Chapter 14: The Pause Button
The following week moved like a slow drip.
No word from West Bay.
No updates from Coach Mendoza.
Just the same school halls, the same soccer practices, the same classes where Sheik pretended to take notes while Andrea sat two rows over, doodling in the margins of her notebook.
They still talked. Still sat together at lunch. Still laughed.
But something was different.
It wasn't tension, exactly. Just a kind of… waiting. Like both of them had hit pause on something, but neither wanted to admit it.
Wednesday afternoon, they found themselves in the campus garden after last period. It wasn't planned. They just ended up there, sitting on opposite ends of the same bench.
Andrea had a book in her lap, but she wasn't reading. Sheik was kicking a small stone with his sneaker, watching it bounce gently between his feet.
"I feel like we're pretending everything's normal," Andrea said suddenly.
Sheik looked up. "It's not?"
She gave him a look.
He sighed. "Okay. It's not."
There was a beat of silence, then Andrea asked, "What are you thinking about, really?"
Sheik didn't answer right away. His eyes were fixed on the stone between his feet.
"I'm scared I'll get what I want," he admitted.
Andrea blinked. "What?"
"I mean… What if West Bay calls? What if I get in? I keep thinking that'll make everything simple, but it won't. It'll just raise more questions."
Andrea folded the corner of her page, even though she hadn't read a word. "Like what?"
"Like if I'm actually ready to leave. Like what that means for us. Like if I'm strong enough to choose something uncertain over something I love."
She didn't answer right away.
Instead, she closed the book, slid a little closer, and said, "We're not going to figure this out in one afternoon."
He gave a tired smile. "I know."
"But I'm not going anywhere right now," she added. "And neither are you. So maybe… we just take it one day at a time."
Sheik nodded, grateful—but still restless.
"Can I ask you something?" Andrea said.
"Anything."
"If this were just about soccer—no scouts, no pressure, no big future plans—would you still play?"
He thought about it.
And smiled.
"Yeah," he said. "I'd still play."
Andrea smiled back. "Then whatever happens next, start from that."
And for the first time all week, the pause between them eased.