Page 366 of Playing Dirty

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“You shouldn’t have said that in the interview.”

“I didn’t plan it.”

“That’s not the point.”

“What is the point then?”

Luca wiped his face with a towel.

“That now it’s a narrative.”

I frowned. “A what?”

“A story,” he said. “That you gave them.”

I didn’t respond immediately.

Because I didn’t like how accurate that sounded.

Coach called us back.

Again.

ROWAN

Mia was already waiting outside the media lab.

She didn’t say hello.

Just handed me coffee.

“That bad?” I asked.

“Worse,” she said.

Inside, everyone was talking over each other.

NYC shortlist revisions were circulating again.

People were tense in a new way now.

Not hopeful.

Calculating.

Professor Bennett walked in and immediately shut it down.

“You are not journalists yet,” she said. “You are applicants with opinions.”

That stung more than it should’ve.

After class, Mia followed me out.

“You’re thinking about him,” she said.

“I’m thinking about the assignment.”

“That is him.”

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