Page 32 of Afterglow
I guide Jazmine to my bedroom, rattling off where the other rooms are before we come to a stop. She immediately pulls out the chair from my desk and spreads out all of her equipment.
If you had told me in freshman year, Jazmine Allen was in my bedroom, I would have laughed in your face.
I stare at her for much longer than necessary, my eyes flick between her and my bed. I suppress a groan. The things I would do to get her spread out for me, naked, my face buried between her—
“Are you going to sit or keep watching me?”
Right. Our research project. Innocent thoughts, Theodore, think innocent thoughts.
This project is, apart from football, the most important part of junior year. My name will be on the radar of various research companies and NFL teams. I’ve been putting more thought into declaring for the draft and stillhave no clue what to do. If you ask my dad, there isn’t even a question on which option is correct.
“Do you have any ideas?”
I offer her the chance to talk about any research topics she has thought about. I have a couple of ideas that I want to research, with a specific focus on recovering from injuries. As an athlete, this has always interested me, plus Jazmine is majoring in psychology so she will have a different perspective to bring.
Jazmine’s face lights up, her smile revealing her pearly whites. “I’m so glad you asked. So, I was thinking our thesis paper could be about the impact concussion has on athletes’ mental health and subsequently, how it affects their physical activity and performance. I’ve got some of the research up already—”
“Hold up,” I say. “It sounds like you’ve already planned everything, what if I had an idea I was passionate about?”
If Jazmine thinks I’m going to be a pushover and let her run this show, she has another thing coming. We are meant to be partners, everything is equal.
Jazmine’s eyes narrow, her piercing look sending shivers down my body. “You asked for my idea, I assumed you didn’t have an idea.”
I scoff. “I thought we already established I wasn’t just a dumb jock. Iactuallydo have an idea, I thought I’d be polite and let you go first.”
“Trust me, Theodore. As the person who is always second best to you, I know you’re smart. So, tell me your idea and we will debate.” Her voice is laced with sass, as she continues in a whisper:“then we choose mine.”
“I heard that,”
“You were meant to,”
“Fine.” I grind my teeth together, preparing my argument in my head. Jazmine isn’t getting her way. Not completely anyway. There is such thing as a compromise.
“I want to discuss the behaviours and motivations of injured athletes, focusing on their road to recovery and back to performing at peak levels.”
Jazmine rolls her eyes at me. I bite my tongue to stop the words on the tip of my tongue. In a minute, I’m going to give Jaz a reason for her eyes to roll back.
“Spoken like a true football player,”
“What and your idea isn’t at all related to the career you want in the future?”
Our gaze clashes, both of us staying still as if we are in a Mexican stand-off. We are stubborn people so, I can't see either of us caving. The tension in the room is palpable as we continue staring at each other.
My eyes fall to Jazmine's chest as it rises quicker than it was before. All while her hands twitch at her sides. Is she okay? I’m about to give in, but Jazmine beats me to it.
“Okay, fine.” She huffs. “What is a good compromise?”
After an hour of explaining our idea and the various components that will be part of it, Jazmine and I reach an agreement. We decided to talk about the impacts of mental health on athletes, but instead of specifically talking about concussion, we will do multiple types of injuries and how that affects recovery and returning to performance.
“What about testing? Who are our subjects going to be?” Jazmine asks.
“I’ll ask a couple guys from the football team. Should we pick injuries from each major body system?”
Jaz nods in response. “Good idea. Nervous, skeletal and muscular systems would contract the most injuries, plus if we do two of the same injuries for each system, we can do a wide range of contrasts and comparisons.”
“I like it,” I begin. “Look at us, we can get along Princess,”
“You just jinxed it,” she says, packing away all her belongings.
