II.
Check Yes JulietJackson is mulling on the previous night over his oatmeal the next morning.
The cafeteria is always light in chatter in the morning and he much prefers it over the chaos in the hallways. It's ten times worse, filled with much more cheering and yelling with the announcement among the football jocks of their first official game being next week. Everyone else was pretty much confused, doing their best to evade the overly excited, rough housing athletes.
As excited as he is about their first game, Jackson's not really in the mood to yell in people's faces and throw himself against random lockers and walls.
"Man, I don't see how you can eat that stuff" Yugyeom seats himself beside Jackson, lip curled in disgust, as he eyes the offending Oatmeal wearily.
"Yah, don't worry about it kid" Jackson waves him off, stealing an apple from the others tray.
"Hey!" Yugyeom cries, moving his tray away from the elder, whom just pets his head and coos at his cuteness.
"Have you guys seen Jr?" Jaebum comes strolling up, Youngjae and Kunpimook in tow. It's the happiest Jackson has seen him in a while, he's grinning slightly, hands tucked deep in his pockets.
Both Yugyeom and Jackson shake their head as Youngjae and Kunpimook seat themselves comfortably across from Yugyeom, helping themselves to whatever is left on his tray, despite his indignant squeaks of protest.
"What about Clark? Have you seen her?" Jaebum asks instead, pausing to look around the slowly filling cafeteria.
"What? Why are you asking me?" Jackson squawks, choking on a bite of apple, turning to regard Jaebum with surely red cheeks.
"Isn't she your girlfriend or something?" The other asks, slightly distracted, and Jackson's not sure if he's teasing or not.
"She is not my girlfriend!" He clarifies, but the captain is already stalking off, having spotted her sitting by her lonesome, tucked in a corner.
Jackson thinks she looks much more like a person when she's not bombarded by the Buff Barbies. He can see the exhaustion on her face and the measly sips of water she's taking, and he can't help but hope everything is okay.
He watches how when Jaebum approaches she's instantly on alert. She straightens instantly, capping the water bottle and shoving it in her bag. He greets her and she responds politely, Jackson notes bitterly, and she listens intently at whatever he's saying.
Her face falls slightly but just as Jackson picks up on it she swaps for a tight smile. Jaebum motions for her to follow and she does, eventually the pair disappear out of the cafeteria.
"What was that about?"
Apparently, he wasn't the only one to notice the exchange because Youngjae looks equally confused.
He just shrugs but he knows exactly where he's going after this.
___
"With the first game slot being next Friday we'll need as much gym time as possible. It's being reserved until the Tuesday following the game. I'm sure you will understand."
Skylar does not understand. She doesn't think it's quite fair either and she opens to voice just that but her advisor shoots her look that has her quieting instantly.
"I understand" She replies quietly, nodding slightly.
"Cool" Jaebum grins, oblivious to the tension.
"You guys can come practice and workout with us if you want" Jr offers, noticing the agitation in her stance.
"Well, I guess that's okay. You boys don't really need any distractions, but it's up to you three" The coach frowns, gripping both Jr and Jaebum's shoulders with a small nod in Skylar's direction, before disappearing all together.
"It's fine with me" Jaebum shrugs, patting Skylar's shoulder as he heads off.
Jr smiles hesitantly, opens and closes his mouth several times, before his brows furrow and he follows.
"My girls are not 'distractions'. We are athletes, not 'distractions' for boys to ogle over." Skylar rants, kicking over the nearest trash can with a huff.
Her advisor eyes her with mild exhaustion, sighing, as she picks up the trash can.
"Don't be late to class" She calls over her shoulder as she follows the direction of the boy's coach.
Skylar lets out a frustrated scream, muffled by her hands. She then takes a deep breath to collect herself.
Once slightly calmer she exits the gym, determined to grab her books and get to class without anymore faults.
"With my luck, that may just be too much to ask for" She mumbles pushing open the double doors of the back exit.
