The Devil Wears Number Seventeen

1- Interviewing Jace Ryder

"For the next magazine, we need Jace Ryder's biography." Mrs. Carter, my English professor, said, barely looking up from the book she was reading, making me stare at her wide-eyed.

Jace Ryder's biography?

The infamous hockey player everyone loved?

"So, you must interview him. We need to know everything— his past, his childhood, his dreams, his plans... basically his life story. So, starting today, I want you to interview him every day for an hour. You have two months to interview him and prepare the content for the school magazine." She continued, and I let out a sigh, nodding my head.

"Understood, Mrs. Carter," I said, turning around to leave her office when I realized something really important.

"Um, Mrs. Carter, did you, by any chance, inform Jace that he would be interviewed for the school magazine?" I asked her, and for the first time since I came into her cabin, she looked up, adjusting her glasses.

"Of course not, Miss Brooks. Why would I inform students when I have employed you for the task?" She said and got back to reading, making me glare at her.

Employed?

The hell does she mean by employed?

It's like I am being paid for being the school journalist. Maybe a few extra marks, but employed!?

"Miss Brooks," She called me when I was about to leave, halting me on my steps. When I turned around, she pointed towards the door. "Close the door on your way back. You always forget to do it."

Clenching my teeth, I smiled sweetly at my English Professor and nodded my head at her.

"Right away, Ma'am. Anything else?"

"A good biography, maybe?"

"Certainly, Ma'am."

Bitch.

***

Jace Ryder was laughing with his friends, eating his lunch in the cafeteria, when I entered the Senior wing. Dressed in his signature Jersey with number seventeen written on it and a pair of dark sweatpants, he easily stood out in the crowd.

My heart thumped loudly when I approached the most famous table in the school, where all the famous people of the school sat. Being socially awkward and a people-hater, it became extremely hard to approach different people every day for the purpose of publishing the magazine nobody even takes the trouble to read.

Gathering as much courage as I could, I walked closer to the elite table.

Everyone was busy laughing, eating, and gossiping with each other that none of them really noticed me. I cleared my throat awkwardly, but everything was in vain when none of them acknowledged me.

Finally, after giving myself a pep talk, I called out his name.

"Jace."

But my voice was too low to be heard over their loud laughter and chatter. So, I called him again. This time loudly.

"Jace."

My voice must have been too loud because the entire table went silent. And not just their table but even the tables beside them went silent when I called him, making everyone stare at me. My cheeks turned red at the attention. I clutched my diary tightly in my hands and looked at a certain brown-eyed boy with dark curly hair who was already looking at me curiously.

I smiled awkwardly at him and cleared my throat.

"If you don't mind and are done with your lunch, can I have you for a minute?" I asked him, and he furrowed his eyebrows at me, tilting his head as if he was trying to recognize me.

"I have practice after lunch." Was his reply, and I felt embarrassment crawling up my cheeks.

Great way of getting rejected without even approaching someone.

"It will just take a moment. I'm actually—" I was starting to introduce myself when a boy sitting beside him interrupted me.

"Wait, did you get her pregnant?" His friend asked him, genuinely confused and curious, and I choked on my breath, looking at them, wide-eyed.

"What the f**k, Nolan!? No!" Jace said, giving his friend a disgusted look. "I don't even know her."

"But she looks sick to me. Look at her pale cheeks." Another one added, making me flush even more red. I instinctively touched my cheeks and found them burning hot.

"So you assumed that I impregnated her?" Jace asked him, appalled and shocked beyond words, and the boy, I suppose, who was Nolan, shrugged his shoulders.

"Wouldn't be a new thing." He mumbled under his breath but loud enough for everyone to hear.

A round of chuckles filled the cafeteria, and I felt heat rising in my neck. Clearing my throat for the umpteenth time, I looked at the boys with annoyed expressions.

"Excuse me, guys, I am still standing here. Just in case you forgot." I said, and Nolan immediately got up from his seat.

"Do you want to sit?" He asked me, and I glared at him in embarrassment.

"I am not pregnant, for God's sake! I am Selene Brooks, the school journalist. I was sent here by Mrs. Carter to interview Jace for the next school magazine." I said, embarrassed and angry, and the boy raised his hands in mock-surrender.

"Oh, so you're the hallway hawk." He said, sitting back on his chair, and the rest of his friends erupted in chuckles, making it harder for me to stand there, even for a second more.

Hallway hawk.

That was the name everyone had given me ever since I became a school journalist. Surprisingly, nobody was interested in applying for the position. It wasn't until I got selected that I realized why nobody wanted to apply for the position.

Mrs. Carter was a certified pain in the ass.

"Enough, Nolan." Jace suddenly interrupted, his eyes silently warning him as he stood up from the table, sliding his unfinished tray of food towards one of his other friends and motioning for me to take the lead.

It wasn't until he stood up that I realized how tall he really was. When I was just five feet four inches, he was easily six feet tall, if not more.

I walked out of the cafeteria and led him towards the small classroom that was assigned to the journalism department. But since only I worked as a journalist, I had the classroom all to myself, most of the time.

"And what does an empty room have to do with the interview, Brooks?" Jace asked me, humor lurking in his voice, though his tone remained neutral.