Billet

“Thank God you have a good taste in music,” I laughed, throwing my head back.

I was currently driving on the highway back to Belleview. We had an hour down and about an hour and a half to go.

I looked over at the passenger seat, seeing Cory toying with his phone before meeting my gaze. At that moment, the song picked back up and we burst back into song.

“Even God don’t know where we’re going, and I sure as Hell don’t care! Cuz if you and I could stay this high with heaven in our headlights I swear that we could make it anywhere!”

As the song came to an end, Bon Iver’s “Blood Bank” started.

“Don’t kill my vibe, Cor.”
“No worries, I’m on it,” he mumbled scrolling through his phone for the next song to play.
I grinned as “Wonderland” by Taylor Swift came on. “When the Hell did you come to the darkside?” I laughed, tapping my fingers to the beat on the steering wheel.
“Fuck you Tier, I’ve always thought Tay is a babe.”
“Boys,” I muttered.

Luckily, it was a beautiful day for a drive. And I had always loved long drives on the highway. With the wind coming in through our open windows, the sun beaming down, the good music and great company, this was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Once we reached Belleview, it was about 1 pm. Cory gave me directions and took me to a couple of his favourite spots around town to check out briefly. Although I had passed through Belleview before, it wasn’t a place I ever spent much time. But my interest in it grew when Cory was traded.

We ended up at his new billet’s house at about 4. We had received a text from them earlier in the day inviting me over for dinner, and I gratefully accepted, deeming it a nice break from the road.

As we entered, a women’s voice called out, “In the kitchen!”

And so, after we took our shoes off, Cory led me towards the kitchen. There, we were greeted by a younger couple, probably in their mid-thirties. The woman wrapped me into a hug before the man gave me a pat on the back. Their son, probably about twelve, approached too, when he heard the commotion, and welcomed me as well.

Dinner was served shortly and we all sat around the table chatting. Cory’s new billets were so different from his former ones, but both pairs seemed to work well with him. The dinner conversation flowed nicely and after dinner, against my better judgment, I decided to stay a little longer as the family began a game of Catch Phrase.

Once it hit 8pm, I knew I should head out. I had class and practice tomorrow.

I said goodbye to Cory’s billets inside, but Cory walked me out to my car.

I wrapped him into a tight hug, “I’m going to miss you like crazy.”
“Not as much as I’m going to miss you.”

There was a silence as stood, still wrapped in an embrace.

“You and your parents are coming into town when the Blades play here though, right? Isn’t that next month or something?”
I nodded into his chest, “I guess we survived longer than a month this time. We can do that.”
“That’s my girl,” He laughed, taking a step back before ruffling my hair.
I shook my head and rolled my eyes, chucking. “Anyways, I have a long drive ahead. I’ll talk to you soon.”
He gave me a small smile as I got into my car, and continued to stand in the driveway as I pulled out of it and onto the road. We both waved as I drove away.

I’ve always hated goodbyes.

While the drive there was 2.5 fun-filled hours, the ride home was much worse.

#1. It sucked having to drive alone
#2. Driving at night was never as enjoyable
#3. The traffic was ridiculous; taking me an additional 2 hours to get home

I carefully turned my key and then twisted the doorknob of my house. It was after midnight and I knew my parents would be asleep. I stepped in, but had to cover my mouth to stop myself from letting out a shriek. There Easton was, standing just inside. I was about to let out a witty comment but then I noticed the somber look on his face. I raised my eyebrows but he simply motioned for me to follow him upstairs.

Once we were in his room and we had both sat down on his bed, he was the first to speak. “I just wanted to warn you, Levi is pissed. Seriously pissed.”
I rolled my eyes, “I knew that before, Eas. He’s been like that all weekend.”
“It’s worse since you stood him up...”
I was confused for a moment before the realization hit me. We were supposed to study together this afternoon; in the whirlwind of the weekend, it had completely slipped my mind. “Oh shit.” No matter how agitated he had been all weekend, I had never questioned our study session. It wasn’t like us to let outside things interfere with school. “I swear I wasn’t been passive aggressive about the situation or anything. It completely slipped my mind so I decided to stay for dinner with Cor’s billets instead of driving the straight five hours there and back.”
“Oh, it’s not me that you need to convince. I knew you wouldn’t have done that on purpose. I just wanted to warn you before you see him in first tomorrow.”
I covered my face with my hands for a brief moment letting out a sigh, “Thanks for the heads up. Anyways I better hit the hay, looks like it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

We bid each other goodnight even though it was an hour or two until I could finally fall into a peaceful slumber.

