They haven’t asked, but I can see the questions every time they look at me. Turns out he’s kind of a big deal. According to Emily and Sydney, and my stellar eavesdropping skills, the entire basketball team are like gods around here. If they all look like Nathan, I can understand why.

The Valley campus is smaller than my previous college in California and easier to navigate, but I still find myself walking into both my Monday morning classes just as the professors started. The campus map I studied for an hour is harder to remember while trying to avoid the stares of my fellow students. I know it’s probably paranoid to assume they all know and hate me, but the thought crosses my mind every time someone holds my gaze for a second too long or dismisses me without returning a smile.

I head to University Hall after my morning classes to grab lunch. I find a table in the corner to sit. Earbuds in, I FaceTime my best friend Camila.

“You are alive,” she answers the phone, her black hair and olive complexion filling the screen and making me miss home with such ferocity my chest aches. “How’s Arizona?”

“Awful. Save me.”

She rolls her eyes. “So dramatic.” Camila looks me over carefully. I can feel her scrutiny even through the screen. “Did you just get done with practice?”

“No. Our team workouts are in the afternoon. I just got done with my morning classes.”

“You wore that to class?”

I glance down at my plain white t-shirt and cut-off jean shorts. “Yeah. What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing. It’s just so… casual for you.”

“I’m trying to blend in.”

“Blend in where? At a monster truck rally? Honey, it’s the first day of classes you always go all out.”

Thinking back to some of the outfits I wore to classes at Golden, I can’t argue that I’ve gone more casual, but it feels good, feels like me.

“Tell me about Valley. How are classes, how’s the team, how are the boys?” She emphasizes the last one with a smirk.

Nathan’s face flashes in my head and my face heats. “Classes are good, the team still hates me, and I don’t have time for boys.”

She rolls her eyes.

“I’m serious. No distractions. I’m going to prove I’m one of the top volleyball players if I have to eat, sleep, and dream volleyball.”

“You don’t have to prove anything. Your record last year speaks for itself, Chlo.”

“No one believes I earned any of that and you know it. Everything I accomplished at Golden is tainted. This is my chance to prove I can do it all on my own.” I shake my head before she can argue her point any more. “I don’t want to talk about me. Tell me about you. How’s the team shaping up?”