Break of Dawn

22 | win again

FRESHMAN YEAR RORY WOULD'VE had the energy to go out for two nights in a row, but senior year Rory was in sweatpants at 8pm on a Friday night, ready to spend the evening scrolling through Tik Tok and eating chicken ramen noodles.

Life as a working student was so not glamorous.

"Ok, so we're really gonna have to ask you about the other night?" Ivy said from her bedroom after spending thirty minutes talking about the gender and justice seminar she had attended earlier.

Rory had gotten home, after yet another surprise Business Writing lecture, to find both her flatmates getting ready to go out. Her Fridays, on the other hand, were starting to look too much alike, with an impressive lack of action happening on what was supposed to be one of the busiest nights of the week.

"Are you talking to me?" Rory asked from her place at the couch where she had settled after taking a shower. She was dressed in sweatpants and a sports bra while the whole apartment smelt of Ivy's fancy eau de parfum and heat protection spray.

It was a bit depressing, really.

"Of course it's you, I was here all night sending sending out resumés" Madison, who was in the bathroom flat-ironing her hair, answered in a frustrated tone.

Lucky for them, the TV was on mute and the portable speaker was out of charge again so they could carry on the conversation each in a different room.

"What do you guys wanna know?"

Maddie showed up at the bathroom door looking incredulous "You're joking right?" She asked, pointing the flat iron in Rory's direction, which made her shrug "I don't know, maybe about a certain guy, brown hair, blue eyes, tattoos for days?"

"What about him?" Rory wasn't trying to be annoying - well, maybe a little bit -, but she had spent all day trying her hardest not to think about Collin, or the way he had looked completely disappointed when she backed away from him after they almost shared A Moment™, or how she had avoided him like a coward for the rest of the night.

"If I had something to throw at you, I would" Madison added "Was he there? Did you guys kiss?"

"Yes, he was, and no, we didn't."

"Did he try to kiss you?"

"No"

"Did you give him the opportunity to try to kiss you?" Madison asked, popping out of the bathroom in a brallete and a skirt, her jet-black hair straightened into a silky curtain.

"No"

Madison groaned, sitting down at the coffee table and handing Rory a liquid eyeliner "You gotta give him something to work with, babe"

Rory shrugged and went to swipe the black eyeliner on her friend's face. From her peripheral vision, she saw Ivy stepping out of her room to finally chip in on the conversation "Did you want him to try and kiss you?"

Yes.

"No." Rory answered absentmindedly.

Madison snorted incredulously, which almost caused Rory to mess the tail on her left eye, while Ivy hummed from behind the couch, where she was going through the shirt options that were draped over the back.

"I still don't understand why it's such a bad idea to hook up with him again." Ivy pondered after a few minutes, dropping her choice, a sheer long sleeved black bodysuit, on the couch.

"It would look really great on me hooking up with a player two weeks into the job" Rory explained while she finished off her work of art on Madison's face "Are you guys going to the same place?" She asked, noticing that Ivy looked far too elegant in a white jumpsuit compared to Madison's obvious college party attire.

"Is this you trying to drop the subject?" Madison commented ironically "And no, I'm going to PIKE, Ivy is going to some artsy thingy."

"It's a late-night art exposition" Ivy explained "And I think you should stop overthinking this so much, you obviously want this, and no, don't try to deny it" She said when Rory tried to interject "It's not like you're gonna lose your job for having sex with the guy"

Rory clicked her tongue in annoyance because she actually thought she could lose the job for having sex with the guy, but also because it wasn't only about losing the job. It was also about the way it would make her look, it was about ninety guys talking about how easy she was, and about anyone thinking she had gotten the job for the wrong reasons. It was about tarnishing her reputation and looking like a fool in front of the people who held the final key for her acceptance at a grad program.

So yeah, maybe she wouldn't lose her job, but she wasn't willing to figure out what could happen instead.

*

IT FELT GOOD TO WATCH the team win again.

Rory had been cheering for the Huskies for the past three years, but there was something different in it now that she had personally met pretty much all the players in the roster. It was much more personal, which meant she was way more invested in everything happening during games - every mistake was a small heartbreak and every good play, deeply satisfying.

Their opponent that week were the Albany Tigers, a team that wouldn't normally pose much of a threat, but after their ugly loss the week before, there had been some worries on wether or not Lochlan could actually defeat them.

Those worries proved to be senseless after the first fifteen minutes of the game. When halftime rolled in, it was hard to see why anyone had worried at all, and by the end of the third quarter, Rory was actually pitying the other team for how bad they were being crushed - but not enough not to feel completely elated when, ten seconds to the end of third quarter, Collin scored his third touchdown of the game.

Every one of the guys was bringing their best performance, but all eyes were on Dexter Fayaz. The quarterback still had a long way to go - and Rory had finally confirmed he really couldn't run a ball to save his life - but there was no denying he was playing better. And although she disliked the idea of giving herself credit for someone else's achievements, Rory had a feeling his improvements were partially due to the fact that he had grasped the concept of eye control.

It was hard to see his head movement on the TV, but Rory was glad the Lévesques had bought a gigantic 4K flat screen for Ivy's dorm when, at the ten minute mark of the last quarter, she managed to catch the scene that confirmed her suspicions.

Aurora had already seen they playing that scheme. They were on the 40 yard line, Collin was set on the right side of the field, Damien and Haris Kovak were on the left. They were playing 11 personnel formation, which meant Dexter had the three wide receivers and a tight end in his progression. From the aerial shot and on high definition, it was possible to see that Dexter's head was slightly turned to the right side, Collin's side, and not scanning the whole field like he usually did.

When the ball snapped, the four receivers ran their routes and after a few sconds of reading the play, Dexter released the oval. The ball made a clean route before landing on Collin's hand, who ran with it until the 10 yard line, where he was tackled.

During the next snap, they where in the same formation, which worried Rory because she knew for a fact short passes weren't Dexter's forte. The moment she saw him screen passing the ball to Weston Rutherford, she sighed in relief. In a few seconds, Wes was in the end zone.

Touchdown.

The game ended in a 48-3 score and Rory had a feeling Omar's party later that night would be even wilder, considering they had yet another reason to celebrate.

She just wasn't sure that was a good thing for her or not.

*

Filler, filler, mood killer... Bear with me people, there's a party coming, the whole crew will be there (who's part of the whole crew though? we'll see lol).