“You’re not enough,” I say. “There’s someone else.” Someone who on paper is completely wrong, someone who may or may not have to leave in four days. But I’d rather have four more days with them than four more years with Dominic.

“Ross,” I finish.

Dominic’s face falls, and he immediately swallows too many times in an effort to push back his tears. I don’t want him to hurt, I really don’t, but I can’t be responsible for his feelings.

I look around, trying to find Ross, expecting this will be our moment to run into each other’s arms, our own love declaration. Only they’re not here. I can just barely see their back out in the parking lot. Ross must have snuck out the gate while Dominic gave his Choose Me speech and I stood there like an idiot, frozen under everyone’s attention, leaving Ross to think I was actually considering taking Dominic back. It’s a massive miscommunication, just like every rom-com inevitably has. I should have seen this coming!

“Ross!” I yell, and burst forward, but Coach snatches my arm.

“You leave now, Nessan,” he says, “and you’re off the team.”

I look past the fence, hoping to find a glimpse of orange, hoping that Ross heard me and stopped and is waiting.

But I don’t see them. I take a step, ready to put everything on the line and get kicked off the team so I can savor every last minute I can have with Ross. Kavya, however, has different plans.

“Sean, don’t,” she says. “We talked about this. Don’t do this. Your life is here.” She points an aggressive finger past the fence, her dark hair flying in the breeze. She’s a force to be reckoned with. “Theirs is out there.” We both know she isn’t pointing to the parking lot. She’s pointing beyond it, out to the Blue. “Don’t make this harder on both of you.”

I don’t know what to do. If I go after Ross now, Kavya will be so mad. She made it clear she’ll dump me as a best friend, and I can’t stand to lose her. Not after she shared with me what a hard time she’s been having with her mom. Not after almost three years of friendship. Would it be worth it to run after Ross if that meant losing her?

Coach takes advantage of my hesitation to shout, “Nothing to see here, everybody. Shoreline, back in the pool! And you!” He takes his hand from my arm only to grab Dominic’s, but my ex looks so numb I’m not sure it even registers. “Out! You’re banned from meets for life.”

Coach drags him all the way out of the pool, any fight in Dominic gone. Miguel stands there too, staring at Dominic’s exit.