Chapter 15: Jason and "Jock Boy"
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Of all the days for her to turn up late for their lunch hour, it just had to be one in which Eddie had big news to tell her. He was not aware, but the reason for her tardiness was an emergency Sibuna meeting being called at the last minute and if recent history was anything to go by, Patricia would already be perturbed by having to rush through yet another meal when she did arrive. His chances of getting a positive reaction to his 'good news' were likely already slim to none, but had he been fully informed of how her afternoon had gone thus far, he probably would have thought twice about his enthusiasm. Being the eager eater that he was, he had finished the bulk of his lunch by the time he spotted her joining the back of the line. He ditched the remnants in the rubbish bins, save for his daily green apple that he took a large bite of, and grabbed up his bag to accompany her.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry, hey thanks," he greeted with his mouth full as he weaved around various people—some of which congratulating him on the previous meet. "Yacker, hey! There you are! Where've you been, I've got news."

She sighed and forced a grin, "Hi, Weasel. Amber…needed my help with something… Can this wait until we get home? You know how she can be, I'm a bit spent."

"Not really! Check it out!"

Patricia rolled her eyes as he clutched his apple between his teeth and began rummaging through his bag. It baffled her how he could be so excited but yet so unprepared—

"Tryouts," he mumbled around another bite before swallowing. "Tonight."

She glanced at the poster he had wrestled out, recognizing it to be the same one she had been seeing pop up around school all day.

"You're already on the team, remember?"

Careful not to hold up everyone else, she continued in the queue with her tray and utensils leaving Eddie where he stood reading over the green paper.

"They're not for me!" he laughed, catching up. "Alright, well maybe sort of for me…we all have to do time trials to decide on the new relay teams. But, we're getting a girls' team next year and their coach wants to get anyone that's interested together for conditioning…"

Patricia wrinkled her nose, and not just at the tuna sandwiches in front of her. "Not on your life, Krueger."

"Oh come on, you're practically at every meet as it is! This could be a good way for us to spend more time together…you know, we stay over after practice, just the three of us: You, me, and that bikini of yours…"

She huffed to show her disapproval, but then indulged her growing curiosity, "Who did they even get to coach now that Miss Robinson has moved on to a better…I mean, different school?"

Patricia picked up her usual go-to cheese sandwich…she couldn't be bothered to make a better decision and fuss with Eddie over this at the same time.

"Oh! There's this guy that used to teach here coming back to substitute one of the lower levels or something. I guess he's been away for a few years, I've never met him."

She scoffed, "Mr. Fleming? What does he know about sports?"

"No, not Fleming." Eddie snapped his fingers together trying to recall the information he had been given that morning, "Something more like Mr. Wrinkles?…uhhh, Mr. Winker!"

Patricia really guffawed at that, "Jason Winkler is showing his face here again? That's just great! In that case, I would like to change my answer to not on my life."

Eddie furrowed his brow at the way she was now skipping over most of her other lunch favorites to get to the end of the line faster, "So you know him? Boring class I'm guessing?" She slammed her water down and now he was sure her behavior was suspicious.

"I had a few of his classes actually, not that I ever wanted to think, much less talk about him again."

He sighed, "Why are you always so secretive, Patricia? You want me to tell you stuff but anytime I mention a guy, any guy now apparently, you immediately shut me out. What am I supposed to think?"

She swapped places with him to grab an orange and he swapped them back just as quickly. Eddie didn't trust her with a straight shot to the door, especially when it was clear she would rather be any place on Earth but talking to him in this moment.

"You have to let me in some time. I'm making an effort but it's getting exhausting. I mean, you still haven't even told me the story about 'jock boy' and now—"

"Fine! If that's what this is really about, I'll tell you all about 'jock boy' since you're still so stupidly jealous of him," she interrupted in the same hushed tone he'd had, her eyes shifting back and forth to her peers around them before settling back on him. She didn't want to talk about Mick either, but she was not at all willing to even try to explain her history with Jason Winkler. "But not here. Meet me on the football field after school."

