Capture the Moment (Moments #1)

50. Cleo

fifty

Cleo

“Those boys better take Brighton by the balls and crush them to smithereens then dance on their fucking graves! I didn’t wear this stupid jersey for nothing.”

Denver and I pause in our strides towards the concession stand, sharing an equally horrified and confused look before looking back at Georgia.

“Tone it down, blondie.” Denver chuckles, wrapping an arm over Georgia’s shoulder as Georgia laughs.

“I’m serious! It’s bad enough that Si Si had to practice for the winter showcase, but if they add losing to Brighton on top of that? I think I might die.” She pretends to faint in Denver’s arms, and Denver chuckles at the antics, holding a hand out to me.

“I’m pretty sure they’ll win, the guys were pumped when I FaceTimed them earlier,” I say, hooking arms with Denver as we make our way to the front of the line.

“Good. I made a bet on SFU and would cry myself to sleep if I lost $500 tonight.”

I roll my eyes at Denver, moving forward.

Tonight’s the big night, SFU vs Brighton, and everyone within a 50-mile radius is in the arena tonight. I think I even saw my Film and Communications professors here together! Georgia orders our snacks for us as Denver and I small-talk about tonight’s winner when I suddenly have to pee, yet again. We’d taken a few shots along with some wine coolers before coming and being the idiot that I am, I broke the seal before leaving the apartment so now my bladder is constantly full.

“Hold on girl, I have to pee again” I sigh, handing her my pink tote bag.

Denver chuckles as I scurry away to the ladies room, practically clutching myself and I’m so focused on trying to get to the restroom that I don’t pay attention to my surroundings and walk straight into a red-haired girl.

“Fuck girl, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention,” I apologize like any normal person with a sense of decency would when the girl sighs.

Fuck… Did I make her spill something?

I begin to question myself but come to an abrupt stop when the scent of her perfume invades my nostrils.

Lemon and ginger .

The scent is so disturbingly familiar that I know it anywhere, I don’t even have to see her face to know it’s her. I don’t know if I should be happy or scared shitless as she dusts herself off.

“It’s fine…” Karmen, my ex-roommate, sighs, and I don’t think she knows it’s me that she’s talking to.

“Karms? Girl! Oh my God! How’ve you been?!” I’m ecstatic to see her familiar face, so much so that I pull her in for a hug, completely unaware of her clear “fuck off” energy.

She’s stiff under my touch and is almost repulsed as she pushes me off.

“Cleora,” She scoffs, using my full first name, and I’m taken aback by the action, I furrow my brows ready to speak but just as I’m about to try to talk to her, she turns on her heels and sashays away.

But that’s when I see it.

Across her back in big bold and black letters is the number 65 with the word Rivers spread across the top.

I think I’m going to be sick.

I completely forget about the fact that I had to pee more than anything just five seconds ago and trudge back to my friends .

Denver tilts her head in obvious confusion as she hands me my drink but doesn’t press the issue as we walk into the arena and take a seat a little bit away from the box but close enough that we can touch the acrylic.

“Am I late?” Ryan’s voice startles me momentarily as he takes a seat behind us, wearing a sweater with Jace’s number on it. It’d been Jace’s gift to all of us after his birthday and seems to be the perfect outfit for tonight’s big match.

“Just on time. Wilder’s been dogging them this entire period! I hate to say it, but I love hockey now!” Georgia exclaims before letting out a loud cheer for the guys, standing up to show off the sweater Jace had given her. Being the true fashion major that she was, Georgia took the dull blue and orange sweater and made it her own by cropping it and adding creative flare and gems to it.

I smile up at her and do the same, pulling off my coat, standing up to show off the large number 13 on my back. Blake skates toward us almost instantly; he bumps his back into the tempered glass. We cheer as he continues with the game clearly focused.

Ryan’s scoffing catches my attention as Marcelo makes a near-perfect goal, I raise a brow at my brother as he curls his lip.

“I should fuck him up for even being here.”

“And if you do that, who am I going to bother all day long?” I ask, nudging his shoulder.

Ryan’s jaw clenches momentarily before he gives me a halfhearted smile. “Then I’ll have you beat his ass and I’ll post your bail.”

“I wouldn’t last five minutes in jail.” I frown, grimacing as Jace takes a nasty yet legal hit from one of the defensemen on the Brighton team.

“You wouldn’t make it past the squad car, babe,” Georgia teases, taking a swig of her Stella Artois. Suddenly my best friend is a beer girl that likes hockey?

