jack's pov +

"alright, great practice" coach clasped his hands together. "everybody hit the showers and i'll see you tomorrow. don't be late!".

the team started to disperse off the football field at their own paces. i grabbed my water bottle and took a few sips before someone grabbed onto my shoulders.

"hey, wanna get some food off campus before class?" sam questioned, rustling his hands through his sweaty hair.

"yeah, why not" i agreed then nudged connor behind us. "you in?".

"can't. i have no afternoon classes, so i'm spending the whole day with jonah" he excitedly replied.

"he's visiting?" sam asked.

"yep. fuck, it's been so long since we've seen each other so we'll be occupied all day" connor's brows raised, making sam and i quickly catch on.

"well, does your fuck schedule still include tonight's party at the frat house?" i inquired as we reached the football locker room.

"yeah, is jonnor going to make an appearance and maybe try and propose another engagement?" sam joked, causing me and a few other players in the room to laugh.

"we were drunk, alright" connor settled us and took off his football jersey. "and most likely, yes. we will attend".

"good, we'll need my favourite couple there" sam grabbed him into a headlock and messed up his hair.

i interrupted them by harmlessly slapping sam's arm, "what about me and iris?".

sam sighed and started to untie his shoes, "look dude, your girlfriend is one of the hottest girls i have ever seen but nothing beats jonnor, okay".

"sorry, dude" connor apologised. "20gayteen all the way!" he called out and received a loud cheer from the team around us.

"maybe if you got back with dakota, i'd reconsider" sam teased.

he completely caught me off guard by mentioning her name that i didn't even know how to act. no one ever really mentions dakota around me anymore, not after what happened.

it's been almost five months since dakota and i stopped talking and five months since people realised that it's best to not bring the topic of up.

connor forcefully elbowed sam in the arm to tell him off.

"fuck, i'm sor—"

"come on" i cut sam off. "let's hit the showers or else we won't have time to get that food" i completely brushed it off and continued to get changed in silence.

alongside johnson, sam and i made our way back to our dorms after grabbing food at chick-fil-a. we noticed a few of the cheerleaders in a huddled conversation and decided to go over and see what was going on.

"hey" i put my arm around the co-captain, iris. she happily greeted me and kissed my cheek.

"we were just talking about your party tonight, is the whole team invited?" she looked up at me.

"yes!" sam instantly responded as his eyes scanned through the other cheerleaders with lust.

"no way" johnson shook his head. "last time we invited you all, your coach blamed us for the shit you got up to and our coach banned our team parties for a month".

"jack, please" iris begged me. "we'll keep it on the down low this time".

i exchanged looks with sam and johnson before nodding to agree, "sure".

the girls excitedly began to discuss the party with themselves whilst iris wrapped her arms around my neck.

"you're the best and this is probably something that i should reward you for" she leant in to try and give me a kiss until johnson pulled me away.

"as cute as this is, we have class so jack's reward will have to wait" he lightly pushed me ahead of him so us three could get to our lectures on time.

we've been at college for seven months and it's already gotten to a point where the frat parties every week start to drain you a little.

but as a player of the usc trojans, i feel obliged to attend and get drunk enough to look like i'm enjoying myself more than i am.

"jack".

i looked over my shoulder and was met by jonah. i stood and immediately hugged him, "jonah! hey!".

"how are things?" he asked, sitting down beside me at the mini bar that the house had.

"good, you?".

"good, good" he nodded.

as the conversation died down, he ordered a few shots and took them all one after the other. the party continued to go on around us - loud music, occasional cheering and the room reeking of alcohol and weed.

"um last week, i went to see dakota" jonah mentioned.

i moved uncomfortably in my seat, once again being unsettled by my ex girlfriend's name being bought up.

"i just thought you'd like to know that she's doing okay" he added.

i continued to just stare blankly back at him, unaware of how to respond.

"and to be honest, what you did was a real dick move" jonah's tone switched. "y'know, just ignoring her calls and texts and cutting her off out of nowhere".

i shook my head and gulped down the remains of my beer, "it wasn't out of nowhere. i did it for her".

"what bullshit".

"i did, okay? i messed up and..." i paused, rethinking my words. "she just doesn't need my crap right now".

"she deserves an explanation, jack" jonah practically pleaded.

i fiddled with the empty beer can in my hand, "has she moved on?".

i glanced back at jonah as he shrugged his shoulders, "there's a guy called isaac".

i nodded, trying to absorb the information that i didn't want to hear but asked for.

"i-is she happy?" i wondered with my voice low, that i was surprised he could hear me.

jonah released a small smile, "yeah, she loves it at stanford".

"oh, hey" iris interrupted us. "jonah, right? connor's super cute boyfriend".

jonah lightly frowned in confusion then chuckled, "yeah, that's me. hi".

"babe, come" she turned her attention to me and stood in between my legs. "we're about to play some beer pong".

"i'll be there in a sec" i told her.

she planted a deep kiss on my lips then disappeared into the crowd of people. i awkwardly glanced at jonah, who looked away as if he saw nothing.

i know very well that he'll tell dakota about iris, but then again he will probably leave her to continue on with her happy life instead of dragging me back into it.

i left my seat at the bar, following in iris' direction to join the game of beer pong and in hopes of drinking away my thoughts.

+

dakota's pov +

most evenings i spend my time working at a italian restaurant ten minutes away from campus - the pay is pretty good and the staff are nice enough for me to sometimes get excited to come to work.

isaac works here too and was actually the one who found me the job in the first place - working here together was really what got us as close as we are.

"your order will be with you soon" i smiled, telling the table i was serving.

i ripped off the paper with their selected food and headed towards the heat lamp, where i gave it in and was met by isaac.

"why did we agree to pick up an extra shift tonight?" isaac complained as waited for the food for our tables.

"because we're stupid, that's why".

"i mean, it has it's perks" he shrugged then let out a smirk. "you looking hot in your uniform".

"waitress fetish?" i joked and furrowed my brows. "wow".

isaac rolled his eyes and chuckled, "your table 4 is up".

he gestured to the well-presented plates of food. i took them over to the fourth table that was occupied by a young couple. they nicely thanked me before i asked if they needed anything else.

"boss wants to see us in the kitchen" isaac appeared behind me and whispered.

i finished with the table four and walked alongside him towards the kitchen.

"what did you do and drag me into?" i sighed.

"nothing. he wants to see everyone, smart ass".

we entered the kitchen and there was half of the staff gathered together with the manager standing in front of us all.

"so on friday, the restaurant will be catering for a rewards ceremony in san francisco" he told. "it's for various college sports teams in california and i've chosen all of my best servers to work the event. you will be paid twice as much if you needed more motivation to work that evening".

he continued to explain more information about the event such as travel, accommodation, a brief overview of the menu for the chefs and a reminder of our etiquette.

once it was over, he dismissed us back to work and isaac and i left the kitchen discussing what was just announced to us.

"call in sick?" he suggested.

i raised my brows, "both of us? yeah, because that won't look suspicious. come on, it will only be for a few hours".

"serving stuck up college jocks all evening, fun".

"it won't be that bad" i said, taking out my mini notepad for orders. "plus you get to be stuck in a car for 40 minutes with me".

i flashed him a smile before turning on the heels of my shoes to welcome more customers to a free table.

-

my aesthetic is sam, johnson and jonah lowkey being team jakota than team jiris 😌💙

it's only chapter two but i think i need jakota back already...

but what do you think really happened between them?

pLUS drama in the next chapter if you haven't already guessed !!

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