Third Period

There were approximately a thousand things I should’ve been doing before the first football game of the season. Staring at a picture of Jae-min Kim was not one of them.

And yet, there I was, sitting on the cheer squad’s locker room bench with my gold bow slightly crooked and my phone balanced in one hand, looking at a photograph that really should’ve come with some kind of warning label.

It was from last year’s championship game. Jae stood near the end zone with a football tucked beneath one arm, his helmet pushed back to reveal a mess of dark, sweaty curls. His green jersey clung to his broad shoulders, and there was a little dirt along his jaw. His cheeks were flushed from the game, and a few damp curls stuck to his forehead. But it was his smile that got me. That stupid, gorgeous, slightly crooked smile of his, with the little dimple in his cheek.

God. He looked good. Like, really good. And the worst part was that he probably didn’t even know it.

I zoomed in a little, taking in the way his muscular arm curled around the football and the beads of sweat glistening along his neck. For research purposes, obviously.

“He is so hot.”

I nearly dropped my phone.

“Lou!” I gasped, quickly locking the screen and turning to glare at her. “Oh my God, don’t do that!”

She grinned down at me, looking entirely too pleased with herself. “What?” she asked innocently. “I’m just appreciating the view.”

“Shut up.” I could already feel my cheeks getting warm.

“Oh, come on. It’s not like I haven’t caught you staring at him before.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to announce it to the entire locker room.”

Lou glanced around. Taylor Swift was blasting from the little Bluetooth speaker on the counter, and half the girls were singing along as they finished getting ready. Green-and-gold uniforms were everywhere. A few girls stood in front of the long mirrors fixing their ponytails, while others sat on the benches pulling on their shoes or adding glitter to their cheeks.

“Pretty sure nobody heard me,” Lou said.

“That’s not the point.”

She laughed and dropped onto the bench beside me, reaching for the little container of green glitter sitting between our makeup bags. I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t quite hide my smile.

“So,” she said casually, twisting the lid off the glitter, “still over him?”

I gave her a look. “Can we not?”

“I’m just asking.”

“You’ve been asking since August.”

“And you’ve been avoiding the question since August.”

I rolled my eyes and reached for my mascara. The thing was, I had been trying to get over Jae. Seriously. I’d spent most of the summer convincing myself that my little crush from last year had finally run its course. I’d gone on vacation, spent time with my friends, and generally done everything a normal, functioning person was supposed to do. And for a while, I’d actually believed it was working. Then he’d posted a picture from summer training, smiling at the camera with his hair falling into his eyes, and I’d been right back where I started.

Pathetic, really.

The problem with Jae wasn’t that he flirted with me. It was that he made it so ridiculously easy to believe he meant something by it. He’d been like that ever since we’d gotten to know each other during out freshman season. Always greeting me with a hug, stealing fries off my plate after games, finding some excuse to make me laugh whenever we ran into each other. And somewhere between all those little moments, I’d developed a crush that had gotten completely out of hand.

But Jae was Jae. Friendly, affectionate, and charming without even trying. He could make practically anyone feel like the most important person in the room, which was exactly why I’d promised myself I wasn’t going to read into it anymore. Just because he called me baby or hugged me a little longer than necessary didn’t mean anything. That was simply how he was.

I tried to focus on what was important. I loved the first game of the season. Everyone was finally back on campus, and for one afternoon, it felt like the entire student body gathered in the same place. The stands would be packed with students dressed in green and gold, the band would be playing, and by halftime, half the crowd would probably have lost their voices. And since cheer competitions hadn’t started yet, we could actually enjoy ourselves without worrying about judges, deductions, or whether every little movement was perfect.

Well, most of us could. Personally, I was more concerned about surviving another football season in the general vicinity of our Running Back.

“Hey, Annie?” one of the freshmen called from the mirrors. “Is my bow straight?”

I glanced over at her reflection. Not even close.

“Nope.” I smiled and set down my mascara. “Here, let me.”

I got up from the bench and walked over, gently turning her by the shoulders so I could straighten the gold ribbon tied around her ponytail.

