Synonym

Chapter 18

"And yet again the name 'Sylvia Mason' is making national headlines for what seems like the millionth time this month. The 18 year old just signed a five million dollar contract with Nike. The athlete is set to play in the Tokyo Olympics next year as this is the first time lacrosse is being played in a decade at the event. Nike released a statement saying 'We have been searching for the face of our new female empowerment campaign and another famous face for our Road to Tokyo campaign and Ms. Mason was the perfect fit. She's someone who exudes prestige, power, and strength making her the perfect role model to inspire younger girls to become the outspoken and daring version on themselves.' What do you think about this, guys?" The sports analyst asked his group of friends over the radio.

I had the podcast from the 7 a.m. ESPN news playing while I was making dinner with Finn. He was grating the zucchini while I seasoned the chicken breasts with chile powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.

Thankfully, John Wilson wasn't on this show. I did not need to hear him trash talk me again. Finn and I were having an extremely late dinner this monday night. We hadn't had time to eat earlier because we had to drop the Suburban off for an oil change and a tire rotation. Both Finn and I knew how to do it, we had both taken auto shop junior year, but we didn't have the time nor the tools at our apartment, they were all in CT so paying someone was just easier.

Practice ended at 10 so it was currently 11 and we were just making dinner. All I can say is that 4:30am comes early.

"Good for her. If Nike is offering her five million then she'd be a fool not to take it because let's face it, what has she done? She's a damn good lacrosse player, I'm not even going to call that into question, but what puts her on the same level as LeBron or Phelps?" The man with a Long Island accent posed.

"Socially she's a role model. Mason's spoken out about women's rights to dozens of reporters, made statements on social media, and was even spotted with her boyfriend, lacrosse star Griffin Riley, at marches in D.C. before school started up. Let's not forget she is a rape survivor that went to court. That alone makes her someone to look up to and someone brands would want to sponsor." The third man said.

"Holy shit, Finn." I said in an exasperated voice.

"What?" He looked up at me and stopped grating the vegetables. Finn's brows were furrowed in worry.

A small smirk appeared on my face. "I think I finally found an ESPN reporter that likes me."

"You're an idiot" He laughed lightly, shaking his head while going back to making dinner. I moved behind him to the stove, placing the two chicken breasts in a sizzling cast iron skillet. The loud sound of ESPN could still be heard over the sound of fat frying.

"Exactly," Long Island man pointed out. "She's a millennial Social Justice Warrior. You don't see Emma Gonzalez doing Under Armor campaigns because let's face it; that's all Sylvia Mason is. She's a high school player who has no Olympics medals and had yet to even play in an NCAA game."

"Well that didn't last long." I muttered while handing Finn the salt and pepper. He mixed the zucchini with the salt before putting the shredded vegetable on a kitchen towel and squeezing it all of the juice out of it. We were both fans of a Zucchini grilled cheese recipe where the bread was made of zucchini, breadcrumbs, seasoning, and parmesan cheese. We were on an extremely low carb diet so we substituted bread crumbs with almond meal.

"Can't please everyone, babe. Some people are just dicks." Finn said while putting the veggie pulp back in the bowl. I tossed him the package of almond meal, which Finn caught easily, before going into the fridge to get the parmesan.

"Well you said it yourself, Joe. She is a damn good lacrosse player. Nike sees her as a way to make a splash and impact a new market of young girls and millennial women." The nice one countered.