He allowed her time to thank the lunch lady handing back her change before asking, "That's a bit dramatic, don't you think? And I'm not jealous I just—"

She grabbed her tray up and knocked into his shoulder to get around him.

"Whatever. Don't come, see what I care."

"Didn't think you were going to show."

Patricia kicked her old football right at Eddie's head as he began to cross the field to where she stood in the middle. He had suspected she would pull something of the sort and had dropped his belongings a few yards back to free up his reflexes. Her aim wasn't off by much.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late. I stopped to pick up my practice gear, I've got to head straight over there after this."

Eddie tossed the ball down between them and flashed his eyebrows. Patricia scoffed.

"You really think you could take me at real football? Our game has at lot more strategy involved than that American mess you showed me last year."

"Listen, I know how to play soccer—" he started, beginning to get flustered.

"Really?" she folded her arms in anticipation, scanning over Eddie with narrowed eyes, "Let's find out then, shall we?"

He mirrored her stance but didn't receive her usual grin for his efforts and retreated in a sigh as he dropped his arms, "I can't. Coach doesn't want us to risk an injury by playing other sports after school.

Patricia rolled her eyes, tossing her ball back and forth in her hands as she followed Eddie's lead over to the bleachers. The repetitive motion continuing well after they'd sat down until he snatched it from her on a wonky throw.

"Okay, shoot."

"So, here's what happened okay," she managed to make herself blurt under his impatient stare, "One year Piper had a piano recital nearby and I had to agree to go to it before my parents would take me off campus that weekend to see my friends back home. I tried to worm my way out of it by going to a voluntary football workout before the season started but they weren't having any of it. The practice ran a bit late, into the boys' scheduled field time even, and I was in a rush…"

"Can't believe I'm this late! Ugh, I'd better phone mum and dad before they change their minds…like they'd even need the excuse," a younger Patricia grumbled to herself as she fumbled through her… "Oh no," she hissed, "my bag!"

In her rush to get off the field and across campus, she must have grabbed the wrong sports pack by mistake. The boys' school uniform she was pushing around was definitely not hers' and neither were the shoes and right about now she was cursing her hormones for even suggesting that she take a few extra minutes to 'talk strategy' with Mick Campbell and get flustered enough to be that careless. Like she was even stupid enough before they had come along to blow a weekend trip home for some kid she saw every day in class and at the house. "UGH!"

She swears out loud and takes off running, desperate to make it a quick trip across campus and back.

"Nice dress, Campbell!" Sven teases, his best friend Sergei joining in on the ribbing, "Yeah, and the color really suits you as well!"

Mick barely registers what they're saying, his concentration set on keeping a football in the air with his knees, "What are you two going on about?"

"This little number you've got here in your bag…"

Mick, at the mention of one of his possessions, snatched his football out of the air mid-juggle, "Why are you even going through my—hey, that isn't mine!"

"Oh, come now. Of course it is, there's no one else here it could possibly belong to. So, what do you say…anything you'd like to tell us?"

The two burst out laughing as the rest of the team began to crowd around to see what all the fuss was about. The snickering got steadily louder and the judgmental looks equaled the number of boys at any given time. There was no one willing to side with him on this.

"It wouldn't even fit me!" Mick insisted, pleading with his mates—feeling more helpless and looking guiltier to them by the second, "Guys, you can't be serious."

Convinced now there was more to uncover, the team huddled around the bag to search it's secrets.

It was then Patricia could hear her crush's voice just ahead at her destination yell: "You're going through someone's private things! Stop it!" Her accelerated heart rate and her feet came to a screeching halt for just a moment before she started sprinting even faster across the school yard. "No, no no no no NO!"

"Come on now, be cool guys!" Mick tried again as he pushed through their human barricade to grab onto a strap of the bag himself.

