I Canceled Your Free Ride

Alana has spent six months as the student manager of a college basketball team, a job she earned through three rounds of interviews and long nights memorizing equipment logs. Yet the starting guard Damon, the man she loves in secret, insists they act like strangers in public, so no one will accuse her of sleeping her way into the role. In the gym, he ignores her offered sports drink, takes a lukewarm bottle from Carol instead, and throws Alana's drink into the trash.

When the team captain Dean defends her, Damon hints that she might have tampered with the bottle, and the bench erupts in suspicion. Carol, who has just been added to the staff at Damon's request, twists the knife by questioning Alana's honesty before the regional championship. An email from Coach Griffin then strips Alana of her primary duties, handing them to Carol.

At the steakhouse celebration, the department van fills to capacity, and Alana is left standing at the curb, watching Damon sit beside Carol. The quiet cruelty of a love kept in the dark finally pushes her toward a choice.