My Hockey Alpha

Nina

As I sat there in the bar, seeing the two new transfer students kiss like that made me feel not only sad, but also jealous for some strange reason. I didn’t understand it; why would I feel jealous over two new students who I had never even met?

That feeling wouldn’t go away, either. I found myself hardly able to enjoy the evening, and eventually decided that I needed to get out.

“I’m gonna go home now,” I said, pushing my chair back once I’d finished my second drink. “I’ll see you all later.”

My friends frowned up at me. Justin checked his watch. “It’s not even ten o’clock,” he said. “You’re really leaving now?”

“Yeah. I have work in the morning,” I replied, which wasn’t a lie. I did promise Phil I would work at the diner in the morning. With things getting back to normal in town, businesses were opening back up and he was even able to get a shipment of food so he could get the diner running again. I needed the money, too.

“I’m actually pretty tired myself,” Jessica said. She glanced at Lori, who nodded in agreement, and they both stood. I could tell that they weren’t actually tired and really just wanted to be there for me as my friends, but I wasn’t complaining. It made me feel better to have them by my side; I just needed to get out of this bar.

As we began to walk home in the cold winter air, it seemed that my suspicions were correct as Jessica immediately began questioning me.

on with you? You kept

know exactly,” I replied. “Maybe they remind me of me and Enzo. I’m not sure. But… Don’t you think there’s something

shrug. “I even talked to the girl a little bit at one point when I went up to the bar. She seems nice enough. A little full of herself, maybe, but that’s

new students suddenly transfer here now, not only almost at the end of a semester, but also right

and you’re worried about him. And if he doesn’t come home soon, then we promise we’ll all do everything we can to find him and bring him back. But for now, you need to try to take a chill pill and have a little faith that maybe not everything is doom and gloom. Maybe, just for once, two students just like Mountainview and wanted to

about those two students. And even more so, I couldn’t stop

long enough, I swear he looks just like Enzo,” I said, feeling hot tears begin to prick at

imagining things, Nina,” she whispered. “You’ve barely been sleeping. All you do is sit in the infirmary all day and all night, trying to replicate Tiffany’s antidote. Don’t you think that maybe it’s starting to get to you? The lack of sleep? Hell, even the fumes from all of that chemical mixing you do all

right; I hadn’t been sleeping, and I had been spending my days mixing chemicals in the infirmary. Maybe it really was just starting to get to me, and besides: why wouldn’t

I was starting to reach for answers again. I

I did just need some sleep, and then I would feel better. I couldn’t find Enzo, Luke, or create the antidote if I was so

…

like myself again. In fact, the longer I thought about it, the more I realized that Lori and Jessica were right; I was just imagining things. And somehow, coming to this realization filled me with more drive to find Enzo; I already had plans to do another sweep

the infirmary. But only twenty minutes before my shift ended, the door opened and Justin walked