Chapter 5 5

Jeremy POV

The right winger skates towards me and slams a puck in my direction missing the net, coach claps his hands together and we skate back off the ice.

"Decent job today boys." He bellows through the stadium even though we are all crowded around him. He tells us to leave and relax for the rest of the day since we have our first game tomorrow. I hear him muttering to himself about hiring an assistant, he's been complaining about it for a month now yet still hasn't done anything about it. My body aches, coach killed us during training at least I wasn't Mateo though he had to stay behind because he was slacking off.

It's chilly outside and I decide to go to the library to get some studying in. It's been seven weeks since class begun and that on top of hockey almost gives me zero personal time.

The library seems to be pretty busy this morning and trying to find a seat is harder than I thought. I head to the back of the library to search for an empty spot, I have to do three laps around until I finally find one. There is a guy sitting on his phone scrolling aimlessly on one of the seats, a girl loudly talking to someone on the phone while flicking pieces of paper across the table. The other seats have two girls talking together in hushed voices- one of the girls have they're hair tied up in a tight bun and is wearing what looks like a ballet uniform. If that's what you call it. The other girl is intently listening- her eyes wide and it's-

Her.

It's Elena.

Her cheeks are a rosy pink shade and she looks cold wrapping her hands around her stomach. Her blonde hair droops past her shoulders and she is wearing a light blue top that matches her eye color- I could spot her from a mile away and she'd still stand out. She'd still look as beautiful as she does now.

I know she'll be pissed when I sit down with them but there are literally no other ing seats in the library for me to sit on. Unless she wants me to sit on the floor- actually she'd probably love that because for whatever reason she hates me. I can imagine her literally killing me if she found out who I really am- her childhood nemesis.

I sigh and walk over to the empty seat that just so happen to be right beside her.

I see her smile visibly drop as she notices me "You've got to be ing me." She says under her breath as she faces her now smiling friend.

"There are literally no other seats in this library Elena."

"How lucky for me." She says sarcastically.

"You are so dramatic." I say pulling up a chair, her friend giggles behind her hand.

She holds out her hand for me to shake. "Lovely to meet you, I'm Fiona." She has a large grin spread across her face.

Fiona. I remember her, Elena's best friend- they used to be practically inseparable, she has dyed her hair from her natural brown to an auburn shade.

"Nice to meet you I'm-"

"Oh I know who you are" She says looking pointedly at Elena, "Mr Jeremy Steves, isn't that right Al?"

Elena slaps her arm and widens her eyes. Her face is now fully pink- maybe red and I can't tell if it's from embarrassment or anger. Maybe both.

I can't help but smirk, "So you've talked about me?"

"Oh constantly, Elena loves to talk about your dreamy eyes and your perfect-" Elena smacks her hand over Fiona's squirming mouth.

"I think Fionaa has had enough talking for now." She grinds between her teeth, "She is also talking a load of bull."

I don't even realize I have been smiling this entire time- a wide, toothy grin spread across my face. "Wipe that smirk off your face Steve." She snaps.

"You wish." I say before she flips me off.

I don't know why I rile her up so much- I don't even do it on purpose it's just too damn easy, It always has been.

Fiona mumbles something like "Let go of me!" from under Elena's clenched hand.

"Better shut your mouth Fiona." She reluctantly releases her hand.

"God you are so mean."

She clears her throat and wipes her hand on her pants, "Yeah sure," she stands up. "I'm getting some water, be right back." We watch her walk past the bookshelves before Fiona starts talking again.

"So you are a hockey player?" She looks me up and down.

"Yes." I open up my computer to begin a new word document, "Are you a dancer or something?"

"Or something." she smiles, "Ballerina."

I begin taking notes on the early archaeological sites in India when I hear Fiona's voice again, "Did you know-" she looks up from her notebook. "- that Elena used to play ice hockey?"

Yes. Yes I did. She broke her arm in the eighth grade because Anthony Greenblatt shoved her on the ground, couldn't play anymore- she was crushed.

"No. Why would I know that?" I ask obliviously.

A secretive smile slides up her face as she looks back into her notes and shrugs, "I have no idea."

