𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 | 𝐠𝐮𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞

⁰⁸ | The goddamn paper

ɢᴜʏ ɢᴇʀᴍᴀɪɴᴇ

"𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘'𝐕𝐄 won any state championships?" I hear her mumble to Averman as we stand gaping in awe at the Eden Hall ice rink--more importantly, the Varsity team and their matching practice jersey.

It was sarcastic, I know, but I wanted to say that they have--maybe about a million of them based on the banners hanging from the ceiling and along the wall. I think I wanted to just so I could have something to say. To be involved in a conversation with her, like that was something normal.

"I bet this place has a snack bar," Goldberg piped up from my right.

"They look pretty good," Luis admits, and I have to bite my tongue from commenting that it's probably just because they all know how to stop.

"They're not all that," Charlie says, and when no one agrees with him, he adds: "Seriously, they're not so hot. I mean, how many of them played for Team USA?"

"Who are you trying to convince? Us or You?" Maeve asks.

"Come on, Guys," Connie remarks. "We could skate out there."

Adam whispers something to Mae and the two of them quietly snicker, like they're in their own little world and nothing else matters. Couldn't she see that all of this matters--that every single moment happening to us matters?

I'm a foot from the ice when I bump into Charlie. It wasn't my fault, really. He just stopped moving. I'm about to open my mouth when I hear a voice call him 'Captain Ducky'. I quickly understood that we were being mocked.

"Get your hands off him," Fulton sneers.

"Oh, look," one of them grins. "A Bash Brother. I'm so scared."

The varsity coach tells everyone to break it up. They leave, of course, but not without throwing threatening glares at us like they're still in elementary school. Thought these upperclassmen were supposed to be mature.

Charlie bounces back like nothing happened, though. At first, you know when I heard that Bombay bailed on us, I didn't think Charlie would be able to leave his room for at least a week. It sounds shitty, I know, but I already wish he kind of wouldn't. He was just acting like a jerk--like he owned the place, honestly. I just didn't see how that would work out for him.

"How about it, Cowboy?" he asks Dwayne. "A roundup?"

The thing about Dwayne is--he can't say no to anyone. That's his problem. He's always grinning and nodding along with everyone but I wonder, does he even know he's getting into half the time?

"Don't you think we should wait for the new coach before we start messing around?" Connie questions. She sounded hesitant and that's when I knew we shouldn't do this.

"This is how we practice--Duck hockey. He'll have to get used to it sooner or later," Charlie reasons. "Come on, Cowboy."

I couldn't help but smile a little, because, although my blood felt cold and dry, this was Duck hockey. This was the thing Jess loved most and made me feel closer to him. It made me feel closer to the me I once was.

I was reminded how stupid it was in the first place, though, when a booming voice bounced off the echoing walls and right back in our faces. "My name is Coach Orion. You can call me Coach or Coach Orion."

Oh, shit.

"You can call me Charlie," he grins, a little more snarky than he should have.

Russ laughs a little and Dwayne went pale from shaking his head so much.