Page 13 of Summer Breakdown (Training Seasons #2)
Jasmine didn’t run away at the open day, and to reward herself for her bravery, she bought a dress.
She wears it now as she pushes Kehlani towards the training grounds again.
Even if she avoided Frankie the entire time, she still didn’t run.
To be fair, Frankie was in her office for most of it, but Jasmine felt like she was there, lingering behind her and invading her peace.
But she got through it and only half thought about her when she got off in the shower.
It’s her new summer plan. She doesn’t need friends.
This is the last summer she’ll have to spend with Lani before she starts school, and she might even get Marcel for a few days when he breaks up next week for summer.
The junior training camp is only until October.
Hopefully, Marcel will hate it, and she’ll never have to see Frankie Adebayo ever again.
So, it’s rude that Jasmine’s heart thumps with the idea of seeing her today.
She won’t. Her and Lani’s visit was planned to avoid seeing Frankie.
Jasmine finally texted Mali back, apologised for her departure and blamed it on cramps, and asked if they could tour the grounds before practice started.
Ezra was at the open day and said Lani could train, and she’d jumped at the idea.
Jasmine’s not sure she cares for rugby that much, but she likes being with Marcel, and after a fifteen-minute conversation where he said all of three words, she’s decided Ezra is her best friend .
Jasmine knows Mali is the only one in the office today, but annoyingly, somewhere she tries not to look, she hopes she can glare at Frankie from across the field anyway.
It’s barely been six days since the open day, but Frankie has taken up real estate in Jasmine’s dreams. She wants to hate her, but every time she tries, something happens.
It’s like divine intervention but to piss her off.
Jasmine will scowl at the way Frankie didn’t have the decency to text her, but then the way she ran to wash her hands the moment she knew it was Kehlani shoves its way in.
Jasmine will try and remember the way she felt when Frankie left, and then the way she crosses her fingers lands in her frontal lobe.
She wants to hate her, but then she researched what it means to be bipolar, and she just—it sounds so fucking tiring.
Jasmine wants to push Lani into the office and pretend she’s not thinking about the way Frankie smiled at the stars.
Is that so hard? She wants to be so uninterested in her existence that she barely looks at her.
But her laugh invades her thoughts as she tries to pretend she was looking at the noticeboard, where the events Frankie arranged were forced into her eyeline.
It’s difficult to dislike someone who hosts a rugby match for the elderly and serves tea and biscuits, but Jasmine will try her best.
Frankie’s smile clings to every thought Jasmine has, and she hasn’t even seen her face in days.
Marcel (the light of Jasmine’s life and her new sworn enemy) followed Frankie on Jasmine’s Instagram.
(He doesn’t have a fancy phone because he only just turned fourteen, and she’s terrified of him being online.
He doesn’t push for one, but she has been thinking about it.) If he hadn’t done that, Frankie wouldn’t have requested to follow her back.
Jasmine stared at the notification for hours before she finally accepted it, and that’s only because she took a hot photo and, like a loser, she wanted to rub it in Frankie’s face.
Now, every time Jasmine posts a story (Lani is cute in summer, and sometimes Marcel doesn’t groan if she pulls her phone out) Frankie reacts to it.
Sometimes, she replies. Jasmine was perfectly content to ignore her, but Frankie reacts with a laughing sideways emoji, like a grandma, and she tells Jasmine the cringeworthy photos of sunsets are pretty, and she makes it seem like Jasmine is interesting just by doing nothing.
She’s nice . And she’s ruining Jasmine’s life.
Fool her once, shame on her, et cetera, but Jasmine is halfway to being fooled again.
The night Jasmine met her, Frankie made it seem like Jasmine was interesting and she just wanted to fuck her.
Jasmine doesn’t know what Frankie wants now.
But, on her hundredth replay of the night, she remembers Frankie didn’t ask her anything.
She barely spoke to her. But now Frankie’s got questions left and right because she found out Jasmine played rugby for five minutes about seven years ago.
Now Frankie finds her interesting. Now that she’s not just a mum.
Jasmine hates how she fell for it. There’s a fine line between flirting and cruelty.
Frankie didn’t need to say she wanted to go out with her.
She didn’t need to say next time. She didn’t need to do anything other than get her tongue wet.
Frankie must think she’s an idiot. Cam was clear, and Jasmine asked her out anyway.
So, no, Jasmine’s chest doesn’t sink when she sees it’s just Mali in the office. Jasmine likes Mali.
