High School Hockey Boys

16

Just a small chapter to keep the ball rolling. :) (I hate myself for saying that)

I'd convinced Mom to let me stay home one more day; something she did with slight skepticism. I worried briefly that it was because she'd also seen the bruising on my face, but she hadn't mentioned anything about it. That Monday the girls had collectively decided to skip school and stage a home invasion; I'd still been sleeping when the front door had been slammed open and the sound of stomping feet echoed in the otherwise silent house. My bedroom door had been flung open, and four red-faced girls barged into my room. They'd crowded my bed and forced me to explain what the hell was going on.

The girls' reaction had been fairly similar to James's. Though comforting, it was also mildly disconcerting that almost everyone in my life was willing to resort to murder to solve a problem. They stayed over for the rest of the day.

"You ever pull something like that again O'Brien I will find you, and I will chain you to me so you can't get away." Ava threatened as they walked through the door. I'd nodded and closed the door behind them.

School the next day had been a mess. As was expected of teenagers, nobody knew how to mind their own business. Everyone had wanted to know if I really was pregnant, who the father was, if I knew who the father was. That last question had come up too many times. It seemed that in the days I'd been away, Graham's words had been received as 'Finley sleeps around a lot'. There wasn't anywhere I could go that people wouldn't try and ask me questions; or if it was during class, stare at me while they whispered with their friends. By Thursday most of my teachers had caught on to the gossip. Some of them didn't appear to care. Others, the overly invested ones, pulled me aside after class to ask—as discretely as an adult who couldn't mind their own business could—me about it. What bothered me the most though were the other staff, the ones who had never met me. They were the ones who judged me the same way a lot of the rest of the school seemed to.

I tried my best to ignore it—and having the girls around helped—but sometimes it was too much. I'd had too many anxiety attacks that week to be healthy; for me or the baby. The girls could only do so much, and I was still too scared to tell my mom about anything school related. I hadn't been able to get a hold of Eli. So, I resorted to the last thing I had:

Dumping all my problems onto the brother I'd just met.

~*~

James's hotel room was nice. It wasn't the most expensive place to stay, but it was clean and it was big enough to be comfortable. It was Sunday, a week since Thanksgiving. The two of us hadn't really spoken much since then; just the odd 'how's your day going?' text. We spent the first few minutes of my visit making slightly awkward small talk and waiting for the room service he had ordered to arrive. I said a quiet thank you when he handed me a steaming hot chocolate and a sandwich.

"So why are you really here? I know it's not to take advantage of the food." James asked as he seated himself across from me. He was perceptive, I'd give him that. He watched me as I got myself a little more comfortable in the armchair. I took a breath, thinking about how to start.

"School, it's been bothering me, I guess." I said. His expression darkened slightly.

"Is it that guy?" He asked.

"No. No, he hasn't talked to me at all. It's everybody else. They think my personal life is something they're entitled to know everything about. And the looks from the teachers," I rolled my eyes. "they're adults, they should be a little more sympathetic, I think. Or at least be able to keep their opinions to themselves. And the ones who ask? Like, why are you so interested? And—"