Ice Cold

𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞

"Blake! Blake, hold up."

I'm walking down the length of the hallway, gaze glued to my phone when I hear someone call my name. I pause and spin on my heel, watching as Cameron catches up to me. When he speaks, he sounds a little out of breath, and I wonder how long he's been looking for me. 

"Can we talk?"

I raise a brow, but seeing his expression, I nod and reluctantly turn to lead him into an empty classroom. I used to hate one-on-one chats with anyone, especially other boys. However, as I've grown older, I've realised how important it is to listen to my friends. They mean a lot, and, even though Cam and I aren't as close as me and Tyler or Lucas, he is still a part of the team- my team. If he's got some kind of mental health issue or something going on, I want to be there to help. 

I lean the back of my legs against a desk and fold my arms across my chest. Cam looks nervous as fuck. He's fidgeting, shuffling from one foot to the other. I do him a favour and break the silence between us. 

"..So?"

"It's about last night. Dude, you can't ban figure skaters."

I sigh. 

"Is this about Lou?"

"Of course this is about Lou. I'm in love with her."

This gets a reaction out of me. I shake my head. Love? Never heard of it. Lust, desire? Sure- but never love. Love gets people in bad situations. Love is a distraction. Besides, those type of connections are too rare for people our age- it's almost always false. Unless, of course, you count my parents, who met in high school. Arguably, though, they didn't actually get together until after college, which proves my point. Love at seventeen doesn't exist.

"Are you sure? And, isn't she..erm.."

"She's bisexual."

"Right. I'm sorry, Cam, but my rule still stands. She's already distracting you enough now, let alone if you were in a relationship."

As much as I want Cam to be able to finally bone the girl and get over it, if I allow him to break the rule, I may as well allow the same for the other boys- for Jay. That isn't happening, not under any circumstances. 

"Blake, please-"

"Can't this conversation wait? We have a game tomorrow."

Cam falls silent, because he knows how important tomorrow's game is. If we win, not only do we have bragging rights over shitstown, aka Spitestown Spurs, but we also have a one-way ticket to scout central- everyone on the team needs that right now, especially with college applications right around the corner, which I haven't even thought about. 

We stand in silence for a moment, and we both have made it clear we have nothing else to say to each other. So, I offer him a curt nod and move to leave the room. I glance over my shoulder at Cam as I close the door, but he's looking at his phone. I'm slightly annoyed, but become more annoyed as someone walks directly into me. Well, it was more like I was walking into them, but there's too much on my mind for me to not. The person speaks as they step back. 

"For fucks sake- oh."

I look down, and April looks back up at me, her gaze wide. My heart skips a beat, and I have to tell it to shut the fuck up. 

"April Fools."

"Why the fuck are you everywhere? The fucking rink, my fucking way-"

I raise a brow, because she's dropping f-bombs as though every one earns her a dollar. I quickly realise how frustrated she looks. Her brows tug slightly inwards into a frown, her chest is rising and falling at a quickened pace. Surely that couldn't have all been me, could it? If so- damn, I'm getting good. Two interactions and she's pissed the hell off.

"Have you been, what do girls call it- oh, manifesting me, Jones?"

"Fuck off, Blake."

She speaks dryly, and I don't have time to conjure some smart response before she's already elbowing her way past me, walking off down the hallway. I look around, hoping none of the students around noticed our little stab at one another. As I move to walk in the opposite direction, I decide that I'm definitely not the deciding factor of her foul mood. She probably just got out on the wrong side of bed this morning. That being said, she was fine enough this morning to actually share the rink with me. So, something must've happened between then and now to have caused her mood. I know it wasn't our shitty math teacher, because we don't have that class today, and I know it can't have been tomato in her salad, because I didn't see her at lunch. Suddenly, I halt where I'm walking, causing I chain of people to walk into myself and each other. I apologise and approach my locker. 

Since when did I know so much about April's schedule? And when did I start looking for her at lunch? And, more importantly, why do I care so much about her mood? She's upset, so I should be happy. Yet, I'm not. It's probably because I'm not the one behind her upset. Yeah, that sounds right. It must be that, surely. God, this week has been a fucking mess- I don't think I've ever been more wrapped up in thought about anything than I have with April lately. She's always been on my mind, but never like this, and I want it gone.

"Blake!"

I look up, seeing Lucas and Tyler approaching. So, I offer them a grin. 

"Yeah?"

"Coach just sent a text round- apparently we're having a 'special' practice to prepare for tomorrow's game."

Tyler practically bounces up and down as he speaks, making it impossible for me to read his screen as he lifts his phone to show me. Lucas snorts and holds his own phone up, his hand steady. I frown.

"Hold on, he's saying practice starts at four. That's figure time." 

Lucas shrugs.

"Maybe we've switched so we can go to sleep earlier."

"Or...girls!!!"

Tyler shrieks, we can barely hear what he's said. Lucas blinks, looking at me.

"You don't think..?"

"No. Maybe. Better not be."

"I suppose we'll just have to see."