Page 24 of Enemy Games

“So this is some secret passed down?”

He sat back with a serious expression. “And now you must take the same oath to protect this information.”

I laughed, then caught myself. I didn’t want to think he was funny. He was a jerk. That’s it.

He slid his other notebook toward me. “These are my psych notes. They also include some tips from previous students. The biggest thing to focus on for the first exam is the different psychologists and their key theories.”

I narrowed my eyes. “We haven’t even covered that.”

“Exactly. You won’t discuss it in class until the week after the test, but it will be the reading assignment the week of the test.”

“That’s cruel.” I couldn't believe any professor would be that sneaky.

“It’s the weeder, remember. After that hurdle, it became one of my favorite classes. Professor Lennox is really knowledgeable and makes the material feel more practical than theoretical. If you’re serious about going into the communications field, it will be really helpful for you.”

I nodded, then stopped. “Are you not serious about it?”

“Well, maybe in fifteen or twenty years.” He ran his hand over his jaw. “I’m hoping to be playing until then.”

And, of course, I wouldn’t. Even though he was probably right, I didn’t appreciate the assumption.

“I’m planning on playing after I graduate.”

His eyes met mine for a brief moment before he cleared his throat. “Right, yeah. I mean sure.”

I watched him struggle with more enjoyment than was probably polite.

“I’m a replacement player for the Olympic team.” I didn’t owe him an explanation, but I liked watching people’s reaction to that bomb.

His brows shot up, and I fought back the urge to gloat. “You’re a replacement player? For the Olympic team?”

“Yeah, I’m not sure how many others are in front of me for my position, but I have to be on-call through the middle of February.”

He leaned back and cracked a smile. “Wow. That’s really cool, Presley. Not very many players our age make it.”

“Yeah, it's been my goal since I was a little girl.” Which he would have known if he ever bothered to talk to me rather than mocking me back then. “I’m hoping I get to play this year, which is kind of mean, since one of the other women would have to get injured for that to happen, but at least I’ll be on the radar for the next one.”

“That’s really cool. I hope you get the call.” He seemed genuine enough, but he could just be good at lying. My bets were on that.

We finished going over his suggestions for my classes, then he sat back, and I felt the need to keep the conversation going. “Well, should we discuss the service project?”

He grabbed the last notebook and flipped it open to a handwritten list. “These are the people in our group.”

I leaned forward to read the names. “We only have eight?”

“Yeah, I guess they expect the senior center and the skating lessons to require more volunteers, so they have bigger groups. I got another email from the city reps, and they have another group coming this weekend to help, so we’ll have a good number at the park too.”

“Okay. I can send reminders to them on Friday. I’m not sure how rides are going to work. There’re only two girls in the house with cars, and neither of them are in our group.”

He nodded, read over the list, and tapped on one name. “Trevor has one, but can only fit five. I can ask some of the other guys if we can borrow one.”

“Does the school have any vehicles?” My previous team could occasionally use a passenger van as long as no one else had it signed out.

“Not that I know of. I guess I could ask one of the coaches.” He pulled out his phone and started typing while I looked over the list again.

Chris was assigned to the animal shelter, but I did have Trista and Ellie. The last girl was Raven, a freshman I didn’t know well, but this was a good chance to change that.

“Alright, Coach Hiller is letting us use his truck since we were the first to ask. So, that’s taken care of as well.”