My mom just made pancakes, and holy shit, they were fucking delicious. And that's all have to say.

#################

The crowd roared with excited yells and cheers. I too, stood and yelled.

"Whooo! Let's go!" I cried.

"Jefferson is taking Northside down!" Dean added, laughing.

He wasn't lying. We were winning by a landslide. Sixty-two to twelve. There was absolutely no way they could make a comeback, considering there was only three minutes left in the fourth quarter.

I squeezed Dean's hand as we watched the time tick down on the scoreboard. The quarterback threw the ball to Baylor, who ran it to the end zone, just as the timer buzzed.

We stood up cheering and yelling, as everyone flooded the field. Dean helped me jump the rails and we ran up to Baylor. Letting go of Dean's hand I wrapped my arms around My brother.

"You did great." I said, releasing the hug.

"Great game bro." Dean, smacked his arm.

Great game indeed.

###

"Bailey, you're gonna label bunks, clean them, and make beds, Baylor you're gonna vacuum, dust and clean windows, Brad you're gonna clean the bathrooms, and I'm going grocery shopping. Any questions?" My mom instructed.

It was early on a Saturday and the quarterbacks would be moving in on Monday. We had a weekend full of work ahead of us to say the least.

"Okay, no questions, so let's get to work." She clapped her hands together before kissing my dad goodbye and going upstairs.

I dipped a rag in to a bucked of hot, soapy water, and began wiping down the bunkbeds, and dressers. I also went in to the laundry room, where all the cubbies were. All the quarterbacks had their own cubby to put their football gear.

When I exited the room Baylor was organizing all the video games, testing the X-Box and all the controllers. My father always tried his best to make all the players feel like they were at home. There was a pool table, foosball table, pingpong table, a massive sixty inch flatscreen, an X-Box and tons of games. A fridge full of drinks and snacks stayed stocked throughout the week, thanks to my mother. And any of the football players were allowed to come and go when they pleased, no matter if they had already lost The Junior Bowl.

"Hey, we're supposed to be working, not playing video games." I teased, nudging him with my foot.

"I am working, but you aren't. You're trying to tell me what to do." He retorted, as I walked away.

Ignoring him, I put strips of masking tape on the side of the bunk beds and on each of the dresser drawers. I wrote out the names of all the quarterbacks on each of the pieces of tape, trying my best to pair them with people they would get along with well.

Keenan Ward and Evan Davidson, Dean McKinnley and Smith Montgomery, Zach Collins and Dylan Boyer, Wyatt Jacobs and Ryan Banks, Ethan King and Owen Meyers, Jaiden Winchester and Vylad Cardel.

I also labeled the cubbies and dressers.

Opening the linen closet, I took my time making each bed as perfectly as I could. Propping up the pillows, and flattening the comforters.

"Guys?" My mother's voice yelled from upstairs.

"Yeah?" The three of us replied in unison.

"Can you come help me with the groceries?"

We all headed upstairs to see our mother standing in the foyer, surrounded by bags and bags of food. My parents put away everything upstairs, and Baylor and I lugged cases of pop and snacks down to the basement.

I emptied two cases of Diet Pepsi, a case of Coke Zero, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, some Gatorade and a few bottles of Powerade. I stocked up the freezer with ice cream, popsicles and ice cream sandwiches. While Baylor filled the cupboard next to me, with granola bars, protein bars, chips, goldfish and and various other snacks.

"Bailey?" My dad stuck his head through the door, looking at me.

I hummed in reply.

"You better get going, remember you need to get to Maryland." He informed, and I nodded.

Quickly I ran upstairs to my room and got my bag, then I bid my parents goodbye and got in my jeep. I hope you're ready Owen Meyers, 'cause the Jersey Girl is coming for you.

###

I pushed open the thick metal door and immediately started looking for Owen's locker. Unfortunately, none of the lockers were labeled.

Maybe if I found Owen's jersey I would know what locker was his.

What's his number again? One? Seven? Twelve? Fifteen? Two? Two. He's definitely number two.

Opening up the first locker, all I could find was clothes and deodorant. The second one was just as empty. The third contained a backpack and textbooks. The fourth and fifth also had nothing of significance.

I swear to God if they're wearing their jerseys, we're gonna have some issues.

Noticing a clipboard and pen hanging on the wall. I scribbled a quick note on the paper and stuck the letter on the clipboard.

Dear Owen Meyers,

You might have already heard of me, but if not, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Jersey Girl. I take all the jerseys of teams selected to play in The Junior Bowl.

Oh, by the way, congratulations on your acceptance in to The Junior Bowl. Best of luck to you and your team. I'm sure you'll do great.

But back to the subject at hand. I did have some difficulty finding your jerseys, but the Jersey Girl always finds them. I found this letter for you, and can only assume that it is of significance. Maybe you should read it.

