Shutout

Hypothesis

"That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard."

"I swear to god I'm not lying. He can only hear what I'm saying when my hands are on him." Ramona sighs and faceplants into her cupped hand. Her, Briar, and Jamie are back at their normal spot in the courtyard for lunch.

"Aw, he's such a lover boy." Briar comments while pouting with fake sincerity.

"I mean if you really don't want to touch him then don't. Maybe he'll fail but what difference does it make to you?" Ramona knows Jamie's trying to help but she's thought this all through already.

"If he fails, he'll get benched. If he's benched, everyone's mad at me and I'm never done with this punishment." Why does everyone at this school's life revolve around hockey? Ramona didn't see the appeal in the game. It's just soccer but on ice and with a puck and sticks instead of a ball and feet. Most of the time it just seems like an excuse to beat the shit out of whoever you're playing.

A motto from Ramona: if you're gonna fight, be honest about it. if you need some excuse like a sport to hide behind you're a coward. and also fighting too much just makes everyone see you as a hothead and then when you throw a punch it has no meaning.

"Well, I don't know how you're gonna do this. You can barely even give me a hug and we've been best friends since 3rd grade.." Briar's currently trying to throw marshmallows into Jamie's mouth. Ramona's head snaps up when she gets hit in the head with a rouge mellow.

saturday 1 pm

Ramona is faced with a rude awakening when Lucas sits on her stomach.

"WAKE UP" He uses one hand to grab Ramona's face, his palm covering her mouth, and begins shaking aggressively. "You're disgusting, I hope you know that." He says when she licks the inside of his hand.

"You're the one coming into my room at the ass crack of dawn, shaking me like the world's ending. And get off of me you pig." Ramona's moans come muffled as she turns over onto her stomach and pushes her face into a pillow.

Lucas stands up and walks to the doorway. Before leaving he turns around, "I'll let you sleep but you better be ready to go in half an hour because I have places to be."

The next time Ramona rolls over she's met with the cold hardwood floor.

"What the fuck!" She groans without moving to get up. When she's laying there on the floor, face down, Lucas's words finally hit her. Half an hour? Ramona jumps up and grabs at her bedside table to pick up her phone but she comes up empty handed. She flings her blanket off her bed, letting it land halfway across her room without checking in a manic panic to find her phone. She runs her hand under her pillow and in between the mattress and the headboard. That's when she hears a ring. Ramona follows the sound under her bed and finds the rogue soldier under her bed.

The numbers on the phone say 1:25. Ramona knows she showed up to the last tutoring session looking like a total buffoon but she didn't want to make it a habit. (Obviously not because she cared about what Beau thought, just for.. personal reasons.)

Half an hour later Ramona has successfully gotten ready and managed to get into the passenger seat of Lucas's car. She opted for a comfy outfit, a pair of gray wide-leg sweatpants and a dark green crew neck. She let her hair naturally fall over her shoulders and left her face bare aside from a little blush and mascara.

Lucas hums when he takes a look at Ramona, "Less rat nest-ish than last time!"

"Shut up."

Ramona takes a deep breathe, today she fully sends her hypothesis.