Scoring The Coach ✔️

chapter twelve

Chapter Twelve

Jared called me a few nights later while I was working on AP statistics, analyzing another graph for an assignment that felt pointless and time-consuming. Thankfully, I had finished Spanish and English, planning to flip through my term sheet before my government quiz the next morning.

My phone startled me out of my reverie, rattling on the desk beside me. I withdrew my pencil from my mouth and wiped the eraser on my jeans as if that would erase the evidence of me gnawing on it.

"It's midnight." This was my greeting to Jared when I answered the phone.

"Well, hello to you too," he greeted.

"Sorry, AP stats is a pain." I resisted the urge to start chewing on my pencil again, glaring at the problems.

"Maybe you should just not do the homework?" I pictured him doing that lip-biting thing of his, trying to fill in the scene around him with my imagination.

"I wish, but I need to keep the A. The A is essential to my livelihood." I filled in an answer for the first half of the problem, entirely unsure whether or not it was correct.

"You're crazy, but also brilliant," he said. I heard the sound of car keys rattling in the background as he set them down somewhere, presumably arriving home.

"Did you just get back?" I asked, hoping it didn't make me sound like a clingy girlfriend.

"Yeah," he replied. "I was out driving around and thinking, y'know? Does that sound crazy? It probably does. I solemnly promise I'm not a basket case. I just wanted to process things."

"I've been thinking all night. I get it," I admitted. "I keep getting distracted while I'm trying to do my homework."

"Am I distracting you now?" His tone bordered on flirty as he spoke.

"Yeah, of course," I responded. "So why are you calling?"

"Because I know I'm not gonna be able to sleep, so I'd like to stay up talking with someone," he said. "And I like talking to you. You're real."

"So are you. I like the fact you're honest with me. I know that you're upfront about everything and I appreciate it."

There was another break in the conversation. I shifted my feet on the wood of my desk, staring up at my corkboard with my collage of movie tickets, polaroids, and other high school memories. I had started hanging little things from my encounters with Jared up there too. For example, a napkin from the place he bought our milkshakes from.

"How's the math coming?"

I looked absently at the textbook, knowing it was silently mocking me. "I barely understand it." It was true, and definitely unnerving considering that I had a test coming up.

He paused for a second. "Did you know I got an A in AP stats? It was my best grade of senior year."

"Oh yeah?"

"I think you should come over and I can teach you how to do whatever it is you're struggling with."

It was direct, sure. My blushing didn't go unnoticed.

"You're blushing right now," he pointed out.

"Shut up, Jared."

"Can I come get you?" he asked.

"It's midnight," I repeated.

"So stay the night."

I swallowed, unsure of how to respond. I held my warm phone to my ear with a shaking hand, wondering what that entailed. It wasn't like we were rushing into the physical stuff. We never did anything more than kiss, his hands remaining where he knew I was comfortable.