Taylor's POV
I hobbled into school, feeling like complete shit. I felt like everybody that I passed in the halls could tell that I was hungover, however that was unrealistic.
I got to my locker, feeling like I could've fallen asleep. I wish I was wearing sunglasses, it was way too bright in here. My eyes kept fluttering, I was so tired.
"Hey." I hear a familiar voice beside me. I swung my locker open, turning to see it was Cameron. I held a hand on the locker beside mine to steady myself.
"How are you feeling?" He asks me.
I roll my eyes. "Sucky." I say. "How about you?"
"I'm fine." He dismisses. "You were crazy." He chuckles.
"Don't remind me. I'm sorry if I said anything weird." I say, knowing full well I could've said something inappropriate without remembering.
"You weren't bad. Just very entertaining." He smiles. "I liked the part where you danced for me." He laughs out loud this time and I can feel my face heating up.
"Oh my god." I say, closing my locker and groaning as I turned the other way. I grabbed my crutches and we began to walk in the direction of my class.
"We both agree that the kiss was for fun?" I ask, trying to keep my voice down in the crowded hallways.
"Yeah, don't worry." He nods. I look up at him, his blond hair falling perfectly like always. I remember when I first met him and he told me he was good at kissing, he wasn't wrong. It was definitely my favourite part of the night, though, but I wouldn't admit it.
"So how are your classes?" He changes the subject. "I asked the other day but you wouldn't answer me."
I try and look the other way to avoid eye contact, and shrug. "Okay. My marks just aren't the same."
"Really?" He sounds very shocked. "Is it because of me? Because you're spending so much time tutoring me?"
"No, no." I quickly dismiss. "I'm just feeling stressed, with everything going on." I explain.
He sighs. "That makes me feel bad. You would've had more time to study if you weren't always helping me out."
"Don't say that." I tell him. "I enjoy helping you." We were almost at my class now.
He sighs, stopping in front of my door. "If you're ever stressed out, let me know. My aunt's a therapist, I know how to deal with this stuff."
"Okay." I smile.
He takes off my backpack from around his shoulder and hands it to me. "I'll see you later." He says, and I nod, walking into my homeroom class.
——
Jonathan's POV
I tightened up my skates in the change room quietly, trying to drown out the buzz of everybody around me. I had definitely been feeling different lately, and the last thing I wanted was for that to show in my ability to play. I feel like my concussion was 100% healed by now, so that couldn't be the reason why. I honestly didn't know what it was.
I walked out onto the ice, the first person on like usual. I skated a few laps to warm up and get loose, trying to go faster and faster. A few people started making their way on the ice, and I began to stretch. Coach Jamie was usually the last on one, so we all had some time to warm up separately.
Looking around, I noticed Fucking Braden and Sweeney talking a few feet away from me. They weren't warming up, just standing there. They were the closest ones to me and talking quite loudly. I moved a little bit closer to them while still stretching, trying not to blow my cover.
"When was the last time you saw her?" Braden asked. Two guesses as to who he was talking about.
"I was with her at lunch, and I helped her get to class before homeroom." Sweeney says.
"Where do you guys even go at lunch?" Braden looked annoyed.
"We just walk around sometimes, talk. She doesn't like eating in there." Sweeney replied. It would be too obvious of me to turn my head towards them, so for now I could just listen, but by his words I knew he was lying. Taylor told me she tutored him at lunch, and I guess he didn't want Braden knowing. So much for the two being buddies.
"Well don't hog her all the time, I wanna see her too." Braden says, and I can hear Sweeney scoff. "What else?"
"She came over to my house last night." Sweeney says. What?
"Oh. And?" Braden asks.
"She drank too much and got wasted." Sweeney chuckles. "Very drunk." What the hell? He obviously wasn't lying but I didn't believe it. Taylor did that?
Braden laughs. "You got her drunk? That's perfect, did you talk about me?" Oh my god.
"No, we, uh..." Sweeney pauses. "We kissed." No. That was a lie, it had to be. He was just saying it to mess with Braden. It had to be a lie.
"Are you kidding me?" Braden raised his voice. These guys were talking so loud, I'm surprised the whole team wasn't listening. "Dude what the hell? I literally tell you what to do and you go ahead and do the opposite? You kissed my girl?" Now he crossed the line. These guys were complete fucking idiots, I swear to God.
Sweeney scoffs. "I don't know how to say this lightly, but she doesn't want to fucking get with you. She literally cried because you wouldn't stop talking to her. You have to give it up."
"And what, now you're all buddy-buddy with her because you kissed her while you guys were drunk?" This had to be a joke. I couldn't even stand listening to them anymore, they were both idiots. I was going to throw up.
"We did it for fun. I like her. I like having fun with her and talking to her. And she's a nice person. I'm not doing your fucking spy business, it's weird and you're a creep." Sweeney said. I took this opportunity to glance at them, Braden looked pissed and Sweeney just looked annoyed. Spy business? I can't believe Taylor was right. And I can't believe how much of a fucking loser Braden was.
"You literally joined the team to help me, not go behind my back and kiss my ex." Braden points out.
"Well I'm not helping you anymore. It's very clear that she doesn't want to get with you, trust me. Leave the fucking girl alone." Sweeney said. That's one thing I could agree on with him.
This conversation had my head literally swirling. I couldn't take it anymore, I might throw up. How is it possible that every guy in the fucking world was in love with Taylor?
I got up on my skates and went as fast as I could to the dressing room, sitting on the bench with my head in my hands. Oh god. This was all such a fucking mess. Why couldn't I just be happy with Maria and move on? Why did I have to always want something else? I hated it, because I was making myself unhappy, and I was probably making Maria unhappy, too. The worst part was that Taylor had no clue and probably never would.
Right as I was debating whether or not to skip today's practice, I heard the door open.
"Jon, what the hell?" It was Tom.
"Where's Maria?" I ask, taking my head out of my hands and looking up.
"She's on the ice. What happened?" He rushes, coming to stand in front of me.
"Are we the only two in here?" I ask, trying to keep my voice down.
"Yes. Whatever it is, hurry up." Tom urges.
"I heard Sweeney talking with Braden just now." I start. "He was with Taylor last night. They kissed."
"Woah." Tom says. "I mean,... Wow." Even he's mind blown.
I had nothing to say. This was such a bad situation I'd put myself in. "So now what? Are they together?" Tom asks.
"I don't think so." I say. "But I really don't know."
"What are you going to do?" Tom says. I look up at him, seeing him shifting on his two feet. I hope they hadn't started practicing yet.
"I don't know." I mumble.
"Do you want to talk to Taylor?" Tom asks. This was so weird. We never used to talk like this.
"No, I don't want to go anywhere near her."
"Why?"
I groan. "She's too fucking complicated for me. I already have something good with Maria, why would I want to screw that up?" I say.
Tom sighs. "You know what you gotta do?" He asks, pausing. I gesture for him to continue. "You have to cut her out completely. Honestly, you really do."
"I know." I groan. It was so much easier said than done. But if I really wanted this, I wanted to forget about her, I wanted her out of my life... I had to cut her out.
"And no more of this bullshit where you start talking to her again the minute she bats her eyelashes at you." Tom tells me.
I roll my eyes. "God, I know." We had made this a plan before, to stop talking to her, but I had never followed through. This time I had to.
"Let's go." Tom gestures to the door, walking out.
If I didn't have him... I definitely would've done such stupid things regarding Taylor and Maria. I really hoped the plan to completely shut her out would work.
Shaking my head, I walked out onto the ice, glad to see Coach Jamie hadn't started yet.
Today I spent the whole practice with Maria.
——