Beyond Education [Jemily]

Mystery Girl

September 6, 2021
— JJ's POV
I woke up the next morning after getting a mere four hours of sleep and headed to practice. The sounds of sex coming from next door kept me up, and Penelope coming home around 1 AM made me even more conscious. I got out of bed around 5:00 this morning to head to practice.

"Hey, Jennifer!" My teammate Clara yelled from behind me as I walked onto the field.

I turned around and greeted her, "Hi Clara! Some morning, isn't it?" She nodded and looked up at the ominous clouds looming over us. We dreaded playing in the rain.

She winced, "I just hope it doesn't rain this weekend. I hear playing Princeton is rough and it'll be even worse if we're soaked. You ready for the game?"

I groaned as we walked further onto the turf, "Ugh. I'm never ready."

"You're kidding? You're amazing though! Coach always complements you. Even behind your back."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. All we ever hear is 'do it like JJ' or 'watch how Jareau makes this play.' She's like your biggest fan." I giggled at the ego boost and then set my bag down on the bench next to where Clara put hers. We tied up our cleats and did a couple laps around the track as other team members scattered into practice. Around 6:00, Coach Kennedy called us over to get started. We ran tons of new drills today and played super hard in preparation for our match. When practice was concluding, she had us all huddle up for some final announcements.

"We're gonna have some heat on Saturday, all right? A win isn't gonna be handed to us on a silver platter-- you gotta work for it ladies. Franny, I want you at right D, I need the aggression back there in both halves, all right? Lila, center mid this weekend for me, got it? JJ, you're my striker. Be my striker. The more shots you take, the more likely one's gonna make it in the net. You're our sharpshooter, so let's see it. Okay? All right. Bulldogs on three: one, two, three, Bulldogs!"

We all dispersed out of the group and shucked our cleats off before heading off the field and back to the residence halls. I only had a small amount of time to shower and change before I had my favorite class: Criminology. I'm a communications major with a minor in psych, so Criminology was just kind of a throw in for me because I found it so interesting. I hurried to get ready for class, doing my best to not wake Penelope who was still sleeping in her bed. Once I was all packed up, I shut the door behind me and walked to my lecture hall. I found a seat in one of the middle rows and was secretly happy that no one was near me.

Prof. Rossi walked into the room a few minutes before the lecture started, "Good morning, everyone. Hope you're all having a good Monday so far. I'll wait a couple more minutes for some stragglers to get here but in the meantime take out something for notes while I pull up today's PowerPoint." I leaned down to pull my laptop out of my bag and when I came back up I saw a girl speedily walking down the center stairway to Rossi's desk.

I'd never seen her before, so I assumed this must be her first day in this class and that's why she was approaching him. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear as I admired her features. I was really drawn to her for some reason. Her hair was almost completely black, and she wore bangs that made her look a perfect blend of cool and collected. Even from far away I could see that she had her nose pierced and it made her look super edgy. She was wearing a pair of mom jeans, cuffed on the bottoms to rest perfectly on her Doc Martins, and paired them with an oversized gray sweater. I loved her style. When Rossi's lecture started, I was forced to pay attention to something other than this mystery girl.

A couple hours later
I was finally able to head back to my dorm after my Criminology lecture and quick lunch break. I unlocked our door and saw that Penelope was out before remembering she had an art class at noon. All of my school-related belongings were discarded and throw about the room so I could race into the bathroom to pee. When I walked out, I heard my phone buzzing.

I picked it up, "Hello?" The ringing didn't stop and I heard no reply. Confused, I looked around the room and my eyes landed on Penelope's phone. She must've forgotten it. I reached over and answered it, "Hello?"

"Is this Penelope?" A girl asked from the other end of the phone. Her voice was deep and raspy, I had to admit she sounded kinda hot.

"No this is her roommate, can I take a message for her?"

"Oh hi. Um, she was at a club last night with some friends of mine and she left a scarf? Maybe it's a hankercheif? I don't know, it's pink and sparkly and definitely doesn't belong to the people she was with."

"You mean last night with Derek and Aaron?"

She chuckled, "Yeah, those dicks."

I giggled, "They weren't dicks, they were very gentleman-ly."

"I don't think gentleman-ly is a word." I smiled when I heard her use the same phrase I used in my conversation with Penelope yesterday.

"Pretend it is for now. Anyway um, that does sound like it's hers and I think I remember her wearing it in the club last night."

"Oh, were you there?"

"Yeah I was hanging out with the 'dicks.'" She laughed on the other end of the line.

"I like you, what's your name?"

"JJ, it's JJ."

"Well, JJ, what would Penelope want me to do with this thing? Is she in a class right now where I can drop it off?"

"Yeah but uh... It might be easier for you if you just bring it by our dorm. We're in Jonathan Edwards, Room 32."

"Ay no way, I'm in Jon Ed, too! I can drop it off in a bit."

I gasped, "Ohh are you the best friend Derek was telling me about?"

"He called me his 'best friend?' What a loser. Yeah that's me. He didn't say anything else about me did he? Anything shitty?"

I chuckled, "No, he did not. In fact I haven't even heard a name yet?"

"Emily, I'm Emily."