Ice.

Chapter Twenty-Three.

Avery

Seattle is cold but not cold enough to turn the dreary rain into pearly white, soft snow. It's the kind of cold that a sweatshirt doesn't quite do it but a jacket will make you sweat.

The flight back was a lot more fun than on the way there. Traveling to Toronto was really stressful. I've never travelled alone before, let alone to another country. Customs was a nightmare and I was just on edge until I got to the hotel.

But I sat with Finn and Casey on the way back and let me tell you, I was crying with laughter pretty much the whole time. Casey really gives off the older brother vibe since he's four years older than us at the elder age of 22. I can tell he cares for Finn, which makes me really happy. He needs someone on the team who is looking out for him, especially since everything happened with Jack.

I posted a set of pictures from this past weekend and I was overwhelmed with the amount of engagement it got. Ever since Finn and the Thunderbirds tagged me in their posts, my followers have doubled. It was overwhelming at first, when I hit a thousand followers for doing absolutely nothing, but then I thought about how it will probably go down once people realize that I'm just a high school senior that is not interesting in the slightest.

The set was cute though. The first picture was of the first night at the dinner. Finn is looking as handsome as ever in his little turtle neck, his arm wrapped tightly around my waist and his other hand in his pocket. I'm standing next to him, my hand on his chest and a cheesy grin on my face. The next photo was of us after the game, him still in his padding and Pacific team jersey. I'm on my tippy toes since he's on his skates as we're sharing a quick kiss, my hands on his chest and his on my waist. It's such a cute moment and I'm pretty sure one of the girls on the social media team took it. They didn't post it obviously, but I'm really glad they got the picture for us. The third photo is a selfie we took on our little date night in downtown Toronto. I'm holding the phone out, grinning like a mad woman as he kisses my cheek. And the last photo is the one I took of him on the ice the day of the competition, when he was giving me a thumbs up after he spotted us in the crowd. I didn't know what to caption it so I settled with a simple black heart.

I wish we could of spent more time in Toronto. It felt like I was living a different life. An adult life where I was in charge of only myself and the decisions I made. No creepy ex boyfriends, no deadbeat dads, no distant moms, no complications. Just me and Finn and hockey and the cold Toronto air.

But that's not my reality. That's not even really Finn's reality. Our reality is high school. High school in a small town in Seattle and the drama that associates with it. Maybe one day this past weekend can be our reality. But not today.

Finn is even more of the school's IT boy since we've returned. It's Tuesday and the first day we're back, which means everyone wants to talk to him and congratulate him on his amazing performance. I would bet good money that half these people don't even know what he did this weekend, nevermind actually watching him compete.

He takes the praise with a polite thank you and a smile, not letting anyone go unacknowledged. I can tell he's tired though. It must be exhausting to feel like you're at a press event even when you're at school.

We've had stolen kisses today, neither of us having time to sneak out of class for our secret rendezvous. It's okay, though. We just spent the whole weekend together so now it feels weird to not have him by my side the entire day. I guess I should get used to it.

Now I'm sitting in study hall in the cafeteria with Lindsey and Cam, a book open in front of me with the words of Jeanette Walls coming to life in my mind. I decided to do The Glass Castle for my English project we were assigned a few months back, the one where we have to pick a book we've read throughout our schooling. It gives me a chance to reread one of my favorites.