That Friday Alex checks the front office. Niyah is just about to leave. He catches up to her.
"Hey Niyah, I was wondering if you had a minute?"
"Oh, hey. I sure do." She turns around. He hair is in a bun with two pieces of hair hanging out. Her baby hairs a swooped and slicked down.
"I was just wondering about my stats and this whole scrimmage thing. How would I go about entering?" Alex asks.
"Your stays we're looking pretty good when I last checked. You still have high chance of getting into the scrimmage. The people in front of you are the Dolans. Beat at least one of them in their stats and you should be alright. If you want to talk about it more, I'm free this Saturday around two."
"That sounds good. Here, you can contact me here." Alex gives her his number.
"Ok. It was nice talking to you a see you on Saturday."
"It's a deal." Alex says and shakes her hand. This is a start of a good and new beginning, he can feel it.
Aaron turns in his test that he studied all week for. He has to get his mind off of college offers and the whole trial thing. He doesn't really feel like going through another panic attack and would really enjoy going back to the old him. He's struggled a little with this whole anxiety and PTSD thing. He hasn't really told anyone about it and he rather struggle alone until he can get a grasp on what's happening. He walks to his locker going through a checklist in his head of what he has to do for the day. It helps him cope. At his locker stands Lauren.
"Hey Lauren, how are you?" He hasn't spoken to her in awhile.
"Fine, and you?" She asks as though she's not standing at his locker.
"Fine." Before he can ask her why she's there, she cuts him off.
"I was just going to congratulate you on your win since I didn't do so before."
"Thank you." Aaron replies. Just like those were the magical words, she leaves. He finds it weird but just shrugs it off.
Roni squirms in her seat. The letters should be getting here today. She's seen people on social media get theirs today. She can't wait until she gets home, but she's also scared. If she doesn't get in, it'll break her heart. That's where she always dreamed of going and couldn't imagine not going there. Nessa tells her to relax and that if she could get into college, she knows that Roni will. This makes Roni smile and makes the wait just a little bit better.
Kian has been on a high since he got into his school. Closing this chapter with his parents will be great. Continuing what his father was silenced for will be great. He hopes that he is everything that his parents would have wanted him to be and more.
The day ends and Roni rushes home. She takes a look in the mailbox. Aaron's car pulls up in the driveway. He knows that the letter might come today and he wouldn't miss this for the world. She looks at the envelope and sees it's from New York. She takes a deep breath and slightly opens it.
"I can't do it." She sighs.
"Yes you can, open it. It'll make you less nervous." Nessa says. She starts to open it again.
"What if it says I'm not getting in?"
"Babe, that's not going to happen." Aaron reassures her. She has it almost open when she stops.
"Roni, I promise you that if you open it, you will feel ten times better." Kian says. She opens it and picks up the letter but puts it back.
"RONI!" Aaron, Nessa, and Kian yell. She sighs and unfolds the paper. The first thing that she sees on the paper is congratulations. She screams. She doesn't need to read the rest. She jumps up and down with paper in her hand. Nessa jumps with her. Kian reads the letter and Roni goes and hugs Aaron.
"I did it! I did it! I did it!" She repeats.
"You did it! You did it! You did it!" Kian hugs her and repeats.
"I'm sooooooooo proud of you!" Aaron says.
"I told you it was going to happen!" Nessa says. Everyone is so happy for her.
The next day Alex meets Niyah at Starbucks. He's really taking this opportunity seriously.
"Thank you do much for meeting me." Alex says as Niyah sits down.
"No problem, I'm always happy to help."
"You were saying that I still had a chance. How big is that chance?"
"Huge, you had a break and it looks as though the Dolan twins got ahead of you in that break, but before that, your stats were so good that it won't take long to get back to their level or higher. If you don't mind me asking, what was the break for? You were doing so well."
"I developed an addiction to steroids and I went to rehab." Alex says as though it's nothing.
"I'm so sorry to hear that, but I'm glad that you're here now. With a couple of weeks of training, you'll be in that scrimmage. I'll even register you."
"That's amazing! Now I just need to find a coach."
"I can help. I'm in this job because I want to be apart of the NFL training process. That is what I'm going to college for. If you don't mind, I kind of need the experience and I think I could be of great value to you."
"I'm down. You've helped me so we can help each other in return. You really are a blessing."
"Awwww, thank you."
"I'll text you and let me know when your free."
"We can do tomorrow. Better to start as early as possible." She says. Alex smiles. She's on the same wave length as him. The energy matches.
"I do my best work early. Is six good?" He asks.
"I like your work ethic. Six is great."
"Well,see you at 6 am on the dot." Alex says. Instead of a handshake, they've upgraded to a side hug.