“There.” I gave it one last adjustment. “Perfect. Very cute. Ten out of ten.”

She smiled at me through the mirror. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

“Girls, you’re out of time!” Our coach appeared in the locker room doorway, clapping her hands. “Come on! Get your asses out there!”

The room erupted into hurried chatter as everyone scrambled to grab their things. I gave the freshman one last smile before heading back to my spot, where I stuffed my makeup bag into my duffel, grabbed my green-and-gold pom-poms, and swung the strap over my shoulder.

“Think you’ll see him before the game?” Lou asked, appearing beside me and nudging my arm with her elbow.

“Oh my God, stop it.”

She grinned, clearly enjoying herself.

“Okay, yes, I had a tiny crush on him last year,” I admitted, holding my thumb and index finger barely an inch apart. “But I’m fine now. It’s over.”

“Is it?”

“Of course it is.”

“Right.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed through the locker room door, fully intending to ignore her for the rest of the afternoon. And nearly walked straight into someone.

“Oh! Sorry, I…”

I stopped so suddenly that my pom-poms brushed against my knees. Because standing directly in front of me, looking down at his phone with his helmet tucked beneath one arm, was Jae.

He glanced up at the sound of my voice, and his whole face brightened. “Annie, baby!”

Oh, God.

Before I could say anything, he slipped his phone into his pocket and pulled me into a hug. His shoulder pads bumped against my cheek, making me laugh as I awkwardly tried to keep my pom-poms from getting crushed between us. He smelled faintly of clean laundry and whatever cologne he always wore, and for one ridiculous second, I forgot that we were standing in the middle of a hallway with people walking past us.

“Hey, you,” he said warmly, giving me a little squeeze. “Where’ve you been hiding? I’ve been looking for you.”

“You have?” The words slipped out before I could stop them.

“Yeah.” He pulled back just enough to look at me, his arm still resting loosely around my shoulders. “Can’t start the season without seeing my favorite cheerleader.”

My stomach did a ridiculous little flip. There it was. That stupid thing he did.

I looked down, pretending to fix the strap of my bag. “Your favorite cheerleader?”

“Obviously.” He said it so casually, like he’d just told me what he’d eaten for breakfast. I pressed my lips together to hide my smile, determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing how much those two little words affected me.

“Well, that’s a pretty big responsibility. Being your favorite and all.”

“Yeah, but I think you can handle it.” He grinned, and that stupid little dimple appeared in his cheek. Honestly. Someone needed to do something about that.

He finally dropped his arm from my shoulders, and I immediately became very interested in adjusting the gold bow on my ponytail. It had probably gotten crooked when he’d hugged me, and I was trying to fix it without looking like I was trying to fix it.

Jae watched me for a second. “Hold on.”

I froze as he reached toward my head. “What?”

“Your bow’s doing something weird.”

“Oh.”

He gently caught one of the ribbon tails between his fingers and straightened it, his eyebrows drawing together in concentration. I stood very still, suddenly aware of how close he was. He was tall enough that I had to tilt my chin to look at him, and from this distance, I could make out the tiny freckle near the corner of his mouth.

“There.” He leaned back to inspect his work. “Beautiful.”

I blinked. For a second, neither of us said anything, and I had the ridiculous thought that maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t been talking about the bow.

Then his mouth curved into a grin. “The bow, I mean. Very professional.”

“Right.” I nodded quickly. “The bow.”

“Although you look pretty too.”

He said it while adjusting the strap of his helmet, like it was the most ordinary observation in the world. I stared at him, trying to decide whether he genuinely had no idea what he was doing to me or whether he just enjoyed watching me struggle.

He glanced up. “What?”

“Nothing.”

Behind me, Lou made a noise that sounded suspiciously like she was choking, and I didn’t even have to turn around to know exactly what expression she was wearing.

I was going to kill her.

“So!” I said brightly. A little too brightly. “Big game today, huh?”

Jae’s grin widened. “That’s usually how football works, yeah.”

“Oh, you’re hilarious.”

“I’ve been told.”

