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the two of us, so sometimes I worried about him.

The morning air smelled like garbage, which wasn’t that unusual on hot and humid days. It was like the air just sat still and the smells of the streets got trapped. By the time I made it to the train station sweat was dripping down my back and I was grateful that I didn’t have to wait long for my train to show up because I was in desperate need of air conditioning. As luck would have it, I even managed to get a seat.
    Just as I walked through the doors of the community center my phone started to chime. My brother had finally texted.
    Sorry I forgot to text you last night, stayed at Mel’s and probably will again tonight
    The message made me feel better and I smiled.
    “Message from your boyfriend?”
    I looked up and realized Don was talking to me. “What?” I asked, even though I’d heard his question just fine.
    “You look happy, just figured it was your boyfriend sending you a sweet message.”
    I couldn’t think of anything to say in response. It wasn’t really his business whether or not I had a boyfriend, and if he didn’t work at the community center I probably would have told him that; but with me as desperate for a job as I was, I couldn’t afford to piss him off and take the chance he’d say something to Mrs. Connor that would cost me my job.
    “No, just my brother,” I answered too quickly. It would have been better if I’d told him that, yes, it was my boyfriend, my very jealous boyfriend, texting me. At least that way he’d know I was off limits.
    I rushed past Donald before he could ask any more prying questions. On my way to the classroom I bumped into Mrs. Conner. “I was just looking for you,” she said.
    “What’s up?”
    “The boys’ basketball team practices this morning, and when they’re done a few of the players will be going to the computer lab. I want you to head over there, get things set up, and when the boys show up, help anyone who needs it.”
    “Sure, of course, no problem.”
    It was another half hour before anyone showed up. I felt kind of bad sitting around knowing I was getting paid to pretty much do nothing. To pass the time I took out my phone and started reading one of my e-books. If I’d known I would have so much downtime I would’ve brought an actual book to read with me, I hated reading on the small phone screen, but it beat just sitting there doing nothing.
    When I heard voices and laughter coming from outside the door I tucked my phone away and went to open the door.
    Five boys, still sweating from basketball practice, walked in followed by Justin. “Make your way over to those computers over there,” he said, pointing to the back of the room.
    As the boys sat down in front of the computers, Justin turned to me. “Jessica, right?”
    I nodded. “You can call me Jesse, though, that’s what most people do.”
    “How’s everything going so far?”
    “Good,” I replied, trying to think of something clever to add, but I was never good at making conversation.
    Justin stood and looked around the room awkwardly for a few moments. For someone who coached basketball he wasn’t that tall, only a few inches taller than me and I was right at average height. But he had strong broad shoulders. I noticed that even with the loose-fitting shirt he wore. “Okay, well. I. . .better get back to my office now,” he finally said.
    “We’ll see you Thursday, right coach?” One of the boys called out as Justin turned to leave.
    “No practice Thursday, remember?”
    “Awww, man,” a few of the boys replied in unison.
    It turned out the boys didn’t really need my help. They spent most of the time joking around with each other and talking about girls and acted like I wasn’t even there.
    “Mrs. Connor told me you guys were supposed to be looking for information on colleges,” I said after a while.
    “Don’t need to,” one of them said. “I’m going to whatever school I get a basketball scholarship