Chapter 8 #2
Yeah, I could probably live in a fucking igloo with Nolan if I had to—if that was what he needed.
He turns, his eyes narrowing through fogged up lenses. "What are you looking at?"
I smirk. "You know what I'm looking at."
"Yeah, I do. I can feel your creepy staring."
"You like my creepy staring," I tell him as the line finally makes it under the cover of the arena entrance. "I'm going to be creepy staring at you with my dick in your mouth later."
"Is that supposed to be a threat?"
"I'm just telling you what's in your future. If I were threatening you, you'd know—right, Ripley?"
She makes a face at me, and Nolan laughs. "I mean, yeah, I guess. He'd probably just threaten to kill your mom or set you on fire or something, but that's not really funny, Dax. In fact, I think I'm just going to go stand over there now."
Before she can move to the other side of Nolan, I grab the back of her jacket and pull her back to me. "Come on," I say. "It was funny. And it's warmer over here."
Not that she could get away from me, anyway. She has three trackers on her—four if you count her phone, and you know what? I do. Welcome to my surveillance state, baby.
I should get some for Nolan, too. You can never be too careful with your things—not if you really care about them. And mine are already so fragile.
We get to our seats—near the top, but behind the West Pine players. The arena is smaller for a university, but they've probably never needed a bigger one.
Tonight, for whatever reason, it's packed. I don't even think West Pine is good enough to have a rival, so I'm not sure what drew the crowd.
Not until they dim the lights and start introducing the players. The crowd goes absolutely fucking insane, and as I look around, I see students holding West Pine Batman posters over their heads. After they introduce Elias, the chanting starts.
"West Pine Batman. West Pine Batman. West Pine Batman."
It's kind of nice to see that Saige looks just as fucking annoyed as I am. She shakes her head, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "So this is all for Elias? Un-fucking-believable."
"Is it, though? I don't know. It seems pretty baseline believable for Elias at this point."
"He's insufferable," she says, taking her seat as the crowd's chants for Elias drown out the starting lineup from the box.
I bite back a laugh, but she's not wrong.
Nolan sits beside her, nudging her with his shoulder. "Come Saige, this is fun. Have fun with us."
She smiles. "Only because you asked me to."
The game starts, the other team getting to the puck first. They take three shots in the next three minutes, controlling possession almost the entirety of the time, but the goalie blocks all three.
The crowd goes fucking wild, as if they don't know the Wolverines have barely touched the puck and look sloppy as fuck—and maybe they don't know. Still, it could be worse, I guess.
I'm sure it's killing Elias to just sit there.
Just as I think this West Pine Batman bullshit can't get any worse, Josiah walks down the aisle with a stack of shirts. "I've got signed West Pine Batman hockey shirts!" he shouts. "Only six left! Forty bucks!"
"He didn't really sign a bunch of fucking shirts," Saige grumbles.
"Have you met him?" I ask. "Of course he did."
"Oh, hey, guys," Josiah says when he stops in front of me. "You want some shirts? Not you, Nolan—I know you don't wear shirts."
Nolan huffs. "Yeah, I don't."
"No, I'm not going to give you forty dollars for a shirt with my best friend's name on it."
He shrugs. "Okay. A real best friend would probably wear it, though—like I am. What about you, Saige? Do you want to support your brother-slash-hero?"
"Uh, no, thanks."
"Hey!" someone shouts from a few rows down. "We want shirts!"
It's Kira, sitting with a few other girls I've seen around the house with Saige; I think they live in her residence hall, too.
As she spots Saige, her expression drops.
She doesn't take her eyes off her while she buys the shirt and changes into it.
After Josiah walks away, she nudges one of the other girls, whispering something to her while pointing at Saige.
"Ew, it's the brother fucker!" the girl beside her shouts. "Saige Ripley fucks her brother!"
Kira laughs, playfully shoving the other girl before they turn back around. But they keep talking, looking over their shoulders at Saige every few seconds.
"I never fucking liked her," Nolan grumbles.
"You don't like anybody," Saige tells him.
"Mmm, true. But I really don't like her. I don't trust her; I told you that from the beginning."
"What? So it's my fault?"
"Hey…" he says, taking her hand. "Settle down; I didn't say that. Of course it's not your fault."
"She's an asshole, Saige. She's jealous of you."
Saige scoffs. "Yeah, right." She holds up the molar hanging around her neck. "Who would want my fucking life?"
