My Childhood Friends Benched Me for Her

My two best childhood friends killed me over a girl who'd been dead six months.

Her name was Lila Bishop. Senior year, signing season, and she was the only one of us with nothing — no offer, no team, no school that wanted her. Cole and Wes both had full rides waiting to go play ball. So did I.

Lila couldn't stand it. If she wasn't going anywhere good, neither were they. She cried, she clung, and within a week my two best friends were ready to turn down the best programs in the country to follow her to some school no one had heard of.

I tried to talk them out of it. For that, they called me jealous and stopped speaking to me. So I went over their heads — called their moms, fixed their signing papers myself, saved both their futures the night before it was too late.

Lila signed nowhere. She went off alone. Six months later, word came back that she was gone.

Cole and Wes didn't blame her. They blamed me. You're the reason she was alone, they said. You're the reason she's dead. They dragged me to the roof of our gym, told me to go be with her, and threw me off.

Then I opened my eyes.

I was sitting on the couch outside the locker rooms, three months back, the day it all started — the day they told me they were giving it up for her.

Last time, I broke myself trying to save them.

This time, I'd let them jump.

Cole was already grinning, like he was about to hand me good news.

"We're decommitting," he said. "Both of us. We're following Lila instead."

Wes nodded. "Coach can find someone else. We already decided."

I knew exactly what they were talking about. Cole had a verbal from Duke. Wes had one from UNC. I had UConn. Three full rides, the kind people in our school waited their whole lives for. Lila had nothing — no offer, no team, just a spot at some no-name school and a plan to bring my friends down with her.

Last time, I begged them not to do it. I cried. I called their moms. I fixed their commitments behind their backs and saved their futures. And they killed me for it.

Not again.

Lila turned to me, eyes already soft and wet. "Margot, you should come too. The four of us belong together. I can't stand the thought of splitting up."

I stood and picked up my bag. "You three do what you want. I'm signing with UConn."

The room went quiet for a moment.

"That's it?" Cole said. "You're not even going to talk about it?"

"Nothing to talk about." I slung the bag over my shoulder. "It's your life. Throw it in the trash if you want."

Lila's face crumpled right on cue. The tears came fast, the way they always did when an audience was watching. "Why are you being so cruel? Is it because I'm not good enough to get recruited like you?"

Wes was already at her side, hand on her back. "Don't cry. We'll go wherever you go. None of this matters."

"Some people get the big offer and still end up nowhere," Cole said, loud enough for the whole room. "I don't know where she gets the attitude."

I looked at the two of them — at the faces that were the last thing I saw before I fell. My skin went cold.

"Let me be clear," I said. "I'm signing with UConn. You two can chase her to whatever school will take a quitter. That's your problem, not mine."

Lila sobbed into her hands. "She thinks I'm beneath her. She's always thought that."

"You don't get to talk to her like that." Cole stepped between us, blocking my way. "Lila offered to keep us together and you're spitting on it. Apologize to her."

"Move."

"You're eighteen, Margot. Act like it." Wes crossed his arms. "Say sorry, or you can stop calling us your best friends."