(Hockey Bxb) Whistle In The Wind -𝐈𝐈𝐈-

╔══《”I’m still angry at my parents,》══╗
for what their parents’ did to them.”

       Váli quickly spun the lock to his combination habitually. The lock popped open and he reached in to place a couple books on a shelf. The school day was over, and he finally had something to look forward to. Closing his locker, he turned toward the direction of the nearest exit, excited to finally be done with school. When he turned however, he saw his brother approaching.

       Aksel never talked to Vál in school. It was a rule. Aksel was popular, and Váli was a nobody–they didn’t interact. That’s why Vál shot his brother a look of confusion as he walked up.

       “Luc’s got a concussion, they think,” he stated immediately. “I’m going to stick around a little. You can walk to the rink or wait ten minutes and I’ll drive us all.” He’s got a concussion? A sick feeling resided in Váli’s stomach.

       He had been the one to cause the concussion of course. He hadn’t been looking where he was going in first period, running into Luc and another student. He heard the sound of Luc’s head hitting the desk. He saw as his body went limp on the floor, his legs tangled in Vál’s.

       He was selfish. Lucien was injured, but at that moment, all he had noticed was his face. He had stared at his thick eyebrows and scattered freckles. If it weren’t for Mr. Correy walking over and assessing the situation, he would’ve stared for an eternity.

       Váli hadn’t offered to take Lucien to the nurse. He knew he couldn’t carry him even if it was life or death. Vál was strong, but in that moment his limbs turned to jelly and his heartbeat quickened. Am I sick? He remembered thinking, confused and suddenly out of breath.

       In the blink of an eye, he was in second period–French III–and he hadn’t heard anything else about Lucien, forcing himself to forget the fall even happened.

       But now Aksel stood in front of him and was telling Vál he had injured his best friend. Every muscle in his body was telling him to just wait the ten minutes in the truck, but his consciousness knew he had to apologize.

       “I’ll go with. I have nothing better to do,” he murmured. A smile appeared on Aksel’s face. No other words were exchanged while the two headed for the nurses office.

       “Hello, dears,” a kind voice rang out as they entered. “How can I help you today,” she asked politely.

       “Is Lucien Cordes here?” Aksel asked, glancing around the corner.

       “Oh, yes! He’s right over here,” the lady exclaimed while leading them around to a bed. Lucien sat upright on the edge. The moment Aksel walked in, he glanced up from his phone and smiled. Standing, they dabbed each other up before wasting no time to begin friendly banter.

       “Leave it to you to get a concussion,” Vál heard his brother faintly laugh. He stared at his shoes, trying to zone out of the conversation.

       It wasn’t long before he was brought back into the conversation, however, when he heard his brother question, “How’d you get it, anyway?”

       Váli’s face turned red and Lucien turned his gaze to him. “It’s my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” he peeped, embarrassed.

       “Nah, it’s no one’s fault, Váli. I wasn’t looking where I was going either. We both fell, I just happened to hit a desk on the way down,” he smiled, making eye contact with Vál.

       He couldn’t look away. Lucien’s voice sounded like honey: smooth and even. He said my name. Váli registered in the back of his mind. He made my name sound sacred. Like it was a blessing to say it. Embarrassed at his own thoughts, Váli quickly broke eye contact and continued his staring contest with the floor.

       He heard the two boys continue their previous conversation, the chatter becoming background noise to Vál’s inner monologue. His mind ran a mile a minute as he pulled out his phone, attempting to find a distraction.

       He opened it to sparse notifications, opting to open and close random apps to seem busy. He scrolled through the weather app for a minute before switching to the phone app. He expected his call log to be entirely Nora–his best–and only friend.

       At first he didn’t notice, scrolling down to countless rows of ‘Nora’. As he reached the top again however, his eye caught on something. The most recent call, dated at 10:38 p.m. last night.

       Why was I facetiming Lucien? The only reason he had his number in the first place was for emergencies–according to Aksel. He had no recollection of the call. He glanced up, trying to discreetly look at Luc.

       However, when he moved his gaze, he made eye contact immediately. He was already looking at me. The two teenagers held each other’s eyes. All the while, Lucien continued his conversation with Aksel–multitasking as though it were as easy as breathing.

       Aksel, too busy acting out a scene, didn’t notice how Lucien’s eye had locked in on one spot. Lucien’s amber eyes that twinkled…wait what. Snapping out of a haze. Váli glanced back down at his phone before returning to stare at Luc’s eyes.

       He turned his phone around slightly, just enough so Lucien could see his screen without being too obvious. At the same time, he glanced back down and up, hoping Luc’s gaze would follow.

       The moment he remade eye contact, Lucien broke it to look down at his phone. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion before his face lit up in understanding. As soon as he understood, he smiled big, holding their gaze. As if it were an instinct, the corners of Váli’s mouth perked up too.

       He might not have remembered their previous facetime, but Vál knew that wouldn’t be the last they did. The look Luc gave him told him this wasn’t over yet.

…

       Lucien didn’t have a concussion. The nurse had let him go, and soon after, he found himself in the ice rink. He wasn’t allowed to step foot on the ice, but he figured he would go either way.

       In the beginning, he and Aksel had talked on the side of the rink. Shortly after, their private coach had entered and Aksel had to skate off. Looking longingly at his friend, Luc was forced to sit on the bench and watch.

       At some point he pulled his phone out, getting bored on the side lines. While about to click Instagram, his eye glanced over the phone app. The interaction he had with Vál in the nurse’s office wasn’t awkward, as he was scared the confrontation would be.

       He would start any awkward conversation with Vál if it possessed the chance he would see that smile again. His smile. Automatically, Lucien found himself grinning too.

