My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 47

Nina

I felt like a harpoon pierced me straight through the heart when I saw Enzo walking with Lisa across the quad. She was leaning on him and holding his arm…

He glanced up and saw me, our eyes locking across the quad. I froze. He froze, too, for a moment, his brown eyes focused on me with an expression that I couldn’t quite read. I hadn’t seen Enzo in a few days since the night we went to the diner… Had he been with Lisa this whole time, even though she attacked me like a madwoman?

The longer I stood there, frozen, the more tears started to well up in my eyes and the hotter my face became. I couldn’t bear to see him with her like this.

Before he could say anything, I turned on my heel and walked -- no, ran -- away.

When I got home, the apartment was dark and empty. I slammed the door behind me and leaned on it, sobbing silently in the darkness, eventually sinking down to the floor and burying my head in my knees. I had told Enzo that I just wanted to be friends, but I knew that part of me still had feelings for him -- and seeing him with Lisa only solidified that.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat on the dark kitchen floor in tears, but eventually, the tears stopped coming and my face hurt from crying.

“God, I’m so stupid,” I whispered to myself, leaning my head back against the door. I sat there for a few minutes longer as my mind spun from all the crying.

Just then, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Pursing my lips, I pulled it out and squinted against the bright light of the screen. There was a text from Enzo.

“Can you talk later? I can explain.”

I rolled my eyes and shut off my phone, deciding not to answer. I didn’t want to hear explanations; I had grown tired of them at this point. If Enzo wanted to get back together with Lisa, that was his decision to make.

After a few more minutes of wallowing on the floor, I finally stood and decided that maybe it was best if I get out of the apartment and occupy myself. Besides, I had an exam the next day; some studying at the library would do me some good.

The campus was quiet as I walked to the library. I passed by a few students who were out on walks or heading to their night classes, but the quad was mostly empty -- just how I liked it. The moon was nearly full and there was a gentle breeze blowing across the campus that kicked up some of the fallen leaves, and a light fog had begun to settle. It made for a spooky atmosphere, perfect for fall, and got me excited for Halloween in a couple of weeks.

When I got to the library, it was mostly empty aside from a few late-night study sessions here and there and the nighttime librarian. I always preferred the library at night; not only was it more empty and quiet, but the dim lights made the tall wooden bookshelves, stone floors, and gothic architecture feel even more cozy. I always felt like a character out of a book when I came here at night.

I looked around for a table and found one in a quiet spot behind some bookshelves. The moon shone through a window above it, creating a calming atmosphere that allowed me to feel relaxed enough to get some studying done.

I was there for at least an hour already, fully absorbed in my work in an attempt to drown the image of Enzo and Lisa out of my mind, when I heard something behind me.

“Psst!”

I looked over my shoulder to see James peeking out from behind a bookshelf with a grin on his face. He came over to me.

“What are you doing here so late?” he whispered as he approached.

I shrugged. “Just wanted to get out of my apartment.”

James nodded understandingly and bit his lip. The moonlight illuminated his soft features, which made my heart feel a little less broken for a moment.

“You wanna sit with me?” I asked, gesturing to the spot across from me at the table.

With a smile, James sat down and pulled out his books. I peeked over my laptop to see that he was reading a book on genetics. The cover looked old and dusty, and the pages were yellowed. He saw me looking and smiled.

“Your question about DNA the other day at the coffee shop got me thinking,” he said. “It’s all sort of silly, but the author of this book actually thought that there may have been humans at some point in our history who bred with animals and created all sorts of human-animal hybrids. It’s a fun read, if you shut off the logical part of your brain.”