Crossing the Blue Line

Chapter 2

Nate raced down the ice maneuvering the puck around the defenseman and closing in on the goalie. He deked left, throwing the goalie off and leaving the net open. He flicked his wrist, and the puck sailed in smoothly.

"Yes!" Nate pumped his fist and pulled off his helmet.

"Nice job, man!" Tyler slapped him on the back, also removing his helmet, his sweaty black hair clinging to his forehead and neck.

Both skated to the bent to catch their breath after 20 minutes of running drills. Nate was feeling better, able to clear his mind of the intrusive thoughts although he had not been able to come to any resolution for the situation.

"Are you ok man?" Tyler asked, seeing the worry on his face despite his concerted effort to hide it.

"Yeah, I'm fine dude. Just a lot on my mind."

"Everything ok with you and Alana?" Nate paused but then nodded.

"Yeah, everything with us is fine." Nate could see the Tyler didn't believe him that everything was fine but wasn't going to press further.

"Let's get back on the ice Coach keeps looking this way." They both skated back out on to the ice. They continued with drills for another 20 minutes before the coach released them.

Nate quickly showered and then sat at his locker, thinking. "I just want to be normal!" he thought to himself.

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Friday came quickly and Megan was ready for the weekend having had a busy few days. She arrived at school early as usual and met her brother and several friends before class. Nate had not talked with her about Caleb since the first day of school. He still seemed distracted and not himself but he was trying hard to not look it. He had mentioned it briefly after practice on Wednesday saying he needed to just block it out, Caleb probably isn't even gay so there is no point in even talking about it.

Megan knew that Nate had a point that they didn't know if Caleb was gay but she was concerned by how fervently he wanted to suppress his feelings. She also knew that he had to deal with his feelings in order to work with Caleb for the rest of the semester.

At lunch, she went to the library and found Caleb working at a secluded table in the back corner. He was seated with his back to her and as she walked around the table so she didn't surprise him she tripped on his backpack. The bag flew forward and it's contents scattered.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she said bending to pick up the books and notebooks. As she reached for a notebook she paused seeing a rainbow flag sticker on a small black book with an elastic band holding it closed. Picking it up she turned and handed it to Caleb. When he saw it the color drained from his face and he took the book from her with a trembling hand, quickly stuffing it into his bag.

"I'm really sorry Caleb. I'm usually not so clumsy."

"It's fine," Caleb mumbled stuffing the last of his things in the bag and zipping it.

Before Megan could continue Alana approached smiling broadly. She was dressed in the latest fashion and her hair and makeup done to perfection. A sharp contrast to Megan with her more casual clothing and minimalist makeup allowing her natural beauty to come through.

"I was hoping to find you. I know that it's still early but I wanted to head into Grand Rapids to start looking for prom dresses."

The last thing Megan wanted to do was to go shopping with Alana. She always wanted the attention to be on her and if you didn't give her enough attention she would get irritable and sulk. She also was a control freak, never letting Nate have a say in anything and clearly this wasn't going to be different.

"Why don't have Nate go with you?"

"Oh, he's a typical man, he hates shopping," she replied tossing off the idea.

"I really need to get homework done before the football game."

Alana began to pout and Megan wanted to just walk away but she behaved herself for Nate's sake. Her fake sweet demeanor was wearing on Megan and her completely ignoring Caleb wasn't making it better.

"Fine but we need to go in the next couple weeks, I have to make sure I find just the right dress and tux for Nate. We are going to be prom king and queen and we need to look better than everyone."

"Of course," Megan put a fake smile on and Alana being appeased finally left. "Thank god," Megan mumbled the smile leaving her face.

"Who was that? Caleb asked.

"Alana Flynn. She's Nate's girlfriend."

"Oh..." Caleb said sounding disappointed. Megan in that moment decided to take a chance.

"Caleb, I almost forgot, I wanted to see if you were free to come to the football game tomorrow with us." Caleb looked surprised by her question.

"Um, I can't I have a lot of work to get finished up."

"So do I but you can't spend all your time doing work," Megan smiled hoping to conivce him to come.

"Who's going to be going?"

"Myself, Nate, his best friend Tyler, Tyler's girlfriend Emily, and Tyler's cousin Bethany." Megan could see Caleb mentally weighing the pros and cons. By his reaction earlier she knew he'd want to spend more time with Nate but he was definitely nervous.

"Ok, I'll go-"

"Awesome! We'll pick you up about a quarter to two," Megan said gathering her books and heading out of the library.