CHAPTER TWELVE #2
“It’s my floor,” I respond to Jalissa. “Is Coach Campbell your dad, too?” I ask her, since the topic is fair game. I didn’t bring him up.
“You’re about to start sucking up to her, aren’t you?” she says.
“Why would I suck up to her?”
“To get her dad to like you.”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna fly with me,” says Mimi. “I don’t get involved with my dad and his players.”
“His dislike for me is that strong?”
I think I get the point by now, but it’s like I’m being beat over the head with it.
“My feet are fucking killing me,” Jalissa says, but then furrows her brows as she looks at me, then Mimi. “Aww, you two look alike!”
I sigh. “This conversation is way too chaotic.”
Jalissa throws me a suspicious look. “What are you doing just standing here, by the way?”
“I have no idea.”
“I mean, you don’t look like the partying type.”
“I’m not.”
“Then this must be torture for you.”
“It is.”
“You’re just full of conversation, aren’t you?”
“Anyway, we should go,” Mimi thankfully interrupts. “If we lose him, I’m gonna be so pissed.”
“We’re not gonna lose him,” Jalissa says, holding her friend’s arm. “He’s been in the same spot all night and he doesn’t strike me as the type to be the first one out of his team to leave.”
“Who are you talking about?” There’s much else I’m thinking to do at this party, so why not?
“Um…how close are you with Reigan?”
“Not close in the slightest,” I say, but I give myself a mental pat on the back for knowing who he is.
“Oh.”
“You got a crush on him or something?”
“Yeah,” she says quickly, but in a daze. Is she thinking about him or something?
“Is it really a crush if you’ve…um, never mind. I don’t know where I was going with that.”
This is kind of interesting, watching Mimi cut a disapproving look at Jalissa, so she’s now backtracking on whatever it is she was saying. They’re talking about someone on the team, so I think sticking around and hearing what else they have to say about him makes me a team player.
I begin by trying to get my first thought out. “I really don’t mean to be rude.”
“Really?” Mimi sounds unconvinced. Fair enough.
“But I think you would be wasting your time going for anyone on the Hockey team,” I continue.
“I know my dad would absolutely hate it. But I’m not a child, just his child, at the end of the day.”
“That was a bar!” Jalissa says.
They would get on well with Nathan and Daniel.
“Is that why you can’t say a simple hi?” I respond, just to realise I’m trying to keep myself distracted.
Because there’s no way I would engage in this conversation if I wasn’t in a post Kaylah state.
She sighs before saying, “Okay, so I’m feeling kind of judged right now.
Listen, I know how to say hi, but he’s pretty much already told me that he would cry if Coach kicked him off the team for being involved with me, so that makes it a little difficult to go up to him and have a casual conversation, you know? ”
“He said he would cry?”
“I think he really loves Hockey.”
“Your Dad’s not gonna kick him off the team. He’s one of the best players.”
That might be poor advice. The man might be kicking me off the team soon and I’m the best.
She pauses. “Yeah, well, he pretty much just acts like I don’t exist now, so.”
“Sounds like you’ve spoken quite a bit already.”
“Well, this was just…um, one conversation we had.” She looks away. “But anyway…ooh, is that Kaylah he’s talking to?”
“I think it is,” Jalissa says.
“Oh, no, she’s beautiful. I guess they’re gonna get married and live happily ever after together.”
“Okay, so that escalated,” Jalissa laughs.
“I just really want the person I want to want me.”
I’ve been there. Funnily enough, with the guy Kaylah’s talking to.
I try to think of a response that could be mildly comforting to Mimi, but she cuts in first. “I’ve been wanting to meet her. I keep hearing the girls talk about her.”
“Same. I wanted to know if it’s true that she gives off a weird vibe,” Jalissa says.
“Do you get a weird vibe from her?” Mimi asks me.
“What does that mean?”
“Well, no one knows anything about her apart from the fact that she’s new here and great at Hockey.”
Jalissa nods. “I guess the girls will let us know if they hear more.”
“The girls?” I ask.
“Yeah, we live with Tamarah and Sierra. They’re literally on the team you’re the captain of.”
“I know who they are.” Maybe not Tamarah, but I’ve been picking up on Sierra missing the puck lately.
“Sure, buddy.”
I think of how to respond and continue this period of distraction that seems to be going on for a while, but it doesn’t seem like I need to when someone shouts out, “Hey, get in the front room now, we’re gonna play Spin the Bottle!” and people instantly start flocking to the room in question.
