Fantine

I stood back behind the dormitory door as Riley’s truck pulled away and went the opposite direction, but I didn’t have time to wonder why he was bailing on his father’s meeting as my phone vibrated with a text from Coach Rufus instructing me to make my way to the equipment loading zone in ten minutes. I rushed down the stairs and across the wet grass, and when I got there, the raw diesel fumes and the booming voices of the players as they launched giant duffel bags into the belly of a colossal tour bus filled the air.

"Lennox, over here!" Coach Rufus yelled, waving a clipboard at...