Over The End Line (Chaennie)

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Nationals are kind of cool, actually. Jennie's kind of just been going along with it because it gets her out of a week of school, and they won states and they never win states so she didn't want to take it away from Coach Jones.

There's a dinner on Monday night, the day they arrive, after they're all settled into the hotel, that's kind of like a pep rally, except it's not just for their high school, it's for all of the teams from all fifty states. She can see awe reflected in the eyes of all her teammates, and for once, she gets it. Jennie has always been mature for her age, has been unimpressed while other kids her age are completely dazzled, but this, this mesh of so many people, so many teenagers from across the whole country, her shitty homelife hasn't managed to ruin this for her.

They also get their schedules, which say that their game tomorrow is at two pm sharp, when they will be playing the Falcons from Delaware.

The opening ceremony ends at nine o'clock sharp, and Rosie, Irene, Seulgi, and Jennie all march back to 411 and take turns wiping the bulldogs facepaint off and using the shower. Rosie walks out of the bathroom after her shower while Jennie's unpacking, hanging her suit up in the closet (still the only piece of good formal wear she owns, for the awards ceremony on the last day), and she's just getting to the bottom of her bag and realizing that her sweatshirt isn't just stuffed at the very bottom like she'd assumed it was when she first lost it.

Rosie walks past her towards their shared bed (a monstrosity of its own) and as Jennie watches her go, everything clicks. She sucks in a breath so hard that Rosie pauses and turns to look back at Jennie, arching an eyebrow. Her movement gives Seulgi and Irene, both lying in bed, reading and scrolling on their phones, a wonderful view of her back. Seulgi starts laughing and Irene's mouth drops open into an amused smile.

Rosie frowns. "What?"

Jennie points at her hoodie. "That... um. Where'd you get that?"

"What, this?" Rosie looks down at her Bulldogs hoodie. "It's mine, I brought it from home. Used it as a blanket on the plane."

Jennie sounds fucking constipated. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course I'm–" Rosie unzips her bag and pulls out another Bulldogs hoodie. She frowns, looking thoroughly confused. "...Whose sweatshirt am I wearing?"

"Mine." Jennie raises her hand bashfully. "I... I draped it over you when you fell asleep, I didn't realize, I would have..."

"God, I'm so sorry." Rosie quickly tears off the hoodie, tossing it to Jennie and pulling the correct hoodie over her shoulders.

"It's fine," Jennie says, and she means it, really, she's just glad she got her hoodie back. It is fine, it was an accident. She's still reeling, though, and she's pretty sure that the image of Rosie strutting out of the bathroom with 'Kim 16' emblazoned on her back will be burned into her memory until the day she dies.

She stuffs the hoodie into her assigned drawer and tries to forget about it.

Now, the beds. There were two of them, and they were plenty big enough to share, but when one was rooming with Seulgi and Irene, it was a given that the couple would be sharing a bed, no matter the size. Neither Rosie or Jennie had even attempted to argue with this, it was simply how the Bulldogs worked.

However, that meant that Rosie and Jennie had to share a bed. A month ago, hell, three weeks ago, that would have been fine. More than fine, even, Jennie probably would have been happy to share a bed with Rosie over anyone else. Now? When they've been flaming and smoking on and off for weeks? Now Jennie would rather be sharing with literally anyone else. She couldn't control herself just sitting in the same car as Rosie two weeks ago. What the hell is she going to do now, no less attracted to Rosie–more, if anything–and having to share a bed with her?