"You could be one of those baking influencers on TikTok, for sure," Mara said as she surveyed the smattering of brownie ingredients on the kitchen counter. "You already have all the cameras and gear and video editing skills."

"I'm not that creative or innovative," I shrugged as I cracked an egg into my mixing bowl. "Like, I wouldn't be able to make up recipes and stuff on my own since I don't have that natural sense of what goes with what. I'm just good at following someone else's directions."

"She's being annoyingly modest," Bree called from the couch in the living room. "She cooks dinner without directions all the time."

"Cooking is different," I responded as I cracked another egg. "Baking is an exact science and you can't just throw shit in a bowl and hope it works out, because then you'll end up with some kind of burnt chocolate pudding instead of brownies." I paused and took a step away from the counter to glance into the living room at Bree. "As a fellow scientist, you should understand that part."

"Oh of course, I also end up with burnt pudding if I calculate something wrong in my geotechnical engineering class." Bree scoffed with a dismissive wave of her hand before settling back into the couch behind her laptop.

"Sarcasm noted," I replied with an eye roll. "Besides, some hobbies should just stay hobbies. I think if it was ever more than that, it would defeat the purpose of why I do it to begin with."

Mara had now taken a seat at the bar stool on the other side of the kitchen island, her back to the living room where Bree sat, and I took my mixing bowl back over there where the rest of my ingredients were. She'd had her braids threaded with a few strands in our school colors of purple and orange, and her faded gray Clemson sweatshirt draped off her shoulder as she leaned forward on the counter onto her elbows to glance into my half mixed dough.

She plucked an Oreo out of the open package beside her and bit into it. "I think I understand that. I guess that's sort of why I stopped playing lacrosse. I felt too much pressure and it all just became so...un-fun."

"Is that why you didn't stick with covering lacrosse for the media department either?" I asked as I dug into the Oreo package and started crumbling them up into the dough.

Mara huffed out a sigh and nodded. She scrunched her nose up in uncertainty, and I realized it was the first time I'd seen her zealous demeanor falter ever so slightly.

"I guess so," she finally answered with a shrug, and after a moment, she switched the beaming gigawatts back on and smiled. "Plus, my dad's a high school football coach, so I basically grew up around football. I know what I like."

I grunted as the dough became thicker and harder to mix with my spatula, and I mentally kicked myself for not splurging on a master mixer when I had the means to. "Well, that's good. You should."

I offered her a smile, and she beamed in return. Some people just radiated natural light, and it was hard not to feel the warmth that came from it. Mara was undoubtedly one of those people.

I supposed Reid was at one point, too. Now it was like he was caught in a perpetual storm. I knew that part of him was still there somewhere - I'd seen it occasionally shine through the clouds, and maybe soon the storm would start subsiding for good.

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After the brownies had gone in the oven, Mara and I ventured into my room so I could finish packing for our trip to Charlotte tomorrow for the ACC Kickoff event. It was about a two and a half hour drive from Clemson, so it made the most sense for Mara to just stay over at my place, pack my car with any cameras and equipment we'd need, and leave together in the morning.

"It's kind of crazy to me that they're doing this whole big weekend press event for the entire conference just because preseason is about to start," Mara said as she flopped into the fuzzy cream beanbag chair in the corner of my room. "Does every conference do this?"

"The Power Five do," I replied as I folded the last of my t-shirts into neat little squares. "So the ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10, and PAC 12. I'm not sure about some of the smaller conferences, but I'd assume they do something similar, even if it doesn't get as much press or attention. I mean think about it, there's over 120 Division I college football teams across all 11 conferences, but 60% of those teams don't have superstars or future NFL players and won't have a shot at a top 25 ranking, let alone a playoff appearance."

"That's wild," Mara let out a chuckle. "Guys from every ACC team being in the same hotel seems like a recipe for disaster."

