the electricity.”
“Electricity?”
“Yeah, don’t you feel it with Anika? Like when you touch or whatever? It’s electricity that goes through your whole body and makes you feel alive.” She sounded like she was asking me a question that she really wanted the answer to, but I had no idea what to say. All I knew was how fucked-up everything was.
“And Nicklas Ericcson makes you feel this way?”
I didn’t give her time to answer, because I didn’t want to hear any more. I walked away quickly. When I turned the corner, I saw that she was still watching me.
12
H.J. 101
“ O kay , Kelly, how about Saturday night?”
I put the phone on my shoulder and looked at the calendar. “Sorry, Nicklas, I’ve got a late game in Richmond. Sunday?”
“Can’t, I have a school thing in the afternoon and then I’m meeting my dad for dinner.”
Coordinating my schedule and Nicklas’s was ridiculously hard. We had been going out over a month, and I could count the times we’d been together on one hand. He had two practices and two games a week, endless homework, and tons of extracurricular activities at his private school. I had school, dry land training, and at least three ice times a week. If our parents had planned that hockey would keep up from getting into trouble, it was working.
Nicklas growled in exasperation, and there was a brief silence. “Oh wait, I’ve got an idea, you’re off school early Friday, right? I’ll come and pick you up and we can hang out then.”
“Don’t you have school though?”
“I’ll skip my last class. It’s not a big deal.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble or anything,” I told him.
“I want to see you,” he said firmly.
Yeah, and I wanted to see him too. Well, more than see him. When we did get together, we usually started out at a party he knew about, left early, parked somewhere, and made out. The car was basically the only place we had to be alone. My mom was a ceramic artist who had her studio in our garage, so she was always home. Although his mother and stepfather worked, they had a fulltime housekeeper who was home days. I think she used to be his nanny. In any case, there were too many people around all the time.
On Friday, I was waiting for Nicklas in front of the school. Phil, Marcus, and Ryan passed by and said hi, but didn’t stop to talk. Phil had been avoiding me ever since he found out I was dating Nicklas. Phil thought I should have asked him out first. I felt guilty about that, but it wasn’t like he had been waiting around for me. And while I really liked Phil, but I didn’t like him in the same way I liked Nicklas.
As they walked away, Phil looked back once, twice, and then he turned around and came over.
“What’s up, Kel?” He smiled at me, and I felt happy that he wasn’t still mad.
“Not too much,” I told him.
“Want to come over to my place and hang? The weather’s kind of crap, but if the rain holds off we could go for a paddle.”
“Thanks, but I can’t. I’m waiting for a ride,” I explained. I didn’t really want to rub in the Nicklas part, but just then his SUV pulled up. Phil tilted his head to see who was driving, then curled his lip. He was majorly pissed off.
I opened the car door and Nicklas greeted me. He was still wearing his school uniform, so he looked both like a kid and someone’s dad.
“Bye, Phil, I’ll see you later.” I got into the car, but he caught the door before I could close it and leaned inside.
Nicklas nodded at him. “Hey Phil, how’s it going?”
“Hey Nicklas.” Then Phil didn’t say another word, he just stared at Nicklas. Well, more than a stare, I had seen that look during games. It was: “I’m going to win this face-off and then shove the fucking puck down your throat.”
I had to break this up. “Okay, well, nice that we could have this little team reunion… but, uh, we’ll see you later, Phil.” I tried to pull the car door shut but didn’t succeed. Phil
“Electricity?”
“Yeah, don’t you feel it with Anika? Like when you touch or whatever? It’s electricity that goes through your whole body and makes you feel alive.” She sounded like she was asking me a question that she really wanted the answer to, but I had no idea what to say. All I knew was how fucked-up everything was.
“And Nicklas Ericcson makes you feel this way?”
I didn’t give her time to answer, because I didn’t want to hear any more. I walked away quickly. When I turned the corner, I saw that she was still watching me.
12
H.J. 101
“ O kay , Kelly, how about Saturday night?”
I put the phone on my shoulder and looked at the calendar. “Sorry, Nicklas, I’ve got a late game in Richmond. Sunday?”
“Can’t, I have a school thing in the afternoon and then I’m meeting my dad for dinner.”
Coordinating my schedule and Nicklas’s was ridiculously hard. We had been going out over a month, and I could count the times we’d been together on one hand. He had two practices and two games a week, endless homework, and tons of extracurricular activities at his private school. I had school, dry land training, and at least three ice times a week. If our parents had planned that hockey would keep up from getting into trouble, it was working.
Nicklas growled in exasperation, and there was a brief silence. “Oh wait, I’ve got an idea, you’re off school early Friday, right? I’ll come and pick you up and we can hang out then.”
“Don’t you have school though?”
“I’ll skip my last class. It’s not a big deal.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble or anything,” I told him.
“I want to see you,” he said firmly.
Yeah, and I wanted to see him too. Well, more than see him. When we did get together, we usually started out at a party he knew about, left early, parked somewhere, and made out. The car was basically the only place we had to be alone. My mom was a ceramic artist who had her studio in our garage, so she was always home. Although his mother and stepfather worked, they had a fulltime housekeeper who was home days. I think she used to be his nanny. In any case, there were too many people around all the time.
On Friday, I was waiting for Nicklas in front of the school. Phil, Marcus, and Ryan passed by and said hi, but didn’t stop to talk. Phil had been avoiding me ever since he found out I was dating Nicklas. Phil thought I should have asked him out first. I felt guilty about that, but it wasn’t like he had been waiting around for me. And while I really liked Phil, but I didn’t like him in the same way I liked Nicklas.
As they walked away, Phil looked back once, twice, and then he turned around and came over.
“What’s up, Kel?” He smiled at me, and I felt happy that he wasn’t still mad.
“Not too much,” I told him.
“Want to come over to my place and hang? The weather’s kind of crap, but if the rain holds off we could go for a paddle.”
“Thanks, but I can’t. I’m waiting for a ride,” I explained. I didn’t really want to rub in the Nicklas part, but just then his SUV pulled up. Phil tilted his head to see who was driving, then curled his lip. He was majorly pissed off.
I opened the car door and Nicklas greeted me. He was still wearing his school uniform, so he looked both like a kid and someone’s dad.
“Bye, Phil, I’ll see you later.” I got into the car, but he caught the door before I could close it and leaned inside.
Nicklas nodded at him. “Hey Phil, how’s it going?”
“Hey Nicklas.” Then Phil didn’t say another word, he just stared at Nicklas. Well, more than a stare, I had seen that look during games. It was: “I’m going to win this face-off and then shove the fucking puck down your throat.”
I had to break this up. “Okay, well, nice that we could have this little team reunion… but, uh, we’ll see you later, Phil.” I tried to pull the car door shut but didn’t succeed. Phil
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