Page 145 of Hockey Halloween
She points to the door at the top of the stairs, which is closed now. And we’re the only ones here. I run up the stairs and try the door. It’s locked from the outside.
“Bergy! What the fuck?” I yell.
“Me and Eden think that you guys need to talk.” His voice is muffled.
Maya is right beside me, pounding on the solid wood. “Eden, open this door so I can kill you.”
Her friend giggles. “Threats will get you nowhere. We’ll open the door once you guys have had a chance to figure out what went wrong back in high school.”
“I have to pee,” Maya whines.
“Hope you’ve been doing your Kegels, then,” Eden replies.
“When will you let us out?” I demand.
“Once you guys have made up,” Eden says. “Bye for now.”
Bergy adds, “By the way, I’ve got the key, in case you think that calling one of our teammates might help.”
We keep pleading to the locked door, but either they’re ignoring us or they’ve left.
Maya and I look at each other and shake our heads.
“We need new best friends,” she says.
“Agreed. Do you really need to pee?” I ask.
“No, I made that up to get Eden to open the door.”
Of course. Maya lies as easily as breathing. My heart hardens again. I motion to the closed door at the bottom of the staircase. “Maybe we can get out that way.”
We go down the stairs and try that door, but it’s locked too.
“I guess they didn’t want people going in the basement during the party,” I say.
“Or there’s a horrible people-eating monster locked in there and he’s going to sense that we’re trapped and break down the door so he can feast on us,” she suggests.
I snort. “As opposed to being locked in with a woman whose face can kill a man on sight?”
“Please. You’d be dead by now. You’ve been staring enough,” she replies.
Too true. I’ve been searching for the real Maya underneath her disguise. Her secret desire can’t be hooking up because her costume disguises how attractive she really is—her curly dark hair hidden under the rubbery snakes, her curvy body lost in the pleated gown. I’m the only man at the party who knows exactly how sexy Maya is.
“Hey, Karl, wait up!”
I turn to see Maya from my history class in the hallway. I’ve noticed her before. She’s intriguing—different from the girls in my crowd—with her colourful clothes and dramatic gestures. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she’s very pretty and has a lush body with wide hips and generous breasts. When class gets boring, I’ve imagined exactly what Maya looks like under her artsy outfits.
“Do you have time for coffee?” she asks. “I have a proposition for you.”
Fuck. Now my ever-optimistic cock is getting a semi.Down, boy.No way is she thinking what I’m thinking.
We go for coffee at a place across from our high school. I assumed she was a bit shy, but she turns out to be confident and funny. But when she offers me a role in the school play, I say no immediately.
“I’m a hockey player, not an actor,” I scoff.
“But you’d be so good. I know from class that you’re great at public speaking. And you have this star quality, an athletic vitality—the audience will be drawn to you.” Of course, she’s sucking up, but she sounds completely sincere. I like her throaty voice and her enthusiasm and her confidence. She’s very persuasive.
“It’s a lot of work, though, all that memorizing. And I’ve never acted before,” I protest, but I’m intrigued. Now that hockey season is over, I wouldn’t mind a new challenge, especially a chance to break out my creative side. I hate being typecast as a dumb jock. Maybe some of my teammates will laugh, but it’s senior year—my last chance to do something different.
