Page 17 of Spring Awakening

“I don’t care about Lightman,” he replies, though he supposes the rest is true. “I used to be nice to everyone, and it got me nowhere. So, I’m not doing it now.”

Mali frowns like she didn’t like his answer. He wants to know how to change it to make her happier. “You’re not a teenager, Zach. That’s no excuse. I’m nice to you. Use that, otherwise you’re going to hate every second on this team. Is that what you want?”

Zach’s not used to this kind of talking. He’s not sure he likes it. She isn’t wrong; it was what stopped him being outwardly kind as a teenager. He wonders what else she doesn’t like about him.

“Or are you not planning on staying?” she asks.

“Are you asking me as a friend or as PR bro?”

Mali giggles and looks down at the desk like she’s trying not to show him she likes something about him, then looks up again. She looks at him like she’s trying to figure out if he’s worth her time. She looks at him like she’s trying to figure out if it’s a grass stain on his forehead or mud. She looks at him, and Zach will wait until she figures it out, as long as it takes. Then she moves forwards, leaning her forearms on her desk. Her top bags a little. He sees a gold chain and wonders what it looks like against her skin.

“We’re not friends,” she replies. “You won’t even tell me your favourite colour.” Then she starts typing, and he should leave. The sweat has dried on his forehead, and he’s taking up her time and not being useful at all. He wonders if he should tell her he does want to stay, but it’s not his choice.

“I’ll send Kai,” he says, standing. She watches him move, and he feels hotter than he usually does when people check him out. Is she checking him out, or is she staring at a grass stain? Helooks at her, watching the moment her eyes rake up his body until she meets his gaze. She blinks, swallowing as a deep blush hits her cheeks. Zach barely contains a smile.

“Thanks…” she says, pushing her glasses back up. She’s nervous. “Bro.”

Zach rolls his eyes. “Orange.”

Mali leans her head in her hand with a small frown. Fuck, she’s beautiful. “What?”

“My favourite colour is orange.”

She smiles a little, scrunching her nose up like she’s happy he told her, and he realises he’ll tell her whatever she wants to know for the rest of time.

CHAPTER NINE

“I don’t know, Dad,”Mali says with a laugh as she skips over a puddle. “I’ve only been here two weeks!”

“Mali-Ali,” he groans, rubbing his palm over his face. She loves video-calling on her commute. The weather has been bright and dry for the past few weeks, though she thinks it’s about to take a turn for the worse. She likes to walk next to the river while she can. “Just ask him for an autograph! Need I remind you I bathed and fed you for years?”

“I’m your child. It’s basic human rights,” she replies, smiling as she watches her father pout. Her purple hair blows in her face, but at least it’s not raining yet. “I’m here. Call you later!”

“Bye, kiddo.”

“Love you,” she replies, ending the call and rolling her headphones into a ball that she’ll regret later.

Mali is settling into a good routine with work. The players are pretty much invisible, unless she decides to sit out on the benches while they practice. She’s only done it a couple times, but she always goes back to work all… huffy isn’t the right word. Horny probably is, but she’s trying to pretend that’s not athing. That she’s not thinking about the way Zach’s arms bulge when he lifts Kai above his head by his shorts. That she doesn’t imagine him laying over her when she slips her hands into her underwear with the soft glow of her bedside lamp.

It’s the weirdest feeling. She’s not sure she likes it, but still, her vibrator has been her best friend of late.

The sponsorships are shaping up as well. Blyke are the biggest sporting company in the world, and they replied to her email. She’s basically the Queen or something. She hasn’t told anyone yet. It’s way too early to get anyone’s hopes up. Also, she’s not sure who to tell. Frankie is her closest friend. They have lunch most days she’s in, but Mali’s not sure she wants to tell her yet. Blyke would come with a huge influx of cash. New uniforms, building refurbishment kind of cash. She wants to talk to someone that won’t put all their hopes on it.

She wants to talk to someone who understands that while an agreement with Blyke might go through, Mali still has her heart set on Goliath. She’s still saving something for them in the hopes they would ever want to sponsor the Titans. Goliath are a Black-owned up-and-coming sports brand, and their ethical stance is out of this world. They support so many initiatives that Mali wants to be involved with. They’d sponsor them in a way that could make community-wide change. A new junior league, perhaps. So, while Blyke are right now, that’s not her endgame. She wants to tell someone that would understand that part of her. That kind of friend for her doesn’t exist yet.

Individual sponsorships are moving forwards, kind of. Kai is her favourite because he’s so keen. So nice. So likeable. And his shoe contract is being negotiated right now. Mali had to send it for revisions because she thought they were taking advantage of him. She knows the Titans haven’t had much before, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth more—that they don’t deservedecent terms and rights—and Mali’s not about to let any of the players sign something detrimental just for a wad of cash.

She even managed to speak to Toby for longer than six minutes without throwing something at him. There’s still something sinister in his eyes whenever he speaks to her, like maybe he doesn’t trust her, or he doesn’t think she’s doing whatever she can so he’ll get a decent deal. Whatever. His contract with an energy-drink company is almost ready, so she won’t have to talk to him again. At least he’s engaging.

Unlike Zach, who, for some reason, is always in her eyeline. Like right now, as he walks to his car. She likes his face, but every time he talks (which is about three times so far) it makes her want to talk to him more, and he doesn’t want to talk to her. He told her his favourite colour was orange, and she forgave him for being short with her. A mistake, because now he doesn’t say a thing. She looks away quickly before she has to wave to him and have him ignore her like he has every day since she last spoke to him. (She had a blaring headache and was glaring at everyone; he put a tea on her desk and walked away. She said thanks, and it’s sad she counts that as a conversation.)

“Hey.”

Mali spins around, looking for who’s talking because there’s no way it’s Zach. He hasn’t spoken to her first. Ever. When she looks over at him, he’s looking right at her. She doesn’t reply because she’s not sure if she’s being punked. But then he waves, just a little. She blinks, then frowns. Zach looks down.

“Hi,” she replies.

Zach looks at her again. There’s nothing on his face that suggests he wants to talk to her. It’s possible there’s someone behind him with a gun, forcing him to say hi, though she has no idea why there would be. He looks down for a moment, and she should have run away, but now he’s looking at her again.

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