Avalanche

Chapter 16 | Midnight City

"Why can't you just let it go? Forget about it!"

Ricky's dad was glaring at him, and Ricky was glaring right back, desperate for him to understand where he was coming from.

After Dion had walked off suddenly, he apparently had told his dad that Ricky had tried to punch him. "What is this, kindergarten?" Ricky had thought. "Did he seriously just snitch on me?"  Then his dad came and pulled him back into a quiet corner in the kitchen of the building, where hotel employees were busy preparing the different snacks. Fortunately, they respectfully went about their work without giving a glance to the two of them. 

"You don't understand!" Ricky yelled as anger continued to build up inside him. "Dion has been running his mouth ever since I first met him! He deserved to be put in his place."

"Ricky, you need to ignore him," his dad said. "Because if you don't, you might not be able to compete at Regionals."

Ricky paused, confused. "What do you mean?"

His dad hung his head back and sighed. "Apparently, Dion has been reporting to Darnell about various things our team has done to express bad sportsmanship. Apparently, Rob has shoved Dion into the snow at some point, and it's hard to believe, but Darnell said that his son and another member of his team were pushed over by Tara and Akari just this evening."

Ricky scoffed. "Do you actually believe that? He's got to be lying."

Well, at least about the Tara and Akari thing. He knew that Tara would stand up for herself if needed but wouldn't go out of her way to cause trouble. However, he didn't bother mentioning to his dad that Rob's interaction had indeed happened and was probably as bad as Dion reported.

"Regardless, there is a lot of tension between our two teams," his dad replied, "and we're walking a thin line here. Darnell has every right to tell the organizers at Regionals about this, and potentially disqualify us."

Ricky could not believe what he was hearing. "Dad, no! You've got to do something." 

"Do what? Make up excuses for the team? I had already warned you about going around causing trouble, and I've seen you all in action. If you guys don't make it to Regionals, it's not going to be for lack of effort on my part. What happens now is up to your future actions, and the decision of team leaders. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. I would love to stay here and discuss fairness with you, but I have a party to host." He grabbed his son's shoulder, saying before walking away, "just don't do anything else too stupid tonight, ok?"

Ricky continued to stand there, boiling in his own fury. "Just don't do anything else too stupid tonight" His dad's words rang in his head. He wanted to take a plate of snacks in the kitchen and smash it into a wall but knew that was low even for him.

Instead, he stalked off to cool down outside. He thought maybe that the below freezing air would knock some sense into him. However, when he opened the door to walk out onto the balcony, he didn't feel refreshed, just more miserable. Nevertheless, he did not want to go back inside, so he crossed his arms over his chest and endured the suffering.

A scowl permanently etched itself on his face, and no matter what he did, he couldn't replace the thoughts of hatred. He couldn't blame his teammates for what was going on, knowing full well that Dion had either set them up or lied about what was going on. He shouldn't be surprised that Dion would follow in his father's footsteps. 

He suffered for a long while outside, staring off into the distance, buried in his own thoughts before he heard the door open, and someone walk out. He didn't bother to turn around to see who it was, not feeling like facing anyone, pleasant or unpleasant at the moment.