“OH COME ON! THAT WAS A FOUL PLAY AND YOU KNOW IT REF!”

We all turn a stunned look to Denver who stands with her hands in the air with red painted lips ajar. She looks shocked by herself as we all stare at one another before bursting into a fit of laughter.

Maybe hockey is becoming all of our favorite sport after—

A loud whistle followed by dead silence and a loud cry of something both dreadful and filled with pain ricochets through the air and everyone in the arena goes still.

“Was that Blake? Are the boys okay?” are my first thoughts as my eyes frantically scan the array of blue, orange, black, and purple.

I find the puck first, just mere centimeters from making a goal, and then move onto the man clutching his wrist just a few paces away kneeling on the ice.

Blonde hair, tan skin, and the number 26.

No.

No.

No.

NO.

Jace’s cries are the sounds of a man who’s career in both professional hockey and fine arts has just been crushed.

Blake, Braxton, and Charlie are immediately by his side. They're all saying things that can’t be heard over the chatter of the arena.

“Is he okay?!” Georgia’s voice is panicked and shaky as she tries to get a better look at our friend but it’s no use seeing as more and more players are surrounding him.

“Fuck!” My dad yells from the bench where all the other boys on the 2 nd and 3 rd lines sit on the edge of their seats, ready to jump in and help their teammate.

Everything had been going nearly perfect, the boys were 2-1 and we were slowly moving into the second period only to have something fatal happen to one of the star players.

I curse myself for not paying full attention to the ice and feel my heart drop as two medics carefully walk onto the ice and help Jace skate off. His hand limp in the other.

His wrist is an array of blue and red but there was no mistaking one fact.

It's broken.

“What happened? Wait—”

“He pushed him. Marcelo fucking body checked him. I don’t know what Jace said or did but now the idiot's wrist looks like a run over dog… I’m going to go make sure he’s okay and call his mom.” Georgia sighs gathering her things, and I’m stunned that she even knew what happened considering we were in a full-blown conversation when everything occurred.

“I can go and help—”

“No, you stay here. This is your day, CJ. Let’s just pray the guys win this thing.” And with that she’s gone, stalking towards where Jace and the medics disappeared off to.

The game continues on with nastier hits and jabs and more boys spending time in the sin bin on both teams than necessary. We’re well into the third period when the line changes again and Blake skates to where the benches are. I can’t speak to him, but I can see the clear anger radiating from him.

He's pissed and that’s exactly how he needs to be to win this game.

One of the freshmen, Jacob McCarthy, from the third line got traded to take over Jace’s spot and he’s been working nonstop to keep up with the men on the first line. Lucki Cole and Jack Tyler are on the move working with their center, River Ruiz, to score before the next shift change.

The boys are so in sync that I’m taken aback as they move like a well-oiled machine up and down the ice. It’s only when River tries and fails to score a goal that my dad gears up for another line change and Blake is back on the ice.

Blake moves with the precision of a trained assassin, he’s stealthy and quick on his feet as he maneuvers the puck with ease. I can see why Washington is so interested in him as a player, he’s fucking awesome. When I become a commentator, I hope that he plays one of my first games because being able to talk about someone as skilled as him would be an honor.

I’m not just saying that because he’s my boyfriend, either. Blake is simply that good.

He signals for his wingers to spread out, Alec takes the hint and rockets into motion, getting ready for whatever the brunette has up his sleeve, but Marcelo and his boys see it at the same time and are immediately on it.

The boys fight for the puck and it's so close that I think I might need Blake’s glasses to see what’s going on down on the ice but a loud buzzer goes off signaling a goal has been scored and that the game is over .

The crowd is silent for a still moment before loud cheers and cries of joy burst through the arena. Waves of blue and orange soar into the air as everyone from SFU cheers for their home team.

And on the big jumbotron above, Blake cheers with his boys, holding up Jacob’s stick.

Jacob, the freshman, scored the game winning shot.

Just as I’m about to stand and cheer with the rest of the arena, my phone buzzes. I tense at the reminder of tonight not being truly over and sigh as I read over the text.

Cupid

IP address of the blackmailer. Do you by chance know a Karmen Tate?

All the blood in my body chills.

I can feel her steel gray eyes watching me from a few rows behind.

My eyes lock with Karmen and it all comes back to me.

The way her face changed after I told her about everything that night. The long lingering gazes she would send Marcelo when we’d be out together and the way she would almost always find a way to interrupt our dates.

She was the one blackmailing me, not him and I know exactly how she did it.

