After his heroics on anzac day, Jack Ginnivan was certainly not short on fans, confidence, and girls screaming his name.
But there was only one girl that could catch his attention.
Author's note: Set after last night's game against the bulldogs, Trent's first AFL game for 2023 and his first AFL game playing without Jack Ginnivan (don't factcheck this or literally anything in this fic).
"What are you doing?"
Trent Bianco glanced up from where he was crouched in the corner, pen poised and thoughtful frown on his face, and blinked at Jack Ginnivan standing above him. "Oh, nothing," Trent said dismissively, and smiled up at his best friend. "Hey, you. How was Werribee?"
"Eh, you know. Wet, muddy, you know the usual," Ginni said, shrugging, "Are you writing notes about the game?"
"No, I'm just..." Trent said shyly.
Ginni knelt down next to Trent and peered closely at the notebook. "A crossword?" Ginni asked, intrigued. "Ooh give me a clue, I'm good at these."
"Well, it's not... I mean, I found it in the back of one of my drawers at home... my mum made it for me when I was feeling down..." Trent ducked his blushing face.
"Just give me a clue," Ginni pleaded, and pointed to some of the empty squares.
""5 across, Italian word for white"," Trent read out with a wry smile.
"Your mum knew Italian?" Ginni asked, frowning. "Give me one in English."
Trent sighed. "Um, okay, 7 across, previous owner of the number 8 at Collingwood," he said, "I know it, but this one's for you, Ginni."
Ginni frowned deeper, visualising Trent's locker at the club. "Lumumba?" he guessed.
"It does start with L," Trent said, "But no."
"I really don't know," Ginni answered, "You're the only 8 that I know."
"His dad invented Twisties," Trent added, grinning.
"I don't know who invented Twisties, Trent," Ginni growled, annoyed.
"You love Twisties," Trent said playfully.
"Yeah but..." Ginni said faltering. "Another clue."
Trent thought about it. "Okay, it's the same surname as another player in the AFL," he said, "the other player wears long sleeves like you, Gin."
"Wingard? No, he doesn't have a brother," Ginni said, grunting in frustration. "Um, oh, the Freo player, um, Aish?"
Trent just laughed. "No," he said, "Ginni, come on, he's Darcy's good friend. Remember that meeting a few weeks ago when Darcy mentioned him?"
Ginni shook his head. "I don't listen in meetings," he conceded.
"Oh right," Trent said, "Well..." He looked down at his crossword then back up at Ginni. "Do you know 4 down, where I went to school?"
"Somewhere posh, I don't know your Melbourne schools," Ginni said, forehead creasing. "De La Salle?"
Trent burst out laughing. "That's Maynard, silly," he said gently. "Okay, an easy one. 1 down. Team I supported growing up."
"Melbourne?" Ginni guessed. "Because of your private school education, obviously. Right?"
"No," Trent said, amused. "You don't know much about me, do you?"
Ginni's face grew hot. "Of course I know about you!" he cried, outraged. "I know your favourite food is chorizo pasta, your favourite t-shirt has a picture of the world holding a love heart, and you only eat the red lollies at training."
"Red lollies are the best," Trent whispered, staring into Ginni's eyes dreamily. "I missed you out there today."
Ginni just smiled and glanced at the crossword. "Ask me another one," he said.
Ginni's eyes flicked down to read what was written for 2 across. A big grin lit up his face. "Lazy Moe's," he answered confidently, delighted to finally get one correct.
Trent wrote it in and then looked up at his best friend but Ginni had already darted away, giggling and laughing with their teammates' children. "You're a different story," Trent murmured, his eyes lit up watching Ginni.
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Crossword can be found here: https://crosswordlabs.com/view/trent-bianco
