Endure

T H R E E

I entered the seating area and headed up the stairs towards the top row where Alice was sitting. My head was spinning, and I wasn't sure if it was because of the extreme height I was climbing combined with the loud noise of the crowd, or because of everything I had heard from Jade. It seemed like with every second of this day that went by, the more confusing everything got. So many thoughts were racing through my head at top speed, I couldn't even keep up anymore. 

"Hot chocolate??" Alice smiled, holding out a cardboard cup as I reached her.

"Thank you." I took it, the cup warm against my cold palms.

"Did you find out anything?"

I shook my head. "We can talk about it later. It's getting kinda loud in here."

She looked at me for a moment before tucking a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear and nodding. "Okay, that's fine."

I sat next to her and took a sip of the hot chocolate.

We watched the game in silence.

Or more like, she watched the game, while I stared blankly at the 'Williams' stitched onto the fan's jersey in front of me as my mind went in endless circles.

"Is anyone here wearing a Loughtry jersey? Or are they all just Tom's?" I mumbled.

She sat up in her seat and lifted her hands up with a smile, displaying the red Maine Coons jersey she was wearing. "I am!" She turned in her seat to show Ben's last name on stitched on the back. She then turned back around and faced me, a soft smile on her face. "Avoiding the topic?" she asked gently, seeing right through me.

I gave her a weak smile. "Can you tell?"

She nodded. "Unless you really do care who is wearing which jersey." She laughed quietly.

I shook my head before letting out a sigh. "He was at the police station."

Her bright eyes widened. "Mr. Hayden?"

I nodded, chewing my lip.

"What?? Why??"

I bit my inner cheek, pausing. "I don't know actually. I'll ask. I just know that we were reported."

"What!?!"

The crowd cheers grew louder around us and everyone stood to their feet. Alice and I slowly got up from our seats as well and clapped along with the crowd.

"I can't believe it!!" Alice leaned towards me, so I could hear her above the noise. "Why now?? You guys aren't even--"

"--together. Exactly," I finished. "And I'm not --"

"--a student anymore!!" she finished for me. "And he's not a teacher! Who would do that now??"

I shook my head, looking around the arena. The crowd had quieted down and returned to their seats as the game resumed. I turned to Alice as we sat back down. "The only people I could think of who would are either Tom or Sasha."

As if on cue, Tom appeared on the giant screen above the ice with a smile on his face. The cheers of the crowd resumed.

Alice's eyes grew wide as she turned to me.

We both looked up to watch the screen where teammates were now patting Tom on the back, congratulating him, and he laughed along with them as they skated to the bench.

I turned back to Alice. "But--"

"Maine Coons goaalll!!!" the announcer's voice echoed throughout the arena and the crowd cheered louder.