The bleachers we sat on were fairly empty, with only a smattering of family and friends from each team sitting at either end. But those of us who were there were enthusiastic enough to make up for the sparseness, getting to our feet and shouting for our team in every race. And there were a lot of races.

A few families down from us, one particularly engaged mom was playing “We Will Rock You” by Queen through her phone speakers and waving it from side to side. Near the pool, her daughter kept sending stricken looks and widening her eyes before pointedly looking away from the bleachers.

Even Brooke, whose idea of a good time was practicing with new makeup or sitting in a clean meeting room planning to organize a school event, stomped and cheered and held out her hand linked with Ray’s in a victory punch when we were winning.

Brooke, Ray, and I really were a trio these days. Months ago, I could barely imagine tolerating Ray joining us every time I did something with Brooke, but now I more than tolerated. I loved having her here. She balanced out Brooke’s sweetness with a brash, confident energy that made me feel we were sort of invincible, all together. And if it weren’t for Ray, I’d probably be here alone today, but Ray insisted we stick together for this kind of stuff, every single time.

And in even better news, it seemed Ray would be hanging with Brooke and me for the foreseeable future. A few days after my birthday, Ray had sincerely offered to tell the school about the rigged votes, which was enough to clinch Brooke’s complete forgiveness. Brooke wouldn’t let Ray do it, to be clear. I think, for Brooke, it was enough that Ray offered to, and seemed to mean it. So as far as I was concerned, they were endgame at this stage, and I intended to do whatever I could to support that. Minus any meddling.

Even though we were reaching the end of the meet now, Brougham still checked on us at regular intervals while he stood with the rest of his team on the ground, kind of like a toddler checking their family was watching them on a jungle gym. Every time he caught my eye, his expression softened, and he’d look away with a glow about him. It wasn’t the first time I’d come to one of his meets, but the novelty of having someone there to watch him, to support him, had yet to wear off for Brougham.