"Can I have a spoon of yours?" Asher asks, "Mine's boring."

After dinner we went out to get ice cream- I got mango and Asher got rainbow. If you can even call that a flavor.

"Could of told you that." I hold my cone above my head so he can't reach it.

"It tastes like plain vanilla. Why can't it taste like a rainbow?" He complains.

"Maybe because rainbow isn't a flavor?"

He kicks the gravel, "It bloody well should be."

I hold my ice-cream out to him, "One scoop Asher. One scoop." A wide grin spread across his face. I swear he acts like a child half the time not a nineteen year old.

"Can we go in the book shop?" He asks.

I pull a face, "Since when are you interested in books?"

"Since I saw a hockey manual the other day." We cross the street towards the shop.

It's dimly lit with stands of bookshelves covering the entirety of the shop, Asher heads straight to the sports section.

"You do know that's not going to work, right?" I say pointing to the cover with two hockey sticks crossed together with a puck in the middle. "A random 60 year old man could of wrote some random shit then published it."

"Nah, this is legit man."

I pointedly look at the $30 dollar price tag stuck on the paper, he'll probably never read it anyway.

"Whatever. Hurry up and buy the damn book it's getting dark outside."

"You are going to be begging me for this legendary manual when I become the best on the team- just wait for it."

I look around to the thriller section and see a girl with blonde hair which can only be described as Elena. She is wearing a white puffer jacket and baggy jeans with a black scarf covering her neck. It's so perfectly Elena.

I walk over to her, "Elena?"

"Yes?" She turns around and I see a small pile of books in her hand. "Seriously?" Her face deadpans, "What is up with me seeing you today? It's ing excruciating."

I shrug. "What are you doing here anyway? I didn't take you as one that enjoys reading." She asks me.

"I'm not. My friend's buying one." I look around, "Looks like his disappeared though."

Her eyes widen, "Jeremy? Friends? Two things I never would of thought existed." She puts her hand on her chest, "You are not a make a wish kid are you? This isn't your last dying wish?"

I chuckle, "Very funny."

I point to the books in her hand, "What do you have here?"

"Wow. You must really be delusional Steve. These are called books."

"Really?"

"Mhm."

I hear a voice call out behind me, "What the hell man!" Asher walks up to us, "I couldn't find you."

"You are not a child." I say to him, "Also lower your voice, we are in a bookshop dude."

He scrunches his brows, "It's not a library."

"Same thing man." I roll my eyes. "Elena, this is Asher, Asher this is-"

"Elena." He says, his eyes lighting up.

"Well it's so great to meet you Elena- I've heard so much-" I stomp on his foot. "Ouch what the heck?"

"Nice to meet you too?" Elena says uncertainly. "What book have you brought?"

He holds up the book, "Hockey: a manual." He says dramatically.

He defiantly got scammed.

"Oh so not a real book-"

"What do you mean? It has words, it's a book." Asher says defending his stupid manual.

"Well-yeah. But it's a manual which by the way was probably written by some washed up old man who failed his hockey career."

He points to Elena's books, "At least I don't read nerdy shit."

She rolls her eyes, "I read good shit for your information."

"This is a really weird analogy." I say under my breath.

I reach for one of the books tucked between her hands. Five survive. "I can't wait to read that book." She says and I see the ghost of a small grin on her face.

"What's it about?" I ask and she picks it out of my hand. "Why don't you read it yourself and find out?" She looks down to her phone, "I'm heading back-" She mumbles "Fiona should be back from her date now."

"You driving?" Asher asks.

"Nah, got my board out the front."

"Skateboard?" He asks- surprised.

"Yeah." She goes up to the counter and pays for the five books then heads outside. "Here's my ride." She tilts her head towards the skateboard.

"Cool." Asher says.

"Well-bye." She says, "Hopefully we don't bump into each other again."

She nods her head to me, "It is getting real really annoying." I watch her glide her foot across the pavement and ride off into the distance.

I walk back into the book shop.

"Where are you going man?" Asher asks.

"I'm buying a book."

As I walk through the doors I hear Asher whisper behind me, "Man is love struck."