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'Just open it,' Benji says, like it’s nothing, like it’s not a letter that could change the whole path of her future just sitting on her quilt in front of them. It’s easy enough for him to say - he’s known he was going to Kentucky ever since they scouted him at the Otters’ final game last year. The logo stares at her from the front of the envelope and the mercenary part of her brain reminds her that, frankly, she shouldn’t doubt at all whether Berkeley wants Tad Colborne's daughter for their poli-sci class of '02.
'Don’t hate me,' she says, and Benji looks at her with an expression equal parts fond and bemused as the arm casually draped across her shoulders pulls her in closer.
'Never.'
He always says shit like that like he actually believes it, and that certainty will never, ever fail to catch Brooke off guard. She reaches down the side of her bed, and produces a second envelope, just like the first, except the logo on this one is – 'UK,’ Benj says, eyes wide as he takes it out of her hand and flips it over. It’s still sealed, but a little crumpled, like it’s been worried around the edges for several days. 'You never told me!'
'Like I said,' says Brooke, aiming for nonchalance and missing it entirely, 'don’t hate me, I'm not trying to be a creep and follow you across the country, I'm just - I don’t know, I'm keeping my options open. Kentucky’s just an option, like the others.’ But all of the other options, the rest of the letters shoved down the side of her bed where she doesn’t have to think about them and the Berkeley envelope in front of them, are entirely forgotten as she rests her head on his shoulder and watches him look at the letter in his hands. 'They might not even want me.’
'Don’t be stupid,’ he says, and this time it’s all fond. They both stare at the letter for a moment. Benji cracks first, surprising neither of them, and jams a thumb under the seal to rip it open. Brooke sits up and holds her breath for all of a second, waiting for him to read it out to her, but Benji’s never been able to hide an expression from her, and even before he does she knows exactly what the letter says.