I throw my arm around her and pull her into me. "You're loved," I tell her. "You're so fucking loved, baby. That's something to be jealous of. You have three people who are willing to do anything for you, and we're going to make the nightmares go away for you."
"My nightmare wasn't about Miles; it was about Elias."
"Saige?"
She looks up, and all the color drains from her face.
"Hey, Mr. Thorpe," I say, trying to ease the tension. "Didn't think I'd run into you at a place like this."
It doesn't work. He looks away from Saige, but only for a second, to say, "You didn't think you'd see me at my son's game?"
"Please, don't tell my mom," Saige says.
Alex stares at his stepdaughter for a few seconds longer before shaking his head and continuing to his seat.
Sometime during the exchange, the other team must have scored, because now it's 0-1.
"You know, East BC is pretty bad, too," I say, trying to change the subject.
"They might actually win this one. The Wolverines have a decent goalie—he's a junior named Wes Baker; I remember playing him in high school.
And that guy—wearing number five—his name is Simon Day, and he's their best forward.
He's not as good as Elias, obviously; he's not the fastest guy, but he could get it in the net if any of them could keep the puck long enough to get it to him.
He's a lefty, so they'd actually fit really well together, if they'd put him in.
" I realize she hasn't heard a word I've said. "Saige? You okay?"
"He's texting someone. He's probably telling my mom I'm here with you guys." She gets out her phone and checks her messages, but she doesn't have any.
"Is it really that big of a deal?" I ask. "Who cares?"
"She didn't want me to come back to campus, and I promised her I'd stay away from you."
"Me? What'd I do?"
"She thinks Elias did this to me, and she wants me to stay off his radar—which is actually pretty sound advice, but…"
"Yeah, that's never going to happen," Nolan says. "You've always been the only thing on Elias's radar."
Saige doesn't even bother arguing. "I know that."
The first period ends with the score still 0-1 and Elias still on the bench, despite the crowd's persistent demands that they put him in.
"I'm going to get something to drink," I tell Saige and Nolan. "You guys want anything?"
Nolan shakes his head. "Not really."
"I'll go with you," Saige says. "I need to use the washroom."
I take her hand, and we walk to the concession stand together before I watch her walk down the hall and into the women's washroom.
The line lasts forever, and still, by the time I grab our sodas, the second period has already started, and Saige still isn't back. Several minutes pass while I wait outside the door, and then my stomach drops.
There wasn't a line, was there? What the fuck is taking so long? "Saige?" I call into the washroom. "Come on, baby. I got you something to drink, and I have a flask full of vodka in my back pocket. That should cheer you up."
"That'd cheer me up," another girl says as she walks out, her friends laughing. "I don't know who you're waiting on, but I don't think there's anyone else in there."
Shit.
"Anyone in there?" I shout. "Dude coming in."
I lower my eyes as I enter, waiting for someone to see me and freak the fuck out, but it doesn't happen. And when I look up, I find the space empty. "Saige?" I wait for just a moment for a reply. "Fuck!"
I set the drinks in the sink and start pushing open doors, but no one is here—she's gone. I leave the washroom, pull out my phone, and pace the hallway while I call her.
"Hello?"
"Saige, Jesus. What the fuck? You scared the shit out of me. Where are you?"
"I'm sorry," she says. "Don't be mad at me. I just…I ran into Kira and the girls, and I got overwhelmed, and I had to get out of there."
I exhale slowly, sitting on a nearby bench. "You could have told me. I would have left with you. Where are you?"
"In my car."
"In your car? Where the hell are you going?"
"Aurora Cove."
"What!?"
"I'm sorry! I just feel like I need to go home.
With Miles, Kira, and everything else. And even the ones who don't know anything about Elias—they stare, and they whisper.
I might not be as famous as West Pine fucking Batman, but the ones who do recognize me have my fucking sex tape in their inbox.
" Fuck. I hadn't thought about that. "It's quiet at home. You're not mad at me, are you?"
My tone softens. "Of course I'm not mad at you, but you scared the shit out of me. And you have class tomorrow."
"Yeah—with Miles. I don't want to go."
I sigh. "All right. Will you just…fucking call me when you get home? Please?"
"Yeah, I will."
"You checked the backseat of your car, right?"
"Yep, no psychos. Or dead animals."
"Jesus. All right, fine. I love you, Saige."
"I love you, too."
Nolan won't like this at all. We hang up, and I grab the sodas and go back to my seat.