Jacob was looking at Leandro who was intently looking at the list he had just written up.

Leandro said "Is that all of them?"

Jacob said "Yes. The town is quite small. You want their names. I give you their names. But there is no point going after them. Jean didn't like boys. She never noticed anyone."

Leandro said "That's not the point."

Jacob sighed "Then what is?"

Leandro said "Don't question me. I am your captain and your dean."

Jacob nodded "I know you are the dean. But why are you also my captain. Leo said you are not a fan of team sports. You box. So why are you training the football team? Why the change of interest?"

Leandro said "It's good to see you are researching my interests. You will need to know what I like or dislike. You are smart not just academically."

Jacob said "Can you answer my question? I am curious. Why not just leave the football team to Leo? Do you not trust him? Why do you do something you don't like?"

Leandro said "I like winning. I don't like losing. That's all the information you need. But if you want to know why I am suddenly overseeing team sports it's not because I don't trust Leo. I do... Rivalries matter too. We have a reputation." He then walked away.

Jacob sighed as he watched Leandro walk a few steps ahead of him with his group of friends. It was after practice and they just had dressed up to go to breakfast together.

As he was walking, he found Leo catching up to him "I can't believe he gave you no laps for being late. He said you had an authorised absence. You are lucky."

Jacob said "I was happy to give myself extra laps. But I didn't want to be late. Flower pot is waiting for me in the cafeteria."

Leo said "Of course. Queen Jean."

Jacob said "Don't call her that."

Leo said "I forgot you are not in our circle... Leandro made it clear to us she is treated like a queen or we die. So I just call her by the title that matches her."

Jacob said "Hold on. He didn't say he will tell people he likes my sister."

Leo said "We are not people. We are his soldiers. All students at this school live to serve Leandro. He is the dean. The message spreads fast. Our football team all are heads of houses and have already spread the message. Well. They don't know he fancies her. I only do because my mother told me. She announced it this morning before we left for our morning run and Leandro nearly went mental on me for questioning him about it. He has given your sister immunity and the kids here can pretend they don't know he would not give immunity to a girl unless she grabs his attention. They try to keep their head down. So no one admits it. But they know to keep away from your sister if they want to live."

Jacob said "They better not freak her out. Flower pot doesnt like attention."

Leo chuckled "I told you. People would not dare. Leandro has made examples of many people in the past."

Jacob said "Your brother baffles me. He acts so strangely. Things that don't seem to matter, are important to him. He also doesn't explain his decisions. I know he is the dean. But I only asked him a simple question and he didn't give me a straight answer."

Leo said "Is that all that he did? You don't question the dean. He questions you. If he wishes you to know he will tell you himself. Don't push him. Normally if anyone questions him he points out the answer with a fist to the person who's asking. He is a boxer. I know his passion for boxing. Our grandpa apparently used to be a cage fighting boxer in his teens. He looks upto grandpa Francesco. Nicandro, our cousin likes sword fighting like grandpa O'Neil is Leandro's main rival. Both of them like individual sports. But they make exception for football because our schools are arch enemies in football."

Jacob said "That makes sense. That's what I was asking him actually. I was wondering why he cared enough to take over the captaincy from you. You are vice captain now because he suddenly is interested."

Leo nodded "I overheard you. So I thought I quench your curiosity. It's about his rivalry with Nicandro, our cousin. When he returns from military school this semester he will be back and his team will be coming down on us like an avalanche in the regional competitions. We are in their group. There are home and away games. We can't lose at home. We just can't. We have had a lot of injured players. Well, I am a good leader or so they say but I wasn't good in forcing the kids to take up football so we are short of recruits. Now we are getting more worthy recruits because my brother is forcing people to join. Leandro is making it compulsory for all boys to attend the Try outs like military service..."

Jacob said "Football is a team sport. By recruiting one or two individuals you cant win..."

Leo said "It is an individual sport if they have a Rossi on their team. I just heard yesterday they have recruited Michangelo Rossi."

Jacob raised an eyebrow "Ah. I have heard of him. He is one of the Rossi brothers. Now I get you. He is what I call ... a machine alongside his brother... There isn't an award the two brothers havent won in junior school league."

Leo said " I am glad you have done your research. I knew your football experience will be useful. Now. They will have Nicandro back by the time the regional competitions start. They have Michangelo. Now the games outcomes can swing depending on where Michangelo's brother may end up. His big brother Arcangelo is with Nicandro. Now he wants to get into that school to get on his baby brothers throat. We need Arcangelo. We need to bribe him to come here. But my cousin Natalia is good friends with michangelo so she is blocking Arcangelo joining their school. So the odds are against our favour. We are the next closest school. We can get Arc if he can't get into that school. The Rossi brothers are football stars. It's because of their coordination and reaction times. If you see their eyes you can see how fast they react. Arcangelo may refuse to come play for us if my sister gives him a hard time. So it's important times for us." He then looked into the distance.

Jacob said "Football is just a game. You talk about it like it's life and death."

Leo said "It's more than that. It's about our reputation."

As they reached the cafeteria, Jacob saw Leo stop and so did the rest of the team. They were looking at Elena outside.

Leo said "I need to catch up with my girl."

Jacob said "Flower pot is waiting. Let me know what Elena says to you." He then went inside.

Leo nodded "Sure." He then walked to where Elena was standing and stood in front of her.

The football team stopped walking and changed direction to where he was. Elena seemed to be waiting for someone looking at her watch and hadn't noticed Leo. When she looked up and was shocked to see him appear in front of her.

Leo said "You told me you will tell me your answer today."

Elena then found herself surrounded by the football team. She gulped as she felt intimidated by the faces of the boys narrowing their eyes at her. They didn't like her. She could tell. She played unconventional music they didn't call classic or religious. She was an outcast who always was the one to swim the opposite way. Now here she was confronted with one of the popular kids in school. She was put on the spot. She knew there could be consequences if she said no. She was protected from repercussions mostly because of Leo. He always protected her. But for how long?

Elena looked nervously at Leandro Who standing outside the circle hit his electric blue eyes were zeroed on her like a predator eying it's prey. Elena then looked up at Leo "Good morning. How are you today Leo?"

Leo replied "I asked you a question last night. Are you trying to avoid it? Will you go out with me?"

Elena took a deep breath. She was a rebel. What did this Rosario want with her? She didn't know what he saw in her. She breathed deeply again "Please don't take this the wrong way. But I am ... not your type."

Leo froze and the football team expressed their disapproval with jets and shouts.

Leo shook his head looking at her "You haven't answered the question. You say you are not my type. But I will be the judge of that. I am asking you if you will go out with me. I didn't ask if you think you are my type. The question is do you think that ... I am your type?"

Elena looked away. She felt intimidated. She bit her lip and decided to avoid answering. She was looking for a way out but they were surrounding her.

They parted ways and Leandro came into view. He walked and stood next to Leo. He put his hand on his shoulder "She made her choice. She is either with you ... or she is not. Which is it Leo. Tell the team. Is she your girl or is she not?"

The team wanted to know where they stood. They wanted permission to put Elena on their blacklist. They wanted permission to reject the girl who rejected one of their own. They only needed a confirmation from Leo. One order was what they needed.