Chapter Text
Jesse stirs in bed before her alarm has a chance to wake her. She grabs her phone and looks at the time before she silences the alarm. Ugh.
Throwing her blankets off, she gets ready for the day. Jesse walks into the bathroom and looks in the mirror. Dark circles stare back at her, the lack of sleep she managed to get last night surfacing. UGH.
She stayed up too long drawing color guard outfits with clock themes and lost track of time. Ironic. New outfit designs aren’t the only thing she was drawing last night. At some point during the night, she let her mind wander and started subconsciously drawing pictures of her friends.
She drew Olivia first. She was wearing goggles in science class and was about to drop a small amount of liquid into a beaker using an eyedropper. Next was Petra, dressed in her marching band uniform, playing the drums. Then came Lukas. He was leaning against the wall in the window nook in his room, reading a book.
Lastly, she drew Aiden with more detail than the others. It was from when he had somehow fallen asleep in class last year. His head rested on his folded arms across his desk. He looked peacefully dreaming, the most serene she had ever seen him.
When Jesse realized she was drawing Aiden, she picked up the paper, threw it across the room, and immediately went to bed.
Now, Jesse tries to wash her face to remove the circles but decides to take a shower instead. She gets dressed, grabs her outfit designs, and heads downstairs for breakfast.
Jesse finds Lukas in the kitchen making pancakes. “Hey, bro. Where’s Mom?”
Lukas looks up from the griddle and says, “She had to go to work early, so I offered to make us breakfast instead.” He flips the pancakes that smell amazing.
He puts some on a plate for Jesse and slides it in front of her. Jesse thanks him and digs into the delicious breakfast.
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Jesse’s feet tap against the tile floor while passing empty classrooms. The locker room is quiet as she is always the first to arrive, other than the coach. She heads into the office and finds the coach watching another school’s show on her phone.
“Hey coach, here are some designs I made.” Jesse slaps her drawings on the desk. “I’m going to get ready; look them over and let me know what you think.”
Coach nods and picks up the papers while Jesse prepares for the day.
The other guard members slowly trickle in while Jesse reviews the playbook again to get a lesson plan for the day.
Jesse hears footsteps make their way toward her desk. She looks up from her book to find Clara standing in front of her, hands fidgeting nervously behind her back.
“Hey, Jesse. Do you have Lukas’ number?” Clara asks shyly, looking like she could bolt at any moment.
“I do,” Jesse says, raising an eyebrow. “I thought I told everyone to get their partner’s contact info before they left yesterday.”
“I know, but he left before I could ask him,” Clara admits, her guilty gaze dropping to the floor.
Jesse considers just giving Clara his number, but part of her doesn’t want to be alone with Aiden today. “How about you come to my house after practice? Aiden and I will be practicing, so you and Lukas can do the same. Then, you can ask him for his number yourself.” Jesse smiles at the shy girl.
Clara stutters out, “U-Um, yeah, I… That sounds good.” She pauses, then asks hesitantly, “W-Why is Lukas at your house?”
Jesse’s jaw drops in shock before chuckling, “Sorry, I thought everyone knew he was my brother.”
Clara’s eyes widen, “Oh! Of course, that makes sense. No, I didn’t know that. I’ll come over after practice then.”
Jesse smiles, writes her address down on a piece of paper, and gives it to Clara. She scurries off to get changed, and Jesse returns to studying the playbook.
Jesse starts the meeting after everyone has changed. She stands in front of everyone, playbook in hand, and addresses the room. “Good morning everyone! I’m glad to see I haven’t scared anyone off yet.”
The group chuckles as she continues. “To start, if anyone needs help learning to toss again, they need to ask as soon as we get to the field. Otherwise, we’ll start learning the routine for the show today.” Jesse opens the book, “The first page of the routine starts simple…”
Jesse goes on to outline many basic things about the show and points out some things that could be tricky for the first-years. With a smirk, she snaps the book closed, waiting for everyone to finish taking notes. “One more thing before we head out there.
The football team will end their practice one hour early today so everyone can get together with their partner. I will share the plan with everyone during that time. Alright, get out there!”
The room fills with the sound of chairs scraping and clothes rustling as everyone heads outside. Jesse is the last to leave the locker room with the flags.
