The locker room erupts with hoots and woos as we file inside when the clock hits zero. A wave of high fives and handshakes are exchanged between myself and my boys as we begin to celebrate a well earned victory. My heart is racing, but the adrenaline is welcomed. It's just a long lasting side effect of having one of the best games of my career.

I played the entirety of the minutes our team had the ball. I haven't checked the official stats, but one of the assistants told me I had at least ninety receiving yards, over a dozen catches and three touchdowns. It's almost the most I've had in my entire college career. I let out another shout in victory for how damn good it feels to be back. This rush is the exact feeling I've been chasing for months now.

Coach files in and gives his post game speech, congratulating us, but reminding us that this is just one stop in our road to the playoffs. I don't care though, it's a damn good stop. Maybe even the one that puts us back at the top of the ranks going into next week.

I shower quickly, eager to get out of the sweat soaked locker room and continue the celebration. When I emerge from the door outside the locker room, a crowd has formed behind the tall black gates. The cheers continue as myself and a few other players spill out. I pull my phone out to call my mom. I have about a dozen missed messages from her already, and one from Camryn. I check the ones from my mom first. She apparently wanted to perform her version of live texting during the game. Each message is filled with comments about a play or call that was made.

I open Camryn's message to see a gif, telling me not to suck. I know it is a heartfelt message coming from her. I should have probably texted her last night, or this morning to explain why I had to leave her last night. I didn't want to leave her, not after I finally told her something true. Not after she comforted me in only a way that she could. And definitely not after she kissed me. But I had to create distance between us before I made a stupid mistake that would end up costing us both something. I couldn't last night, and I still can't explain that to her though. It would mean telling her about my arrangement with her brother. Something, that if she found out would leave her with no feelings towards me but hate. Then I would never know what it's like to hold her like I was last night, or to kiss her again like I really want to.

I ignore her message and instead pull my mom's contact back up. I press the Facetime button, but pull my face away from the camera when I feel someone tapping my back.. I turn to see Camryn standing there, a smile filling her whole face. I let my expression match hers and impulsively sweep her into a hug, apparently ignoring the distance I told myself I needed to create a moment ago.

She speaks against my body, but it's muffled. I don't pull away to hear her better though. I only sink in further, letting the coconut from her hair products move through my lungs. I didn't realize how much I needed this. She's a reprieve from the endorphins running through my body. It would normally be my mom or Nora helping comfort me in this moment, but Camryn feels just as good.

Camryn pushes me back, "Uh, I think someone's on the phone," she says pointing to my screen that has filled with my entire family. I quickly lift it and greet them all. The smile on my face grows even more. They all begin to talk at the same top over top of one another. I can't make any of it out, but my mom quickly shushes the others and takes the first turn.

"Way to go Taybear!" she shouts through the speaker. Camryn stifles a laugh beside me at the use of my nickname, no doubt. I poke her in the side making her squirm. My mom speaks up again, snapping my attention back to her. She doesn't miss anything though. Just as fast as the topic of football came, it's gone again.

"Who's with you Tay?" She says with a smirk on her face.

I put the camera onto Camryn. "You better say hi now or this conversation will go nowhere," I say. Camryn's cheeks darken into a shade of maroon that makes her look adorable as she croaks a greeting.

"The girlfriend!" my grandma shouts.

"Nana, Camryn is a friend. She tutors me." I can hear my grandpa correcting my grandma, and reminding her not to embarrass me. My mom ignores them all and speaks again.

"It's very nice to finally have a face for the name." She smiles a wicked grin. Camryn confirms the same, although I know she's seen pictures of her before. I signal for Camryn to walk with me as I tell my family I will call them back later. I quickly hang up before any other comments about my motives with Camryn can come up.

"The official Taylor Reed fan club," Camryn jokes, shouldering my side.

"Pretty embarrassing when it's your own family," I mutter, but she quickly denies me.

"It's pretty special to have them care so much." Camryn doesn't dwell on the comment about her lack of family support and instead dives right into telling me all about the game. I don't interrupt her. I like hearing it from her point of view. She doesn't stop giving her play by play until we reach Harry's. I open the door for her and she shuffles inside. It's packed, so we have to settle for a table instead of our usual booth.

"I feel like I'm talking a lot," she says. "I haven't even let you say anything and you were the one doing all the work." It makes me laugh. She is being extra talkative, but I kind of like it. The way she seems to have so much to tell me must mean she isn't letting anything that happened yesterday shy her away from me.

"You sound like the president of the Taylor Reed fan club," I tease.

Camryn rolls her eyes and moves into her commentary about her time with the Wives and Girlfriends Club. I had no idea it was a real thing, but Camryn has coined it as a way to torture her if I ever need delicate information.

When I can't stop laughing, Camryn slides out of her seat and comes to my side of the table. Taking the seat next to mine she pulls her camera off her neck to show me proof, which confirms it looks just as awful as she described. And then she keeps flipping through her roll, showing me the images she took at the game. She took at least fifty, probably more, or various points throughout the day. If they were prints we could lay each one out and create a series of events.
She pauses on one of me. I recognize the block letters of the end zone turf. "You were amazing. I mean I knew you were good, but just—you came to life out there. The way your body moved was just so..." She stumbles over her words. I can feel her eyes studying me, but I just continue to study the display screen on her camera.

"These pictures are amazing," I say. "Forget being there, you make the game come to life through these." She quickly looks away from me and at the screen.

"Thanks, I..." She pauses. "Which one do you think captures the game the most, I need to choose my top five to submit to the paper." I turn towards her. It's my turn to study her features. I can feel my brows furrowing in the process. Camryn reaches up and attempts to smooth the crease there. I grab at her wrist and remove it. She goes limp and doesn't even attempt to pull away.

"The paper?" I ask.

"Wasn't that part of your plan? For me to join the paper?" she asks.

"You didn't tell me they gave you the job!" I use her wrist to raise her arm in a celebration. She quickly recovers and shoves me in return.

"I wanted to, but you know your brooding got in the way." Her camera roll now shows the picture she took of me before the bonfire started last night. I do look grumpy, but rightfully so considering what I shared with her probably an hour after that picture was taken.

"Did you cut it because of her?" she asks. Now we're face to face, so close that I can smell the chocolate milkshake on her breath. The way her eyes search mine reminds me that I somehow can't hide from her.

"How'd you know?" I ask.

"Facetime," she says pointing to my phone that's resting face down on the table. "Her hair was covered by a scarf. It hasn't been in recent pictures you've shown me."

The last time I shaved my head was right before the picture Camryn had seen in my room. The last time my mom was sick, when she had to shave her head, I shaved my head too. My entire life to that point she had long hair that stretched down her back. She always had it curled, or styled in some way. She loved her long hair. I had always kept my hair longer too, liking the way I looked with it. But when her hair started to fall out, I thought if I shaved my head it would make her feel better to know she wasn't alone.

We've both since grown our hair back out. So when she called me on Thursday after her final treatment in this round she confessed it had started to fall out again. She was going to have my grandma cut her hair the rest of the way that night. I knew right away I needed to as well. I needed to show her that even though I'm not physically there, I'm still with her. That I will do anything to help her. Even if it is just a little hair and regardless of how much my hair has become a signature part of my look. I've met plenty of kids with similar flow who credit me as their inspiration. I want to ask Camryn what she thinks, if she likes it, but I just study the picture on her camera instead. I can't care what she thinks. Her opinion can't matter. At the end of the day, she's here because I have a job to do. Everything I'm doing is so my mom can grow her hair out again too.