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I walked by the gym and noticed the new floor tiles had been installed. The pattern looked exactly like a hockey rink with the blue lines, red lines, face-off circles, and every other surface marking. I chuckled to myself; it made perfect sense. I went to a boarding school that was known for having a spectacular hockey team. I wasn’t on the team myself, but I travelled with the team to every game. My best friend, Mitch, was one of the alternate captains and he loved having me there to support him and everyone else.
When I reached my intended destination of the cafeteria, I made my way to buy food. After gathering that, I went to my usual table. I frowned when I noticed that Mitch wasn’t there waiting for me like he always was. I didn’t know where he could be; he had a spare class before lunch and was always the first of our group of friends to be in the cafeteria because of it. A soft laugh pulled me out of my thoughts before I could think on the matter any further.
I looked up and noticed my other friends, Auston, Zach, and Willy, walking towards me carrying their lunch trays. They all smiled at me as they slid into their seats—Zach and Auston on the opposite side of the table and Willy to my left; Mitch would sit to my right when he was here. Without him, the table felt empty.
“Guys,” I said with a few nerves, “have you seen Mitch? He wasn’t sitting at the table when I got here.”
Zach blinked. He looked at Auston and Willy. Auston and Willy shook their heads. “He was in chemistry class this morning.” Zach offered. I glared at him. “...and you know that because you’re in that chemistry class with us.” I sarcastically nodded at him.
“Was he in history class, Auston?” I asked, looking at Auston hopefully.
Auston lifted his fork from the salad he was eating and made a so-so motion with his hand. Zach, Willy, and I looked at him like he had three heads. Auston dropped the fork on the tray. He sighed and raked his hands down his face.
“He was in there for ten or fifteen minutes. After that, he went to Mr. Papineau, whispered something to him, left the room, and didn’t come back.”
My tension eased a little, but I was still worried. He was probably sick, told Mr. Papineau that, and went down to Mr. Dubas’s office to tell him he was going back to his dorm. Willy smiled and ruffled my hair.
“It’s okay, Freddie. I’m sure Mitch is fine.” He took a sip of his Gatorade and a bite of his turkey sandwich. He smiled at me again after he swallowed the bite of the sandwich. “How about we talk about the game plan against the Panthers? Talking about hockey always seems to calm you down.”
I simply nodded. Auston reached across the table and punched my shoulder with his fist; he had a soft smile on his face. Zach reached over and squeezed my hand, rubbing my wrist a little. He, too, had a soft smile on his face. I smiled into my bottle of lemonade as I took a drink. My friends knew how to help.
We talked in great detail about their plans for the Panthers. The main topic was what they, as forwards, could do to help the defencemen. Jake, one of the team’s best defenceman, had broken his hand the other day against the Lightning. The school had a new transfer to the team, Calle, who happened to be a defenceman. He had been at the school last year but had left for a few months to try his luck at a different school. Auston, Willy, Zach, and I were hoping being at the new school for those few months had helped him enough to bring something new to our team this second time.
After ten or fifteen minutes of conversation, Zach nudged me from across the table and pointed towards the cafeteria entrance. When I looked, Mitch was standing there with the school nurse (whose name I had yet to learn because I had never visited her) and the vice-principal, Mr. Shanahan. Mr. Shanahan said something to Mitch and Mitch pointed directly at me. I quirked my head to the side then looked at Zach, Auston, and Willy. The three of them collectively shrugged their shoulders. When I looked back to where Mitch was standing, Mr. Shanahan and the school nurse were nodding, presumably to something Mitch had said. After a moment, Mr. Shanahan and the school nurse squeezed one shoulder each on Mitch before all three walked away, Mitch towards our group, Mr. Shanahan and the school nurse out of the cafeteria.
I went to smile at Mitch, but it turned into a frown when I noticed the awful look on his face. Nobody said anything when Mitch sat down. Nobody said anything when Mitch folded his arms on the table and put his head on top of them. I finally said something when everyone had been silent for what felt like an eternity.
