My Hockey Alpha

Nina

I felt like a harpoon pierced me straight through the heart when I saw Enzo walking with Lisa across the quad. She was leaning on him and holding his arm

He glanced up and saw me, our eyes locking across the quad. I froze. He froze, too, for a moment, his brown eyes focused on me with an expression that I couldn’t quite read. I hadn’t seen Enzo in a few days since the night we went to the diner… Had he been with Lisa this whole time, even though she attacked me like a madwoman?

The longer I stood there, frozen, the more tears started to well up in my eyes and the hotter my face became. I couldn’t bear to see him with her like this.

Before he could say anything, I turned on my heel and walked away. no, ran–

When I got home, the apartment was dark and empty. I slammed the door behind me and leaned on it, sobbing silently in the darkness, eventually sinking down to the floor and burying my head in my knees. I had told Enzo that I just wanted to be friends, but I knew that part of me still had feelings for him and seeing him with Lisa only solidified that.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat on the dark kitchen floor in tears, but eventually, the tears stopped coming and my face hurt from crying.

“God, I’m so stupid,” I whispered to myself, leaning my head back against the door. I sat there for a few minutes longer as my mind spun from all the crying.

Just then, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Pursing my lips, I pulled it out and squinted against the bright light of the screen. There was a text from Enzo.

“Can you talk later? I can explain.”

I rolled my eyes and shut off my phone, deciding not to answer. I didn’t want to hear explanations; I had grown tired of them at this point. If Enzo wanted to get back together with Lisa, that was his decision to make.

After a few more minutes of wallowing on the floor, I finally stood and decided that maybe it was best if I get out of the apartment and occupy myself. Besides, I had an exam the next day; some studying at the library would do me some good.

The campus was quiet as I walked to the library. I passed by a few students who were out on walks or heading to their night classes, but the quad was mostly empty — just how I liked it. The moon was nearly full and there was a gentle breeze blowing across the campus that kicked up some of the fallen leaves, and a light fog had begun to settle. It made for a spooky atmosphere, perfect for fall, and got me excited for Halloween in a couple of weeks.

empty and quiet, but the dim lights made the tall wooden

The moon shone through a window above it, creating a

in my work in an attempt to drown the image of Enzo and Lisa out of my mind, when

“Psst!”

peeking out from behind a bookshelf with a grin on his face. He came over

are you doing here so late?” he

to get

soft features, which made my heart feel a little less

sit with me?” I asked, gesturing to

reading a book on

there may have been humans at some point in our history who bred with animals

thought to myself as I studied the worn cover of the

didn’t tell him that there were, in fact, human-animal hybrids — they were just created from a curse, not breeding. Although, after everything I had

that when you’re done?” I asked. “It

nod.” I’ll

didn’t talk much more than that, both too absorbed in our work to pay much attention to each other. It was nice just to have the company, though; it felt good to be around someone platonically who shared similar interests, and it took my mind off of what I saw earlier between

announced that the library was closing

not wanting to go home and

said as he started putting his books back

wanted to stay, that’s all,” I said. “I don’t really feel

raised an eyebrow. “Why?