The next morning, I was dreading first period, from the moment I woke up until I was striding through the doors of my classroom. I glanced up, removing my gaze from the floor for a moment to see that Levi was already in his seat. I made my way slowly over to my chair beside him.

“Levi,” I spoke, sitting down. He didn’t move his stare from his phone screen. “I’m so sorry about last night; it completely slipped my mind, I swear.” There was still no response, verbal or bodily, from him. “I understand that you’re mad but I just wanted to say sorry.”
“I should’ve expected it. Friends always come last with teenage girls once their boyfriend’s in the picture.”
“What?” Our eyes met for a brief moment. My face graced with utter confusion, but our conversation was stopped as our teacher began his morning lecture.

At lunch, I was the first one at our table in the cafeteria. I sat, anxiously awaiting Levi. Easton could sense my nerves as he joined me, being the second to arrive at our table.

“I don’t think he’s going to be coming,” He spoke. Confusion graced my face. “I saw him head off campus with one of the other rooks.”

Levi always sat with us.

My final classes of the day seemed to drag on when all I wanted to do was clear my mind on the ice. Luckily, as soon as my final classes concluded I could head straight to the rink for practice.

I was early, but couldn’t stand waiting in the dressing room for everyone else to arrive. I slipped on my skates and took to the ice. I did laps, as fast as I could handle, around and around. By the time my coach had arrived, I was dripping with sweat and struggling with my breathing.

“Williams, what the Hell are you doing?” We had a great relationship but at that moment I knew I was in trouble. Big trouble.
I glided over to the bench where we stood. I took a sip out of my waterbottle, trying to compose my thoughts before replying. “Just had to work off some steam before practice coach.”
“That was so irresponsible Tierney,” now the anger was replaced with disappointment. And that was even worse. “You know I push you girls as hard as I can; as much as I know you can handle. You coming out here and killing yourself isn’t doing you or your team any good. Get to the dressing room and give those girls a pep talk. Then I want you out of here for the day. You need some time for yourself, okay?”

I was fuming, but I knew that I would later regret it if I put up a fight. “Yes, coach.”

I retreated to the dressing room, gave a quick pep talk and explained that I had to head out for personal reasons and I would see them tomorrow.

I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but moments later I found myself at the other icepad; the Blade’s rink. I knew that they had a rare afternoon off, so I figured I could continue to blow off some stream there. This time, in a bit more of a responsible way...maybe just a few slow laps.

I quickly tossed my bag on the bench and laced my skates. After a few laps I heard another set of skates slicing through the ice. I quickly looked towards the source of the sound and was shocked to see Levi’s blue eyes staring back at me.

Now there wasn’t any reason to keep my feelings in. Even though I felt bad about the previous night, I was too infuriated by how he had been acting all weekend and his comment in class today.

“Can’t you see the ice is in use? Fuck off.”
“You realize the girls practice over in that little rink right? They don’t need this one since they don’t have that many fans.”
“Sorry, that’s because all the stuck-up little boys over here get the funding. The girls actually have to earn it.”

As our conversation continued, we moved towards each other; not letting the length of the rink separate us.

“Or maybe they can’t earn it, because they fucking suck at this fucking sport?”
“Excuse me? Maybe you should just shut the fuck up before I shut you up.”
He scoffed, “Like you’d even be able to do anything.”

Now we were just inches away from each other. Levi had about a foot on me, but with anger pulsing through my veins I couldn’t care less.

“Wanna bet?” I asked, giving him a strong push.
He stumbled back , but quickly regained his standing, before pushing me.

This continued for a few moments before I got sick of this play and wound up before punching him in the chin.

“Oh, look at the little girl trying to fight.” He threw a punch right back at me, but I managed to dodge it.

Then punches were flying back and forth. I had managed to slice his lip open and give him a bloody nose and a sliced cheek. In return, I felt a throbbing from my temple down to my chin. I could feel the blood pouring but I had no idea how long the actually cut was.

Eventually we both landed on the ground, Levi on top of me. We continued to toss punches, but then he suddenly came to a stop. I tried to throw another, but he grabbed my arm in mid-air to stop it.

Before I could comprehend what was happening, Levi’s lips were on mine. My eyes remained open and widened as I finally realized what was happening. I was beyond confused and did the only thing I deemed sensible: I freed my arm and punched him one last time before pushing him off.

I skated as fast as I could off of the ice and didn’t bother taking off my skates until I had reached my car. My blades weren’t going to be happy after hitting the pavement, but at least I was parked in the closest spot to the entrance of the arena.

Once I pulled off my skates and tossed them to the back seat, I just put my face into my hands and cried.

What the hell had just happened? I couldn’t be any more confused.