Letterman Jacket

3 / seventy-eight days before

I spent my Saturday morning perched on one of the bar stools in the company of a finally complete calculus homework and a blank article for The Nighthawks' Gazette. The blinking cursor mocked me as I hadn't typed a single word for the past two hours, and my shift at the library started in ten minutes.

"How's the article going, Thea?" asked Sutton as she entered the staff room, holding two cups. "You've been in here since eight o'clock this morning."

Sighing, I closed the blank document and shut down the computer. "I think that words and I had better chemistry when I stayed in the news section. We just lost our spark."

With a smile spreading across her face, she handed me one cup before settling on the office chair. "It's good to get out of your comfort zone once in a while, you know? And this is for you."

"Thanks, that's really thoughtful." I jumped off the stool and sat on the surface of the oval table, wrapping my fingers around the heated drink. "There isn't any chance that you'd let me step back into it, is there?"

Sutton's eyebrows furrowed as she rummaged through her bag for her laptop. "You really hate Faust that much?"

I shook my head immediately, laughing once. "No, no, no. He's not the problem. He was actually really decent when I talked to him last night. Not the kind of guy I've been picturing him as all this time."

"But...?"

"...but," I continued, taking a sip from the coffee, "I don't know. There's something—"

"—missing from the vending machine!" shouted Gunner (or was it Ben?) as he stalked inside the staff room and dropped himself on the orange bean bag that camouflaged his hair. "Sutton, how are we supposed to write an article about lowering prices for Skittles when there are no freaking Skittles?"

I tried to keep from smiling and failed. Sutton sighed, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Good morning, Gunner. Where's your other half?"

"Don't ask. It's bad enough to have already one twin here, no need for the other." Tara Hamil's hot pink high heels clicked across the tiles as she sauntered in. "What have I missed so far?"

"Hasn't even started yet," I answered, taking another sip from the tasty drink when Tara suddenly grabbed my hand, making me almost spill the coffee as I cried in surprise.

My co-staffer's dark eyes widened as she stared at the faded numbers on my palm and asked incredulously, "You have Faust Carter's number?"

Realizing what she was on about, I yanked it back and closed my fist, giving out a humorless laugh. "What? No, that's ridiculous. These are just...cheats for my math test."

Gunner turned to me, scrunching his nose. "Thea, it's Saturday today."

Tara pulled out a chair and grinned. "Have you done it yet?"

"...have done what yet?"

"Called him, silly! What else?"

Sutton, who was typing away on her laptop, couldn't keep from smiling as she glanced up at me underneath her lashes. "She doesn't even want to do the interview."

Tara leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms. "If I wasn't holding the feature section, I'd volunteer myself. Come on, Thea, he's probably waiting for you to call."

"Oh, he is not. That's just weird, and he gave it to me because he blew me off last night after the game."

"So you went to the game, huh?" Gunner wiggled his eyebrows. "How was it?"

"Okay, I guess? And of course I went to the game, I needed to talk to him—"

"Call him, call him, call him," Tara chanted quietly, moving her fist up and down in the air. Gunner joined in.

"Okay, that's enough. I'm off to work," I chirped whilst standing up, sliding my homework inside my sling bag from the floor and taking the drink in my hands. "All of you are crazy. Sorry, Sutton, thanks again for the coffee."

I exited the staff room, and the editor-in-chief shouted after me, "Don't forget, deadline is in three weeks!"

As if I needed the reminder.

*

Evelyn Richmond, the librarian, waved at me from the front desk when I entered the peaceful haven, and I smiled back at her. The skylight beamed across the glass from the windows, and I didn't wait to be told to take the cart from the back office to start stacking misplaced books.

The Northvale Public Library wasn't exactly a hot spot for part-time jobs since it only paid six dollars an hour, but there was something about the smell of the books and the quiet atmosphere of the people reading and working that made it seem like the perfect place to escape.

Unfortunately, my mind took the tranquil silence as a cue to start thinking about the ten stupid numbers written on my palm, so deciding to screw it, I hid behind one of the shelves in the spiritual section and whipped out my phone, quickly dialing the numbers with shaking hands.

"Hello?"

"Hey," I replied, my voice coming out a little too high. I cleared my throat. "It's Thea, Theo's twin sister and writer for the school paper..."

I could hear the smile on the other line when he said, "Good morning to you too, 'just dunk it' girl."

I chose to ignore the nickname. "Listen, I just want this interview to be done with so is there any chance for you and I to meet? Maybe this afternoon?"

"Maybe after you watch me train on Monday."

"Great. So where do you want to—wait, what?"

Faust laughed, obviously finding our conversation amusing. "I'll only do the interview when you watch me train on Monday after school."

Furrowing my eyebrows and leaning against the cart, I repeated, "When? You mean, if I watch you train on Monday after school, right?"

"Well, you don't exactly have a choice, do you?"

"What do you need me there for? Don't you have your squad of cheerleaders to give you motivation?"

"Ah," he replied, clicking his tongue. "That, I do. But they don't need me for an interview."

Groaning loudly, I snapped, "Fine, Monday after school. No other funny business."

And the last thing he said before hanging up was, "You got it. Bring your pom-poms."