Karmen’s tech savvy. She’s always been good with computers and it was one of my favorite things about her. Having a roommate that was a computer science major was the best thing in the world for me because not only was she good at fixing our Netflix when it glitched, she could also hack into private internet servers when we were out and needed to use wifi. I’d never thought to think about her leaking the tape because she’d never been that big in my mind.

She was my friend.

But why would she do this to me? I was nothing but nice to her. My blood boils to a level so hot I think the earth's core and I are battling for the hottest thing in the world.

I don’t waste any time in approaching her and I don’t know what’s come over me as I do, but I do know that I am done with all of this. I’m done with the threats, the constant looking over my shoulder, and I’m done with this coward.

“It was you, you did this to me?! What the fuck is your problem?!” I yell, stopping in front of her.

Karmen’s face is shocked as she looks down at me, she folds her arm over her chest and scoffs then looks at her friend. It’s then that I notice she’s befriended all of the people that I thought were my friends all those months ago and I see red.

“I said what the fuck is your—”

“You want to know my problem?” She stands, her eyes cold and daring as she snarls at me. “I fucking hate you. He was mine first. I was the one that introduced you two and then little Ms. Pink Bows and Donuts, Cleora fucking Jones just had to waltz in and steal my man— my fucking life .” She spits.

“Your life? Karmen I didn’t even know you—”

“But didn’t you?! It was obvious that I loved Marcelo, he was my best friend and then you had the nerve to date him. The nerve to flaunt him and then fuck in the room three doors down. So, yeah, I took the tape from his computer and yeah I fucking texted you but so what!? What you did was so much worse, Cleora. I had everything taken away by you.” Karmen’s chest heaves, her red hair is like fire as she spouts nonsense at me.

“But what made you post it?! I was quiet. I walked around for months , looking over my shoulder like a pathetic bitch because you were too much of a coward to talk to me! You exposed me!” I shout, not caring who can hear.

My skin feels as if there’s claws gnawing at my throat but I don’t back down. I need to hear this and I need to talk to this bitch face to face.

“I wasn’t going to at first but then you left . And you just wouldn’t leave him alone. It didn’t matter if you moved to butt fuck Summerfield, Maryland. It didn’t matter that you got new friends or became whatever you are because you were always there. He’d fucking talk about you nonstop as if you didn’t leave. But it was the day that idiot Blake or Jake or whatever his name is posted you two on the beach looking happier than anything that I snapped. You were never supposed to be happy. Do you know that Marcelo saw that picture and texted you thirty times? Did you know that I had to be the one to tell him not to worry about you?! So, yeah. I got fucking livid and I posted it. But you’ve done so much worse,” She seethes.

Is this bitch crazy?

“Woah you posted the tape? Marce was worried shitless about it—” Katy, one of my ex-friends and roommate looks horrified as she stands up with Maria, the other girl we’d shared a dorm with.

“He’ll be fine, it’s not like his face was in it—”

“You sick bitch.” I chuckle humorlessly and before I can say a word, a fist is sent soaring past me and straight into Karmen’s eye.

“Ow! Fuck! Fuck. Fuck!?” Denver screeches, reeling her hand back and clutching it to her chest.

"I told you not to punch her if you didn’t know how to! You could’ve broken your hand on that weird bitch’s face!” Ryan groans as he examines her knuckles.

“You’re going to pay for that—” is all I hear before I’m pushed by the psychotic redhead.

“Lay another finger on my niece and I’ll have you sued for not only defamation of character, extortion, and libel, I’ll have you in court by Monday for assault and battery. I suggest you mosey along and I’ll be in touch with you soon.” The familiar lethal lilt of Aunt Melody’s icy voice is like music to my ears as her eyes sneer down at Karmen.

“You’re—”

“Add in the fact that Marcelo was a minor during the time of that video and you’ll have a really sticky situation on your hands, Ms.Tate. I suggest you leave.”

The color drains from Karmen’s face as she looks around the group of us, clearly outnumbered. When she notices that Katy and Maria aren’t following behind her, she scoffs and snatches up her things and leaves.

I almost forget that we’re in a crowded arena filled with college kids until chatter and confused whispers fill the air; my breathing picks up and I feel the panic attack starting but my aunt moves quickly to calm me .

“We’re sorry, Cleo. We’ll sort everything out and get everyone to apologize to you. You didn’t deserve any of that.” Katy frowns.

“Yeah, we had no idea she was like that. She made it seem like you were crazy…” Maria gives me a sad smile as she and Katy leave with the rest of the crowd.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here.” Ryan smiles shortly, hauling us all out.