“Hey, girl!” Mali says, then her eyes widen. “Oh my God, hi!”
Lani smiles. “Hi.”
“I’m Mali,” she says, bending down. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
Mali is easy to be around. She’s stupidly kind and jumped back into conversation with Jasmine easily, even though Jasmine had ignored her for the better part of a week. Maybe she’s no better than Frankie.
“You’re so pretty,” Mali says, and Lani bends forwards with a smile. Mali’s right. She is.
“Thank you,” Lani replies. She takes her hat off. “Mama did my braids this morning. I’m Kehlani.”
“Wow,” Mali replies. “Maybe I need my hair braided.”
“Mama said you have other colour hair too,” Lani says, leaning forwards like she does when the conversation is important. Jasmine may be ignored for the next hour, but it’s so sweet she doesn’t mind.
“So many! Come over with your mum for a cuppa and I’ll show you.”
Lani smiles, her feet touching at the toes. “And maybe… could I try one?”
Mali gasps with a smile. “Of course!”
Jasmine reads some of the pamphlets while they talk. The one for the accounting position is still there, but she’s not trying to be around Frankie any more than she needs to. Mali stands back up.
“Hi!”
Jasmine smiles. “Hey. Thanks for letting us check the place out.”
Jasmine already knows most of the grounds are accessible.
There’s a path that runs along the perimeter of the pitch, so they can sit on the opposite stands.
Public places usually have accessibility, but it’s a secondary thought.
It takes you to the right place, but it takes ten times as long to get there, and a map is usually needed.
According to Google Maps, there are some steps on this side.
Lani can walk, but if she’s in pain, Jasmine likes to know if she’ll need to carry her for a long period or leave her chair somewhere.
Then, she knows what bag to bring and if they need her braces.
“Sure! It’s a bit busy right now,” Mali says, and she ushers them through the office. “I think they should be done tomorrow, but you can see it early.”
Jasmine frowns. “See what?”
When they get outside, it’s a building site. Ezra and Zach are sweaty and topless, and there’s at least one other person Jasmine doesn’t recognise. The turf has been taken up, and bags of concrete are everywhere.
And Frankie, with a shovel… Oh, fuck. She leans her elbow on it, her leg cocked slightly as she drinks some water. Jasmine tries desperately with her mind to get it to spill down Frank’s chest.
It doesn’t, and Jasmine will just ignore her. As soon as she can tear her eyes away from Frankie’s sweaty figure, she’ll check the steps and go.
“Frankie!” Lani shouts, with a wave. Dammit. Lani only spoke to her for like four minutes, but she probably can’t see Ezra from her chair because he’s kneeling on the ground.
Frankie looks over. She looks good. At the open day, she was in uniform, and Jasmine had thought about it as she’d went to sleep.
Shorts aren’t supposed to look that good.
It’s like an unwritten rule. Now, Frankie is in baggy dark grey cargos and a tight white top.
She should look like a janitor. Jasmine is desperately trying to force the image of a mop into her hand, but she knows there’s nothing bad about being a janitor, and the shovel is only making it worse for Jasmine. And Frankie’s too fucking hot anyway.
Frankie looks over, and for a moment, Jasmine hopes she doesn’t recognise Lani. They only met for a moment, and then Lani met Ezra and didn’t care about anyone else.
But Frankie waves back, and then her body twists as if she’s going to come over. She drops her shovel on the ground, and Jasmine wants to ask Mali what they’re doing, but she’s gone to take photos of Zach. Fair, but now Jasmine is about to be semi-alone with Frankie. At least she has Lani.
“Ezra!” Lani shouts, when he stands up. He looks over with a frown, and even though his face doesn’t change, Jasmine thinks he’s glad it’s Lani. She waves, and he might wave back, but Frankie is so close that Jasmine can see the sweat drip into the dip of her neck.
“Hey,” Frankie says, when she stands in front of them. Jasmine smiles. She’s not rude. She can ignore Frankie while acknowledging she exists.
“You okay?” Lani asks, with a smile. She’s Jasmine’s favourite thing under fourteen. Her little watch, her sunglasses, and her bucket hat. She’s adorable.
“I’m okay, thanks babe,” Frankie replies. She lifts her top to wipe across her forehead, and Jasmine’s stomach bloats with how hard she keeps her sigh to herself.
“You okay?” Frankie asks. “Where’s Marcel?”
“Yes, thank you,” Lani says. “Marc is at school. We just came to… Mama?” Lani loves to start a conversation she has no intention of completing.