~ Jersey Girl

P.S. See you at The Junior Bowl ;)

I kept looking for their jerseys in other lockers and found nothing.

"Okay, what the hell?" I flung my arms up in frustration.

But something blue caught my eye. Sticking out from under a shower curtain was a jersey. Upon further inspection I discovered that all the jerseys were piled in the shower stall.

They thought they could hide them. How cute.

Placing all the pieces of cloth in my bag, my stomach gurgled. I was starving. Once I get out of here, I'm definitely going to get some lunch.

I managed to sneak back out of the locker room, and to my Jeep. Just in time too. Because the coach was making the team run their last laps before practice ended.

My phone sat in it's cupholder, vibrating with tons of incoming texts. All from The Junior Bowl group chat.

Dylan: Sup hoes.

Zach: Who are you calling hoes, you lil bitch?

Evan: If anybody here is a hoe it'd be you, Dylan.

Keenan: And Zach, you're the bitch.

Jaiden: Facts.

Dylan: Oh fuck off Davidson.

Evan: You're just salty 'cause I'm right.

Zach: He's not wrong.

Dylan: Dude, Keenan called you a bitch.

Zach: I'm not gonna argue with someone who's right. And neither should you.

Vylad: He's got a point.

Keenan: Lmao.

Dylan: 🙄

Me: Ya'll are mean.

Evan: Far from it.

Keenan: We're not mean. You've got us all wrong.

Me: Sureeeee.

I put my phone down and pulled out of my the parking lot, driving around blindly in search of some food. Passing a McDonald's, Taco Bell, KFC and a Pizza Hut. None of them interested me, except for the Sonic next to the Pizza Hut.

The restaurant was relatively busy, with middle aged mothers and their children, men in suits on their lunch breaks, and teens with all of their friends.

I stood in the long line, debating what to get. Taking a step forward as the line advanced, a huge group of guys came through the doors. I immediately recognized one of them as Owen. But then I realized that there was another guy. Who was also Owen.

What? There were two Owens?

That's when it clicked. Twins. Owen Meyers must have a twin brother.

I stepped up to counter, ordered my food and payed. I could hear all the guys laughing and talking loudly from behind me, where they waited to order.

"Oh, come on. Everyone knows we're gonna kick some ass." One of them stated, confidence radiating from his words.

All these football players seem very cocky. Well just have to see what happens during the Junior Bowl.

"Got that right." Another chuckled.

I collected my fries and milkshake, sitting down at one of the closest booths. Some people might feel uncomfortable or awkward sitting alone. But I was too exhausted to care what the people around me thought.

Stuffing my face with french fries, I could feel someone's gaze on me. Studding my surroundings I caught Owen or his twin brother, looking at me. I gave him a friendly smile, before breaking the eye contact.

He stood up and approached me. Slightly confused as he sat down across from me.

"Hey, I just gotta ask, were you at Riverside High earlier today?" His question took me aback, but I covered up my shock with a confused expression.

"Riverside High? No. Why?" I replied.

"Someone broke in to the locker room at our school, and took all of the football jerseys. I could have sworn I saw you at the school. But it must've been someone that looks like you." He shook his head, his damp, black hair falling in front of his face.

"I was at the school." I admitted and his attention peaked. "But I was just dropping off a letter."

"A letter. The Junior Bowl acceptance letter?" He fiddled with his thumbs.

"Yeah. My dad runs The Junior Bowl, and I drop off all the letters for him." I took a sip of my milkshake.

"Then why did you say you weren't there?" Suspicion laced in his words.

I sigh. "Because I know about all the jersey thefts, and didn't want to get in to an argument with you, if you thought I had done it"

"Makes sense." He nodded. "I'm Emmett Meyers by the way." He stuck out his hand.

"Bailey Thomas." I smiled, shaking his outstretched hand. "You must be Owen's twin brother."

"How'd you know?" He chuckled.

"Might have something to do with the fact that you look like a clone of him." I joked.

"I'll have you know that I'm three and a half minutes older than he is." He replied, pretending to be offended.

"Oh, wow. Such a drastic difference."

My phone vibrated on the table a few times and I checked it.

Baylor: Can you hurry up and get home?

Baylor: I don't wanna do all this work by myself.

I quickly typed up a reply.

Me: Yeah, I'll be home soon.

"My bother wants me to get home so I can help with my chores, but it was really nice meeting you Emmett." I explained, gathering up my trash.

"Nice meeting you too, Bailey." He said, standing up and returning to his friends.

That was a close one. I need to be more careful next time, Emmett almost caught me.

##############

Hey. How's it going? I hope you all are safe during these times. It's going to be hard, but we'll all get through this. I just hope that this book is serving as a distraction, to take your minds off of everything. Stay safe.

~Grace