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CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN "THE POPULATION OF COUGAR TOWN IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH"
"I WISH YOU'D STOP STEALING MY GIRLFRIEND AWAY." Jonathan Byers slipped into the booth next to Nancy with a tray of food in his hand.
Dylan rolled her eyes. "I pay her good money to help me. How exactly to you benefit her life again? Oh, right, by being an annoyingly brooding loner?"
"Jesus, alright," he responded but he wasn't offended, instead she could see the humour on his face. "Calm down."
She ignored the latter part of his sentence, well aware he was only trying to instigate her further, and instead poured a shitload of sugar into her black coffee. Dylan slowly took a sip, wary of the jitters it would bring—it was her third cup that evening.
Jonathan began to chomp down on his burger and fries and Dylan scolded him. "Don't you dare get any of your shit on my notes. They're colour-coded."
Nancy broke her silence with laughter. "I can't believe you guys—every time. And Dylan, I'd never thought I'd hear you be defensive over note taking."
Dylan shrugged. "I didn't realize what hard work it was."
Nancy was in the middle of another lecture when Dylan's watch beeped to remind her of the time. She looked down and it read 7:15. She let out an audible breath.
"Looks like you can have your girlfriend back."
"Whys that?" Jonathan said with a mouth half-filled with food.
"I forget how antisocial you are sometimes," she began to gather her papers into her messenger bag. "There's a basketball game tonight."
"And?"
Nancy looked at her boyfriend, biting back a grin. "Didn't I tell you? Dylan's their watergirl."
Jonathan's mouth opened but Dylan raised a hand before he could get a word out. "Nope, don't. Not a word."
He shrugged but the joking expression on his face was irritating enough. She left in a huff, Jonathan stayed with a satisfied look on his face.
The gym was already half crowded upon her arrival. Most of Hawkin's High did not share Jonathan's hatred for school spirit. Though, she would probably agree with him. She figured this watergirl gig had ended as Christmas break begun but she was sadly mistaken. Coach approached her the first day back to school telling her not to forget her extracurricular activities and that he had slipped the basketball schedule into her locker.
Coach looked up at her as she padded across the gym. "I see you found my note."
"Unfortunately."
Dylan went behind the bleachers and grabbed the fold-out table for her water jug. She lugged the table and water to the edge of the court, working up a sweat.
