Ohio is for Lovers (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter One

"The search continues for fourteen year old, Jamie Young. Jamie was last seen on Friday, on his way home from school. He was seen wearing a brown suede jacket, blue jeans and a burgundy beanie with black boots. Jamie is described as Caucasian, 5'2, slim build, blue eyes and brown hair. If anyone has any information regarding his whereabouts, please contact the local sheriff's department."

The television clicked off and I was sat staring at a black screen.

I hadn't spoken to Jamie since elementary, we were reading buddies. I couldn't believe he was missing. It was something unheard of in Pine Lake. He was all anyone was talking about at school, some dared to say he was doing it for attention.

A search party was put together and started not long after my practice. I came back to an empty house with a note from my mom, telling me about the leftovers in the microwave.

My father didn't go either. Not my kid, not my problem, those were his words. I wondered if it was me, would he have felt the same about Jamie.

I thought about going. I wanted to help but I had to focus on hockey.

❅

"Did you guys watch the news after practice?" Holland asked as we sat in the school cafeteria. I nodded, not entirely paying attention as I picked at my plain sandwich.

"I bet he's lying in a ditch somewhere, covered in snow the poor sop." Cole said, shaking his head with pursed lips. He'd always been too blunt.

"Did you know though? He came out as gay a week before he went missing." Holland's eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets.

"And I heard the cops are here, interviewing students." He lowered his voice to whisper, lowering his head.

"Why?" I arched my brow at him in confusion.

"Not sure. That's all my dad would tell me." Holland shrugged his shoulders. Holland's father was the sheriff, he told Holland everything. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"You think someone here had something to do with it?" Cole's face turned solemn as he stared at us.

"I don't know, let's just focus on hockey." I said as I crushed a crumb between my fingers.

❅

I could see my breath as it escaped from my mouth in a cloud of smoke and my cheeks burned red as I chewed on my mouth guard. I circled the ice rink, dragging my skates, exhausted.

Coach Neve pushed us extra hard during practice. It was the first game of the season in a few days.

"No slacking, Loughty!" Coach yelled from the benches. I nodded at him from across the rink, clenching my hand around my stick before picking up my speed.

I was good at hockey, I was more more than good. I was going to be drafted after graduation. I told myself I wanted that.

Coach Neve told me I couldn't slip up, not my grades, not my playing, not once. My father told me the same. It felt like they were counting on me to win. I tried not to think about that and only focused on playing.

Most days, I liked hockey. It felt like I was on top of the world when my skates touched the ice, when the cold air kissed my cheeks and made my nose red.

But today wasn't one of those days.

I wasn't sure why, but I couldn't focus during practice. I kept spacing out. I couldn't stop thinking about Jamie. I didn't want to.

When I came to, I was pinned to the boards, my body pressing hard against the glass that separated the stands from the ice.

"Snap out of it, Loughty." Kyle sneered with a glare. I scoffed under my breath before skating away from him to centre ice. Kyle was right wing, but he liked to pretend he was captain. He won a timbit award before moving to town and thought he was better than the rest of us. His father was also on the council, and worked closely with the mayor. He was a pain but we remained civil with each other during most games but if he wasn't on the team, I'd had kicked his ass long ago.