The Game
Amelia's POV
“Ahhhh!! I can’t think of anything anymore.” I sigh in frustration and drop my head onto the table.
“Amelia, are you okay?” my friend Rain asks. She must have noticed the pathetic look on my face. I groan in response to her question before she takes a seat beside me.
“I don’t know a thing about hockey. Then how the heck am I supposed to write a novel based on a hockey romance? The professor really set me up with this one.” I sit up properly and look at her with a dispirited face.
She smiles in realization at my words and speaks.
“You should have told me earlier. Don’t worry, I can solve your problem just like this.” She snaps her fingers in front of her and stood up. I immediately followed her in confusion.
“What do you mean?” I ask as my heart pounds with a ray of hope.
“My boyfriend is a player on the hockey team at this university. You can meet his team and ask questions related to your novel or something.”
My eyes widened in surprise to learn that she had a boyfriend. I mean, she never told me. But wait—he’s on the hockey team?! I guess God is finally on my side.
My face lit up as my lips stretched into a bright, wide smile. If Rain’s boyfriend is a hockey player that mean I can get more knowledge about hockey from him? Oh, how much easier this will make writing my novel!
Rain nudges my arm, bringing me back from my daydream.
“Oh, yeah—yeah... I—thank you so much, Rain. I will forever be grateful to you for this! Let’s go, I’m ready.” I grab my laptop, writing pad, pen, and bag immediately, but Rain’s question stopped me immediately.
“Where are we going?”
I stare at her and give her a “duh” expression, but she just looks back at me, unimpressed.
“To your boyfriend?”
She taps her forehead softly and looks at me with a gaze that says she’s already done with me.
“We can’t go right now. He’s busy practicing for his upcoming competition. How about you watch the competition with me first? You’ll learn a lot by just watching the game. Then we can meet him afterward. What do you say?”
I drop everything back onto the table and nod. I have no choice but to wait patiently. But how much patience do I even have? I’m usually a very impatient person.
“When is this competition again?” I sigh and lower my head before inquiring.
“It’s on the fifteenth of February.”
Yes! Just a week away. Then I don’t have to wait for too long.
“I researched and found out that hockey teams have captains, too?”
She looks at me like I asked the stupidest question in the world, but she answers anyway.
“Amelia, babe, every team got a captain. I mean, you literally researched the most general question?” She released a breath and looked at me with a let-down expression before continuing.
“Anyway, instead of learning from boyfriend, you can directly ask about hockey-related topics from the captain of the group. Also, I’ve heard from my boyfriend that his captain is really a sweetheart. He’s really kind to everyone. And the best part? We don’t need an appointment to meet him.”
She laughed as she said the last part, making me laugh along with her.
That’s a relief, though. It means he won’t mind a few—okay, maybe a hundred—questions from me. Now I just have to survive the week-long wait. Patiently.
“Now, tell me—when did you get a boyfriend, huh?!” I sit beside her and wrap an arm around her shoulders, and give her a questioning look. She shyly looks down at her lap and fiddles with her fingers, making me scoff.
And then, without warning, I attack her with relentless tickles. Our laughter fills the room, and just like that, the first night of my new year begins—with unexpected surprises and maybe, just maybe, a bit of luck.
A week passes in a blink, and now I am getting ready to attend the game with Rain.
“How do I look?” I ask as I brush my hair while looking in the mirror. Rain comes up from behind me with a smile before answering.
“You look really beautiful. Where did you get this dress?”
I turn to face her.
“I got it... uh, from nowhere,” I avoided her gaze as I fidgeted with the string in front of the dress.
Rain notices me fidgeting with the strings of the dress and raises an eyebrow.
“Nowhere? Really?” She questioned with an accusatory gaze.
Of course, she knows that I’m lying.
“I actually bought it for a date in high school, but never got to wear it.” I answered truthfully.
“Then, it’s good you’re this today. Not everything you gotta reserved for stupid dates. You look really pretty in this dress to hide it in the closet. Now let’s go, or we’ll be late. I got us the front-row seats!” She says the last part excitedly and drags me out.
“Are you excited?!” Rain asks as we take our seats in the front row.
“I... I’m more nervous,” I answer honestly. These guys.. I don’t know any of them. How am I supposed to interact with them? I am bad at socializing.
Rain grabs my hand, trying to reassure me.
“Don’t worry, I’m here. I won’t leave your side.”
I smile and nod as the announcer starts the introduction of the teams. One by one, he calls out the players of the Shadow Blades, introducing them to the crowd.
“Is this team from our university?” I ask.
“No, the Midnight Howlers are from our university.”
The announcer announced each player’s name one by one as they stepped onto the ice and faced their opponents.
“We welcome our defenseman, Aiden Greenwood!”
Rain jumps up from her seat excitedly as Aiden enters the arena.
“Look, Amelia! That’s my boyfriend!” she squeals, pulling on my arm.
I stand beside her and smile at her excitement. Aiden scans the crowd before his eyes land on Rain. He smiles and blows her a kiss. She looks away shyly, squeezing my arm so tightly that—ouch—that actually hurts. I smile through the pain at their interaction. Rain quickly pulls me back down into my seat, her face as red as a tomato. She’s cute.
Aiden waves at Rain one last time before walking over to his team, his expression shifting from joy to seriousness as he faces his opponents.
“And now, please welcome the captain of the Midnight Howlers—our last player—the university’s heartthrob, Nicolas Damien Sinclair!”
I feel my heart drop as soon as I hear his name. My hands tremble at my sides as my eyes dart around, searching for that familiar face.
It can’t be him. No—it can’t be him.
I repeat those words over and over in my mind. But I was wrong.
It is him.
Nicolas steps into the arena, waving at the crowd with a rare, wide smile on his face. He knows how to smile?
Everything slows down the moment his eyes meet mine in the crowd. The cheers, the music, the air itself—everything freezes.
I clench my fists on my lap. He’s still looking at me. Why is he staring? Look away—hey, look away!
And then, finally, he looks away. But wait—no... no, let’s rewind that again.
His lips curl into that signature, infuriating smirk—the one that used to make my heart race for all the right reasons, and now for all the wrong ones—before he turns away, like he didn’t just knock the air out of my lungs.
What?! Why?!! Why did he smirk?!
I need to get out of here ASAP. I shoot up from my seat—right as the music stops and the audience falls silent.
I swear I hear a pin drop. Or maybe that’s just my dignity hitting the floor.
I feel everyone’s gaze on me—including his.
This is so embarrassing. Damn it! It’s all because of that asshole.
I feel Rain pull me back down with a confused expression on her face. I look up, only to see Nicolas still smirking at me, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“If only I didn’t have to write a novel about something I know nothing about, I wouldn’t have to see this jerk again.” I mumble to myself, glaring at him.
