It's been almost three weeks since Will left. The boys made it to state in football. We were celebrating for days when we won the last game.

Carter is back to playing at almost full time. Dad is still worried it's too soon. Carter worked his ass off to be ready and he's as ready as ever.

The state championships are the day before Will's birthday. I haven't talked much to him since the fight. We talked at least twice since then. Everyone is worried, but I try to keep it hidden.

"We only have a few hours before kick off. Don't get nervous on me now" I told Carter. He was practically bouncing off the walls.

They had to be back at the field in fifteen minutes.

"I'm not nervous" he assured me.

"Listen if your leg hurts ever so slightly, I don't care how much, tell Dad to pull you. Don't be a stubborn ass" I warned him strictly.

"What like you?" He joked.

I laughed and shoved him with my shoulder. "You are an ass Carter Maverick"

"You love me Cora Maeve"

"That I do" I admitted and wrapped my arms around my brother. "Good luck."

I heard a loud gasp from behind us. We turned around to see Tommy staring at us with his mouth agape.

"Guys! They're hugging and not strangling each other! It's a miracle!" Tommy yelled.

The whole team essentially cheered for us and Dad just shook his head laughing. I rolled my eyes at the team.

We walked to the gate where they left and the families waited for another two hours to get in.

"Okay you guys listen up!" I yelled at the whole team. They shut up real quick and listened to me. "This is the last game of the season. Seniors, this is the last game of high school football you'll ever play. Don't stop fighting until that last buzzer goes off. Don't stop playing your game until it is over. Don't make this a game you'll regret because you didn't push yourself to your full potential."

I want to see you out there playing as a team, as a family. I want to see you play like you never played before. Most importantly I want to see you have fun. Make this the funnest damn game you've ever played. I know my dad is already proud of you, but I won't be proud of you until you put your heart out on that field."

I want you to look around at every one around you. Look at your teammates, your brothers. These boys have been there for you since day one. These boys are the ones that are going to be with you to the end. Do this for them, for your teammates, your brothers, and the seniors that don't get this chance again. Do it for them."

The boys erupted in cheers. They were pretty much deafening. I saw my dad wipe tears from his eyes when he thought no one was watching.

I hugged my brother again. Then Tommy and Nick. Then Logan.

"That was the best damn pep talk I think I ever heard." Logan whispered in my ear.

"Thank you" I whispered back and squeezed his neck. "Now you go out there and win that damn game"

"Only for you" he winked and walked away.

Dad wrapped me in his arms. "That was a good speech Coco. Thank you, but now I don't know what I'm going to say to them." He joked though I'm sure he was being serious.

"Thanks Daddy." I kissed his cheek. "Now go coach our boys" I pushed him on his way.

I met up with Remi, Mom, and Sky. We waited in line for another two hours before they let us in.

We found our seats closer to the bottom. Sky curled up in my lap and we waited another hour until kick off.

"Sissy, I'm scared" she said softly in my ear.

"Why's that nugget?" I asked and have her a reassuring squeeze.

"What if Car Car gets hurt again? I don't want him to be hurt." She said worriedly.

I hugged her tight. "Don't worry Carter is going to be just fine. His leg is stronger now than it has ever been. He won't get hurt" I reassured her.

"Promise?" She looked up at me with her big doe eyes.

I shook my head slightly. "No nugget this isn't something I can promise, but I can tell you Carter is strong and he won't let himself get hurt again" I said. "Daddy won't let him get hurt either"

"Okay" she said, satisfied with my answer, and turned to the field.

The kick off was in one hour. We watched anxiously as Carter, Nick, and Tommy walked out to the middle of the field for the coin flip. I was practically squeezing the shit out of Remi's hand. She didn't seem to mind because she was quite nervous as well.

I don't know why but I feel super anxious and scared this year. Last year we were a few points away from getting to state. The boys were absolutely devastated, especially Will. He ended up getting a huge scholarship for football at Notre Dame though.

"and it looks like the Northview leapords will get the ball in the kickoff. The kick off will commence in thirty minutes" the announcer said.