       At that moment, his phone turned off and he saw his reflection on the dark screen. His smile was wide, covering his whole face. He didn’t recognize the expression, it was too genuine.

       Quickly, he propped his elbow on his knee and rested his head on his up-stretched hand. What is wrong with me? He thought. Maybe I just need some air. Lucien decided, bursting up off the bench. As he did so, his bag fell over with a loud thud. Looking around the empty rink, the only people inside being Aksel, their coach, and a couple stray people skating, Luc felt his face turn red.

       Aksel had whipped his head around at the sound, taking the time to stare at an embarrassed Luc. He quickly hurried out of the stands, leaving his bag in a rush to escape the room. I’ll go back for it. He considered, setting a mental reminder.

       Rushing out, he walked into the open lobby. Here, there were even less people than at the rinks. The only person in the vicinity being the worker at the front desk.

       Leia was her name. Luc, Aksel, and her had been friends for the most part, knowing each other mainly from the hockey players’ frequent visits at the rink. Currently, her head was laying on her folded arms, and her eyes were closed gently.

       Lucien smiled before rushing past, not sparing the sleeping girl a second glance. He wandered around the open building, like a kid in an amusement park. He never ventured to the other rinks, not even being able to count off the number of them.

       The Skating Center had a couple rinks for hockey, and a couple rinks for figure skating–exclusively.

       As he walked around, the faint sound of music caught his attention. It was slow, almost sad. High violin notes rang off in the distance before the tempo picked up.

       Suddenly in a rush, Luc hurried around the corner, finding the location of the noise; a large, open rink. It was empty, except for a single person. It was hard to miss him, and immediately, Lucien’s gaze snapped right to him.

       Once it had, he felt it as though it was impossible to look away, watching in astonished amazement.

       At first, the person was circling the rink. In a split second, he was spinning at lightning speed, his right leg extending back in the air. Luc’s eyes followed as his delicate arms grabbed his leg from behind, pulling it up above his head.

       He spun in this position for countless turns before bringing his leg down. While remaining to spin, he brought his torso parallel to the rink, his right leg now extended out. His knee reached a height higher than his waist. Just watching the twist made Luc’s hips sting from phantom soreness.

       Eventually, the boy brought his body upright again and spun with his legs close together quickly before pushing off and finishing the spin combination. Instantly, he kept skating. Crossing his right leg over his left, he raised his arms out to the side. As he neared the end of the rink, he prepared himself.

       Lucien held his breath, watching in anticipation. First, he turned his back to the center, facing outward. He bent his left leg slightly, keeping his toe pick an inch from the ground. His left shoulder was leading his body, both arms out at shoulder height. All his weight resided on the outer right edge of his blade.

       Keeping his left shoulder in front and his body slightly facing outside, his arms bent back toward his hips. At the same time, he transferred his weight to his outer left blade, switching feet. His right leg was bent at a 90 degree angle, the toe of his foot pointing towards the floor, slightly angled inward.

       Bringing his arms up, still in the bent position, he prepared himself for the jump. His bent knee shot upward. At that moment, he propelled himself in the air. His left leg crossed his right, as if his ankles were glued together. With his left hand placed over his right rib cage, and his right hand placed on his left shoulder, he rotated.

       The wind rushed through his body. He turned twice fully before half turning and landing on his right outer blade. He turned his body around quickly, switching which hand led.

       His left leg immediately extended to prepare for another jump. Swinging back, it crossed behind his right leg, tapping the ice in a wide stance. Following, his knees bent slightly as he kicked his right leg while turning his body, gliding it against the ice. This launched him in the air.

       Bringing his legs together, he spun. Three complete rotations before landing back on his outer right foot. His left leg extended behind him once more. The double axel, triple toe loop combination

       After finishing, he looked up, making eye contact with a mesmerized Lucien.

       “Váli…” he breathed, trying to regain his breath. Skating over to the edge, Váli shyly approached Luc.

       “Hey…” he mumbled. “How was my jump?” he chuckled nervously, trying not to show the ways Luc’s words got to him.

       “Damn… I mean, like, goddamn, Vál,” he awed. “That was, well, that was amazing.” Mouth still agape, Lucien struggled to find words to express his astonishment. “I knew you were amazing, but damn, you’re amazing.“

       Pink slowly crept up Váli’s neck, and he found himself cursing his pale skin, and cursing Luc’s words too. “Thanks,” he whispered. When the words between them died down, Váli found himself racking his brain for anything to say to prolong their moment.

       “Sorry about last night,” he uttered. “I hadn’t meant to call you, it was an accident,” he apologized. For the first time in their brief interaction, he looked up and made eye contact.

       “No worries,” Lucien chuckled, “I like being on the phone with people, even if they’re asleep. I’m not a fan of being alone.”

       “You and Aksel don’t stay on facetime overnight?” Vál questioned, this being news to him.

       “Nope. We always hang up before. That’s how it’s always been, I guess. Feels awkward to change it now, you know?” he grinned. “I wouldn’t mind having someone to facetime at night though…” he trailed off, staring longingly right into Váli’s distracting eyes.

       “I suppose…” Váli muttered in embarrassment. He had never slept on facetime before, and in that moment he felt himself wondering if he snored.

       “I’ll hear from you tonight, then?” Lucien queried with a wide grin.

       “You’ll hear from me tonight,” Váli confirmed, matching his facial expression. In one swift movement, Váli had skated away from the wall, continuing with his practice. Scared that if he’d stay any longer, he’d never leave, Lucien forced his body to turn around and walk back to his bag.

       As he approached the bench, he knew his face was red. It burned, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be embarrassed. I’ll hear from him tonight…

Question of the chapter: Do you guys still use your lockers in school?

╚══《Word count- 2,329》══╝

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