𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒉 | ᴹᴰᴳᶜ

TRACK FOUR: Welcome to the Jungle

Today is our first game, and I'm not too thrilled as I know for a fact we suck. Some more than others.

"Okay, guys, we gotta get out there," Alex told us. "I'm not great at inspirational speeches, but I just wanna say.. no matter what happens out there today, I'm so proud of you guys. The true measure of a person is not in how many times they fall down, but it's how many times they pick themselves back up." She said.

"And today, I have a feeling that you are all going to fall down.. a lot. But there's one thing I know, and that is that over the last few days, we've really become a team. And to make it official," She started while pulling out jerseys out of a box. "I've got jerseys!" I caught my jersey and put it on.

"Check it out. I'm standing up!" Logan said awkwardly, skating over to me.

"Nice, rookie." I replied.

"Yeah, you should take face-off." Evan told him. "Really?" "Yeah, totally." I watched as Logan attempted to skate away as I made my way over to Evan. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked. "We'll see." He replied. I shook my head and took my place as defense.

As the game went on, the more the other team won and the more we lost. I almost scored three goals, but the goalie was too good. I took most of my anger out on the opposing team and the rest on the walls in the penalty box.

We ended up losing, which was no surprise. Evan hated it, Nck had mixed emotions, Koob was zoned out, Maya was talking to Lauren, and Sam was talking about how cool it was to knock down people. I chimed in with Sam here and there, and Logan was pretty quiet.

As I was heading for the door to leave and go home, Logan stopped me. "Delilah!" He called out. "What's up?" "Do you uh," He paused for a second. "Do you wanna... go out tonight? You know, to celebrate our first game even though it didn't go well." I laughed a bit, knowing it wasn't cause of that. "You know, what? Sure, why not?" "Okay, cool. I'll, um, see you later at around 7:30?" "Yeah, that works. Later, rookie." I said before walking away.

🏒

I kept staring at myself in my mirror, feeling nervous to hang out with Logan. It wouldn't be the first time, but this was different. We'd be completely alone. The team wouldn't be there. Alex wouldn't be there. It would just be us.

"Del?" Dad said as he knocked on my door. "Yeah?" I replied. He opened it and stepped inside my room. "What are you doing?" "I'm going to go hang out with some girls from the team. Lauren and Maya." I lied.

"No, you're not." He responded. "What?" "I ran into Logan's dad when I was taking out the trash. He said Logan was so nervous about your guys little date tonight to even come out of his room." I turned my head quickly and stared at him. "It's not a date. We're just celebrating our first game." "By yourselves." He crossed his arms.

"Delilah, what has gotten into you? I mean, you're lying to me– more than usual, might I add. You punched Coach T, which I thought I already had told you to stop hitting and beating on people. Oh, and not to mention that you keep going on this weird hunger strike–" "It's not a strike." I replied, getting annoyed that he brought up that subject again.

"Delilah, I haven't seen you eat a real meal in two weeks. You pick at your breakfast every morning like you're a damn bird, you rarely eat dinner, and I just got a call from your concerned English teacher because apparently you're not getting lunch and if you do get it, you're trading it for ridiculous things like bracelets or quiz answers."

I shook my head and grabbed my phone off my dresser as I walked to the door. As I got out into the hall, Dad spoke again. "Del, if this is about that dress, Alex got you for your birthday–" "It's not about the dress, alright?" I exclaimed as I turned around to face him. "I wasn't gonna wear that thing regardless. You know I don't like those."

I hurried down the stairs and to the front door. "I'll be back in an hour." I muttered before opening the door and leaving. I took a deep breath as I placed my hands on the banister, fighting back tears.

I heard Logan's front door open and close as well, and his footsteps were getting closer to me. "Hey, Lilah." He said at the end of the pathway. "Are you okay?" I removed my hands from the rail and walked down the steps and over to him. "Yeah, I'm alright."

He nodded and shoved his hands into his front pockets awkwardly. "So, uh, you like ice cream?" I laughed at his question. "Yeah, I do. Is that where we're going?" I asked. "Yeah, I looked up the directions earlier, and it's only like a ten minute walk." "Ten minutes isn't too bad." I replied as we started walking.

"I told my dad I'd be gone an hour so we can wander around town for a little." I told him. "That'd be nice. You could show me around– I mean, you can if you want. You don't have to. I'm just saying–" "I'll show you around, rookie." His nervousness calmed me a bit, knowing I wasn't alone on that feeling.

"So, what was Toronto like?" I asked. "Um, it was pretty cold in the summer and pretty humid in the winter– I mean, it was pretty cold in the winter and pretty humid in the summer. I-I'm sorry. My brain is just–" He let out a deep sigh. "My brain is all mush right now." He said. "It's alright."

🏒

Logan walked me to the end of the pathway near the mailbox as we arrived back at my house. "I had a pretty good time with you, rookie." I said. "Yeah, I had a pretty good time, too." He replied. He awkwardly opened his arms for a hug, and I smiled slightly before hugging him.

When we pulled apart, he didn't let go of me. He kept his hands on my sides and stared at me. "What are you doing?" I asked. He slowly started to lean in when Dad yelled from the porch. "Delilah!" I scrunched my face and dropped my head. Logan finally let go, and I looked back up at him.

"I, uh, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I said. "Yeah, yeah, I'll– I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Lilah." "Night, rookie." I turned on my heels and walked up the path, annoyed with Dad. He was standing in the threshold of the front door. He stopped me before I could enter. "Don't ever try something like that again while I'm alive and well." He muttered.

I moved past him and went upstairs to my bedroom. I closed my door and laid face first on my bed, screaming into my pillow. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling before smiling to myself. I didn't expect Logan to try and kiss me, but if he succeeded, I don't think I'd be mad.