Hockey Rivalry

Chapter 4

Lia
"He was acting really weird." I tell Maria, "and it started at lunch."

"Have you asked him what's wrong?" Maria asks.

"No, because I don't want to nag him about it."

It's the end of lax practice. Maria and I are alone in the stadium sitting on the bleachers.

"Just ask him about it, okay? Talk to him." She says.

"I'll FaceTime him when I get home."

"Okay. And you can tell me how it goes tomorrow."

"I definitely will."

We both stand up. Maria brings me in for a hug.

"I love you, Lia." She says squeezing me.

"I love you too, Maria."

We pull away from the hug and I gather my things.

Maria walks away waving. I wave back.

I then go in the opposite direction to exit the stadium to my car.

There is one other car in the parking lot besides my little black Mazda. I study the car and realize that it was Jake's.

I walk over to his car and to the drivers side. I tap on his window.

Jake's attention goes from his phone and to me. He smiles and rolls down his window.

"Hey Babe." He says, "come hang out with me." He motions towards the empty passenger seat. I nod my head.

Jake rolls up his window and I open the door to his back seat and throw my lax stuff in the car.I walk around the front of the car and get in. I sit down and adjust the passenger seat to my comfort.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him sitting back in my seat.

"Sometimes I like to Just sit here and just think." Jake says, his hands behind his head and resting on the head rest. He had a small smile on his face.

"Can I talk to you about something?" I ask. I can feel my heart racing a little. I almost grabbed the door for comfort of some sort.

"Yeah." He says quietly.

"Why were you acting so weird in school today?" I ask. I halfway regret it. I didn't want to look at him so I looked at my little car a few spots away.

It was silent for a few minutes so I slowly turn my head towards him.

Jake quickly turns his head to look at me. Looking at his green eyes makes my heart pick up it's pace. I can see the words swifting through his head behind his eyes.

"Colton." He gives me a one word answer. He reaches his hand over and grabs my lower thigh. I drop my head and play with my fingers "He just pisses me off." Jake begins again after what felt like a few long minutes of silence. "I feel like he's going after you and I don't want him to have you."

I pick my head up and stare at the sky that's turning pink in front of me.

"I'm dating you." I begin, "Jake Reed." I can feel his hand squeez my leg. I feel almost speechless. Like I know what to say but not how. I don't know how to put what I'm feeling into words. "I like you. Not any other guy." I finally look at him, his eyes. "Your eyes make my heart race." My voice drops to a whisper. "Just by looking at you, the butterflies in my stomach erupt." The words feel weird coming out of my mouth. Like they have a bath taste to them. Like I'm lying.

I stare right into his eyes. The eyes that I love. They look like emeralds.

"I don't want to lose you." He says.