Synonym

Chapter 24

We were walking to the cafe together to get our daily free lunch when my phone binged. It was twitter saying I was mentioned in a post. I unlocked the smartphone and tapped on the notification. When the twitter bird disappeared I saw it was a thirty second video clip of me getting literally mashed. It looked to be from the tape recordings of our practices that Coach uses to review performance.

A glance at the user explained it all. Jason. Fucking Jason.

TheRealMalfoy: @Freemason I would make fun of you for this but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have even got up after the first go.

I couldn't help but snort. Finn looked over at me from the salad bar and raised an eyebrow. I showed him the scream while using me free hand to add chicken to my salad. Finn rolled his eyes but I saw the smirk on his face that he tried to conceal by looking back down at his food. He would never admit he found it funny, just like that time I passed out in court, but I knew he was dying of laughter on the inside.

Freemason: @TheRealMalfoy You're just jealous I get more action than you. Besides, we all know I have more balls than you.

I tweeted back at Jason while bring my lip to hold in my laughter. My thumb clicked the power button on my phone before I slipped it into my back jean pocket and finished building my free lunch.

Jason had been relishing in his newfound followers since the Nike interview aired and the photoshoot got printed. All five of us gained a substantial amount of followers since then. I already had a good chunk since I was on the news practically everyday and because I got into a twitter fight with one of sports most prominent analysts.

I didn't use twitter often but some how I had around 968k followers. My instagram had less but I was much more active on that platform.

At this point I was mostly posting pictures of Finn and I with the occasional picture form the gym but those were far and in between. We weren't allowed to take our phones to training so I only got to take pictures on the off chance that I went to the gym outside of practice (and I obviously don't have much time for that). Besides, Finn basically runs my account. He loves taking couple photos.

But I definitely wasn't complaining.

I don't know why Instagram verified me but they did. Maybe Nike pulled some strings for me or maybe I was on the news enough. Either way, I again; wasn't complaining.

I heard Jason walking in behind us, his loud footsteps a dead giveaway. I turned on my head to face him as he picked up a pre-made grilled chicken sandwich from a metal tray under a food lamp and continued to walk down the line until he passed Finn and I. "Let's go losers! We're going to be late!" He called while we watched his figure leave the cafe through the corridors.

I glanced at Finn on my left where he was already rolling his green eyes and scoffing. The two of us fell into step together as we crossed the white tile floor of the cafe, avoiding the four seater wooden square tables and chairs. Finn opened the wooden corridor and held it open as I walked through the door. "He thinks we're the losers? He does know he's the designated third wheel right?" I commented while opening the outer metal door.

Finn passed me and I let the door go as we crossed the luke warm parking lot. It seemed as though the weather couldn't make its mind up. It wasn't hot but it wasn't cold. At least it was dry in the air and not humid. It made for a nice fall day, the kind where you could smell the leaves and the crisp air.

The parking lot was almost empty, just our Suburban and a few various trucks and sedans in the back of the lot. Jason already had the engine running like the time freak he was.

"Be sure to remind of him that later on." Finn commented as we rounded the back of the Suburban. He opened the trunk and I chucked my bag and my lacrosse stick in with his. The trunk slammed shut and I took my seat in the back of the car. Finn sat in the front with Jason most of the time but I didn't mind. I had room to stretch out, and room to study on crammed days.

"Hey Jason? What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" I asked as he put his phone on the center console and pulled out of the parking lot. A Migos song played in the background but it was turned down low. Jason wasn't much of a music person when he was driving.

"Staying here." He said duly while pulling onto the highway. That answer got Finn's attention too, he was watching Jason now.

"Why?" I asked cautiously.

"Dad's in jail and Mom's a Korean immigrant in California who doesn't care for American holidays." He responded simply. Jason never talked about his family and I could see why. I would feel reluctant to talk about my parents if they were in prison.

"You should come home with us." Finn jumped in before I could offer the same thing. Both of our houses had multiple guest rooms and our fathers would be more than welcoming of a guest for a weekend. I couldn't see Jason's face from my seat, but Finn must have seen reluctance because he started to try and convince our friend. "Come on man. You're both our friends. Our fathers are never home if that's what your worried about and we have more than enough space to accommodate you. We're driving up with Sam the day before. You should tag along."

"It's better than being alone." I pointed out while watching the dull DC landscape flutter by the window of the car.

Silence filled the car as we awaited Jason's decision. Finally he sighed. "Why the hell not? I'll go."

I couldn't help but smile at the notion of my dinner table getting one seat bigger.