Jonathan's POV
"Meet me at the front doors, I just got to school." I say into the phone, hanging up. I pull my backpack on higher, stepping inside. I leaned against the wall, waiting until I saw Tom.
"Why did you even come in?" He asks when he sees me. The both of us start walking, in the direction of the rink, our meeting spot.
"I'm not about to miss another week of school. I'll just stay for the rest of the day." I say. I had driven to school today at the start of lunch, planning to stay for my last few periods.
"What happened at the appointment?" He asks.
I scoff. "They got mad at me. I didn't do too good of a job... I'm not cleared for any physical activity, not cleared for school. She told me to stop watching movies and using my phone, too." I say.
"Not cleared for school?" Tom says, giving me a blank look.
"I called this morning, since it's been a few days." I say. Today was Wednesday, and I went for the appointment Saturday. "She said I can come, just take it easy, that shit."
"Okay, first, calm down." Tom says, giving me a strange look. The doctor changed my pills on Saturday, and these new ones were making me act differently.
"Sorry." I mumbled. We were almost at the rink doors now, so I walked ahead, pulling open the door. Right when I walked in I heard voices, so I looked back at Tom, confused. There was nobody on the ice, or on the bench. I looked up at the bleachers, and there, sitting on the top bench, was Taylor and Sweeney.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked Tom, my eyes rolling. "Y'all took our meeting spot, that's cool. You guys are fucking cute, though." I shouted, sending a sweet smile their way as I turned around.
"Jonathan!" She said back in her soft voice. I was about to leave, yet I heard the clonking of her stupid crutches. I groaned, turning back around to find her slowly climbing down the bleachers.
"What?" I asked, peering around her to see fucking Cameron on his phone, still sitting at the top.
"What's wrong?" She asked softly, finally meeting me at the bottom. She put her hand on my shoulder to steady herself.
"Nothing." I dismiss, turning back to see Tom still at the door, looking at me. "What are you guys doing?"
"We're just doing some functions work. He wanted to go somewhere quiet so that nobody would see us, so I suggested coming here." She says, still keeping her voice down. "Are you okay? Why didn't you answer any of my texts? And why are you at school?"
"I'm fine, I just shouldn't be using my phone. The doctor said I could come today, only if I'm taking it easy, though." I tell her.
"That's good." She says.
"I got new meds, they're making me a little ..." I trail off, not knowing what to say.
"It's okay." She chuckles. "Do you wanna stay? I wanted to talk to you." She says, pointing back to where she was sitting.
"I'm sorry, I can't stay around him, especially if I'm supposed to be taking it easy and I'm on new stuff." I say, making her laugh. "Just call me, I'll see you around." I say. She nods, so I turn and walk back to the door.
"Oh my god." I mumble as Tom opens the door and we both leave.
"Tom, I swear to god, why is she everywhere?" I ask him. I think he knows what I mean, because he just chuckles.
"You have an internal magnet that attracts you to her." He jokes, and I roll my eyes.
"What am I supposed to do? Just be really mean so that she'll stop talking to me? I don't think I can do that." I say. We were now approaching the cafeteria, where, of course I forgot to bring a lunch. I wasn't even hungry anyway.
"You can't be mean to her, she's already hopping around the school." He said, and I know what he meant. Everything came back to that. I bet if both of us weren't injured, so much would be different.
I followed Tom into the cafeteria, and into our famous spot in the middle of the room. Maria was sitting with Kate at one end, and I noticed Braden at the complete opposite end. Good. As far away from me as possible.
I took the seat next to Maria, greeting her with a kiss. "What the hell! I didn't know you were coming." She smiles, leaning into me.
"I know, I was bored at home." I tell her.
"You would not have been bored if I was there." She laughs, and my eyes widen. I look across the table at Tom, who's just sitting down now, and his face holds the same expression. "It's true." She says, and I just laugh along.
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Taylor's POV
"So that was..." Cameron says as I make my way back up the bleachers.
"That was Jonathan, the captain of the team." I say.
"Wow, already got the captain yelling at me." Cam rolls his eyes.
"Don't take it personally, he's yelled at a lot of people." I laugh, sitting down in my previous spot.
"But you guys are friends?" Cameron asks. I get why he was asking so many questions, he was new to the team, and he just wanted to try and get to know everyone.
"Yeah, I think we're pretty close." I say. Although Jonathan made it apparent before our injuries that he wanted to stay away from me, so far we've been fine.
"But he has a girlfriend, right?" He asks, raising his eyebrows.
"Huh? No."
"Him and Maria aren't going out?" He asks, now looking confused.
"No, I'm pretty sure they aren't." I say, feeling the need to defend Jonathan.
"Hm. Weird." Cameron shrugs. "So, is the bragging about him smashing Maria just a friendly thing, too?"
"What?" I suddenly ask. He wasn't serious.
"Him and her have fucked, they make it pretty obvious." He says.
"How can they make it obvious, he hasn't even been at school?" I say.
Cam shrugs again. "It's just what I've heard." He says.
I take my pen, jotting random notes on a pad of stickies. "Can we just go back to math?" I mumble. Frankly, talking about Jonathan and his sex life, real or not, was making me uncomfortable. And where would Cameron hear it from if he claims he didn't even know Jonathan before today? It was all sketchy.
"So, what's up with functions? What's your mark at, what're you trying to get it to? Are you allowed to be on the team?" I ask him, changing the subject.
He pulls his knees up into his chest. "I think I'm at a 30 something, but it's okay, the year just started, I'll have time. If I don't do well on my next test, well enough to bring up my mark, the teacher will tell Coach, and I'll be done for, basically." He explains.
"Why'd you join now and not the beginning of the year?" I ask.
"I didn't think I could, with my marks. Also, Braden. He told me I should join because I love hockey, so why not?"
My eyes widen even at the thought of Braden. "Braden, huh?" I mutter, picking at my nails.
"You know him?" Cam asks.
"We went out for a bit, yeah." I say.
"Oh, I didn't know." Cameron nods. We're both silent for a bit more, and I just want to get back to math talk. But it's better that he just gets out all of his questions now so he won't interrupt us later.
"So, Jonathan, the Captain." He starts again. I nod, waiting for him to continue. "He didn't play because he has a concussion?"
"Right." I say.
"How'd he get a concussion?" Cam asks.
"Uh," I start, trying to think of what to say. "The last team we played was pretty violent, I guess." I go with the simple answer.
"And your foot..." He says, looking down at my foot.
"Same game." I chuckle. Weird to think it's already been almost two weeks since I was injured. Two weeks and I already want the cast off more than ever.
"I've had a concussion before. Not pretty." He says with a sigh. I could only imagine how much pain Jonathan's been going through. It freaked me out so much when he didn't remember James' name at our last game. It could've just been a genuine mixup, but with a brain injury like that, you never know. At least he said that he was started on some new type of medication.
"Any more questions?" I ask with a humorous smile. I felt like I was being interviewed, or something.
"How long are you gonna have the cast for?" Cam asks, his face twisting into one of concern.
"I don't know." I say. "It can be as little as one month, as many as four if I'm not properly healing. I don't know how to help the process, though." I say.
"Did you tear any ligaments or anything?" He asks.
"Nothing to require surgery, but they're trying to get it to heal on its own. If not..." I trail off, raising my eyes.
"Yeah, it's tough." He sighs too. "I suggest just using your crutches, doing what the doctor's telling you to do... Obviously it can't be too bad if they didn't want to do surgery. You should find out at your next appointment." He says.
"I'll talk to them. Thanks." I smile.
"Yeah, no problem."
"So... back to math?" I ask with a grin. Cam just rolls his eyes.
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