I sighed unhappily. "It's okay. We can get the ball back easily" I said more to myself than anyone.

Mom rubbed my shoulder comfortingly. Carter doesn't get nervous, instead I get nervous enough for the both of us. I feel more nervous watching the game than I would if I was playing it.

Maybe that's why Carter is always calm or excited.

In the next thirty minutes, the national anthem played and the teams got their final preparations in. I was a nervous wreck as the teams took the field. I was practically bouncing around in my seat.

"Sweetie, it's okay. It's just a regular game." Mom told me.

I took a deep breath. Just a regular game. I repeated that phrase in my head several times that day. I still couldn't get it into my head.

I had a bad feeling about this game. I don't know why and it's making me jittery. I don't want Carter or anyone else getting hurt. Carter can't handle another broken leg or a rebroken leg. His football career would be over as we know it.

The ball was kicked off into the other teams' hands and the game had begun. I was a lot less nervous as it got closer and closer to half and we were up by two touchdowns. I know it wasn't a lot but it was something and that counted to me.

"Mommy, I have to go potty" Sky whined from beside me.

Mom was on the phone. "I'll take her." I informed Mom with a whisper. Mom nodded in understanding.

Remi had been staring at her phone since half time started. She hadn't talked much and she'd been constantly checking her phone during the game. I lightly kicked her foot. She looked up at me.

"Wanna come?" I asked her.

She tilted her head slightly in question.

"The bathroom. Nugget has to go." I told her.

"Um sure" She looked at her phone one last time and stood up. She put her phone in her back pocket.

We walked up the stands to the main level of the stadium. I had Sky hold my hand as we maneuvered through tons of people. We walked around until we found the bathroom.

Sky went to the bathroom as we waited outside her stall. Remi pulled out her phone again.

"Why are you constantly checking over your phone?" I asked her.

She looked almost startled by my question. She clicked her phone off and stuffed it in her back pocket. "I'm not. I was just checking instagram" She lied. Her ears turned red a telltale sign she's lying.

"Remi, I can tell you're lying." I informed her.

She sighed and looked at me with an upset expression. "I hate that you know me so well." She groaned. She took a deep breath. "Okay, so don't tell anyone yet, but I applied for Columbia University and I'm expecting my acceptance or rejection email."

My hand immediately shot over my mouth as I tried to contain my squeal. "Oh my gosh, Rem. That's amazing. Why didn't you tell me?" I smacked her arm violently.

She blushed. " I didn't want anyone to think of me as the girl who got rejected by the Ivy League school. I didn't want anyone to think of me any less. My family still doesn't know, except Dad. I submitted the application."

"Remi I would've gone to the cemetery with you. I know how hard that is for you" I said seriously.

She shurgged. "It's okay, I figured I'd need to visit him as much as possible if I got into Columbia."

I gave her a soft hug. "I'm here for you, Remi. You know that"

She nodded softly. The toilet flushed and I kind of forgot where we were. Sky walked out of the stall and I helped her wash her hands.

I heard a gasp as I grabbed Sky's paper towels.

"What?" I asked and turned to Remi. She was staring at her phone she had a death grip on. "What happened Rem?"

"I got the email. I can't open it. What if I get accepted? What about Carter and I? What if I get rejected? Do I tell people I applied? Cor, I can't" She looked up at me frightened by the whole thing.

I instructed her to take some deep breaths. "Okay, now open the email and find out. It's not a big deal either way, okay? It'll be great if you get it but it's okay if you don't." I reminded her.

She took a deep breath before she pressed on the email. "Dear Ms. Burton-Ruiz, On behalf of Columbia University, I want to..." she trail off as she clutched her phone tighter in her hand.

I looked at her awaiting an answer. "I want to what, Remi? What happened?" I asked after a minute.

"I got accepted" She said softly. "I'm going to New York"

I squealed and crushed her in a hug. "I'm so happy for you, Remi"

She could finally breathe again. "I can't believe it"

Sky hugged Remi too. "Can we go back to Mommy and watch bubba, now?"

