Sequel: No One Belongs Here More Than You ›
Status: This one is done. Check out the sequel-No One Belongs Here More Than You!
I Don't Want To Solve Your Problems, I Have My Own
Chapter Twelve
Sweat poured down my face, and my chest heaved as I pushed myself to skate even faster. I slammed mercilessly into whoever the heck had the puck, and grabbed it with my stick. The crowd screamed gleefully as I raced towards the crease, and I knew I was out on a breakaway. I held the stick out to the right as I approached Carey Price, but at the last second I deked, and snapped it into the net to his left. He hung his head as the red light lit up, and the goal horn sounded throughout the building. I received hugs from my line-mates, and bumped everyone’s fist as I skated by the bench, but I didn’t feel the usual elation of scoring a goal. In fact, I was completely numb to everything except for my own body, and who had the puck. Sidney shot me a worried glance from the bench, but just clamped his mouth shut as I returned to the faceoff circle to take another shift. Ordinarily I would want to take a short break after all of the work I had just put in so I wouldn’t wear myself down, but today all I wanted to do was slam some people into the boards. That was the nice thing about playing contact sports; you could take out all of your frustration on people and not get in trouble for it.
***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***
I felt the sweat roll down my face as I sat in the unusually sweltering classroom. My hands trembled as I filled in each bubble on the scantron sheet. I had ten minutes left to go on the exam, and I just had to finish filling in the 230 bubbles. I had finished the work on the test, but I was so afraid I would run out of time that I had waited to fill in the bubbles. I let out a sigh of relief as I filled in the last bubble, and placed the test and answer sheet on the teacher’s desk. He glanced at me skeptically, and then nodded towards the clock. I leaned forward.
“I have a friend who helped me understand the material a little better, just like you recommended,” I whispered with a smile. The teacher nodded happily and I turned and walked out of the classroom with my head held high for the first time. Granted, I was still nervous as all hell, but I had a feeling that Evgeni had helped me pass the exam. I would find out soon enough, and with the results I would also find out if I would get to stay in college or if I would be doomed to a life of fry cooking and waitressing. I stepped outside and stared up at the night sky. It was a clear, comfortable night, with summer’s smile dancing on the wind. I began to walk towards my apartment, and heard some cheers from the bar across the street. The door was open, and I saw a large group of people in Penguins’ gear crowded around a TV. I walked in, curiosity guiding my actions, and smiled as I saw Evgeni’s name on the screen. I had never gotten super into hockey, but I knew the Penguins, and I knew that Evgeni would be in a good mood if he did well in the game.
“Dude, they’re definitely going to win the cup this year!” a guy cried, slamming his beer bottle against another guy’s in a celebratory toast.
“KNOCK ON WOOD! DON’T JINX IT YOU DUMB SON OF A BITCH!” someone else screamed, and the guy lurched forward, banging his fist furiously against the polished wood of the bar. I pushed through the crowd, ordered a Molson, and perched on one of the unoccupied bar stools near the TV. Evgeni looked pissed and I frowned. I sipped my beer thoughtfully as I watch the remainder of the game. Sidney and Geno were an unstoppable pair as usual, and the dynamic duo racked up 4 goals for the Penguins, allowing them to defeat the Lightning 5-3. It was weird watching Evgeni interact with a group of guys I had never even met, and seeing how familiar he was with them. And then I remembered that I was the stranger in his life. I was the new intruder in his life, and that caused me to suckle my beer a little more urgently. I left after downing the rest of my Molson, and darted to my apartment. Fania’s words swirled through my head, along with my own skepticisms, and the combination was enough to do me in. I stumbled into the bathroom and yanked open the medicine cabinet. I pulled out a gleaming silver razor blade and it caught the reflection of my wide, fearful eyes on the surface of the metal. I pressed the blade to the inside of my wrist and tears rolled down my face as a thin line of blood welled up against the metal, staining my once smooth skin with a streak of red. How could you be so stupid?
***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***
I checked my phone, and upon seeing that I had no calls, I walked into my apartment building. I froze in my tracks as Fania stood up from one of the benches that sat in the lobby, and walked towards me.
