POLAROIDS︱18+

Five

FAITH

I entered the crowded arena, people coating each of the four walls filled with chairs. I never knew high school hockey was this popular...

Ravenswood was at the top of the leader board and had been for a while now, with any luck there would be college scouts on the lookout from now until the season's end. Not that it helped me, if all people were looking at was the hockey team it basically diminished my chances of an academic scholarship at any respectable college.

I waited in line at the popup store which was meant to be raising money for new sports equipment or something? Not that we didn't have enough of that by now.

Taking in the selection, I felt a hand tap my shoulder and as I turned Penny pulled me into a warm hug. I knew I liked her from the night we met at the party but I wasn't sure she'd remember what had happened.

"A box of Milk Duds and a Snickers please." She asked one of the freshmen manning the stall before eyeing me and waiting for me to ask for what I wanted. I didn't like other people buying things for me as I hardly ever had the opportunity to pay it back but the look on her face told me she wasn't letting it go.

"Twix, thanks." I muttered to Penny as she paid the girl and I sneakily snuck a one-dollar bill in her back pocket. Handing me the candy bar I assumed she'd return to her seat and I'd find one among the crowds but instead she grabbed my hand and began climbing the stairs up towards where Caden was seated.

Plopping down beside him and handing him the Snickers I admired the two of them as a couple. The way he seemed to be so grouchy all the time and yet she was so upbeat and bubbly. How did that work?

"C'mon, sit." Penny smiled and I hesitantly took a seat beside her, her smooth chocolate brown hair falling in loose waves just past her collarbone and her fingers covered in dainty silver rings. Before I could sit myself down, she took hold of my satchel's strap, pulling me down into the aisle seat beside her.

"You don't play hockey anymore?" I looked past Penny to Caden, trying to make conversation as he didn't seem overly partial to anyone except Penny. She chuckled a little as he scoffed and slid down in his seat, clearly not a fan of the conversation topic I'd stirred up.

"He got suspended from the team for a week because he missed Saturday practice." Penny whispered in my ear and I quirked my eyebrows in surprise, he wasn't allowed to play because me missed a practice? That's a little harsh, isn't it?

"Some shit about commitment to the team. It's not like I wasn't one of the founding members." He scoffed, sarcasm dripping from his tone but I knew he was right. It was common knowledge that Logan, Caden and a few other guys petitioned to start the hockey team a few years back when they were sophomores and would forever be legacy players.

"Whatever, everyone just came to watch Logan anyway." My cheeks warmed at the sound of his name, I was trying not to think of him and what happened but the mention of him brought all the memories flooding back. I wondered if he'd told them, maybe that's why Penny had brought me to sit with them.

I chuckled to myself, he wasn't wrong seeing as a lot of people - a lot of girls anyway - did come to watch Logan's games and whether the team won or loss, it was never a quiet night that followed.

I snapped the Twix in half, chewing the caramel and biscuit as Penny and Caden talked about hockey, the selection of after parties up for offer and I'm pretty sure I even heard mentions of their sex lives but I tried to block that part out.

"You haven't taken your eyes off the game this whole time." Penny commented with a chuckle. I wasn't a hockey person but I guess with the school's prestigious reputation for the sport it's only natural that you'd get invested in the results here and there.

"Didn't know you were a fan, Jacobs." Caden added. Both waiting for me to respond or bite back against the comments but I was getting intrigued by the game. The way they all moved so easily on the ice and looked like they could keep their pace up for hours.

"Oh well never mind, you're not watching the game, are you? You're watching him." I turned my eyes away from Logan and stared at her like she wasn't reading me perfectly. Of course I was watching him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I mumbled but I could feel warmth creep up my cheeks, I hated that my body did that. Got embarrassed and flushed, I had an okay poker face besides that and it was my one dead giveaway. Penny smiled, chuckling to herself, and popping another Milk Dud in her mouth.

"I love him but he's not worth getting your heart broken over." She shook her head like it was a warning. If anything, that's exactly what it was. Being Caden's girlfriend I figured she must've known Logan well and seen the array of hook-ups and short-term relationships come and go.

"That man will sweet talk you to the moon and back but Logan Hughes wouldn't know commitment if it slapped him in the face." She leaned into Caden's shoulder while still holding the conversation with me, her gorgeous hazel eyes beaming as she spoke and glanced back and forth between the game, Caden, and I, making sure her boyfriend wasn't cracking the shits that he'd missed a game he could have been playing.

I couldn't figure out why he'd missed his practice if he'd wanted to play so badly. He'd helped me with the guy who was getting handsy with my on my bus last Saturday meaning he was in town that day, whatever the reason, I was sure he regretted it by now.

Logan bustled with another guy about the same size as him from the opposing school, the two of them crashing before Logan slipped past and pushed the puck to a teammate.

People cheered for the team as I sat with Penny and Caden to watch the rest of the game so when the final buzzer sounded and the crowd stayed to enjoy then win, Penny pulled me and Caden down the stands an back to the locker rooms.

"Penny were not meant to be back here." I whispered but she just giggled as we made our way inside and Caden greeted his winning teammates while Penny and I stood back and observed.

"Penny! You're our lucky charm, I swear." Some guys came over to crowd the small doorway we'd entered through and scooped her up amongst them, lifting her up as Penny gasped and Caden talked with Logan off to one side.

"What are you doing here?" Logan asked, his tone making me feel like I wasn't meant to be here. His hair now messy hair left untamed as he looked down at me before turning back to the crowds holding Penny in the air.

"Yeah, okay. That's enough." Caden interjected, pushing some of the guys of out of the way to try and get Penny down. Grabbing her waist so he could lift her back to the ground and kissed her before shielding her from his ecstatic teammates.

"Penny brought me." I muttered as he moved to block my view of Caden and the team, towering over me as he placed his hands on either side of my face and my breathing grew faster.

"I need you back in my sheets, Jacobs." He leant in, the warmth of his breath brushing my jaw as I stared up at his face, a smirk covering his lips and his eyes studying me before flicking down at my uniform with a smile.

His hands gripped my body and slip under my blazer, my white button up being the only thing between my skin and his. I wanted him again but it was more complicated than that, it would never go further than sex but I wanted to enjoy it while I could with getting too attached. He would move on to his next fixation soon enough and I'd have to move on too.

"Hughes! Get over here." Logan got pulled back and stumbled into the crowd before I could think about what I was going to say to him. He eyed me as he got pushed into the crowd as if to warn me that we still had business to attend to.

I couldn't think about that right now though as I checked the time and realised, I was meant to be at home five-minutes ago.

♡

This is kind of just a filler chapter and a little more insight into Penny and Caden because they'll become more involved later but hockey boys have my whole heart <3

- A