Los Angeles, CA

A morning run was a staple of my morning routine. What wasn't a staple was coming home to Connor's voice reverberating off the walls.

"I read the script that your management wrote verbatim!" Connor's voice shouted. "You signed the fucking NDA, just like I did. If you want to sue for slander or defamation, that's on you. But don't come at me with the rest of your bullshit. I'm in the middle of rehearsals for a nationwide tour, and I don't have time to drop everything for this."

I could attest to Connor's packed schedule. There's no way he was going to have time to deal with a media storm if Lana opened up a lawsuit against him. Lana's voice carried through the hallway as she shouted through the phone, but I couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Then set up a conference call to have your manager call mine."

I heard her voice again, which was cut off by some colorful language by Connor.

A few seconds later, his phone collided with the wall. He stormed into the hallway where I was taking off my shoes, his eyes blazing.

"How did I ever think I was in love with her?" Connor blazed past me and shouted at top volume for our dad. This wasn't going to end well, and I didn't want to be around for it. Instead, I headed upstairs to take a long, hot shower to wash off the grime from the run.

"Good morning, honey," Mom said, coming into my room.

"Morning," I said, turning to face her.

She took a seat on the edge of my bed. "I talked to Coach Jefferson this morning to iron out some of the details of the tour."

I sat down next to her. "What do you mean?"

"To make sure that we have some teams you can guest-play on, to see the status of the Limitless Showcase—"

The Limitless Showcase! Nobody had received their emails yesterday, and I'd tossed and turned all night in anticipation.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He's still waiting to hear too."

I tried to ignore the clenching of my chest. "Understood."

"I'll keep checking my email today, in case it comes through to me," she said. "You're important, too, Katelyn. And I'm sorry if we ever make it seem otherwise. With the tour and the album release, and everything happening with your brother, it doesn't make your accomplishments any less."

She wrapped her arms around me, and I leaned into her, resting my head on her shoulder. Quality time with my mom was easily one of the things that I missed the most in this new transition with Connor's career. And while I'd been trying to adjust to taking advantage of the moments we did get to spend together, it hadn't been easy.

"What did he say about the guest teams?" I asked.

Playing on guest teams for exhibition games took a lot of coordination. There were teams around the country that were willing to take on players from other competitive teams to play as a one-off guest. My coach had been working with my mom to schedule games where I could play while we were in different cities.

"We have a couple of games lined up," Mom said. "And then if the Limitless Showcase works out, that should be plenty to keep your soccer juices flowing."

"Never say those words again."

"I love you, Katie," Mom said.

She was the only person I'd tolerate calling me Katie.

"I love you, too, Mom."

She kissed the top of my head before standing up. "Now how about you deal with the piles of clothes all over the floor? That's not exactly packing, Katie."

I gave her a salute as she left.

As I picked up a handful of running shirts, my phone buzzed. A text from Jenica.

LIMITLESS EMAIL. TEXT ME ASAP.

I immediately went to my email, refreshing the page.

And there it was. My invitation to the Limitless Apparel Showcase. My stomach bubbled as the adrenaline rushed through me. Everything I'd worked for felt validated, and I let out an excited scream as I ran out of my room.

"Katelyn?" Mom's voice called.

I ran downstairs, practically plowing her over. "Mom!"

Her eyes were wide as she held me by my shoulders. "Katelyn, what in the—"

"I have my Limitless email! I got my invitation, Mom!"

"Oh, Katie!" she grabbed me in a bear hug. "I'm so, so very proud of you!"

My heels bounced as I tried to contain myself. "We need to get out of here. Let's go celebrate!"

Mom bit her lip. "I'm headed to the studio for the cast rehearsal, I'm sure I could—"

My excitement instantly deflated. "No, it's fine, Mom, don't worry about it," I said. "I'll go over to Jenica's, since she got the email too."

Despite what my mom said, Connor would always take front and center. And I'd forgotten that. For a moment, I thought that my accomplishments mattered too. And her hesitation felt worse than I could ever imagine.

"I'll see you later?"

I could see the conflicted look on my mom's face. "What if we go to dinner at your favorite restaurant?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

She kissed my forehead. "I'm so proud of you, Katie."

But not as proud as you are of Connor.

"Thanks, Mom."

She headed toward the door, glancing back at me one last time. She blew me a kiss before leaving.

There were times when I really thought that I was the main character in my story. And then times like these remind me that I'm just a background character in Connor's.

Despite what my mom had said, she never ended up taking me to dinner. And so the next day a few teammates and I spent the day together. After an afternoon of popcorn and Netflix, Jenica was the only one still here, and I wasn't quite ready to say good-bye to her yet.

"So this is really it?" Jenica asked, as I flipped on the TV.

"I guess so," I answered, flopping down on my bed.

"You're leaving me tomorrow?" she said, her eyes wide.

"I don't want to leave tomorrow."

She dug her spoon into the tub of ice cream. "This sucks."

"Agreed." We lay side by side, eating ice cream while watching an old episode of Grey's Anatomy, which we'd been binge-watching all day.

"Is this our good-bye moment?" Jenica asked.

"No."

She sat up, stretching her arms above her head. "I have practice tonight." She gestured toward the piles of clothes around my room. "And you definitely need to finish packing. Don't you leave at like four in the morning or something crazy?"

Jenica was right. It was getting close to the time her mom would pick her up, to whisk her away to soccer practice while I was doomed to packing all of the outfits I had laid out in preparation for my suitcase.

It felt as though there was a weight pressed against my chest as I stood up. "Lots of pictures?"

She nodded, standing up as well. "Text me every day."

"Promise."

I wrapped my arms around her, wishing I could switch places with her. I wanted to be the one to train this summer, to play in the summer three-on-three league, and to go to the team sleepovers.

"Love you," I said, as we pulled away.

"Love you more," Jenica said. "Make sure those guest teams realize they're stealing our best player, okay?"

"And make sure that Monica remembers she's co-captain—don't let her steal my place."

Jenica let out a fake gasp. "She could never."

We hugged one last time before Jenica's phone beeped with a text from Momma Terry to say she was in the driveway.

"Every. Day," Jenica said.

"Promise."

And then I was alone.

I knew with too much time to think, the sadness of leaving everything familiar would start to sink in. So I turned on my favorite indie music playlist and got to packing.