Boys Don’t Play Fair のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 141 - チャプター 150

The kitchen was warm.His mom was at the stove. His sister, Maya, sat at the table, scrolling through her phone with the kind of intensity that suggested she was pretending not to be interested in family drama."Morning," Joe said."You look like you didn't sleep," Maya said without looking up."I slept fine.""You look like you slept in your clothes."Joe looked down at himself. "I changed.""When?""Earlier."He was still in the wrinkled t-shirt from last night.He grabbed a plate and started piling food onto it: eggs, toast, fruit, more fruit, and an extra piece of toast.His mom turned from the stove. "That's a lot of food.""I'm hungry.""More than usual?""Extremely hungry."He added a banana.Maya looked up. "Are you eating all of that alone?""Obviously not." Joe stopped. "I mean—yes. Alone. In my room.""Alone in y

The gymnasium erupted immediately the formal quiet replaced by noise and movement. Parents stood. People called out names. The seniors re-entered through the side doors in their gowns, caps in hand, their ceremony shed like old skin.Noah and Joe moved against the crowd toward the edge of the room."Where do we—" Joe started."They'll find us," Noah answered.They stood near the side wall.The crowd swirled around them. Families reunited. Photos were taken. Teachers were hugged by students who had ignored them all year.Mark found them first.He appeared through the crowd still in his gown, cap under his arm, grinning."Well?" he asked."Well," Noah replied."Say it.""Say what?""That I looked incredible up there.""You pointed at your parents.""Powerfully. I pointed at them powerfully." Mark briefly grabbed Noah's shoulder. "Good to see you, Carter.""You too, Mark."Mark turned to Joe. Something genuine flickered in his expression. "You good?""Yeah," Joe said. "Really good."Mark

Joe and Liam strolled without a destination in mind.That was the only way to describe it. Just walking, along Ferris Street and then turning left onto the quieter road leading to the river path.The cold was really setting in now. The kind that slipped through the gaps in their clothing and lingered.Liam kept his hands in his pockets.Joe walked beside him, close enough for their arms to touch occasionally."You're quiet," Joe said."I'm usually quiet.""You're quieter than usual."Liam focused on the pavement ahead. "It's a lot today.""Yeah," Joe agreed. "It is."They continued walking.A few cars passed. A couple walked by on the other side of the street, their dog wanting to stop everywhere."I keep thinking about last year," Liam said.Joe stayed silent."This time last year I was—" He paused, then started again. "I wasn’t truly here. I was somewhere e

The first week was the hardest.Not because anything big happened. But because nothing did.Noah woke up Monday morning the first day of the new school year and reached for his phone, barely awake, the way he’d done all summer whenever a notification buzzed. Nothing.Jay was two time zones away, deep into his first training day. Three hours ahead.Noah set his phone face-down on the nightstand and dragged himself up.School felt off the moment he walked in. The hallways looked the same. The lockers were exactly where they always were. September sunlight came through the east windows, making the floors shine gold.But something had shifted.Outside the main office, the senior board listed his name. He’d ignored that board for a year, never gave it a thought. Now he stopped.Noah Carter. Swimming Captain.It didn’t feel real.“Weird, right?”Joe showed up next to him. Fresh haircut, new backpack, wearing his trademark expression half amused, half tired before nine a.m.“It’s very weird,

Monday arrived like any other second week.It lacked the excitement of the first week.There was no new energy, no feeling of a fresh start. Just the alarm ringing at six-thirty and the weight of a week that didn’t have anything new to lift it.Noah sat on the edge of his bed for a moment before getting up.The apartment was quiet. His mom had already left; she always had early shifts on Mondays. The kitchen light was on, which meant she had been up before him and had left it on for a reason. Her way of keeping him company.He got up and went to the kitchen.Coffee was in the pot, still warm.A note sat on the counter.Soup in the fridge. Eat lunch properly.He read it twice for no particular reason.Then he poured his coffee and stood at the window looking at the street below.The city was doing its typical Monday morning routine. People moved with a purposeful tiredness those who had spent the weekend doing things were now settling back into the week's rhythm. A woman with bags slun