“You played well tonight,” she purred in Russian as she approached me. My breath caught in my throat and all of my emotions, old and new, started waging war in my head. She saw the hesitation on my face and we both knew that she had caught me in her trap.
“Come on Evgeni, let’s celebrate this win the right way,” she purred, running her hands up my chest and pulling me down towards her with my tie. Her lips found mine, but for some reason it wasn’t as sweet as I remembered. Confused, I wound my fingers in her hair and kissed her back, hoping…no, praying, that something would happen to either make her go away, or make this feel right somehow. Are you stupid?
***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***
I felt the sweat roll down my face as I sat in the unusually sweltering classroom. My hands trembled as I filled in each bubble on the scantron sheet. I had ten minutes left to go on the exam, and I just had to finish filling in the 230 bubbles. I had finished the work on the test, but I was so afraid I would run out of time that I had waited to fill in the bubbles. I let out a sigh of relief as I filled in the last bubble, and placed the test and answer sheet on the teacher’s desk. He glanced at me skeptically, and then nodded towards the clock. I leaned forward.
“I have a friend who helped me understand the material a little better, just like you recommended,” I whispered with a smile. The teacher nodded happily and I turned and walked out of the classroom with my head held high for the first time. Granted, I was still nervous as all hell, but I had a feeling that Evgeni had helped me pass the exam. I would find out soon enough, and with the results I would also find out if I would get to stay in college or if I would be doomed to a life of fry cooking and waitressing. I stepped outside and stared up at the night sky. It was a clear, comfortable night, with summer’s smile dancing on the wind. I began to walk towards my apartment, and heard some cheers from the bar across the street. The door was open, and I saw a large group of people in Penguins’ gear crowded around a TV. I walked in, curiosity guiding my actions, and smiled as I saw Evgeni’s name on the screen. I had never gotten super into hockey, but I knew the Penguins, and I knew that Evgeni would be in a good mood if he did well in the game.
“Dude, they’re definitely going to win the cup this year!” a guy cried, slamming his beer bottle against another guy’s in a celebratory toast.
“KNOCK ON WOOD! DON’T JINX IT YOU DUMB SON OF A BITCH!” someone else screamed, and the guy lurched forward, banging his fist furiously against the polished wood of the bar. I pushed through the crowd, ordered a Molson, and perched on one of the unoccupied bar stools near the TV. Evgeni looked pissed and I frowned. I sipped my beer thoughtfully as I watch the remainder of the game. Sidney and Geno were an unstoppable pair as usual, and the dynamic duo racked up 4 goals for the Penguins, allowing them to defeat the Lightning 5-3. It was weird watching Evgeni interact with a group of guys I had never even met, and seeing how familiar he was with them. And then I remembered that I was the stranger in his life. I was the new intruder in his life, and that caused me to suckle my beer a little more urgently. I left after downing the rest of my Molson, and darted to my apartment. Fania’s words swirled through my head, along with my own skepticisms, and the combination was enough to do me in. I stumbled into the bathroom and yanked open the medicine cabinet. I pulled out a gleaming silver razor blade and it caught the reflection of my wide, fearful eyes on the surface of the metal. I pressed the blade to the inside of my wrist and tears rolled down my face as a thin line of blood welled up against the metal, staining my once smooth skin with a streak of red. How could you be so stupid?
***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***
I checked my phone, and upon seeing that I had no calls, I walked into my apartment building. I froze in my tracks as Fania stood up from one of the benches that sat in the lobby, and walked towards me.
“You played well tonight,” she purred in Russian as she approached me. My breath caught in my throat and all of my emotions, old and new, started waging war in my head. She saw the hesitation on my face and we both knew that she had caught me in her trap.
“Come on Evgeni, let’s celebrate this win the right way,” she purred, running her hands up my chest and pulling me down towards her with my tie. Her lips found mine, but for some reason it wasn’t as sweet as I remembered. Confused, I wound my fingers in her hair and kissed her back, hoping…no, praying, that something would happen to either make her go away, or make this feel right somehow. Are you stupid?