Maya's POV
I could still feel my heart hammering long after Liam left the room.
I kept replaying everything in my mind.
His stiff left arm.
His wince when he moved.
The text message about the coach asking questions.
The fear in his eyes when he realized I had seen it.
He did not want anyone to know.
Not his team.
Not his coach.
Not even me.
And yet, I had seen all of it.
I packed my bag slowly, trying to calm my breathing. My hands shook every time I thought of what that message meant. He was hiding something, something serious, and he was terrified it would cost him everything.
I whispered to myself, "What are you getting yourself into, Maya?"
I walked out of Study Room 3B, still overwhelmed, and headed to the campus library. My shift there started in ten minutes, and I needed the hours. I needed the money. I needed anything that could distract me from the chaos in my mind.
The library was quiet when I walked in, which made the tension inside my chest stand out even more. I signed in, grabbed a cart of returned books, and started shelving them.
But my mind was not here.
I kept seeing Liam holding his shoulder.
Hiding the pain.
Pretending he was okay.
Why was he fighting so hard to stay on the court when he could barely lift his arm?
I shook my head and focused on the books. I rolled the cart down the aisle, pulled a book from the stack, and reached for the shelf.
Just then, loud voices cut through the silence.
I froze.
They were coming from one of the small study rooms near the back.
At first, I thought students were arguing over a group project. But then I heard a voice I knew too well.
Liam.
My heart jumped into my throat.
I shouldn't listen.
I should walk away.
I should mind my business.
But his voice wasn't normal.
It was sharp.
Angry.
Stressed.
Something inside me tightened.
Without meaning to, I stepped closer to the study room. The door was slightly cracked open. Not enough to see inside, but enough to hear.
"Caleb, I told you I am handling it," Liam snapped.
Caleb.
His best friend.
The tall one always beside him during games.
The one people said was like his brother.
Caleb's voice came next, low and frustrated. "You call this handling it? You can barely move your arm."
My heart stopped.
Not this again.
Liam let out a hard breath. "Keep your voice down."
"I will not," Caleb shot back. "You think the coach won't notice? You think the team won't notice? You think hiding it will magically fix anything?"
Liam's silence felt heavy.
Caleb kept going. "Your shoulder is worse, man. I saw you after practice. You were shaking."
My breath caught.
Shaking?
Worse?
How bad was it?
Then Caleb said the words that made my whole body go still.
"And those pills are not helping. They are only masking the pain, not healing it."
Pills.
Pills.
My heart started beating too fast.
I leaned closer without thinking, gripping a book tightly in my hand.
Liam's voice dropped to a whisper. "I do not have a choice."
"Yes, you do," Caleb insisted. "Tell the coach. Tell someone. Get real help."
"I cannot," Liam snapped.
"Why not?"
Liam's voice cracked, heavy with something painful. "Because if I sit out, I lose everything. Scout visits. Season stats. Scholarship renewals. Everything."
Caleb softened a little. "You are going to lose more if you keep pushing your body like this."
"I can handle it."
"No, you cannot," Caleb said. "You are in constant pain. Everyone sees it. You think taking pain pills before every practice is a solution?"
My eyebrows shot up.
Before every practice?
I covered my mouth with my hand.
Liam said nothing.
Caleb sighed loudly. "This is getting out of control."
Liam's voice came back desperate. "Please. Just help me get through the next few weeks. That is all I need."
"That is not healthy," Caleb argued. "You cannot keep hiding this."
Another silence.
Then Liam said something so soft it almost broke me.
"If the coach finds out, he will bench me. And if he benches me, I lose the scouts. I lose the future I have been working for since I was a kid."
My heart squeezed.
"So you want to hide this forever?" Caleb asked.
"No," Liam whispered. "Just long enough to make it through."
"And the pills?" Caleb asked. "How long will those last you? How much more pain can your body take?"
Liam didn't answer.
The silence inside that room was loud enough to punch through my chest.
Caleb spoke again, quieter this time. "This is not just about basketball anymore. You are hurting. You are scared. And you are lying to everyone, including yourself."
Liam's voice cracked slightly. "I am doing the best I can."
Something slammed against the table inside the room. I jumped.
"Your best is killing your shoulder!" Caleb yelled. "And you know it."
I felt tears press behind my eyes. This wasn't some dramatic secret. This was a real boy trying to hold his world together with shaking hands.
Liam let out a shaky breath. "Just stop. Please. I cannot hear this right now."
I stepped back, heart racing, afraid they would hear me breathing.
Then I heard chairs scraping. Footsteps. Fast ones.
I panicked.
I grabbed the nearest book on my cart and pretended to shelve it, even though my hands were trembling so hard I nearly dropped it.
The study room door swung open.
Liam stormed out first, his face tight with frustration and pain. Caleb stepped out behind him looking drained and upset.
I froze halfway through sliding a book onto the shelf.
Liam turned.
His eyes locked with mine.
Everything inside me stopped.
His expression shifted instantly.
Shock.
Realization.
Fear.
And something almost like betrayal.
He knew.
He knew I had heard everything.
All the talk about pain.
About the pills.
About the hiding.
About the fear of losing everything.
He knew I had been standing there.
Listening.
My heart pounded so loudly I felt it in my throat.
Caleb looked between us, confused.
But Liam didn't move.
He didn't blink.
He just stared at me with eyes so tight and full of panic that I couldn't breathe.
Finally, in a low, broken voice, he whispered:
"Maya… how much did you hear?"
I couldn't answer.
I couldn't even speak.
His jaw clenched. His left arm stiffened again at his side. His breath came fast, uneven.
He took one slow step toward me.
"Maya," he whispered again, his voice trembling now, "please tell me you did not hear everything."
I opened my mouth.
No sound came out.
His face fell, fear filling the space between us like a wave I could not escape.
Then he whispered the words that ripped through me.
"Maya… do not ruin this for me."