"Yeah, but remember this event is super exclusive. Only the head coach and captains from each team attend." I huffed out a quick breath as I folded up a pair of jeans and stashed them at the bottom of my open suitcase. "It's not like these bloodsucking journalists are looking for soundbites from anyone else right now. Like Kayla always told me, they're only interested in whoever is interesting."

I glanced over at Mara, who's attention had been turned down towards one of her pink-painted nails. "So that means Reid, obviously."

"Obviously," I echoed in an even tone. "Along with JJ, and Micah Downs, who's our defensive captain and probably going to be the highest linebacker taken in the draft."

There was a seemingly intentional beat of silence before Mara answered with a faint smirk. "Right."

I sighed and folded my arms across my chest. "What?"

Mara finally looked up at me with an angelic smile. "Nothing. Just excited for my first big media girl trip."

It was my turn to say to her, "Right."

I didn't need to remind Mara that we'd be spending the next several months more or less attached at the hip so being dodgy with each other did us no good, but at the same time, we didn't owe each other unlimited access to our thoughts and feelings. In fact, maybe it was better that way for now. 

Mara hoisted herself up off the beanbag and started bopping around my bedroom like a kid in a candy store, picking up and examining a bunch of little knickknacks I collected on the top of my white Ikea dresser. "What are you wearing to that dinner gala thing on Sunday night? I think I packed like four different options."

"Honestly, I'm not sure," I replied as I zipped up my Herschel duffle bag. Even though we'd only be gone for two days, I needed a separate bag for all the makeup and skincare I refused to travel without. "I figured just the same dress I wear for interviews and stuff."

I nodded to my open closet door, where a mid-length chocolate-colored long-sleeve wrap dress hung from the top of the door. Mara walked over to it and pinched one of the sleeves between her fingers.

"I mean...this is cute," she began. "If you're interning at a law firm or something."

"Hey, that's a classy dress, it's from Aritzia," I snapped defensively. "Besides, what else am I supposed to wear?"

I didn't consider myself unfashionable, but my style was definitely on the more low maintenance end. I just preferred structured basics instead of flashy, loud pieces, which I guess included my formal wear.

Mara strutted into my closet and began raking through all of my hung up garments, and I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"I don't know what you think you're gonna find in there," I called over to her, but she was a woman on a mission as the sound of hangers scraping against the plastic rod they hung from.

"This," she said as she emerged with another dress in her hands. "This is exactly what I thought I'd find."

Mara had pulled out a black dress, this one still mid-length, but undoubtedly less forgiving. It was a fairly simple square neckline and straps at the shoulders, but lining the cut-out bust and wrapping up around the neck was a line of thin crystal rhinestones, and it continued down into the middle of the open back. I'd worn it just once.

"Absolutely not." I snatched the hanger from her. "I wore that to a fraternity spring formal where I was proactively trying to hook up with the vice president."

"And did you?" Mara asked.

"Well...yeah," I shrugged. "I did."

Mara beamed again and clapped her hands together. "Then I think it's self-explanatory. Bring it. Wear it."

I wrung my hands together. "You don't think it's too much?"

Mara folded her arms over her hoodie and shifted on her feet, jutting her hip out with the slightest bit of sass. "No way. It's conservative enough to not be unprofessional but it still dazzles. It's an It Girl dress."

"An It Girl dress?" I echoed with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes, the dress that makes everyone's heads turn and lets everyone know that you are that bitch." Mara paused when she saw my still rather unconvinced look. "Look, there's going to be like a zillion media people at this thing, right? And from what you've told me, we're gonna be running around like headless freaking chickens most of the weekend, so you know that that dinner is the only opportunity to schmooze, make connections and catch attention. So this is the dress to do it in."

I wasn't entirely sure whose attention I'd catch, but she had a point, because in that dress, I'd undoubtedly get it.

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i know she's another shortie but this is all just build-up to our first big event of the season and i am stoked to get into the acc kickoff event. let's just say some shit goes down - any guesses? 👀