maybe what I need is a distraction that will take my mind off Ryan for good.

It’s only hours later, when I wake in the middle of the night to get a glass of water to soothe my parched mouth, that I see the text from Ryan. I must have missed it while I was sleeping. I rub at my eyes, not sure if I’m awake enough to read the message properly. But I read it three times in a row, and it seems solid. I can’t believe it’s real.

It was really great to see you tonight! The fund-raiser was a huge success. We raised $410. But I know that’s not enough to make the kind of difference this cause deserves, and so I’m also donating the money I would’ve spent on my travels after the Olympics. Total, it’ll be nearly $3,000. I know you’re probably going to protest, but I’ve been thinking about this for days. I saved up the money for something important, and there’s nothing more important than this.

Chapter 31

• CHAPTER 31 •

Team Hallie Conway flies to the Olympic Trials in St. Louis on separate flights: Hallie and her parents in the morning, Ryan in the afternoon, and me and Sara on an evening flight so she didn’t have to call out of work. Hallie insisted that Sara fly halfway across the country with us because she wanted a private yoga session before the big day. Paying for Sara’s round-trip flight, hotel room, and meals probably costs the Conway family nearly two thousand bucks, but they don’t seem to flinch. They’ve already sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into this dream so far—it’s not worth risking everything and winging it the morning of Olympic Trials by insisting that Hallie practice yoga on her own.