Chapter 148 Chapter 148

Chapter 148 Chapter 148
Emily's POV

I knew before I opened it. Which sounds dramatic. I don't mean instinct. I don't mean fate. I mean my body knew before my brain did. That strange feeling where everything suddenly becomes too loud and too quiet at the same time. My email notification appeared during statistics. Normal morning. Normal class. Professor talking. Students typing. Me pretending to understand something while mostly thinking about whether Noah actually drank water voluntarily or only under supervision. Then my laptop lit up.

Department email. Subject line. Three words.
Internship Selection Decision

Everything in me stopped. I stared. I didn't click. Because if I didn't open it, technically nothing had happened. Healthy coping mechanism. My professor kept talking. Numbers. Charts. Words. I read the subject line again. My stomach dropped. Then immediately, my heart started. Fast. I stared. I still didn't open it. Because suddenly, I realized something embarrassing. I wasn't afraid of rejection. First I thought, if I get it, everything becomes real. That thought stayed.

I stared at the screen. Class disappeared around me. Then my phone buzzed with a message from Noah.

Noah: Don't forget lunch. You become unpleasant when hungry.

I stared at it. And suddenly, I smiled. Then looked back at the email. And realized. Life keeps moving. Regardless. I took a breath. Clicked and the email opened. I read it. Words stopped meaning things. I looked at the screen. Read one line. Accepted.

I stared. My chest didn't explode. No dramatic emotion. Nothing. I just sat there, looking. And suddenly, the professor asked something. People laughed. Class continued. And somehow, my whole life quietly shifted while somebody explained a graph.

I looked at the email again. Acceptance. Competitive placement. City. Dates. Timeline. Official. Real. Not hypothetical. Not application. Not planning. I swallowed. Closed the laptop. Opened it again. Still there. Class ended. People stood up and moved noisily.

I stayed seated. One girl looked at me. Then frowned. “Emily?” I looked up. She blinked. “Are you okay?”

I opened my mouth. Nothing happened. “I think so.”

She looked concerned. Fair. I packed slowly and walked out. Everything looked strange. Campus. People. The sky. Like somebody adjusted reality slightly and forgot to explain. My phone buzzed again. It was April.

April: WELL????

I stared.

April: I KNOW TODAY IS THE DAY.

Me: I got it.

April: CALL.

I answered. Immediately regretted it. She screamed. Volume should be illegal. I held the phone away. April kept talking. Questions. Excitement. Threats. Future plans. Then unexpectedly, she got quiet. “How do you feel?”

"Scared.”

Then April laughed softly. Good. “Yeah. Good.” I frowned. She continued. “Your dreams should make you nervous sometimes. You worked for this.”

My throat tightened unexpectedly. I swallowed. “Yeah.”

She immediately recovered. “TELL FOOTBALL BOY.”

That hit. Because suddenly, I realized. I hadn't thought, I did it. I thought, I need to tell Noah. Not because I needed permission. Not because I needed approval. Because suddenly, he was part of the picture. That realization sat quietly. I ended the call and walked without deciding, I ended up outside the department office.

Students were coming and going. I sat down. Opened the email again. Read dates. City. Timeline. Distance. And suddenly, I realized. This wasn't just success. This was movement. Which meant, this conversation mattered. I took my phone out and opened Noah's chat, then I closed it and called instead.

His voice was slightly out of breath. “Hey.”

There was background noise. He was at training. My chest tightened immediately. I looked ahead. “Hi.”

His voice softened immediately. “What happened?”

He always knew. I looked at the steps. At people. At the email. “I got it.”

“You did?”

His voice changed. I laughed once. “Yeah.”

I heard movement. Doors. Noise. Then quieter. Like he walked away. “I'm so proud of you.”

Everything inside me stopped. Not because he said proud. Because of how. No hesitation. No calculation. My throat closed immediately. I looked away. “You don't sound sad.”

His answer came instantly. “What?”

I swallowed. “The city. The timing. Everything.”

Then I heard him exhale. “Emily.” His voice softened. “Do you know how annoying this is?” I blinked. He continued. “I wanted to be first.”

I stared. “What.”

He sighed dramatically. “I wanted to get drafted first. Now you're ahead.”

I laughed. He smiled through the phone. I could hear it. “Seriously. You did this.”

My chest tightened. I looked down. “It's far.”

“Yeah.”

No pretending. I swallowed. “Does that scare you?”

“Yeah.” I closed my eyes. “But not because I don't want you to go.” He continued. “I think…I just realized I don't picture things without you anymore.”

Everything inside me hurt. Good hurt. I laughed quietly. “Me too.”

“When do we celebrate?”

I laughed. “You're impossible.”

He sounded offended. “Incorrect. I'm supportive.”

I smiled. Then looked at the email. At the future. At the city. And suddenly, I realized something. Months ago, I would've hidden this. Minimized it. Protected people. Now, my first instinct wasn't, how do I keep this from changing things? It was, I can't wait to tell him. That felt different. That felt like love growing instead of competing.

Noah spoke again. “When are you coming home?”

I looked at the campus. Then smiled. “Soon.”

And for the first time, the future felt real. Not because I finally got the opportunity. Because somebody heard my dream, and smiled first. I didn't move right away. The call ended. But I stayed sitting on the steps. Phone still in my hand. Email still open. Life still slightly tilted.

People passed by. Some laughing. Some arguing. Some rushing. Nobody knew. Nobody could tell that something inside me had just shifted permanently. I looked down at my hands. They were steady. Which felt wrong. Shouldn't they be shaking? Shouldn't something feel bigger? Louder? More dramatic? Instead, everything felt quiet. Like standing in a room after a storm. You know something happened. You just haven't processed it yet. I opened the email again. Read it slower this time. Every word.
Every detail. Every expectation. They wanted me. Not hypothetically. Not conditionally. Specifically. Chosen. That word sat differently. Chosen.

I leaned back slightly. Closed my eyes. And for a moment, I let myself remember. Late nights. Library tables. Coffee that tasted like regret. Group projects where I did most of the work. Doubting myself. Comparing myself. Wondering if I was enough. Apparently, I was. That realization didn't feel loud. It felt… grounding. Like something finally clicked into place. My phone buzzed again, it was from Noah.

Noah: Eat something. This is not optional.

I smiled. Of course. I typed back.

Me: Bossy.

Noah: Correct.

I laughed quietly. Then stood up. Because suddenly, I didn't want to sit still anymore. I wanted to move. Walk. Do something. Anything. So I did. I walked across campus slowly. Not rushing. Not thinking too far ahead. Just existing inside the moment. The trees looked sharper. The air felt colder. Everything felt slightly more real. Like my senses had adjusted. I passed the library, I stopped and looked at it. So many hours inside that building. So many versions of me. The stressed one. The tired one. The determined one. The one who almost gave up. I smiled softly. Then kept walking. Because that version of me, she got me here. And now, I had somewhere else to go. My phone buzzed again. It was April.

April: WE ARE CELEBRATING TONIGHT. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY.

Me: I have class.

April: DROP OUT.

I laughed.

Me: No. Maybe later.

She sent approximately twelve emojis. None of them calm. I shook my head. Then kept walking. And somewhere between the library and my dorm. I realized something else. This wasn't just about leaving. It was about becoming. And for the first time, that didn't scare me as much as it used to. Because now, I wasn't doing it alone. And that changed everything.