My Hockey Alpha

Nina

I cocked my head. My mother smiled up at me and pushed the plate containing my sandwich into my hands.

“Eat up, honey,” she said. “Are you alright? You look like you’ve lost a lot of weight.”

“U-Um… I’ve just been stressed.” I picked my sandwich up off my plate and took a bite, chewing for a moment, before speaking again. “Are you sure you don’t know about the Peacekeepers? The school doctor that I’ve been working with–”

“You know what?” my mother interrupted, stretching and feigning an obviously fake yawn. “It’s late, and we’ve got to be up early tomorrow to catch our flight.”

Now, I frowned and watched as she turned somewhat robotically and started to walk out of the kitchen. “But you said that we would be leaving in a couple of days…”

My mother froze again. “Did I?” she asked, her back still turned to me. “I guess I just misspoke. No, our tickets are set for first thing in the morning.”

“Oh…” I paused, looking down at the sandwich on my plate. “Okay.”

“Good night, honey.”

“Good night, mom.”

I sat alone in the kitchen and silently finished my sandwich, puzzling over why my mother acted like she didn’t know about the Peacekeepers. In fact, her entire demeanor was a bit strange, almost scripted. It was unsettling, to say the least.

my plate before grabbing my suitcase out of the living room and quietly heading upstairs

opting to stay at a motel on the rare occasion that I came to visit, but as I sat down on my bed and heard the springs creak beneath my weight, I suddenly felt overcome by a sense of nostalgia that overshadowed my mother’s strange behavior. Sighing, I fell backwards and splayed my arms out on the bed, running my hands along the quilt as I looked up at the old glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling that I’d put there when I was seven. I turned my head,

against my window. I didn’t get up right away; instead, I chalked it

then, I heard

I frowned and sat up. I turned around to look at my window, only to see something small and round hit it again, as though someone was throwing something

the curtains. My jaw dropped as I saw Enzo standing on the lawn staring up at me. What was he doing here? And how did he know

window open and

you find me?!” I half whispered, half

as he quietly and nimbly climbed up the tree. I

bit put off by his sudden appearance, especially after how he’d spoken to me in the locker

he said quietly. “I’ve

suddenly felt his warm arms wrap around me. My eyes widened, but as I inhaled his musky scent, I couldn’t stop myself

the tears away with

eyes widened. “You

that if I get involved with you, he knows where my mom

out a deep, rattled sigh. When I looked up, he was staring intensely at the

been pushing me away?”

part