Deviants

Chapter 7

Jesse

Shad reaches me by the entrance to the lockers and I walk with him. As he showers and changes, I turn to my writing notebook until we are one of the few left in the locker room.

"Have you thought about it more?" Shad asks, organizing his locker.

"Yeah, mate, I don't know," I say, putting my pen and notebook away. Shad turns to me, irritated.

"Oh, come on, Jess. I know you want to leave," he whispers so the other football players won't hear. I lean in so only he can hear me

"You don't know. I think we need to stay in college and building our careers. Besides, once we've finished college it'll be the same thing as when we were kids and we'll be able to travel wherever the bloody hell we want," I say. I irritate myself just by saying it. Shad looks at me like I'm full of rubbish.

"Legally," he snorts, "where's the fun in that?" I roll my eyes.

"Forget it, mate. I may want to leave a tad right now, but I'll end up regretting it later," I say. Shad sits on the bench next to me even though we are the only ones left in the locker rooms besides one person in the showers.

"Jesse, mate, I know you want to leave more than a tad. You breaking up with Madison is your wake up call. We've got to get out of this bleeding town," he says. I see movement behind him and notice that it's Clint in the shower. Now would be a perfect time to talk to him about yesterday.

"No, Shad. What about Clarity?"

"We broke up mate!" Shad says with a stupid smile on his face. I roll my eyes again.

"No, you didn't. I'll meet you later, a'right?" I say, standing. Shad tries to convince me a little bit longer, but I brush him off until he finally gets too irritated and walks out. As Clint exits the showers, putting his shirt on, I approach him.

"I saw Gracie yesterday," I comment, trying to approach the subject naturally. Clint rubs his chin and nods his head. The sulkiness on his face makes me feel sorry for him. "Is she... a'right?"

"Yeah... turns out she was with Dean Curtis," he says. I sigh.

"Oh, I'm so sorry mate."

"No, I mean..." He looks lost for words. "It's complicated. But..." He looks at me for the first time. "Listen, I can't tell you what they were doing-"

"I don't really want to know-"

"No! I mean... they were- they-"

"Bloody hell Clint, if they aren't buffin' than what have they been doing?"

"They aren't sleeping together!" He says, then cringes. "I think." I raise my eyes exasperatedly. "I said no questions!" He says, brushing me off. I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. My smile fades when I see that he still looks depressed.

"What's up?" I ask.

"She wants me to meet him," he says, and I snort.

"Is she bloody kidding?"

"No... Remember no questions," he says as he turns to me. He looks me in the eyes, and I frown at him.

"Hold up..."

"Man, please come with me-"

"No, no, no, no-"

"Jesse, I have no idea who this person is. I may need a witness for something," he says, and I glare at him.

"I'm sorry mate, not my cup of tea. Cheerio," I turn to leave but he catches my arm.

"Jesse, this man is twice my age, Gracie is practically begging me to meet him with her and I need..." His face suddenly fills with rage as he clenches his fist. "I need to kick that guy's ass!" He says and I can't help but chuckle.

"A'right mate, I get what you mean, I'll come with you." We walk out of the locker room together and head towards the library to meet everyone for the study group. On the way we meet May Eve.

"All right?" I say, and she turns to smile at me with a pink blush on her cheeks.

"Hi," she says, stuffing a notebook in her bag. She waves to Clint and he gives a pathetic wave back. "I don't think I've met you," she says to Clint. He holds his hand out to her.

"Clint Evans."

"Amee mentioned that you have a girlfriend," May Eve says. Clint looks at her.

"Amee said that?" He asks. I raise an eyebrow at him. He subtly frowns at me and shakes his head. I turn away from them to hide my smile.

"Yeah. Does she go to this college?" May Eve asks.

"Yeah, she studies marine biology. What do you study?" Clint asks.

"Oh, my mother convinced me to be a journalist. She's always wanted me to follow her line of business," May Eve says. Clint looks at me with his own smile on his face.

"That must be great. You and Jesse must have all the same classes," he says. May Eve blushes again. I give Clint an annoyed look.

"So, um, what are you studying for?" May Eve asks.

"Architect," Clint says.

"Oh, awesome! You know, I know this guy-"

"May Eve!" We hear behind us. We all stop and turn to see Ethan Lennon jogging our way. He waves at Clint and I before addressing to all three of us. "My friend, John, is having a party this Friday if you're interested in going?"

"Totally!" May Eve says with a wide smile. I can't help but smile at her. She's too cute, I think. Ethan has a wide grin on his face as well.

"Awesome.Oh," he turns to Clint and I, "will you guys tell Johnny, Justin and Shadrach?"Clint and I nod our heads before he turns to May Eve and starts talking to her.