We laughed at her. "Of course Nugget"

We walked back to our seats, dodging people and squeezing through tiny spaces to get there. I had to carry Sky this time in fear of her getting lost.

"Hey Mom we're back" I said as I sat in my previous spot.

We were in the bathroom awhile. There was only seven minutes left on the clock and we left at twenty. We talked for the remaining seven minutes. A knot formed in my stomach and got bigger the closer to game time.

"We are back with the state championships. The Greenhill Bloodhounds are up by sixteen, but the Northview Leapords look like they're ready to make a comeback. Let's get this game started!" the announcer cheered. Everyone followed and the entirety of the stands cheered and yelled and whooped.

I was practically on the edge of my seat for the entire third quarter. I stood up and yelled as much as I could. I tried to keep my yelling a little more kid friendly than I normally would. I was mainly yelling at our team.

In the third quarter the leapords managed to score three touch downs, while keeping us away from any. The knot in my stomach only enlarged during the last quarter. We were down by eight and I could tell the boys were getting tired. Carter's leg may have even started to bother him, but he wouldn't be pulled.

There was four minutes left and the other team had the ball.

"I'm going to throw up" I slapped my hand over my mouth.

Mom squeezed my knee comfortingly. "Breathe, sweetie"

"We still have a chance." Remi reminded me.

I stood up quickly. I couldn't sit down at a time like this. My hands rested on my knees as the whistle was blown. The ball was hiked and I watched intently. It was handed to a running back. He weaved through the football players. He was almost to the ten yard mark, but he was tackled by Tristan.

The refs called it no good and a second down. I cheered but it wasn't over yet. Our boys came back with a vengeance. They didn't get another first down and it was our ball with less than two minutes on the clock.

"It's up to Logan and Carter" I whispered to myself. By now, our whole fanbase was standing up in anticipation. The knot curled in my stomach.

I took a deep breath as they set up the play. They tried to get it to the running back who only got us a second down. They set up again. There was only one minute left in the game.

The whistle blew and the ball was snapped. Logan caught it and backed up to pass the ball to Carter who was running to the endzone.

Logan hasn't successfully passed that long before. My breath hitched in my throat as the ball released from Logan's hands and flew through the air. The whole stadium was quiet. It felt as if everything was in slow motion as it reached the endzone into Carter's arms.

Our whole side went up in cheers. That didn't catch us up. We were still one point behind. There were ten seconds left for a two point conversion. I believed in our boys. They could do it.

The stands went deadly silent as the teams set up for the extra point.

The whistle blew for the last time and the seconds dwindled down as everything felt slow. They pushed and Logan was tackled by several guys. There was no way of knowing if the extra point was good.

The buzzer went off and the guys piled off of Logan. Next thing I knew, the ref blew his whistle and stuck his arms straight up.

Everyone went up in cheers. I practically jumped in Remi's arms. The team rushed the field to congratulate their teammates. The fans were allowed on the field and I was at the front of the line waiting to see my brother and dad.

"Carter!" I screamed and ran into his arms. He hugged me tight and picked me up off my feet. "I'm so proud of you"

"Oh my gosh. We did it. We won." He said in disbelief after he set me down.

"Hell yeah we did!" Nick screamed. Tommy and Logan joined him.

I hugged the other three.

"I won that damn game" Logan said when he hugged me.

"Yeah you did" I laughed.

Remi came running and jumped on Carter. She wrapped her legs around his waist and hugged him. They broke from their hug and immediately kissed. The guys cheer them on.

I hugged Dad next after he walked over with Mom and Sky. A few seconds later Dad was drenched in water. We all turned and laughed at the usual culprits, Nick and Tommy.

"You played one hell of a game, son. I couldn't be any prouder than I am right now" Dad told Carter.

"Thanks dad" He hugged him.

I added in and then Mom and Sky and Remi. We stood in the middle of the field huged for what felt like a long time. I loved every second of it.

"Remi's going to Columbia" Sky blurted.

"What?" Carter exclaimed.