It doesn’t take long for me to catch sight of Kaylah once again and the man who’s still by her side.
What the fuck could they have been talking about for all this time when she doesn’t like talking?
To be fair, it still looks like he’s doing all the work, but it doesn’t seem like he minds. If anything, the expression on his face is telling me that he’s happy to just be in her presence.
And he proves that again by trailing closely behind her when she makes her way to the front room.
I was gonna take this opportunity to go back to the confines of my room, but I still need to show my face at this party so I at least can say I did. Or maybe Coach’s daughter, Mimi, can.
I can’t think of any other reason why I would put myself through this stupid game.
There was never going to be enough seats in this place for everyone so most people are on the floor while I sit comfortably on the couch, Nathan and Daniel doing their double act beside me.
While the game gets off to a start, I read as a message comes through on my phone.
You seriously don’t care who your co-captain is?
It’s that dumb unknown number again.
When they sent something similar the other day, it didn’t take much for me to ignore it because that’s my common approach for most of my messages. I can’t deny the niggling feeling that remained in my mind at why someone was sending me something like this and why they were sending it to me.
But now I’m realising I should have thought the whole thing through a lot deeper.
Me: Who is this?
Unknown: Oh, now you care?
Me: Don’t waste my time.
Unknown: Not much of a conversationalist are you?
Unknown: If you were you would probably know what you need to know about your co-captain right now.
Me: Stop beating around the bush.
Me: If you have something to say, say it.
Unknown: Just that you should look into why she got expelled.
Expelled?
Me: Or you could just tell me.
Unknown: Did you know she got expelled?
Unknown: Of course not. You’re welcome, though.
Me: How did you get my number?
Unknown: Wouldn’t you like to know?
I’ve performed this same act already, and nothing comes up.
I know this, I know it’s stupidity to try it once again, but even that isn’t enough to stop me from going to the Internet.
This time, I type in “Kaylah Bamiah expelled from university” and sit back with no patience inside me as the page loads and as suspected, nothing of relevance comes up, not about her and definitely not about her expulsion.
Fuck, am I letting myself be played by a stranger?
But before I can think too hard about anything else, I hear a “Captain!” creep into my ears.
I look up to find that many people are saying my name and looking at me in excitement.
“What?” I say?
“It’s Kaylah’s dare time for Spin the Bottle, and I dare her to be locked in a room with you.” Daniel’s excitement when he says pretty much anything needs to be studied.
“What the fuck? Why?” But I can barely get the words out before the prospect of being in a tight space with her wakes my dick all the way up, and now it really is best if I leave this room.
“Because between the two of you, I start to doubt whether sentences exist in the human language,” Daniel says. “I just want to know if it’s possible that it would be the most painful experience ever or…”
Mine and Kaylah’s eyes find each other, and she looks as uninterested in this idea as I am.
“Or maybe a miracle could happen,” Nathan adds.
“Yeah, like you guys could talk.”
That’s someone from the team whose name I need to learn.
“Yeah, so it’s like that thing, where people play this game then two people get locked in a closet for seven minutes or whatever. My idea is little room right next to the washer and dryer room.”
The one that’s just outside of here, he means.
“This is ridiculous,” I say.
“I don’t think we need to do this,” Kaylah says at the same time.
“Yeah, go tell that to each other in there, guys.”
“I’ll make sure they’re locked in, everyone.” Why is Daniel acting like he’s doing a public service?
I catch sight of Kaylah again and this time she lets out a sigh before, to my surprise, getting to her feet and walking past me. She makes her way to the back with Daniel following closely behind her, and I take that as my cue to stop fucking around and fulfil my side of this dumb dare as well.
I should argue more about this, but maybe a part of me is curious about what would happen if I was locked in a room with the woman who has been acting like I don’t exist since the other day.
It doesn’t hit me until now that’s what’s been bothering me. I haven’t had a moment of peace because my mind has become occupied with replays of her coming in my mouth.
And she’s just gone on like nothing’s happened.
How is this not affecting her, too?
Maybe there’s just something I need from her that I’m not likely to get when others are watching.
We get into the empty room that apparently has no light switch.
Daniel displays the wide grin on his face clearly as he closes the door in front of us. In just a few seconds I faintly I hear the lock turning, beyond the sounds of music and chatter. And then it’s just us.
Turning to her, I find Kaylah’s eyes darting around the room, and I don’t know why I do the same.
I don’t think anyone goes in here, so it’s no surprise it’s been kept pretty clean.
“This is dumb,” I say.