Page 84 of Walk the Line

“Here’s to respecting our fucking Captains!

People pat both me and Julius on the back.

“Here’s to having a great fucking night!”

“Woo. Party in my house,” I say despondently while raising my glass at. Feeling comfort in the fingers linked with mine, I turn to face my man. “That guy does not run out of fucks to give, nor does he run out of energy to keep throwing these damn parties, clearly,” I say fondly of my housemate.

Reigan, one of the guys from our team stops in front of us. I stifle my laughter at Julius’s face. It’s clear he still remembers how jealous of him he was when Reigan and I spoke at our first party. He knows he never had anything to worry about, but he told me himself that everything felt more intense for him because of how bad he wanted all of me. “Well done Captains, you guys have both done great so far this season,” Reigan says, a knowing look in his eyes as he scans us both.

It’s the same knowing look Coach Campbell had been giving us for a few weeks up until our last meeting with him. If I wasn’t certain he knew about our relationship prior to that conversation, it was awkward enough that it left no doubt in mind about his knowledge of it afterwards.

I snap out of my thoughts to deliver a, “Thank you,” to Reigan who then sidles away.

“When do you think people found out about us?” I ask Julius.

He scoffs. “Have you seen who we live with? I bet one of them told all of them early on.”

“Do you think they’ve known since the beginning?” Noticing that Daniel is walking towards us, I direct my next question to him. “Hey, everyone knows about us being together, right?”

“Is water wet?” he says with a raised brow, then lets out a telling laugh. “Come on, guys. I’ve known about it since that whole seven minutes thing when it was clear you were doing your thing in there.”

That’s slightly mortifying, but I’ll let it be, I guess.

“And you told everyone when?” Julius asks.

“I refuse the right to answer that,” he says with a straight face and crossed arms.

This guy never has a serious moment in his life, and I know he’s not about to start now, so I’m ready to throw a joke at him, but my train of thought is interrupted by a new addition to our group.

Taking admiration of the braids flowing all the way down her back first, I lay my eyes on the girl standing in front of me. Her smooth brown skin glistens in the room, matching her sleek voice as she says, “Hi. I just wanted to say I’ve been watching all your games and you guys have done so well this year.”

“Thank you,” I I don’t recognise her at all, but I only really know people from the team and my course.

“It was so sad to hear what happened to Sierra, and…well, you as well, Kaylah,” she says.

I narrow my eyes. “What’s your name, sorry?”

“I’m Camille. I’m a Journalism student, actually.”

“Oh, no,” Daniel is quick to say, and I take back the thing about him never being serious. His face is completely straight as he says, “No. No to Journalism students.”

I don’t miss the eye roll from Camille. “We get that a lot so I’m not offended. Say no all you want, but I promise you that’s not gonna stop me from getting my paper done.”

“And what is your paper about?” Julius asks.

“The dangers of Hockey on students, and I’ll be looking into whether there’s a difference in the pressure Black students face in particular. I’ll be starting it after the Christmas break, but it seems as if there will be a lot to cover, such as your expulsion, Kaylah, the Sierra debacle and the failure of the team last year because of…well, you,” she says to Julius who glared at her.

“We’re not gonna talk to you about anything you’re trying to research,” Daniel says.

Wow, he’s really passionate about this.

“Well, obviously not. I wouldn’t expect you to. I’m getting my information from other reliable sources. But I just wanted to let you know in advance, because I like to be upfront and honest.”

In the midst of me trying to stop myself from becoming too overwhelmed at this overload of information right now, a question comes to mind. “How do you know about my expulsion?”

I’m pretty sure it was just the Hockey team that heard me talking with Sierra that day, and I didn’t think any of them would go rushing to tell anyone else about it.

“I told you I had other reliable sources. Don’t worry, this paper is going to tell the story in your favour.”