Living with Maddie Reyes requires the kind of precision usually reserved for defusing bombs or performing open-heart surgery. Except with significantly more passive-aggressive Post-it notes and a complex shower schedule.

We’ve developed an unspoken system that would impress military strategists and communicate like two strangers forced to share a prison cell, which isn’t far from the truth.

The stuffed otter on her bed has become my nemesis. I swear it judges me with its glassy little eyes every time I accidentally look at Maddie’s ass in those yoga pants she sleeps in.

Which is often.

Which is a problem and makes me question everything I thought I knew about myself.

Today at the rink, Coach Marquette has gathered both teams—figure skaters on one side, hockey players on the other.

It looks like an athletic West Side Story, minus the snapping and the murder. Everyone stands in uneasy clusters, eyeing the other team like we’re about to be asked to share desserts.

Territorial mammals pretending to be civilized.

“Annual pre-season showcase,” Coach announces, clipboard clutched like a weapon. “Donors, scouts, university board members. Each singles skater performs a short pairs routine with a hockey partner. It’s a biennial tradition.”

She pauses, letting this sink in while the fluorescent lights hum overhead like nervous witnesses.

The hockey guys lumber in looking lost without their armor, and I try to focus on them. Any of them. That one’s cute, right? Tall, broad shoulders, the kind of guy I usually go for.

Feel something, I command myself. Feel literally anything.

Nothing. It’s like looking at furniture with good bone structure.

“This year,” Coach continues, “showcase performances will determine a new team captain.”

The words land like stones in still water.

I watch Maddie’s spine straighten, her fingers tightening almost imperceptibly on the boards. Her position isn’t guaranteed anymore. The throne she’s spent so long building suddenly has termites.

“Choose your partners,” Coach continues. “Make it work.”

The pairing frenzy begins immediately. Maddie moves like a heat-seeking missile toward hockey team captain Derek. Six feet of conventional attractiveness and the personality of wet cardboard.

Ava mentioned him briefly, as Maddie’s boyfriend, showed me a pic—he’s the type of handsome that you immediately forget.

He drapes himself around her like an expensive accessory someone forgot to remove the price tag from. They look like a catalog photo for privilege. His hand rests on her hip with the casual possessiveness of someone marking territory at a party.

“You’re the triple axel girl.”

I turn to find a guy with artfully messy black hair and the kind of smile that probably gets him out of speeding tickets. He’s cute in that non-threatening way that makes mothers trust him with their daughters.

“Chris Nakamura,” he says, extending a hand.

“Emily Harper.”

“I volunteer as tribute.” He grins wider. “Before you end up with Tyler, who has the grace of a caffeinated moose.”

I glance at the remaining hockey players. One of them is literally wobbling on his blades like a newborn giraffe discovering gravity. Another seems to be having a quiet argument with his own feet.

“You make a compelling argument.”

“I’m a philosophy major. Compelling arguments are my only marketable skill.” He’s friendly, a little awkward, seems genuinely nice.“Fair warning—I’m better at Kant than skating, but I promise not to drop you or discuss metaphysics mid-routine.”

“Deal.” I agree to the partnership before my brain can manufacture reasons to refuse and Chris looks relieved.

We shake on it, and I try not to notice Maddie watching us from across the rink.

***

That night, I’m organizing my desk when Maddie storms in.

“This is fucking BULLSHIT,” she announces, throwing her bag with enough force to make the otter bounce in protest. “I’ve been captain for a YEAR. A whole year of my life dedicated to this team, and now one stupid showcase determines everything?”

“Sounds rough,” I say, not looking up from my color-coded note cards.

“Don’t.” She whirls on me, eyes blazing. “Don’t you dare act like you don’t care. You want it. I can see it in your stupid face every time Coach compliments you.”

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