5: The Jacket
1451 Words
I stared at Asher’s varsity jacket for almost five minutes before finally picking it up.
Heavy navy wool. White leather sleeves.
Anybody on campus would recognize it immediately.
My roommate, Dani, had gone completely silent the first time she saw it hanging beside my desk.
The second time, she pointed at it with her ramen cup and frowned at me.
“Why do you have Asher Hayes’ jacket?”
“I’m borrowing it.”
“From who?”
“A friend.”
She stared at me for a long second.
“That might be the worst lie you’ve ever told.”
Then she walked back out.
Now it was almost noon, and my stomach felt sick.
I checked my phone again.
Still nothing from Asher.
No texts. No confirmation.
My stomach dropped.
He wasn’t coming.
Of course he wasn’t.
What kind of i***t agrees to fake date the most intimidating guy on campus after knowing him less than a day?
Apparently me.
I swallowed hard and pulled the jacket on anyway.
The second I slid my arms into the sleeves, my stomach tightened.
It hung too large on me. The cuffs covered part of my hands, and the weight settled across my shoulders like something permanent.
Like I was making a mistake I couldn’t take back.
I grabbed my backpack before I could change my mind.
The quad was crowded already.
Students crossed between buildings carrying coffee cups and laptops while music drifted faintly from somewhere near the fountain. Bikes rolled past. Somebody shouted across the lawn.
At first, nobody noticed me.
Then someone did.
A girl walking past slowed down mid-conversation. Her eyes dropped to the sleeve of the jacket.
She grabbed her friend’s arm immediately.
Both of them turned around.
After that, the whispers followed me everywhere.
“Wait—is that—?”
“No way.”
“That’s Asher Hayes’ number.”
My pulse pounded harder with every step.
Keep walking.
Just keep walking.
Then I saw Liam near the fountain.
Of course he was there.
He leaned against the stone edge beside two teammates, laughing at something on one of their phones. The second he looked up and saw me, his expression changed.
First confusion.
Then amusement.
Then pure arrogance.
“Well,” Liam called loudly, pushing away from the fountain, “this is new.”
The guys beside him noticed the jacket and immediately started laughing.
“Oh my God,” one of them muttered.
Liam grinned wider as he walked toward me.
“You actually bought one?” he asked. “Maisie, seriously?”
People nearby started slowing down.
Watching.
Heat rushed into my face instantly.
Liam noticed.
Of course he noticed.
“This is getting sad,” he continued, lowering his voice like he was trying to help me. “You could’ve just answered my texts.”
I didn’t answer.
Mostly because I was too busy scanning the crowd.
No Asher.
My heartbeat climbed faster.
You i***t.
Liam stepped closer.
“Come on,” he said softly. “Take the jacket off.”
People were staring now.
Too many people.
For one horrible second, I almost listened.
My fingers actually twitched near the sleeve.
Liam noticed immediately.
His smile widened.
Then the noise around the fountain shifted.
Not dramatically.
Just quieter.
Like conversations had suddenly cut off all at once.
Liam’s expression changed first.
I turned around slowly.
Asher walked across the quad with his hands in the pockets of a dark gray jacket, his hood pulled low against the cold wind.
He wasn’t doing anything intimidating.
That was the scary part.
Nobody told people to move.
They just did.
Conversations lowered around him naturally. Even the hockey players near the fountain straightened automatically when they saw him.
Liam’s confidence cracked so fast it was almost painful to watch.
“Asher,” he said quickly. “Hey, man.”
Asher barely looked at him.
His eyes landed on me instead.
Then on the jacket.
“You wore it.”
My mouth suddenly felt dry.
“You told me to.”
“Good.”
That was all he said.
Still, whispers exploded around us immediately.
Phones started coming out everywhere.
Asher stopped in front of me and reached up calmly to straighten the folded collar near my shoulder.
The touch barely lasted a second.
Still, the entire crowd reacted to it instantly.
Liam laughed suddenly.
Too loudly.
“Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “No way this is real.”
Nobody answered him.
That seemed to make him nervous.
He looked between us before forcing another grin.
“Seriously, Asher? You know she’s doing this because she’s obsessed with me, right?”
The silence afterward felt ugly.
A girl near the fountain looked openly disgusted.
One of Liam’s teammates muttered, “Dude, shut up.”
Liam ignored him.
“She’s trying to make me jealous,” he continued. “Ask anybody.”
Asher finally looked at him fully.
And somehow that felt worse than yelling.
“She made you look stupid without trying,” Asher said calmly.
A few people nearby laughed before quickly hiding it.
Color rushed into Liam’s face.
“You don’t even know what happened,” he snapped.
“I know enough.”
Liam glanced around the quad.
Too many people were watching now.
Too many phones.
Too many whispers.
One of his teammates quietly walked away.
Panic flashed across Liam’s face for half a second before anger covered it again.
Then he pointed at me suddenly.
“She was practically in love with me two days ago.”
The words hit so hard my chest actually hurt.
Liam saw it immediately.
There you are.
That look was written all over his face.
That’s the reaction he wanted.
Asher noticed too.
His hand settled lightly against the middle of my back.
Not possessive.
Steady.
Like touching me belonged in his routine already.
That scared me more than it should have.
Liam stared at the hand on my back.
And for the first time since I met him, he looked genuinely rattled.
“You can’t be serious,” he said quietly.
Nobody had ever looked at me as steadily as Asher did right then.
Like he’d already decided exactly what role we were supposed to play.
“She’s with me,” Asher said simply.
The entire quad seemed to freeze.
Even Liam looked stunned.
Because Asher didn’t sound angry.
Or defensive.
Or fake.
He sounded certain.
Whispers broke out all over the fountain again.
Liam laughed once under his breath, but it sounded forced now.
“This is insane.”
“Probably,” Asher agreed.
Then he looked at me.
“You ready?”
“Yeah,” I said, hoping my voice sounded steadier than I felt.
Asher nodded once and started walking beside me.
I could feel every person in the quad staring as we crossed the lawn together.
The whispers followed us halfway across campus.
By the time we reached the quieter path beside the library, my heartbeat still hadn’t slowed down.
The second we stepped out of sight of the crowd, the warmth vanished from Asher’s face.
It happened so fast it almost made my chest hurt.
His hand dropped from my back immediately.
Distance returned between us again.
“You did fine,” he said.
Just like that.
No softness. No lingering looks. Nothing.
Like the guy beside the fountain and the guy walking beside me now were two completely different people.
I hated that I noticed.
Then shouting erupted behind us.
We both turned automatically.
Near the fountain, Liam shoved one of his teammates hard enough that the guy stumbled backward into a bench.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” somebody shouted.
Another player grabbed Liam before he could swing again.
People nearby started recording instantly.
“You think this is funny?” Liam snapped, jerking free.
One of the hockey players looked furious now.
“You made a bet on her, man!”
“Shut your mouth.”
“You embarrassed the whole team!”
More students slowed around the fountain.
The crowd kept growing.
Phones lifted higher into the air.
Liam looked around and realized too late that everybody could hear him.
Everybody.
The humiliation hit his face all at once.
Red. Furious. Cornered.
Then his head turned.
Straight toward me.
Even from this far away, I felt it.
Not embarrassment anymore.
Hatred.
Cold and immediate.
Like he needed someone to blame for all of this.
Beside me, Asher went completely still.
Then he said quietly—
“He’s going to do something stupid.”
My stomach tightened.
Because Liam wasn’t looking at Asher.
He was looking at me.
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