Letterman Jacket

5 / sixty-nine days before

Walking into the biology classroom, my eyes were met with a Kermit the frog plush toy mysteriously adhered to the whiteboard with its arms and legs spread open. The sight of it made my eyebrows raise, and scribbled above its head in thick, red marker was: Understanding the World of Anatomy through Frog Dissection.

It had been a week since my eventful interview at Beth's Bistro, and while Northvale had snagged another win last Saturday, I'd also already written a number of drafts for the article due next week. Nothing had changed. I was still Thea Simmons—the school paper journalist who was below average at sports, and he was still Faust Carter—basketball hero slash Casanova. The only difference was that he would smile and send a wink my way whenever we occasionally passed by each other (me, alone, and him, with his group of friends) in the hallways, and that his letterman jacket was tucked safely in the back of my closet drawer. I hadn't exactly found the time to return it just yet.

Theo had been breathing down my neck ever since that day Faust and I went out for dinner, and he would lose his shit if he found out about the jacket. Fortunately, I was able to hide the thing last Monday before he could even catch a glimpse of it.

My brother hadn't exactly been the best basketball player until junior year, when he worked day and night and even probed our parents for money to attend basketball camp during the summer. The blue and yellow letterman jacket was a big deal in Northvale—it only belonged to the best team in the history of our city. Our school hadn't won state champs since three years ago, and this year, Theo was dead set on bringing home the glory.

Theo had been furiously obsessed with being as good as Faust, being better than him, and if he ever saw his twin sister wearing the legendary letterman jacket the basketball heroes of Northvale used to have, well, like I said, he would lose his shit.

"Alright, class." Mr. Finch clapped his hands together, sending me to my desk in the first row just as the bell rang. "You'll find everything you need on your tables as well as your lab packets. Students at the first and third rows, turn around—your partners will be the ones directly behind you."

*

There was no other explanation.

God had counted all the sins I'd done in my life, listed me as one of the naughty kids, and blatantly decided that it was payback time.

With golden-flecked skin and eyes shaded with bright green, Nico Romero had the face of an angel and a soul as dark as night. He had been my partner for almost twenty minutes, and yet, I decided that the smell of unconscious frogs in the classroom was much more tolerable than his attitude, because not a single word had been uttered from his mouth, and not a single look had been passed my way so far.

The continuous tapping of his pencil irritated me as I worked by myself. Gritting my teeth in annoyance, I pulled down the facemask we were required to wear and snapped, "Look, I already cut the hinges of the mouth and identified the structures on my own. I really would like to pass biology with at least a B, so could you please cooperate with me and do something?"

Ever so slowly, his green eyes slowly rose to mine, locking me in his hard gaze. I refused to blink as he inched his hand forward to reach for the scalpel, all the while never taking his eyes off me. "How's the article coming?"

My muscles suddenly tensed at his question. Nico didn't seem fazed, and his tone was as nonchalant as it could be as he started to create an incision behind the frog's hind legs. "I hope it's done, Thea," he continued, cutting through the skin of the frog with the scissors as he clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "Your brother isn't going to be happy."

My brows furrowed. "What I do is none of your business."

"It is when it affects the team," Nico shot back, dropping the scissors loudly on the table and bringing his eyes back to mine, narrowed with accusation. "We deal with Faust and Theo's rivalry enough as it is, and you getting involved makes it worse. Step out from the line you're about to cross and don't give us any more reason to lose."

I was baffled beyond measure not only because of the way he was speaking to me as if I had committed a crime, but because Nico Romero was considered as Faust's best friend, and they were nothing alike. One was charming and the other was obnoxious. How could one be so unpleasant to you the first time you speak to them during the duration of your high school life?

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. My temper was hanging on a very loose thread.

Forgetting about the frog, Nico turned his chair to face mine and leaned forward, dark hair sweeping across his forehead. The intensity of his gaze made me want to step off the chair and force the ground swallow me whole, but I tilted my chin up and kept my head held high to match his look.

"The team doesn't need any more distractions, Thea Simmons. Get it done."