Mildred's POV:
{Athletic Department Meeting Room / Lineup Drafts, 9:10 AM}
Industrial-grade disinfectant and stale drip coffee filled the air. It was a cavernous space beneath the stadium bleachers, flanked by rusted metal lockers, whiteboards mapped out with faded play diagrams, and heavy oak long-tables that had seen decades of varsity sign-ins.
I leaned back against the concrete wall near the main bulletin board, my arms folded across my chest. At six-foot-three and carrying the thick frame of a freshman flex linebacker, I usually stood out in a crowd. But in a room overflowing with upperclassmen varsity athletes, it was easy enough to blend into the shadow of the notice boards if you kept your head down and your mouth shut.
My mind was running on a parallel track, completely de
