“Fuck!” Felix exclaims after a spurt of blood flies from his character’s head. His exclamation is met with a deep chuckle from the Finn on the other couch, and he grumbles, “Damn it, Veikko, can’t you kill someone else for a change?”
“Somehow, that does not sound as fun,” Veikko replies.
“Maybe that’s just how Veikko expresses his affection, Felix,” Sebastian says. “Like a boy who has a crush on a girl and doesn’t know what to do other than pull her hair.”
Veikko’s lips bunch up, his gaze ticking to Felix before quickly pulling away.
The big defenseman rises from the couch. “I have class to get to,” he announces. “Jamie, you, too, right?”
I nod, standing up. “Yeah, we’ll walk together. Catch you guys later.”
“I’ll join you,” Sebastian says. “I’m meeting Harper at the library to study together.”
Felix jumps to the seat vacated by Sebastian, next to Carter on the two-seater couch. “Perfect,” he says, “I’ll have time alone to wear down Carter into adding me to the chat.”
“Hudson would kick you out immediately even if I did.”
Sebastian, Veikko, and I pull on our winter jackets, sling our bookbags over our shoulders, and head out into the chilly winter afternoon. We join a steady stream of bundled-up students on the route to campus. It’s the time of day when afternoon classes are starting, like a pedestrian rush hour.
The frozen snow has become a permanent fixture of the landscape. The sun’s been too weak to melt any of it, even though it fell over a week ago. Jagged footprints are cut into its glistening surface. The masses of it piled along the cleared roads and sidewalks have turned a dirty, greyish-black.
It makes lawns harder to cut through and turns the narrow sidewalks into overcrowded, slow-moving conveyor belts. There’s no space to cut past slow walkers without stepping knee-deep into the snowbanks.
The crowd thins out when we get to campus and people start going their separate ways to various buildings. Still, the three of us decide to take a shortcut over the broad campus green. Our feet crunch into the glossy, hard surface of the snow as we traipse over it.
We’re talking about our game next week when I see her.
I trail off right in the middle of listing our upcoming opponent’s offensive weaknesses. Or maybe I was listing their defensive weaknesses. Or strengths. I can’t remember.
Carmen is stepping out of the administrative building, and right now, the only things I could list are all the things about her that make my heart patter.
How the curly strands of her hair spilling from her beanie flutter in the breeze.
How bright and vivid the dab of pink that is her mouth looks across the expanse of stark white snow between us.
How a thin ray of sunlight clawing out from behind the clouds strikes her face at just the right angle to light up her rich, brown eyes.
“Oh, that explains it.” Sound filters past the beat of my bloodstream in my ears for the first time since Carmen stepped into my view.
“Huh?” I ask, turning my head to both sides, not sure whether Veikko or Sebastian made that comment. Or what they’re talking about.
Sebastian grins at me. “We were wondering why the hell you trailed off and suddenly went mute. Then we noticed your girlfriend.”
My cheeks are warm against the stinging wind that brushes past us. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
Sebastian snickers, and I can’t blame him. That exchange was something right out of middle school.
“Have you made any progress with her?” Veikko asks.
“Not really,” I sigh. It’s pathetic to even mention this, but I do. “Well, I did make her laugh again the other day.”
Excitement sparks in Sebastian’s eyes. “Really? How?”
I recount the tale of how I fell when we went for that outdoor run. Though I cut out most of the details of my ridiculous fall, just telling themI tripped.
Sebastian hums. “So, she gets a kick out of you falling down.”
When he puts it that way, it doesn’t seem as hopeful. “Seems so.”
