hapter 210rowing Ca
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#Chapter 21 Growing Close
“Uhm, so. After this sss–season, you’re expected to play. In the playoffs?”
“Yeah,” Alex hums. His hands are still wrapped with bandages, though he seems to be able to move them just fine. The bandage on his nose may come off soon as well, though he
flinches when he scrunches his nose.
Ever since the most recent game, we’ve been hanging out in school more often. If we pass each other, we might even walk to class. It’s strange, not taking the back hallways like 1 usually do, but the natural light coming in the windows makes things look brighter.
“We’ve got a few more weekend games, but playoff should start a bit after April 1(st). We’ve got this, though.” He grins, flexing his arm. “We don’t go down easy, and that last fight won’t stop us.”
“Hmm… Just be carrr–hmmh. Careful to not, uhm. Get too hurt.”
“Yeah, yeah, no worries. I’ll be safe. Ah, this is my turn here.”
With an easy we didn’t have before, he pulls me in and kisses the top of my head. Despite feeling my heartbeat ramp up immediately, I don’t feel the urge to shove him away like I
once did.
Instead, when he starts walking off, I grab his sleeve. He looks back, curious.
“…L…Lean down.”
A curious smile comes on his face, but he does as I ask. I quickly kiss his cheek before scurrying off, and I hear him call after me. When I don’t reply, he just laughs.
Although some nearby girls give me a frustrated look, they don’t do or say anything to me.
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Chapter 21 Growing Close
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Seeing us become more comfortable with each other, I suppose they’ve gotten the picture. Good riddance, because no other bullies have come to bother me in drama club.
When Alex and I meet up for lunch, he’s holding flash cards.
“Hey, so, you’ve learned a little bit about hockey, but I want to make sure you remember the important stuff.”
I stare at the cards, then at him.
“Are you sss–seriously going to. Quiz me on my hockey knowledge?“)
“Why not? Ought to be a fun little game!” He looks around and finds a good table for us to sit at, him sitting on one side as I sit on the other.
“Then…what do I get as a rrr–reward?”
“Hmm…how about a ki-”
“Other than a kiss,” I quickly cut in.
He snorts, though, maybe it’s my imagination, but I think the tips of his ears are a little
red.
We settle on a reward of him getting quizzed on an equal amount of theater terms, just to see how much we know about each other’s interests. I agree, though he seems somewhat surprised when I don’t suddenly make any flash cards. I just take out a piece of paper.
“Hm? What’s that for?”
“To tally up which ones. You get correct or wrong.”
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#Chapter 2 Crowng Dore
“Don’t you need to know the questions you want to ask?”
I look up at him from under my bangs, managing something of a grin of my own.
“Unlike someone, I don’t need flash cardsss.”
His eyebrows raise up at my snark, eyes shining with those speckles of gold I’ve come to appreciate.
“Hooh, then, loser has to…post on Instapost an embarrassing photo of themselves.”
“Oi, you’ve done that with my picturesss already.”
“Alright, I’ll go first-”
“Don’t ignore me-”
He does just that, holding up one of his cards as he pops some chicken into his mouth.
“What does it mean to get face–washed?”
Instead of continuing my protest, I try to think about it honestly. I know it can’t actually be to wash your face, but…
“Uhm…hit your face on the ice?”
“Nah! It’s when an opponent rubs the palm of his glove on your face. It’s just to annoy you.”
“Well, they should keep theirrr hands to themselves… Anyway. What’sss an antagonist?”
The look he gives me is actually a bit funny, like I’ve just asked him what a hockey puck is.
“C’mon, I’ve been practicing with you enough to know what an antagonist is. It’s the bad
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#Chapter 21 Growing Close
guy.”
“Nope.”
“Oh, you’re pulling my fuckin‘ leg. I know it’s the bad guy.”
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“No,” I reply, calmly writing a line under the section I’ve called ‘wrong‘ on the paper. “It’s the opposing character to the protagonist.”
“Which is the bad guy.”
My eyelids lower as I stare at him.
“And if the protagonist is a villain?”
Alex opens his mouth to protest. But then he pauses. Looks up, his mouth twisting.
Then he scrunches a bit in his seat, nose wrinkling. I smile back triumphantly, to which he
rolls his eyes.
“Okay fine, you got me there. Get this one then…”
As we go back and forth, trying to get each other to choke up on terms we use, I can’t help but feel a pair of eyes on me. When Alex grumbles about getting another theater term wrong, I glance over to where the gaze is coming from.
Oliver stares over at me from an isolated table in the corner of the cafeteria. He’d usually be sitting with his friends from hockey club, but I know things have been strained between
them.
Alex expressed that it wasn’t really Oliver’s fault that he slipped and cut Henry with his skate blade. However, on top of the injury, he’d been acting rather strange the past few
days.
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“Kinda standoff–ish, more agitated. I think the thing that was between you and him was really fucking with him, though he wouldn’t admit it.”
At first, I thought Alex was exaggerating to make me feel better. But now, considering the kicked–puppy expression Oliver’s throwing at me, I’m inclined to believe him.
The expression quickdy shifts into worry and fear once I reach forward and tap on Alex’s arm, looking away from us.
“Huh? Wha‘ iz it?”
I keep staring in Oliver’s direction, watching as he squirms before he stands up with his tray, finding an even more isolated place to sit.
“…Nothing anymore,”
Perhaps I was a bit mean back there in the cafeteria. And yet, I won’t deny that seeing Oliver squirm was pretty exhilarating,
Especially after what he put me through. What he said to me.
I think I’ll probably be holding this grudge for a while, even though the solution is hanging onto Alex…. Well, Alex isn’t a bad guy, so I don’t think I mind much. If at all.
My life has become easier with us doing this fake dating thing, and he’s…well, he’s fun to be around, I feel like we’ve gotten into the swing of things, not anxious over whether we follow the rules of our own plans anymore.
can understand how and why other girls got so jealous after thinking he really was their boyfriend.
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#Chapter 21 Growing Close
“Boston.‘
I blink, hearing someone call my last name. The voice is familiar, though I’m really
hoping…
And my hopes are dashed immediately, Danielle walking from the other hall. Was she waiting for me here? …No way, that’d be really weird.
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“You must be real proud of yourself now, huh? Just bagging and screwing whoever you want, no matter what, right?”
She growls, her outfit immaculate but her expression hot with anger. Being taller than me, she uses her height to corner me against someone’s locker, looking down at me like I’m disgusting.
I don’t even know what this is about…and considering I was in a good mood earlier, I’m feeling more irritation with my fear than usual. As such, when I look up at her, I don’t
completely hide it, leading her to scoff at me.
“So you’ve just accepted being sloppy?” Her hands clench as she crosses her arms. “Wow, I’d almost be impressed if you weren’t trying to fuck my new boyfriend, too.”
…Excuse me?
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