“By who? Your mom?”

He laughed, shaking his head. “Damn. Missed you too, Annie.”

I felt my smile soften before I could help it. There was something about hearing him say he’d missed me that made the whole summer suddenly feel very long. Which was ridiculous, because we’d texted a few times. He’d even sent me a picture of a ridiculously oversized burger he’d gotten on vacation because, according to him, it was bigger than my head. I’d responded by telling him he needed a hobby, and he’d sent back approximately six laughing emojis.

It wasn’t like we’d disappeared from each other’s lives.

Still. It was nice hearing him say it.

“You nervous?” I asked, shifting my pom-poms into one hand.

“Nah.” He shrugged. “A little excited, maybe. Been waiting all summer to get back out there.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Feels good to be back.”

I smiled, watching the way his expression changed when he talked about football. I liked this part of him. The way he genuinely loved the game, how excited he got whenever he had the chance to play. He could joke around about practically anything, but when it came to football, there was never any doubt how much it meant to him.

His eyes flickered down to my uniform. “You guys got new uniforms?”

I glanced down at myself. “Oh, yeah! Coach wanted something different this year.”

He nodded, looking genuinely impressed. “I like ’em.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Green looks good on you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Jae, our uniforms were green last year.”

“I know.”

“So this isn’t exactly new information.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “Okay, damn. Can’t even give you a compliment anymore?”

“You can. I’m just saying your observation skills could use some work.”

“My observation skills are great.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.” He tilted his head slightly, looking at me. “Your eyes are more olive than green, for example.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Because, well, that was annoyingly specific. And the fact that he’d noticed something like that wasn’t helping my whole trying-to-get-over-him situation. Not even a little.

Jae’s smile widened. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“See? Great observation skills.”

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t quite stop smiling. “You’re so annoying.”

“Yeah, but you missed me.”

“Oh, please. Your ego is actually unbelievable.”

“It’s a gift.”

He flashed me another grin before glancing toward the hallway, where a few of his teammates were heading toward the field. One of them called his name, waving for him to hurry up, and Jae lifted a hand in acknowledgment before turning back to me.

“Anyway, I gotta go before Coach starts yelling.”

“Probably a good idea.”

He took a step backward, then pointed at me. “You better be cheering for me out there.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Depends. Are you planning on actually scoring today?”

His mouth fell open in exaggerated offense. “Wow.”

I laughed. “I’m kidding!”

“Nah, that’s crazy.” He shook his head, grinning. “My own favorite cheerleader doubting me.”

“Then prove me wrong, Kim.”

“Oh, I will.” He started walking backward down the hallway, still looking at me, and I couldn’t help laughing at the ridiculous confidence on his face. “And Annie?”

“Yeah?”

He smiled. “Save me a hug after the game, okay?”

For once, I managed not to look away. I lifted my chin slightly, pretending that my heart wasn’t doing something completely embarrassing inside my chest. “Only if you win.”

He laughed. “Guess we’re winning, then.”

And with that, he turned and jogged down the hallway to catch up with his teammates.

I stood there for a second, watching him disappear around the corner. The hallway was still full of people heading toward the field, and somewhere behind me, I could hear the girls calling for everyone to hurry up. I should’ve been moving. I should’ve been thinking about our opening routine, or whether I’d remembered to pack my water bottle, or literally anything other than the boy who’d just spent the last few minutes making my heart forget how to behave.

Instead, I slowly turned toward Lou.

She was staring at me. Smiling. Very widely.

“Don’t,” I warned.

She raised both hands. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Good.”

A beat passed.

“His favorite cheerleader?”

“Lou!”

She burst out laughing, and I covered my face with one hand, groaning into my palm. I could already tell she was going to bring this up approximately a thousand times before the day was over. Honestly, I was surprised she’d managed to keep quiet for as long as she had.

Three months. I’d spent three entire months convincing myself I was over Jae-min Kim. Three months of telling Lou I wasn’t going to spend another football season overanalyzing every little thing he said, and that this year was going to be different. And he’d managed to undo all that work in approximately four minutes.