The field is still wet from the morning dew as Jesse treads through the grass. She plops the flags on the ground as a few people come to grab their own. Jesse walks over to the bleachers and sits down, occasionally offering advice and demonstrating a few techniques to a select few on how to perform a specific maneuver.
Distracted, Jesse’s gaze drifts to the football team running drills on the other side of the field. Aiden’s voice carries through the air, shouting commands to his teammates. She scans the players, looking for the source.
Aiden catches a ball, pivoting smoothly before launching it downfield with precision. His teammates cheer as the receiver snags it out of the air. Jesse rolls her eyes, muttering to herself, “Show-off.”
Aiden turns his head toward her and smirks, catching her watching. He jogs over, his hair slightly damp from sweat. Cursing to herself, she regrets looking at all.
“Please hold the applause. I know you're impressed,” he says, grinning as he leans against the fence, arms crossed.
“Impressed?” Jesse snarls, crossing her arms. She laughs sarcastically, “Ha! More like trying to figure out how anyone can stand a show-off like you.”
Aiden chuckles, raking a hand through his hair. “It’s not showing off if you’re good at it.”
Jesse smirks, “Pretty sure if I look up the definition of ‘Show-Off’, I'd find your name right under it.”
Aiden's grin widens, clearly enjoying the banter. “And if I looked up the definition of ‘Jealous’, I'd find your name under it.”
Jesse snickers, “‘Jealous’ isn't in my vocabulary in relation to you.”
Aiden shrugs, “Hey, it’s okay to admit it. I’d be jealous of me, too. Not everyone can look this impressive.”
“And who are you trying to impress?” Jesse gestures to the practice field and empty stands. “The millions of fans out here to see you practice?”
Aiden’s smirk deepens. “You're the only one I need to impress.” He winks at her.
Jesse scoffs, looking away to hide the faint flush creeping up her neck. “Don’t flatter yourself, Mercer.”
Aiden pushes himself off the fence and heads back toward his team.
Jesse tries to regulate the blood flowing to her cheeks as her alarm buzzes. She silences it and releases the team for lunch.
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Petra leans her head on her fist while sitting on the bleachers. She smirks, “Do you think Aiden likes anyone?”
Jesse chokes on the remnants of her fries. “How would I know? And why would I care?” She wipes some crumbs off her chin.
Petra rolls her eyes, and returns to watching Aiden and Lukas pass a football back and forth. “I could ask. Could be juicy info.” She grins mischievously.
Jesse perks an eyebrow, “If you want to ask, then you can have the information.”
Petra stands up and walks over to the boys. Jesse rolls her eyes and finishes her fries as she watches. Petra gets the boys’ attention and gathers them together. She starts saying something and Aiden’s eyes go wide while Lukas laughs and punches Aiden’s arm. Lukas says something to Aiden, and Aiden rubs his face, obviously embarrassed. Aiden says something after turning his attention back to Petra, and then she turns to Lukas and says something to him. Lukas immediately tenses and rubs the back of his neck.
Jesse narrows her eyes in curiosity. Lukas responds to her and smiles. Petra, seemingly satisfied, walks back to the bleachers. The bleachers crack as she sits down next to Jesse and watches the boys go back to throwing the football.
They sit in silence for a few seconds. “So? What did you find out?”
Petra grins, “Oh, you want to know now? I thought you said I could have the information.”
Jesse pushes Petra over, the bleachers creak from the lack of weight. “Come on! Tell me!”
Petra laughs and sits up. “Okay, but if you find anything else out. You need to tell me!”
“Deal.” Jesse smiles.
“Alright.” She leans into Jesse so no one else hears. “Aiden said he isn’t sure if he likes anyone, but when he said it, he averted his eyes and looked toward the bleachers. Which obviously means he likes someone here, of course.”
“Of course. He looked really nervous as well.”
Petra nods. “As for Lukas, he said he has someone he likes, but when I tried to ask who it was, he got really red and said he can’t say anything else.”
Jesse knows her brother more than anyone, but she doesn’t know who he would have a crush on. Thinking back to yesterday, she gets an epiphany. Aiden knows who it is.
Jesse silently plans to ask Aiden at some point. “Do you think Lukas knows more about Aiden’s not-so-crush?”
Petra thinks for a moment. “If he does, he didn’t show any hint of it when I asked them.”
“Pact to get more information?” Jesse holds her hand out to Petra.
Petra takes her hand and shakes it. “You know it.”