It is, because when she nears her locker she has to do a double take but it's most definitely Jackson Wang leaning against it.
"Hey" He says but she promptly ignores him, and he has the audacity to look shocked.
Skylar just shakes her head.
"You looked kind of tired earlier, so I figured I'd carry your books for you and, you know, walk you to class"
When he still doesn't receive a response he reaches into the locker to grab the first book he sees, but before he knows it she slams the locker door shut, repeatedly.
He yelps, yanking his arm back.
"What is wrong with you?!" He yells, rubbing his now throbbing arm.
He blinks and jerks back because she's shoving a pink container in his face.
"This is Macy, my mace. Do that again and you two will become very familiar." She warns, shaking the container before stuffing it back inside the locker.
Jackson isn't really sure if those are aloud on school campus but decides not to voice it because she's already at the point of slamming his arm in lockers.
"Well" She says then, arms filled with books.
"Well?" He reiterates, confused because didn't she just slam the locker on his arm multiple times and threaten him with mace.
"You said you were going to walk me to class. Let's go Wang. I don't want to be late."
Jackson just decides to go with it and steps closer to grab some of the books, throwing his hands up in surrender when she flinches back. Finally she holds them out and he hesitantly scoops them up.
They walk in relative silence, the hall being barren as only three lockers occupied it and it was tucked in a rather desolate area of the school.
Jackson eyes her wearily because she was more unpredictable than he was, especially in regards to her mood, but today she was more irate than usual and he was genuinely concerned.
"What?" She snaps, feeling his eyes on her. It was making her uncomfortable.
"Are those protein shakes getting to your head or do you usually think everyone's out to get you?"
She pauses and Jackson immediately regrets his slight jab, but more so he was genuinely curious.
"I don't think everyone is out to get me-" She starts, but he scoffs, ignoring her glare as he interrupts.
"Could have fooled me" He murmurs, but she hears and rolls her eyes.
"I'm just not easy to fool" She continues, stopping in front of her first period class.
"Who said I was trying to fool you?" He asks, handing her the books back.
"Then what do you want Wang?" She questions, glancing up at him.
Jackson is silent, no smart replies or lame jokes because for once, he doesn't actually know what to say.
"Thought so"
She laughs humorlessly at his stunned silence, slipping into the classroom.
Jackson just stands there with one thought in mind.
What exactly did he want from her?
____
It's still lingering in his thoughts later on during practice. He can't really focus on Jaebum's unnecessary shouting or Jr calling out multiple times for him to focus after he's missed several passes.
'What do I want from Skylar?' Jackson muses.
"Love and affection?" Yugyeom offers gently.
Jackson only realizes he's voiced his thoughts out loud when the younger is staring right at him, seemingly awaiting some sort of reply.
"Clark and Jackson? Love and affection? I don't think any of those go together." Youngjae mutters, snatching Yugyeom's water bottle as he giggles at the comment.
Jackson opens his mouth to reply but abruptly closes it when he notices them. Of course it's Skylar and the buff Barbies, marching onto the field as if they owned it. For once, Clark isn't donning a measly sports bra, opting for a black Nike shirt and shorts.
"Didn't think we'd let the offer pass, did you?" She says, grinning. Her co captain just smiles and nods. Jackson thinks it's weird how well the pair work together even though they're quite noticeably polar opposites.
"Course not" Jaebum returns the grin easily, always eager to boss more around, Jackson figures.
Jr wraps an arm around Clark's shoulder, and they share smiles. Jackson has to pretend he's not affected, but he shoves the ball at Youngjae with much more force than necessary if he's being honest, with the way the younger fumbles and cringes.
"We'll start off easy. Ten laps, now!" Jaebum calls out, hands on his hips.
"Come on, Wang"
Jackson only has time to blink before Skylar's there beside him, grabbing his hand and pulling him along for what is sure to be the worse ten laps of his life.
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