"Look at the size of these heels, these would definitely fit you Mickey…or Minnie now, is it?"

The blond ducked his head at the roar of laughter, he had to keep his cool for once if he wanted to be able to stop this. But he was truly humiliated. Patricia could see it all over his face even from a few yards back as she slowed to a stop. And she was furious.

Furious that she probably wouldn't make it to meet her parents in time. Furious that she'd probably get a lecture when she was finally able to call them and try to beg them to come back for her. Furious that her classmates were rude enough to go through someone's things.

Furious with herself that above everything else she felt worse for Mick Campbell in the moment than she did for herself.

"What do you think you slimeballs are doing with my bag!" she yelled as the bottom dropped out of her self control and she starting running at the group.

Sergei, in the panic of being caught by the bag's rightful owner—he never believed it was Mick—threw his hands in the air as he yelled back, "You're phone was ringing and I was just—"

To her horror, he was interrupted by another bout of laughter as she watched as the rest of the contents—the other, more embarrassing contents—of her bag were thrown all across the football field. Mick had been pulling on the bag right as it was released, not anticipating any of this would happen.

"Patricia," Mick tried weakly as she swiftly began to collect her things, all the while hoping to just sink right into the grass where she stood and never look at him again. "Let me help you."

"Don't." she growled, the red on her cheeks now so hot she could feel it burning. "You've done enough."

"That's what you didn't want me to know?" Eddie brings her back to the present, his voice barely audible to her ringing ears.

She had always felt silly enough swearing off boys who played sports over this one year seven incident, year seven was supposed to be full of embarrassment and regrets right? It happens to everyone, it's practically an unwritten rule. But telling the story back to Eddie—anyone even, she'd always denied the rumors to anyone not present—had caused her to feel all the embarrassment of that day and following night at the house all over again. Completely flustered, Eddie's soft words came as an accusation to her, a confirmation of what she'd known all along; that her feelings were stupid.

"Sure, take their side!" she seethed, starting to storm out the same route that she had taken years prior. "I told you you would end up just like the rest!"

Of course, Eddie was baffled by the reply and got up to follow her, "Didn't you hear me, Patricia?"

He sounded hurt to her and she just started running, no destination in particular in mind other than away from him and away from her feelings and away from the past.

"Patricia!" he yelled again, starting to take off but remembering his own bag he had just sprinted past and the try out that went with along it. "Argh!" he cried out in frustration as threw her soccer ball into his bag and took off again.

He catches the school uniform by the shoulders and spins them slightly to both slow the girl down and to avoid a nasty collision.

"Careful, what's the hurry?" he laughs and she stiffens in his grip at the voice before he even pulls her away to see her face, "…Patricia?"

"No! You can't be here, you are the last person I want to see right now."

"I—" he tries the explanation he'd been practicing for a year now, anticipating that it would be a necessary part of them coexisting on the same campus. But she's off again before he can get it out and the glare he receives the one and only time she looks back tells him that he's going to need more practice…or at least to stay on the pool side of campus.

"Yacker!" a male voice yells behind him and he doesn't even have time to register how far away it might be before a body crashes into the arm he still has held out.

"Whoa! Sorry man—oh! I'm really sorry, Mister…?"

"Mr. Winkler. I presume you're looking for Miss Williamson? Someone sure has her in a tizzy, don't they?" the teacher points over his shoulder with a grin at the head of red hair disappearing in the distance.

"Yeah…" Eddie sighed, taking out his phone. He'll never catch her now. "Me."

Jason gave a sympathetic nod and stepped to the side.

"Yacker. I swear I was coming after you but I really have to get to those tryouts, I'm going to be late! Talk later?" he overheard the voice mail as he watched Eddie take off running the opposite direction.

"Yeah." He sighs, "Or me."

A/N: Testing, testing... Is this thing on? Is anyone still out there reading? I'm back ayyyy. Review if you're happy we finally addressed the Mick thing or you know, you're happy this is back.