Pucker-Up

Chapter Fourteen - Mathew

I opened the door to leave the party, stepping out and heading down the hallway. I was staring down at my phone in my hands, about the press the call button under Gaby's name. "Awe! you're leaving so soon?" Kayleigh's voice drew my attention up, seeing her walk towards me near the end of the hallway. She carried a large see through bag of ice cubes in her hand, clearly just coming back from buying it. "Yeah I gotta skidaddle- sorry, I should've said goodbye." I shrug awkwardly and she waves her hand around. "No biggie. I'll probably see you in a few days anyway. Take careeee!" She vanishes back into the apartment to continue the party. Hopping my way down the stairs, I finally am able to call Gaby. Rising the phone to the side of my face, against my ear, I listen as it seems to ring for a bit, before she picks up.
"Hi." She says simply.
"Hey, sorry for taking a few minutes, had to wrap the party up." I rub the back of my neck a little- why are my palms sweaty? I drop my hand from my neck and wipe it against my jeans.
"Oh that's okay! Do parties happen after every game?" I picked up on the subtle shakiness of her voice, which I hadn't noticed before. No way she is nervous too.
"Yeah usually- definitely if we have won the gam-" I am abruptly cut off as I hear my name yelled from the direction I had just walked in. I look over my shoulder to see Ethan jumping down the stairs, running towards me with a panic look written along his face- and also a bit of blood dripping from his nose. I stare at him in shock, keeping the phone held against my ear. "What the hell has happened?" He grabs onto my arm, trying to pull me back to the direction of the party. "You need to come back- it's Frank." I feel as my surprised expression slowly turns to annoyance, my eyebrows furrowing against the top of my eyes. "Hey- Gaby yeah I'll have to love ya and leave ya for the moment. Okay- bye." I shove my phone back into my pocket, Ethan staring at me with confusion across his face now as I begin heading back to the party. "You coming or what?" I yell back to him, skipping up the stairs.

We push through people to get our way back into the apartment, seeing Rutger and Frank standing so close to each other with their chests puffed out, trying to seem like the bigger person. "Oi, what the fuck?" I get in amongst them, pushing them apart with my hands against the centre of their chests. Frank dusts his clothes off smugly and folds his arms over his chest, as if his mission had been completed. I notice his knuckles are a slight red- probably from punching Ethan.
I have know Frank Nazar since we were six years old. Having been best mates at that age, we wanted to do everything together which included signing up for hockey. We both challenged each other to be better and for years we had some friendly competition, but that competitive nature quickly turned dark as it became a battle of the best.
Rutger is staring at Frank with anger, then looking to me and seeming surprised. "You're back? Kayles told me you left" I roll my eyes "Now is literally not the time, McGroarty." I look back and forth between them like being in the middle of a tennis match. "Well?? Which one of you fuckers are going to explain?" I watch as Rutger huffs, his eyes glued on Frank. "Frank was just talking smack. It doesn't matter." Frank grins and stays silent. "Well it does matter if the end result is fighting." I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose with my fingers. "What was said?" I look back up to them, Rutger shutting his mouth and signalling for Frank to say it. "I said you don't deserve to be captain, and the team would be so much better without you." I narrow my eyes, Nazar then continuing. "Dont be disappointed, Mathew. Even Coach knows it won't be long until the pressure of not being able to perform well enough will get to you before anything else. There's a lot of other people who could carry the team far better- like Ethan." His gaze drifted over to Ethan, who was struggling to put an end to his bloody nose. Is he really trying to get someone else of his side now? I glare back to Frank, pushing my hands against his chest firmly which cause him to stumble back. He accepted it for a moment, then swinging his arm in my direction to get a punch in. His fist slammed against my jaw, my hands grabbing his shirt harshly before starting to throw endless punches towards him. The first jolt of my fingers hitting him was noticeable, the second punch was more of an ache, a dull ache which ran up my forearm, then it felt numb. I let go of his shirt and pushed him back, the same sadistic grin moving onto his blood covered face. No more was to be said before I turned and stormed out of the apartment.

Ethan followed close behind, his hands covered in the bright red blood from his nose. I huffed and shoved my hand into my pocket, wincing at the pain running through my hand. I pulled out my phone to see a few messages from Gaby.
9:27pm
Gaby F: Everything okay?
9:35pm
Gaby F: Whats happened? Is someone hurt?
9:42pm
Gaby F: Message me when you can
I sighed and just distracted myself from the aching through my knuckles, calling her once more.