All Chapters of The Hockey Star and His Roommate; She Has A Secret : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

FINN“That was close,” I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. Roselynn had called just after my training on the rink, crying uncontrollably to the point I barely heard her. But one thing was clear, her asshole brother had struck again.Ever since Aurel was benched, his responsibilities fell on me, so now I was training twice as hard because unlike Aurel who had a rich dad, mine was a bus driver and me qualifying for any team was the family’s dream.But when I heard her voice and how broken she had sounded, all logical thoughts flew out the window.The worst part is how good I've gotten at it.The shoes in one hand, the keys pinched so they don't jingle, the gate I oiled back in October so it stops announcing me to the whole street. Three months of practice and I can get out of that house without waking a single person. I should be ashamed of how proud I am of it but for some reason I'm not.It's a good thing Aurel didn't almost catch me tonight. Because if he did, I would

WRENLEYThe deep-sea documentary starts at eleven, and at five minutes past, I'm watching it alone with a bowl of cereal for dinner because that's the kind of week it's been.The common room is dark except for the screen, blue light washing over the couch, the sound turned low so it doesn't wake the house. On screen something with too many teeth drifts through the blue water. I told Jerry about this because I planned to watch it with him. Instead he's out there doing whatever he does, and I'm here in an oversized hoodie eating off-brand cereal at eleven at night, which is fine. I swear it's fine, I'm not mad.Just as the documentary is getting interesting, I hear footsteps shuffling down the stairs. For as long as I can remember, I have always been able to hear people before I see them. It's one of the hundred things about me I've learned to never explain.Aurel scrubbed a hand over his face and squinted at me. "You're up?”He's in a t-shirt and sweats, hair a mess, and he stops at

AUREL“Hey man, wake up, today's the day.” Finn bangs at my door like it offended him.How can I forget what today is? This was supposed to be my chance to show the scouts who would be in games like this to show them what I was made of.But now, I dread leaving here.“Yo, Aurel, you awake sleepy head?”“No,” I groaned. “Go away. I’m not coming. Going to call in sick.”“Absoluetly not, not on my watch. If you don't get your ass up this instant, I'm telling Wrenly.” He threatened.“Fuck you man,” I sighed but I could hear his laugh from behind the door.“That's more like it. See you in ten.” He added before leaving.A few minutes later, I had showered and was ready to go. Coincidentally, Finn was out of his room at the exact same moment I stepped out.“Hey man,” I pulled him in a hug. “Good luck to you. Make me proud.” I forced the words out of my mouth while patting his back.“Thanks. I spoke to Coach about letting you play even if it's for the first half.”“Really?” I could barely hid

AURELMy dad doesn't call.For the rest of the week after the hockey match, nothing has been interesting to me. I tell myself all morning that he will, and that he just needs time to process what had happened that day and that any minute now my phone's going to light up with his name while I'll have to sit through whatever speech he's been writing in his head since he walked out of that rink. I keep the phone face-up on the kitchen counter on purpose to avoid increasing my already racing heart while I pretend to eat, while still checking it more times than I'd admit to anyone.At this point, Finn has tried so many times to get me out of the house to party and have fun but all his pleas fall on deaf ears. “Come on man,” he asked for the third time this week. “Bills on me if cash is what you're worried about. I've got a couple change to spare.”“I just wish my only problems were money related but sadly they aren't. You don't know what it's like for your dad to show up to your game af

WRENLEYIt’s almost two in the morning and I’m crying over a zipper, which feels less like a life choice and more like the universe personally finding new ways to mock me.It's not even about the zipper anymore. The zipper is just the thing that broke last after having to redo the fourth seam which puckered again all in one night, the fabric fighting me the way everything's been fighting me for two weeks. But it's two a.m. and I'm running on no sleep and the showcase is in twelve days. I bombed a time trial this morning that Coach wrote down with that face, the face that tells me his patience is being stretched thin. I had rushed home soon after in a bid to get a head start at this but hours down the line, the zipper won't sit flat. Somewhere in there my eyes just started leaking without asking me.I'm not a crier,that I'm sure of. Heck, I didn't cry when I got evicted or after my confrontation with Elise but here I'm sitting on the floor of this borrowed room surrounded by pins and