“Marns,” I said, cautiously, “are you alright?”
Mitch lifted his head and looked at me. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to because he started to cry. Zach, Willy, and Auston looked dumbfounded. I was too; Mitch Marner never cried. He was always the vibrant one that made everyone around him happy when they cried.
“Fredster, I...” Mitch’s voice sounded shattered as sobs wrecked him.
“Take your time. I have a spare class after lunch; I can wait as long as it takes you to be ready.”
Mitch took a deep breath. He looked at Zach; Zach smiled softly and gave Mitch a thumbs up. Mitch looked at Auston; Auston pulled a goofy face that made Mitch crack the tiniest smile. Mitch looked at Willy; Willy mouthed you got this and gave Mitch a double thumbs up. Mitch took another deep breath before he looked at me; I gave him soft eyes and a warm smile.
“I’m ready to kill myself because everything is so stressful,” Mitch paused. He looked at everyone to see our reactions. Zach had stopped with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth and blinked about a dozen times before he set it down. Willy had his mouth agape and looked shocked. Auston, ever the stoic one, looked ready to cry. Auston was one of the hockey team’s other alternate captains. He spent quite a bit of time together with Mitch because of it. They were close, maybe as close as Mitch and me. If their relationship was anything like mine was with Mitch, it pained Auston to see Mitch hurt.
Mitch picked up his folded arms and rested his elbows on the table, arms held straight up. He dropped his head into his hands. “I’m so worried about playing well for Keefe. I haven’t been doing well on the ice lately and it’s starting to affect my schoolwork; I’ve always been a really good student academically,” Mitch sighed. “I’m worried about us making the playoffs because we’ve been playing all over the place recently.” He pushed his hands up his face and through his hair. He looked at me. The tears streaked down his face and made his eyes an angry red colour. His nose was starting to leak snot. He did not look pleasant. “I’m especially worried about us winning the championship. The school hasn’t won since 1967. That’s a long time, Fredster. We’re all trying our best to get the school a championship. We are. No matter how hard we try, it’s not happening and it’s stressing me out.”
Dropping his head into his hands again, Mitch continued to sob. Nobody said anything. No one knew what to say. Instead, I reached over and began rubbing small circles into Mitch’s back. He turned his head to look at me. There was a hint of a soft expression on his face. I smiled fondly. Mitch slid closer and rested his head in the crook of my neck. I didn’t question it. It was what he needed and he was my best friend; people helped their best friends when they needed it.
Zach took out his phone and snapped a picture. He mouthed something about ‘Facebook’. I assumed that meant he would text it to me via Facebook. Willy snapped a picture when I looked at him. He didn’t say anything and put his phone away as quickly as he had pulled it out. Auston didn’t take a picture. All he did was look at Mitch, then to me. When he looked at me, he had a look that said ‘I know something you don’t’. I didn’t feel like analyzing that; Mitch needed me more right now.
I turned back to Mitch and pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head. He sighed and wiggled closer. I could feel the wetness of the tears on my neck, but they had begun to lessen in severity. I rubbed his back a little more and Mitch sighed again. I heard the table creak. I looked over to see Zach and Willy getting up.
“We have to get to Mr. Papineau’s class before the bell rings,” Zach said, “and you know it’s on the other side of the school.” I simply nodded.
Willy walked over to Mitch and squeezed his shoulder tightly. “I’m here for you, Marns. Need to protect my alternate.” Mitch eased some of the tension he was carrying. I placed another soft kiss to the top of his head. Willy faintly smiled as he walked away.
Zach walked around the table and squeezed Mitch’s shoulder. “I second what Will said. I’m here to protect my alternate.” Mitch turned to look at Zach. There was the faintest of smiles on his face. Zach ruffled Mitch’s hair before he walked off.
Mitch lifted his head and turned to look at me. He had a soft smile on his face. His eyes were an angry red and the tears had almost stopped. “Thank you for being my best friend, Fredster. I love you.”
“I love you too, Mitch.”