Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains (Victoria and Elijah) novel Chapter 123

Chapter 123

Chapter 123

Victoria’s POV

Finals week ended before I even felt like it had started.

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One minute, I was drowning in exams, barely sleeping, and surviving on too much coffee. The next, the entire university – had transformed into graduation mode.

Crowswell University was never the type to do anything mediocre, especially when it came to its students.

Graduation wasn’t treated like a simple ceremony. It was an event. The university approached it with the kind of grandeur you would expect for a coronation, not a group of students walking across a stage.

After four, five, sometimes even six years of late nights, impossible deadlines, and sacrifices most people never saw, they understood what that moment meant.

They knew a degree wasn’t just a piece of paper. It represented years of effort, money, stress, and determination.

So when graduation arrived, Crowswell made sure every student felt like they had truly accomplished something worth celebrating.

The campus groundskeepers were out at dawn manicuring the lawns, giant white tents were popping up on the quad like mushrooms, and everywhere you looked, seniors were walking around clutching long black garment bags.

My bedroom at Adele’s looked like a textile factory explosion.

My graduation gown was draped over the back of the desk chair, still smelling faintly of plastic and factory steam, while a pair of nude heels I hadn’t broken in yet sat mockingly near the door. ⚫

“If you don’t steam that nylon by tomorrow, you’re going to look like a wrinkled mess in the department group photo,” Adele called out, leaning against my doorframe with a mug of tea in her hand.

I groaned, tossing a decorative pillow at her.

“I’m still trying to comprehend that I don’t have to study tonight. My brain keeps telling me I forgot an entire module.”

“You’re done, Victoria. Accept the freedom,” she laughed, tossing the pillow back onto my unmade bed.

“Get dressed. We need to pick up our department pins before the admin office shuts down for the afternoon.”

Stepping onto the engineering quad an hour later felt completely surreal

The air was warm, carrying the smell of fresh-cut grass and the faint, distant sound of the brass band practicing the commencement march over by the stadium.

Groups of students were already posing by the university fountain, caps tossed into the air for early family photos.

We headed up the stone steps of the building, our sneakers squeaking against the polished floors.

It was usually a quiet place filled with stressed out nerds buried in blue prints, but today the hallways were buzzing.

Professors had their office doors wide open, chatting with parents who had flown in early, offering handshakes and plastic cups of lukewarm punch.

“Ah. Victoria! Just the person I was hoping to run into,” a booming voice echoed down the hall.

Professor Harrison, the head of the department and arguably the most terrifying man to ever grade a fluid mechanics

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Chapter 123

pupset, was stopping out of his office

He had his reading glasses pushed up onto his bald head, a wide, uncharacteristic grin on his face

I stopped, adjusting my purse strap. “Good afternoon, professor Harrison.”

Don’t look so detensive, Rhodes. You aren’t defending a thesis today,” he chuckled, walking over to join Adele And me.

He looked at me for a long moment, his expression turning surprisingly soft.

“I was just reviewing the final department rankings with the dean. I wanted to personally congratulate you. You’ve been exceptional student, Victoria. Truly. In my thirty years of teaching, I haven’t seen many handle the structural design loaff with the kind of precision you brought to the table.”

Warmth spread through my chest, making the weeks of sleepless nights and tearful breakdowns over calculators feel completely worth it.

“Thank you, sir. That means a lot coming from you.”

“I mean every word. Your master’s program is lucky to have you,” he said, tapping his clipboard against his thigh. Then, his eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief.

Though. I suppose you already know the big news from the registrar’s office?”

I blinked, looking at Adele, who looked just as clueless as Ldid.

“The big news?”

Professor Harrison let out a hearty laugh.

Typical. They’re always slow with the emails when it actually matters. Victoria, you’ve officially secured the second-highest GPA in the entire graduating class. You are this year’s Salutatorian.”

The hallway seemed to tilt for a second.

Tm what?”

“Salutatorian, he repeated, clearly enjoying my utter disbelief on my face. “You’ll be sitting on the main stage with the faculty tomorrow morning. The official notice should hit your student portal within the hour, but consider this your head start. Excellent work, Rhodes.”

He gave my shoulder a firm, encouraging pat before turning to greet a group of parents nearby, leaving me standing in the middle of the hallway with my mouth slightly open.

‘Oh my god. Adele squealed, grabbing my upper arms and shaking me violently. “Salutatorian! Victoria, are you kidding

me?”

“Hey, keep your voice down. People are looking,” I whispered, though a massive, unstoppable smile was already breaking across my face.

My phone vibrated in my hand. I glanced down, already expecting what I’d see after my conversation with Professor

Harrison.

The official email had just come through.

It was real.

Before I could even process the information, I spotted a familiar head of thick, dark hair navigating through the crowd near the main bulletin board. It was Saanvi.

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Chapter 123

She was holding a stack of honor cords in her arms, looking slightly overwhelmed as her parents trailed behind her, taking photos of literally everything.

Saanvi had been my fiercest competitor and closest academic ally since freshman year.

If I was pulling an all-nighter in the computer lab, she was in the cubicle right next to mine, fueling herself on spicy chips and energy drinks.

“Saanvi!” I called out, pulling away from Adele and jogging over to her.

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