Page 126 of Hockey Halloween
“Let’s hear it, then.” I lean back, hiding the strange warmth I feel at the sound of my sister’s name on Ligaya’s lips.
“Hear what?”
“Your apology.”
“I don’t mean apologize toyou! I mean to my mom for taking memento to do something so stupid.”
I chuckle. “We were idiots.”
“Decision-making is not a high schooler’s strongest attribute,” she agrees with a nod. “I would know.”
“Why’d you choose to teach at Centerstone? I thought you went to Chicago for college.”
She looks astonished that I knew where she went to college.
“My parents aren’t getting younger. And since Amihan, my older sister, is active military, it made sense for me to live close by.”
“Do you like it? Teaching, I mean.”
“Not every day. But yeah, I love teaching. Seeing my students shine on the stage is a high for me, too.”
“Can I ask you something?” I ask.
“Nothing’s stopping you.”
“It wasn’t till that Shakespeare play that things went too far.”
“I know.”
We had been going back and forth with pranks for months. But when I messed up her costume—I just trashed her wings, it’s not like she had nothing to wear—she refused to get on stage as the fairy queen ofA Midsummer Night’s Dream.
She had a total breakdown and quit theater altogether.
I felt terrible.
Then, she got back at me.
A week later, Ligaya stole my phone again. She also managed to change every single clock in my house, including my alarm clock.
I missed the single most important hockey game of my high school career.
“Ami helped me make that costume before she left for the military. We worked all night glamming up the wings. I was stressed about her being deployed. In my twisted brain, the broken wings represented our bond being broken. Ugh, I was such a drama queen.”
For a moment, I can’t breathe past the stone in my throat.
“I had no idea.” I wince at the inadequacy of my words. “Please believe me. I had no idea it meant that much.”
“I solved nothing by walking away from the performance. That’s not on you. Dropping theater hurtmethe most. Especially since my character was played by Claudia Cox, who messed up all the lines. To add insult to injury, the costume never made it on stage. Claudia had nicer tits than me, so my dress wouldn’t fit. She wore a nearly sheer prom dress.” Ligaya shudders.
“I didn’t mean for that to happen.” Regret sits heavy on my chest. “I’m sorry, Ligaya.”
“Even when I was mad at you, I knew taking the wings wasn’t that different from our previous pranks,” she admits. “But fuck, I swore I would make you pay. Unfortunately, I knew exactly how. I’m sorry about that, too, Tristan.”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“I’m still sorry.”
“Accepted. And for the record, Claudia never had nicer tits than you.”
