“I’m always happy to take on anything and everything,” I remind her lightly, because that’s been my mantra for the past two years as I try to push my way into everyone’s brains as the obvious choice for captain. I haven’t exactly been showing it lately—leaving practice as soon as it’s over in the hopes of catching Jack to drive her home, letting Sara Copeley take charge of the signage this Friday—but I still mean it when I say I’ll do anything for this team.

They don’t even know how much I’m proving it by staying in the closet.

“You’ve seemed a little preoccupied lately,” she says, not for the first time in the past few weeks. “Are you stressed about the game?”

Of all the things I could be stressed about, the game is dead last. We have PSATs around the corner, I’m way behind on my campaign for captain, I have a secret girlfriend, I know Cara’s unsettling secret, I’m in a fake romance with my gay best friend … whether or not the Alligators can win a game they haven’t won in at least a decade isn’t exactly at the top of my concern list.

She doesn’t wait for me to respond, though. “I am too, honestly. It’s, like, we’re supposed to be cheering and wanting the guys to win, but, like, nobody wants to win this way. It’s bad enough she’s getting credit for their wins this year when everyone knows they’re just upping their game to make Robbie proud.” She stands a little taller when she says this, and I don’t know whether I’m gladder I can’t see her face or that she can’t see mine. “But now the alumni are gonna come back and buy that same bull if we win. I’d rather they see how much she sucks.”

But she doesn’t suck. There’s no reason to state the obvious here, especially now that I know about Cara and Robbie. There’s nothing I could say to make her accept that Jack’s the hero here if she’s determined to believe that somehow Robbie’s “magic” is at play, the driving force behind the team’s newly winning record.

I can’t bring myself to say anything really shitty about Jack, so I go with the safest bet: “Considering how long it’s been since we’ve won a homecoming game, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

She snorts. “Yeah, right?” She leans against the lockers. “What is it then? Are you nervous about performing in front of the old squad? I know Jamie will be back. I bet if you impress her, she’ll put in a good word to Crystal.”