Page 19 of Trick Play

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t hoping for anything. I wanted to understand why she would use something so closely tied to me. Us. I didn’t have anything left from that time in my life. My mom had a box hidden somewhere with mementos and pictures. She loved Kennedy more than me, I swear. But I didn’t have any reminders.

Ethan: Thanks for the help

I hoped my sarcasm came through, but I didn’t bother waiting for her response. I put my phone away and focused on taking notes on the most boring topic ever. The only connection to the history of photography that our project included was that we had to use an old method for at least one image. That included film since our professor considered digital the current, modern method.

This was only information we’d need for the tests, and I wasn’t too worried about those.

Kennedy and I needed time to discuss our plans for the project. The only other direction Clements had given was to display what we were passionate about. There was a list of examples of how we could display all of our photos: a slideshow, collage, or individual prints.

I had an idea of what I wanted to do. It wasn’t hard to select what I was passionate about, and a collage of different closeups of my equipment and the arena could be really cool.

Too bad this wasn’t a solo project. Kennedy wasn’t likely to go along with my idea.

“Ethan.” Kennedy’s annoyance was evident in her tone, and I cringed before turning around.

“Yeah?”

She shook her head and sighed. “You didn’t pay attention at all, and now you’re ignoring me. This isn’t going to end well.”

I didn’t understand what she was saying until I looked around and realized the professor was sitting at the desk in the front corner, and everyone else was partnered up, quietly talking.

Huh. Class must have ended early so we could work on our projects.

“Sorry, there’s a lot going on today.”

She flipped to a new page in her notebook and wrote something. Probably how awful and unreliable I was.

“Do you have any ideas?” I asked, hoping to show her my focus.

“Of course you haven’t come up with anything.” She huffed. “I’m not doing this whole thing on my own.”

I scrunch my brows. “I’m well aware. Why would you think I’d expect that?”

“Because everyone around you babies you. I want to make it clear that I won’t. If you want to earn your grade, you will help.”

She thought people babied me? What was she talking about?

“Fine, I have some ideas, but I wanted to hear what you had first.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and stared me down in defiance.

Great. Was every single step going to be this tense? If we couldn’t even communicate, there was no way we could work together.

“Since we’re supposed to focus on something we’re passionate about, hockey came to mind first. I thought it would be cool to take close-ups of the gear and ice and stuff. A different perspective than what people usually see.”

She closed her eyes and blew out a slow breath. “There is more in the world than hockey, Ethan.” Her gaze locked on mine. “But apparently that’s something you still haven’t learned.”

I tried to hold in my reaction. That was a low blow, and she knew exactly what she was saying.

Chapter 7

Kennedy

My words hit their mark, but the satisfaction I expected to feel didn’t come.

Those were some of the last words I ever said to him. When I was sobbing and begging him to reconsider. I said there was more in the world than hockey, meaning me and a future together.

It hadn’t sunk in then, but apparently, he heard and remembered.