Guess what? Life happened.

Chapter 17

I was speechless when I saw Jake pulled up at the Arena. I haven’t been there since I was little. It was one of my favorite memories growing up. My parents and I would come here to watch hockey games since that was the only game my mom had a bit of interest in. Those were the days I would go on heart stopping sugar rushes. My mom was the only culpable by buying me a ton of ice cream on a teeth clinging cold weather. 

“There’s a game tonight?” I asked as we unbuckled our seatbelts, perplexed that we were the only ones inside the parking lot.

“Nope” He took the bottles before getting out of the car.

“Why are we going inside the arena while it’s closed with alcohol in our possession?” I was freaking out while Jake remained as cool as ever.

“Relax, it’s no different than your usual trespassing.” A wicked smiled emerged on his lips, “I’m just spiking it up a bit by bringing spicy water.” 

“I’m not going in there.” I protested, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Suit yourself.” He closed the door and turned around.

I watched him leave me alone for the second time in one night. It hurt more than it should have. My heart was still in fragile state so anything hurt me. I wanted to go after him but I stubbornly stayed seated hoping he was going to come back to get me. I realized that I was acting like a brat but with everything that happened today I was entitled of being as selfish as I wanted. However, all stubbornness left me when I heard the barking of a dog not too far from the car. I hastily got out of the car and ran inside. I was so engulfed in trying to get away from a probably nonexistent dog that I missed the boy standing in my path. My mind came back to reality when my body hit a hard surface causing me to trip but before I could fall, strong arms wrapped around me holding me up.

“For a girl who claims she doesn’t to exercise you do love to run.” He softly laughed in my ears, his breath creating goose bumps on my skin.

“Running helps me clear my head.” I whispered with my hands on his chest trying to put some space between us. How was he so strong? The boy was literally just skin and bones.

“Why do you need to clear your head for?” His eyes watched me expectantly. I had the overwhelming urge to tell him to mind his own business but then I remembered telling him I will explain to him the story of my life.

“This hardly seems like a place to reveal secrets.” I hinted at the endless empty hallway.

“Follow me.” He picked up the bottles before turning around. That explained how he was able to hold me.

Not wanting to be the victim of my already over creative imagination, I followed him without a word. I pushed open the heavy double doors and my feet faltered as I took in the marvelous view that unraveled in front of me. The last Chiefs game’s decorations were still on full display inside the room. I think the cleaning staff was delayed because the next game wasn’t until next week. Or whatever other reason they didn’t clean, I was thankful for it either way.

The ice was covered with flowers, clothes, and food thrown by excited fans. Chiefs’ flag was laying everywhere. The score board dominated half of the opposite side with the scores that probably drove the fanatics insane. The Chiefs won by a mere two points. My father would have been proud.

“You’re coming or not?” Jake stood in front of me with a brooding look on his face. “I’m feeling an extreme case of alcohol and story deprivation.”

I rolled my eyes and followed him to a corner near the ring. I’ve never been that close to the ice before.

“Want some?” Jake offered the bottle with the clear liquid that he called water but I knew better.

I watched the bottle with a skeptical look, my father warned me about alcohol poisoning. What if I get? I couldn’t even finish the can of beer that I left in the car. Do I really want to die this young? I admitted that I had no idea what I was going to do with my life now. All my previous plans seemed distorted but that didn’t mean I had to throw my life away. I needed to start to live.

At that thought, I took the bottle from him and gulped it for the fleeting before I began choking on the burning liquid. My mouth and throat was on fire. My eyes became teary as I desperately tried to appease the burn by fanning myself with m hands.

“What was that?” I grunted out. My voice was so hoarse that I didn’t recognize it as my own. Between my chocking and excessive coughing, I heard Jake’s hysterical laugh. When I finally gained enough strength to stop the coughing, I saw Jake holding his stomach and tears were springing out of his eyes. The bastard didn’t even have the decency to mask his amusement.

He stopped laughing to and calmly sipped it. I expected some kind of reaction but he did drink it like it was just water. He smirked at me, “This isn’t my first rodeo. You’ll get used to it.”

He offered it to me once more but I declined this time. I was sticking with the beers for now. I popped open another beer and stilled myself for the bitter taste that I was about to unleash on my tongue. It didn’t taste as bad as the first one. After the fourth sip, I was enjoying it.

“She wasn’t supposed to be there,” I started quietly. I felt Jake soften next to me as to create a comfortable environment for me to spill my worst nightmare. “We were walking home from a parent-teacher conference, I used to have those a lot. I didn’t start being a goodie goodie until middle school. I was always moody and never listened to anyone. It didn’t matter to my parents though until that night. That night was different, she was mad and the car had died on her so we had to walk. We had taken the shortcut by passing through the park. I dropped one of my doll on the way. I didn’t realize that until we were almost home but I didn’t want to get home without it. I cried until my mom went back to get it. The thing is she never came back to me. I didn’t know what happened until a police car showed up and brought me to my dad. That was the first time I saw tears in my father’s eyes.” I took a deep breath, “Things were never the same after that, I was so young but I learned to hide my emotions. I started to take care of myself, if it wasn’t for Jill and Roxy I would be lost” bile form into my throat at the mention of her name.

“What happened today?”

“Nothing in particular. I just buried my father then I walked into my best friend and my boyfriend having sex. Cliché, huh” I nudged his shoulder playfully. I can’t believe I just unraveled my entire life story to a complete stranger but I didn’t feel uncomfortable. In fact, I was at ease with him, it felt like I’ve known him for years instead of weeks.

“Nothing about your life is cliché. I find it quite interesting actually.” He smiled sweetly at me causing a warm feeling to spread through me which was not due to the amount of alcohol running in my bloodstream.

What was happening to me? I just broke up with a jerk and now I was throwing myself at the next one in my face. I was supposed to be shielding myself from love but I didn’t want to. Why should I stay miserable because one idiot hurt me? Jake didn’t look that bad.

“I think we need to call Harry Potter now because I’m in desperate need of a oblivious spell.”

“Wasn’t Hermione the one who cast that spell?”

A Harry Potter fan, huh. I think I’ve just hit the jackpot.

“Anyways, I think a good screw you revenge plan is what you really need.”

My eyes widen in shock. That was the best idea ever. I did remember a brief moment when I craved revenge right after I ran out of the house but I forgot about it as soon as I saw Jake.

“Would you help me?”

“Call Harry Potter?”

I laughed, “No idiot, come up with a revenge plan.”

He turned to look at me. His stare was so intense that I thought it would pulverize me, “sure.” He answered enthusiastically.