Chapter 35 Pool Night
Chapter 35 Pool Night
POV: Valeria Cruz
By the time we get to Rafe’s house, the sun is lower.
The kind of golden light that makes everything look softer than it really is.
The pool catches it first.
Blue.
Still.
Calm.
Nothing like the way my chest feels.
Cars start pulling in one after another.
Nico first.
Of course.
Music already too loud before he even gets out.
Elena steps out after him, already smiling like she’s trying not to.
Then Maya and Sofia.
Then Dylan.
Then Matteo Russo.
And just like that—
it’s real.
All of us.
Here.
For this.
No hospital room.
No hallway whispers.
No police lights.
No waiting.
Just one night.
One breath.
One moment where everything feels like it might finally belong to us.
“No one opens anything,” Elena says the second she gets through the gate, pointing at all of us like she’s about to run security.
“I literally just got here,” Dylan says.
“And I still don’t trust you.”
“That’s fair,” Matteo mutters.
Nico drops into one of the lounge chairs.
“I need a drink before I find out if I’m brilliant or deeply average.”
“You’re dramatic,” Elena says.
“I’m preparing emotionally.”
Maya crosses her arms.
“If anyone opens theirs early, I’m pushing them in the pool.”
“You say that like it’s a joke,” Nico replies.
“It’s not.”
Rafe walks out last.
Carrying the envelopes.
All of them.
Like they matter.
Like this matters.
And it does.
He hands me mine.
Our fingers brush.
“You okay?” he asks quietly.
I look at the envelope.
My name.
My future.
“No,” I admit.
He nods.
“Good,” he says softly. “Because I’m not either.”
That helps.
More than it should.
We gather around the table.
No one really sits right away.
Too much energy.
Too much anticipation.
Then Elena claps once.
“Sit. Now. Before one of you idiots opens something and ruins this.”
That gets a laugh.
Enough to break some of the tension.
We settle in.
Rafe next to me.
Nico next to Elena.
Maya and Sofia across from us.
Dylan and Matteo at the end.
For one long second—
nobody moves.
Nobody jokes.
Nobody talks.
The air just hangs there.
Charged.
Heavy.
Full of everything that could change tonight.
“On three?” Sofia asks.
“Why does that feel like a bad idea?” Nico mutters.
“One,” Maya says.
We all look down.
At our envelopes.
At our names.
At futures printed on paper.
“Two.”
Rafe’s hand finds mine under the table.
Steady.
Grounding.
“Three.”
Paper tears.
All at once.
A sound I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
I open mine.
Scan.
Then freeze.
Accepted.
Coral Bay University.
My breath catches.
“I got in,” I whisper.
Nico looks up fast.
“No way.”
He checks his.
Then laughs.
“I got Coral Bay too.”
Elena doesn’t even hesitate.
“Same.”
My heart stumbles.
Because that—
that feels like something.
Like we’re not losing everything.
Then—
Maya speaks.
“I got into North Florida State.”
Silence shifts.
Not bad.
Just—
different.
Sofia looks down at hers.
Then up.
“Hudson University.”
That one hits.
Harder.
Far.
Really far.
Maya lets out a small breath.
“That’s amazing,” she says quickly.
And she means it.
But I see it.
The shift.
The realization.
We’re not all going the same way.
Not all of us.
Dylan suddenly leans back.
“Wait—what?”
We all look at him.
He’s staring at his letter.
“I got into Carolina State University.”
Matteo checks his.
Then laughs once.
“No shot.”
“What?” Nico asks.
“West Texas University.”
Silence again.
Different this time.
Bigger.
Because now it’s real.
Not just different schools—
different states.
Different lives.
“Wow,” Elena mutters.
Not negative.
Just—
processing.
Then phones start going off.
One after another.
Dylan looks down first.
Then his eyes widen.
“That’s a recruiter.”
Matteo checks his.
“Same.”
Nico’s phone lights up.
Then Rafe’s.
Then everything explodes.
Calls.
Messages.
Coaches.
Programs.
Scholarship talk.
Visits.
Opportunities stacking on top of emotions we haven’t even finished processing yet.
“This is insane,” Maya breathes.
Sofia shakes her head slightly.
“In the best way.”
Elena crosses her arms.
“Okay, nobody panic.”
“Too late,” Nico says.
Dylan laughs.
“I’m already panicking.”
Matteo nods.
“Same.”
And somehow—
that breaks the tension.
Laughter spills out.
Messy.
Real.
Not perfect.
But ours.
I look at Maya.
Then Sofia.
They’re smiling.
But I know them.
I know that look.
They’re holding it together.
Because they’re happy.
And hurting.
At the same time.
“This doesn’t change anything,” Elena says suddenly.
We all look at her.
She points between us.
“All of us? Still us.”
Maya laughs softly.
“You say that like we’re not about to be in different states.”
“Then we’ll be loud in different states,” Elena shoots back.
Sofia smiles.
“That actually sounds like us.”
“It is us,” Nico says. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
“Unfortunately,” Dylan mutters.
Rafe stays quiet beside me.
Not distant.
Just watching.
Taking it all in.
His hand still in mine.
Steady.
Grounding.
I look at him.
He looks back.
And I know—
he feels it too.
The shift.
The weight.
The excitement.
The fear.
All of it.
“You good?” he asks quietly.
I smile.
A real one.
“Ask me in five minutes.”
That makes him laugh softly.
And somehow—
that helps.
Because nothing is broken.
It’s just changing.
And maybe that’s what growing up actually feels like.
Not losing people—
just learning how to keep them…
even when everything else moves.
I look around the table one more time.
At all of us.
At the letters.
At the future.
Not perfect.
Not simple.
But real.
And for the first time—
that feels like enough.