Her Feet in His Skates

Since Brampton is such a small "town"- really more of a giant self-sufficient neighborhood- no cars are allowed past where the town starts, which is why this town is so athletic and in turn, competitive. Being forced to walk everywhere, people are healthy, active and almost all kids in high school participate in one sport. When a pro athlete is said to be from Chicago, really it's Brampton, the richer-and-snootier-than-Chicago-suburb.

That's the main reason Carter is viewed as a traitor. That and the fact that Brampton is a major rival of St. Michael's- my school.

Kendall, however, and her personality do not in any way scream Brampton. We were actually all a group of friends going into highschool, Third, Kendall, Carter and I. But after Carter left, loyalties were tested and Kendall sided with Third and me.

When I get to her house, I spend most of it interrogating her about what happened after I left her and Third on the subway earlier. She claims nothing at first, but after about a half hour of bugging her, she breaks down and tells me he asked her out.

We go into full-fledged freakout mode from then on. He asked her out tonight at seven.

"But it's six thirty! Why didn't you tell me?!" I screech.

I'm not into all the girly stuff, and Third doesn't like a girl who goes over-the-top for a simple date as he apparently planned, so I help Kendall pick out an outfit I approve of.

We greet Third in Kendall's livingroom, her dad already grilling him even though he knows Third from all the times we come over. I smirk and slap Third's arm before saying goodbye to the both of them and walking out, and back to the subway station. "Have fun!" I call.

I near the stairs down into the subway tunnel five minutes later, and, of course, walking home couldn't be easy: Carter's standing there, waiting for me. Only, it's almost pitch-black where he's standing so I don't recognize him until he jumps out from the shadows, almost tackling me.

I absolutely freak and go into defensive mode, punching and kicking before he says my name. "Carter?! What the actual fuck?!" I whisper-yell. He laughs and that fuels my anger further. Before I walk down into the tunnel, I knee him, right where a guy does not want to be kneed.

I hear him groan in pain, but he actually is in a condition to follow me down the stairs. "Sam! Wait!" He calls after me, his voice laced with obvious discomfort.

I turn around, fully ready to bring a full on hockey fight into this before Jordan's ringtone- some Swedish rap song that I only half understand- goes off. I shoot daggers at Carter before I pick it up, "Samantha Ingemar Saad, where the hell are you?" Mark yells into the phone. What is with this boy stealing people's phones?

"I'm at the Brampton stop, don't worry, I'm not alone," I can literally see him relax through the phone.

"Good. Patrick came to get you?"

"Nope," I say, popping the 'p' casually. "He's on a date."

My brother's voice hardens, "Well then, who the hell are you with?"

"You know, you're gonna laugh when you hear this: Carter Blake." I get Carter's attention when I say his name. We immediately lock eyes while Mark starts dropping F bombs all over the place. My brothers do not like Carter.

I look away and turn toward the nearing train as my dad's voice comes on the phone. He asks to speak with Carter. Hesitantly, I turn around and see that he's only a few feet behind me. Handing him the phone, he gives me an unsure look. I shrug as a reply.

I can hear the yelling of voices that don't belong to my dad. I place the loudest one as Jordan. I catch various chunks of his speech, "You're an inconsiderate bastard.... Dick-douche.... dump and change. All it was." I ignore the last part since Carter and I were never even together.

Carter says nothing, his face completely blank as he walks onto the train behind me. He hangs up after a few more insults and shakes his head, "Your brothers really hate me," he states simply, handing me the phone.

I scoff, "Biggest understatement of the century. They want to absolutely murder you."

"I switched schools, why are they so pissed?"

I shake my head at his ignorance of the whole situation, mumbling, "If you only knew the drama bomb."

We stand in silence, crowded into a corner together. The Cubs had a game at around four, this is all the people who stayed until the bitter end. Let me tell you how awkward our closeness was.