Crush? no!

There was an imminent buzz throughout the arena, with an angry booing audience, and Riley was in the middle of it. Alone on the rink, with his full gear on. The word FAILURE kept resounding in his ears, first as a whisper, until they became loud, pounding on his eardrums that he thought he would go deaf.

FAILURE. FAILURE. FAILURE.

He used his hands to block his ears, trembling amidst the booing crowd. He fell to the floor on his knees, and then the crowd dissolved into a messy flood. The liquid spilled out from every corner of the arena and was about to engulf him when he woke up with a heavy gasp.

*****************

Riley sat on his bed, soaked in sweat and panting heavily. The alarm clock that sat on his table, positioned at the end of the wall, was ringing, shaking so vigorously you couldn’t make out its shape. He walked weightlessly to the table and pressed it off on its head.

Everything in his room looked out of place; the wardrobe was too big, the shelves were too empty, there were too many video games that he never played, and his bed... just didn’t look right. He took in a long deep breath to ease off the tension that was making his shoulders ache.

He had two missed calls, and when he opened them, it showed: Dad. He felt his heart sink, and then leap back to its original position, and then sink again, and leap back.

It happened in a rapid manner, hitting the walls of his chest that he heard a fast beating sound.

He rushed to the bathroom, splashing water on his face in a controlled sluggishness. The water seemed to flush some of the pressure off, so he splashed more, again and again, hoping that they would all disappear.

There have been a series of matches across top teams in the US, a pre-national screening tournament, where the top team would represent the United States of America’s hockey at the Nationals.

The Beaumont Wolves has consistently placed top 3 throughout the tournament, and there was another match today. A famous team from North Carolina against the Beaumont Wolves.

The Beaumont Wolves were winning. Riley was sure of it. He would make sure of it. Liam had gone ahead to organize an after-party, even though it was against school rules. They did it anyway, paying off all the securities in charge of the designated venue. The top students would come. There would be music, alcohol, and girls...lots of sexy girls.

****************Alfie's Pov*******************

During class, there was so much whispering and side talk that the teacher had to leave earlier. She had screamed “Silent! Silent!” so many times that her voice thinned out in exhaustion, and i felt it in my own throat.

The air was charged with the tension of the match today, and everybody was talking about it. About the match, and inevitably, about Riley. Some people even went as far as placing stickers of Riley on their backpacks, lockers, desks, and chairs. I could hear some girls squealing, “Isn’t he just sooooo handsome?” “OMG! He’s so hot, I would literally die if he talked to me.” I felt my chest puff with an odd pride, and I had the urge to go tell them that I knew him, that I was his personal tutor.

There was this certainty that we would win. I mean, the Beaumont Wolves, our school’s top team. What interested people was just to see how.

Even though not everybody got reservations in the arena because there were limited tickets, they were going to watch live.

Later when I saw Erica, I gave her a long hug, and I gave Henry a brief one because he smelled of onions, and I hated onions.

“Do you think my braids look good? I think they’ve gotten old. I should probably get my hair done before my big event,” she said. “Big event” with the same excitement as a child describing Disneyland. Her hair was pretty much the same to me all year round, and if she didn’t often mention it—that she got new braids—I probably would never know.

Maybe I’m too White to notice, but the only time I had noticed a hair change was when she came to school once with a very big fro. I remember being scared of going too close to her because I didn’t want to mess up the halo.

“They look great. I don’t think they need a retouch,” Henry said as he pushed a few ropes of braids fallen on her shoulders to the back.

“Are you going to see the match?” I said. Henry and Erica looked at me like I had just spoken an ancient language, long lost.

“Match? Honey, since when did you become interested in matches?”

“Since he started having a crush on Rileeyyy,” Henry said in a teasing tone, causing me to choke.

“What? No. No… I was just—everybody are watching so, I was just thinking if…”

“It’s okay, Alfie. You don’t have to fight it. You can tell us—”

“Well, it’s not. It’s not like that. I mean, we talk now, but it’s only because I’m his tutor.”

I didn’t realize how defensive my voice was now sounding until Henry said, “Relax, hun. Pfft, I was just kidding.”

I knew he was kidding. I knew Henry was always kidding. But still I got defensive. I raised my voice. I got tensed up.

“Sorry…” I said in a whisper. And then I got up.

“Alfie, wait! Honey, what’s wrong?” Erica held my hand lightly as I stood up to leave.

“Alfie, please, I’m sorry. I know I’m such a cow sometimes, but I swear, I was only joking.”

“I uhhh...need to get some air,” I whispered again and left. In the background, I could hear Erica swearing to kill Riley, but it sounded muted, so were all the sounds around me.

*****

In my room, I texted Riley, “Good luck on your game,” and almost immediately, he replied, “Yeah.” My fingers hovered over the keypad, and then three dots came jumping, then he sent, “Thanks.” I felt a smile creep up my face, pulling each side of my mouth to my ears until I was smiling so sheepishly. Kicking my legs together in the air as I pressed my chest into the pillow.

I reacted a heart emoji on the message, then very quickly, I removed it. I saw three dots, then “Will you come?”

I typed faster than my fingers would let me, causing me to misspell some words. “I don’t have reservation.”

He responded, “That wouldn’t be a problem. Meet me before the match starts.”

“Okay,” I responded, and quickly pressed my power button to switch off my screen before I send something weird. I turned on my back, staring at the ceiling. I placed my hands on my chest to secure my heart in place before it jumps out of my chest from the way it was beating. There was this fresh sweetness that was spread across my body that I couldn’t explain. It tasted like mint and honey on my tongue.

My toes were wiggling from the jolly, and I didn’t try to stop it.

I quickly got up and changed into a pink sweater, my favorite sweater. I played with my blonde hair in the mirror, trying to position it in a way that would conceal my freckles. After a few frustrating tries, I left it disheveled and headed for the arena.