Change For Me

26. her smile

~~~~

Jae's pov

We walk out of the change rooms after another difficult practice with Coach. Like any other day, Roman is first to complain, "that was tiring."

Conrad continues to stretch out his muscles, "at least Madame wasn't there. It would've been worse."

Practice was brutal. Since the team was only made recently, Madame had strict orders on our warm ups and diets. She made it her goal to keep us in shape, considering our summer long hiatus. Hence today, Mr. Mac was extremely picky because we're missing three days of practice for the graduation trip.

"Where did she go?" I ask, taking out my glasses as well.

"She's organizing the Hersheys?" Roman furrows his brows. "I'm not too sure. I was too busy not throwing up." Honestly, the whole team was trying their best not to.

"Jerseys. She's organizing the jerseys." Conrad corrects him.

Once we reach the entrance doors of our school, I brace myself for the chilly weather. We step foot outside and immediately the wind blows past us, causing our bodies to instantly tense from the temperature change. 

"We'll see you," Roman and Conrad say before they walk towards the parking lot. At the same time, I get a phone call from my sister.

Perfect timing.

"Where the hell are you?"

"About that little brother..." A pause. "It'll take awhile."

I slide my hand down my face, already expecting her answer.  "For how long?"

"They said an hour and a half at most."

I sigh, "I'll just take the bus." I look up at the sky and, to my best luck, clouds start to form and darken.

"My bad little brother. Good luck with that—bye." She abruptly hangs up, leaving me no time to argue with her last minute decision. I stare at practically nothing as I second guess having her as an older sibling. I'm obviously grateful but I get the urge to strangle her sometimes.

"Shoot," I hear from behind. I turn around and notice Ellie struggling to pick up her keys.

I walk up to her and picked them up for her. "Here," I hand them over.

She takes it out of my grasp, "thanks." She smiles up at me, her gaze fixed on mine. She goes silent while I patiently watch her gather the courage to tell me something. "Uh-how was practice?"

Instinctively, I laugh at how adorable she looks when awkward, and decide to cooperate with the conversation. "Horrible." I say, knowing the soreness all over is the reason.

"Why?" She genuinely sounds concerned.

"Our coaches this season." I roll my eyes. She laughs at my grudge against them although I know that they mean the best for our team. "How about you?"

She clears her throat, "what do you mean?"

"Why are you still here? Late after school?"

"Oh uh—I was—" She points at the school building behind her. I hold back my smile because I immediately notice her shyness. "I was helping Madame with the jerseys. You're lucky for not having to deal with them."

"It couldn't have been that bad." I accidentally catch her hands fidgeting with her keychains, making me wonder how much my presence stresses her.

"Trust me, you don't want to smell those uniforms." She shudders to herself from the memory of it. From her reaction alone, I easily believe it even more now. "Anyways..." she looks around the empty parking lot, "I guess, I'm going to go. Are you okay here alone?"