Chapter 122 Chapter 122

Chapter 122 Chapter 122
Nobody moved.
Not me, Ryder, Coach Bennett or even the crowd that had been celebrating only seconds ago.
The arena, so full of life just moments earlier, fell into a silence so complete that I could hear the distant hum of the lights above the ice.
Mike stood just inside the entrance.
He looked...
Nothing like the boy who had disappeared.
His uniform jacket was gone, replaced by an oversized grey hoodie that hung loosely from his shoulders. The sleeves were frayed at the cuffs, and there was a tear along one side that looked as though it had snagged on a fence.
His jeans were stained with mud.
His trainers were soaked.
There was dried blood across one of his knuckles, and a fading bruise coloured the side of his jaw.
He looked thinner. Far thinner.
The confident grin he used to wear so effortlessly had vanished, replaced by eyes that carried an exhaustion no teenager should ever have to carry.
He swayed slightly just enough for me to realise he was struggling to stay on his feet.
"...I'm sorry I'm late."
His voice cracked before the last word left his mouth.
No one answered.
Not because nobody wanted to. Because nobody knew how.
The silence stretched painfully between him and the people he'd left behind.
I heard someone in the stands whisper.
"Is that..."
"No way..."
"I thought..."
The murmurs spread through the arena like ripples across water.
Parents stood confused. Students leaned over the railings.
Phones slowly lowered as people realised this wasn't a moment that deserved recording.
It deserved understanding.
Coach Bennett recovered first. He stepped away from the bench, Simply as the adult in the room.
"Mike."
His voice was calm and gentle.
"You came back."
Mike tried to smile.
"I..."
His lips trembled.
"I wanted to..."
The sentence never finished. His knees buckled. A collective gasp swept through the arena.
Before Mike's body could hit the floor, Ryder reacted on instinct.
He vaulted over the boards without a second thought, his skates clattering against the rubber flooring as he hurried toward the entrance.
"Mike!"
The name left his mouth before he even realized he'd said it.
Mike reached for the wall, but his legs gave way beneath him.
Ryder caught him just in time.
"I've got you."
Blake was only a step behind.
For one stunned heartbeat, he simply stared.
The last time any of us had seen Mike, he had been another student expected to answer for the scandal that had torn friendships apart.
Now...
He looked like someone who had barely survived the last few months.
None of it mattered in that moment.
Without hesitation, he slipped beneath Mike's other arm, helping Ryder keep him upright.
"Easy..."
Blake said quietly.
"We've got you."
Mike's breathing was uneven. His head hung low.
For a long moment he couldn't even lift his eyes to meet Ryder's.
"I'm..."
His voice broke again.
"I'm sorry."
Ryder didn't answer immediately.
He simply tightened his grip beneath Mike's arm to keep him steady.
Coach Bennett arrived beside them seconds later.
He crouched slightly so he could look directly into Mike's face.
"When did you last eat?"
Mike blinked.
"I..."
He searched for an answer.
"...I don't remember."
Those four words landed harder than any body check I'd witnessed all afternoon.
Coach Bennett's expression changed instantly.
He looked toward one of the staff members.
"Get the school nurse."
Another assistant coach was already moving.
"And call an ambulance?"
Coach Bennett considered it for only a second.
"No."
He glanced back at Mike.
"Let's have the nurse assess him first."
Mike immediately shook his head.
"No hospitals."
The words came too quickly and too desperately.
"No hospitals... please." His breathing quickened.
"I can't..."
Coach Bennett's expression softened.
"No one's forcing you anywhere."
Mike closed his eyes. His shoulders sagged with visible relief.
Only then did I realise...He wasn't afraid of being hurt.
He was afraid of something else.
Something much deeper.
Sofia appeared beside me, her fingers finding my wrist.
"Aria..."
I looked at her. She was crying already.
Just quiet tears she didn't seem to notice.
"I never thought we'd see him again."
Neither had I.
I looked back toward Mike. He slowly raised his head. His eyes searched the arena.
They settled on me first.
Then Blake.
Then...
Ryder.
The guilt on his face was almost unbearable.
"I'm sorry."
He whispered it again. Not to anyone in particular.
To everyone.
Ryder looked at him for a long moment.
There was relief in his eyes but Confusion and Questions lingered.
And beneath all of it...
A wound that had never truly healed.
"You disappeared."
His voice remained calm, but I knew Ryder well enough to hear everything he wasn't saying.
Mike lowered his head.
"I know."
"We searched everywhere."
"I know."
His reply came out as little more than a whisper.
"You were supposed to come back."
"I wanted to."
Mike's shoulders trembled.
"I swear I wanted to."
Silence settled between them.
It wasn't the silence of forgiveness nor was it the silence of anger.
It was the silence of two people standing in the middle of a story that still had too many missing pages.
Blake looked between them, his brow furrowing.
His expression wasn't accusing.
It was searching.
Trying to understand how everything had fallen apart so completely.
Finally, Ryder asked the question everyone in the arena was silently carrying.
"Mike..."
His voice was quieter than I'd ever heard it.
"What happened?"
The question hung in the air.
Every person in the arena wanted the same answer.
Mike's lips parted. He tried to speak but nothing came out. He swallowed hard and tried again.
"I wanted to."
His voice cracked.
"Every day..."
"I wanted to."
His eyes filled with tears.
"But I..."
He stopped.
His breathing became uneven again.
Coach Bennett rested a reassuring hand on Mike's shoulder.
"You don't have to explain everything today."
Mike closed his eyes tightly.
"I know."
His voice shook.
"But..."
He swallowed hard.
"...I owe all of you the truth."
His gaze slowly moved across the faces surrounding him.
Mine.
Ryder's.
Coach Bennett's.
Every one of us waiting and wondering.
His lips parted.
"My dad..."
The words caught painfully in his throat.
He looked away for a brief moment, blinking rapidly as though trying to steady himself.
When he spoke again, his voice was barely audible.
"My dad..."
"...never came home that night."
The arena fell into a silence so deep it almost hurt.
Only the sound of a frightened boy finally admitting that something had gone terribly wrong.
And in that moment...
I knew this wasn't the beginning of Mike's explanation.
It was only the beginning of the truth.