Page 84 of Pucking Matt
Matt: Haha you still are
Mom: I’m happy to have you by my side, son. You and me against the world always
Matt: Love you. I need to pay attention in class
Mom: Okay. I’ll see you this weekend. Wear white. Love you
I close my apps and tap my pen on the notebook. Shit. I lean back and think about this weekend. I have to prep Amber. I can’t just tell her it’s astupid thinganymore.
When class ends, I walk to the skating rink. I catch a glimpse of Grey and Maddie holding hands. It’s surprising to see him with a girlfriend. It seems legit now that all this time has passed and they’re still all over each other. They’re kissing before the hallway to the locker room, so I mutter, “Get a room.”
I step into the hallway and pull out my phone. Those two should be thanking Michelle for putting them together. Hell, maybe I should be thanking Michelle for pushing me and Amber closer too. I look at Michelle’s last text message about wanting to talk. I left her on read. I’m relieved she’s leaving me alone.
“Matt!” Dylan harps. “So, we need to go viral again, brother. Ready to make some content?”
I think about all the comments from last night. It’s stupid, but the mini ego boost and the commenting back to fans is fun. Before I got with Maddie, I didn’t mind making content. Time to be myself again.
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
“Okay,” Dylan shouts. “Is everyone wearing clothes?” He glances around the locker room. “You’re doing the opening line.”
I shake my head at Dylan. I lean in. “You trying to score with the social media manager?”
He pushes my head away. “Get your pretty face ready to sing.”
“Sing? I don’t want to do that.”
“You’re gonna do that because it helps the team.”
He plays the song he wants us to sing.
“Hell no,” I shout as the rest of the team scoffs with their own bitchy retorts. I’m not fucking singing Tick Tock by Ke$ha.
“Jesus Christ, dude,” I mutter. “You won’t catch me doing this shit. I have a better idea. Use the damn song, but don’t make us lip-sync it. Instead, we’ll all just rizz the camera. Sound better, boys?”
Dylan is scoffing.
I grab his shoulder. “Have you seen the comments of guys who lip-sync together? It’s not a good look for us. We can still get a good video. Good enough to get you laid, brother. Don’t worry.”
Harvey laughs, grabbing Dylan’s other shoulder.
“I think this is half about getting laid and half about the comment section.”
Crew walks over and says, “There’s nothing wrong with an ego boost.” He smacks Dylan’s chest. “Start the video with Grey’s face.”
Grey scoffs. “Fuck you guys. You’ll have to drug me to get my face on TikTok.”
Dylan looks at Crew. “We need consent.”
Crew laughs, eyeing down Grey. He must be in close proximity with Grey because he lives with Maddie.
“Ace? Knox?” Crew calls out.
“Whatever,” Ace says.
“Fuck it,” Knox says.
I point at Ace. “He’s got a pretty face. Start with him.”
