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chapter eight: casey conway

( a/n: lmao i saw one of my childhood best friends today and he's so different now and i cried over it so this story is my coping mechanism )

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"Hey, Cole, how'd you-"

Jamie stands in the doorway of the boy's dorm, staring owlishly at Rick Riley's bare chest. Her eyes immediately flit up from his pecs at the sound of his laughter, her gaze awkwardly shooting to the ceiling.

Why was he in his friend's room and shirtless?

"Hi, Johnson." He purrs mockingly.

The girl, still looking up, smiles sarcastically. "Hi, Rick."

Cole snorts a laugh from the bed, shuffling around and sorting through some papers. She hears a whispered 'put a shirt on, jackass' and footsteps and then, before she knows it, the fair-haired enforcer is staring down at her.

"I got a D plus."

He holds the paper up and she takes it, taking her eyes off the ceiling to look down at the page. The big, red sixty-eight stares back at her.

It's far better than he's ever done.

"Oh! That's good!"

"Yeah." He rumbles. "I was really tired of that stupid book."

With that, he walks back to his bed and flops back on it. Rick, now fully clothed, sits on the other bed, watching her with a wolfish grin.

"You coming to tonight's game, kid?"

Jamie shrugs noncommittally, awkwardly taking the seat at the desk. She is going, of course, because she told Adam she would, but she doesn't have to tell him anything.

"I don't know, probably."

Cole snickers. "Of course she's gonna go- she's gotta support her Banksie."

Face flushing with indignation, she whips around to look at him as the dark-haired boy starts to laugh.

"Screw off."

Her huffing only serves to make them laugh even more, even louder. Clenching her jaw, she takes a deep breath and pulls out her notebook, working up the courage to tell Rick to butt out so she can actually try to work with Cole.

In an hour, she's free.

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The rink isn't any easier to be in than it was last time.

She shivers in the freezing temperatures, arms wrapped around herself as she sits alongside the masses of students. Jamie, despite growing up in Minnesota, isn't built for cold (it's resulted in her contracting an annual illness, one that has gone from making her bedridden to annoying sniffles as she aged.)

Her only solace is that she's not with Adam's family.

She tugs her hat down more on her head and buries her nose in her scarf. Adam so owes her for this one.

The crowd starts to react, a sea of red and black and the other school's colors writhing as people jump up from their seats. Jamie joins them with a sniffle, watching the players skate onto the ice.

She finds herself searching for Adam.

A cheer finally leaves her when she sees him, or rather the bold ninety-nine on his back. He skates circles with the rest of his team, earning louder cries from the crowd, and skates to a stop when he sees her.

She smiles and gives him a thumbs-up; he smiles back brightly, pointing to her with his stick just like he did last time. As he lowers his face guard, tearing his eyes away from her to go get into position, her face starts to redden.

It's probably just the cold, right?

"Hey!" A voice hisses. "Tiny brunette, number ninety-nine's friend."

She looks down, making eye contact with Mindy and a few of the other cheerleaders.

"You Banks' girl?"

"I, uh, no-"

Before Jamie can finish, a brunette cheerleader is grabbing her arm and pulling her down to sit with the rest of them.

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They win, again. Five to three.

Dragged along with the crowd of cheerleaders, Jamie finds herself waiting right by the locker room for the team. The older girls are all giggling and whispering to one another, but she stands silently to the side.

She's still not sure how she got into this situation.

Rick comes stumbling over first, swooping Mindy up in a kiss, and the rest of them follow suit. Jamie slips around them.

"JJ?"

A smile on her face, she runs up to Adam and wraps her arms around his neck. He grunts slightly upon impact, hands awkwardly hovering over her body before he finally settles into the hug.

She squeezes him. "You did so good!"

Adam laughs, face pressed into her shoulder as he rocks her slightly.

"Thanks..."

She finally pulls away after a long moment and stands in front of him, grinning up. His skates have only added onto his height, and he takes off his helmet, swiping a hand through his sweaty hair.

Jamie blinks slightly as his tongue juts out to wet his lips.

"You're, uh, wearing my hoodie."

She glances down at the dark sweatshirt.

"Oh, yeah."

"It looks good on you."

Jamie laughs softly, but she's not entirely sure it's a joke.

"Say, uh, after I get changed, do you want to go out to get some food?"

"Yeah, sure. I just have to let my parents know."

Adam nods and they part with that, him going back to his locker room with a grin and her hunting down an adult with a phone.

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Rick and Mindy drop them off outside a diner car in Minneapolis.

They score a booth in the corner and she's wearing yet another article of his clothing, her body still suffering from the aftershock of being in the cold for almost three hours. It reeks of him, and she makes fun of him for his cologne usage until he playfully threatens to take the coat from her.

She's not stupid.

"...how'd you get stuck with Mindy and them?" Adam glances up from his menu as he speaks.

Jamie shrugs. "I don't know, they kinda just dragged me down to sit with them."

His nose scrunches softly and accepts it.

She leaves out the stuff about her being his girl- not because she likes him or anything, but because the vehement denying would be ego-shattering.

Or, at least, that's what she's gonna keep telling herself.

"So, what are you gonna get?"

"I don't know..."

Adam nods softly. "Okay. Get whatever you want, though, 'cause I'm gonna pay."

Jamie narrows her eyes at him.

"You're not paying."

"Yes. Yes I am."

"Oh, come on, Adam. You're the champ, I should pay."

He grins. "Hey, hey. I invited you out- besides, remember that pack of gum you bought me? Think of it as me repaying you."

She sits back with furrowed brows.

"...dude, it was like thirty cents and that happened ten years ago."

"Yeah. Interest and all that."

Jamie snorts a soft laugh through her nose, shaking her head and playing with the string from his hoodie. He doesn't stop smiling that stupid, dazzling smile- in fact, her laughter might just make it worse.

A pretty blonde waitress with curled hair approaches them after they close their menus.

"Hi, there, what can I get you two- Adam?"

She blinks slightly, the corners of her lips turning up as he turns to her and smiles politely.

"Hi, Miss. Conway."

Jamie tries not to audibly say 'oh.'

"It's so good to see you, hon- how have you been? Who's this?"

Both sets of eyes turn to her and she shuffles slightly in her seat.

"Oh, this is Jamie Johnson, I've known her forever. JJ, this is Casey Conway, Charlie's mom."

Jamie reaches out and shakes Casey's hand, courteously returning the older woman's smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Jamie... are you two... are you two on a date?"

Adam's face becomes red incredibly fast and her mouth dries up quickly.

"I- uh- it's not-" Jamie cringes at her own stuttering. "We aren't, are we?"

He shakes his head clumsily. "No, no. We're not."

Casey tries her best to hide a knowing smirk and moves on to ask them their orders. She has to clear her throat and his face slowly fades back to its normal color over time.