Chapter 163 Tensions Rising

Chapter 163 Tensions Rising
Kieran's POV

The photographer told us to move closer, and I immediately looked at Asher.

“You heard him,” Milo called from somewhere behind the camera lens. “Unless you two are planning to take the picture from opposite sides of the gym.”
Asher rolled his eyes and stepped closer. I tried not to smile. This was supposed to be a stupid yearbook picture. Somehow, it already felt like the whole team was watching us.

We stood shoulder to shoulder against the backdrop, the early morning light from the high windows catching our varsity jerseys. After the initial tension of the superlative announcement, we fell into a natural rhythm.

We joked with the yearbook staff about Landon's three rejected quotes, making the photographer laugh. For a few minutes, the pressure of our hidden life felt lighter, replaced by the normal chatter.

However, the light mood did not last through the walk back to the ice.
The moment we stepped through the double doors of the rink for practice, the air felt freezing. Coach Hale stood by the center circle, his whistle between his teeth, but his eyes weren't on the whiteboard.

They were fixed on the far corner of the ice where Cassian and Reed were doing lap warm-ups. Or rather, they were trying to cut each other off.

It was a high-stakes practice match. Three college scouts were sitting above the rink, watching the first line closely. The pressure to perform was everywhere, but a different kind of anger was running through the team.

Cassian and Reed are teammates, but they were furious with each other over Reed kissing Daphne. Their movements were stiff and dangerous as they glided over the blue line.

"Line one, out!" Coach Hale barked, slamming his hand against the plexiglass. "Scrimmage format. Keep it clean."

The whistle blew, and the puck dropped. Immediately, the game turned ugly. During active gameplay, the personal rivalry took over completely. Cassian and Reed refused to pass to each other. When Reed stole the puck near the goal line, he had a wide-open lane to feed Cassian on the wing, but he ignored the play entirely, driving the puck into three defenders just to run an individual play.

On the next turnover, Cassian did the exact same thing. He skated hard, cutting directly in front of Reed's path, nearly taking his legs out as he chased a loose puck toward the boards.

"What are they doing?" Milo muttered as we skated back on defense. "They're playing as if they belong on different teams."

The rivalry was making the whole line unstable. During a chaotic scramble near the net, Cassian shoved Reed hard against the metal post, sparking a quick shouting match before the referee could separate them.

Coach Hale had seen enough. He blew his whistle violently, his face turning bright red as he pointed a finger toward our bench. "Line one! On the bench! Now!"

We skated off the ice, our blades digging hard into the slush. Coach Hale didn't wait for us to sit down. He slammed his clipboard down against the wood with a loud bang, screaming right into Cassian and Reed's faces.
"You two are done for today," Coach Hale snapped.

"Scouts are watching, and you're too busy fighting to play hockey. One more dirty hit and you're both sitting."

The coach walked down the line to talk to the goalie, leaving us in a dead silence. Cassian and Reed sat right next to each other, sweating heavily under their gear, their chests heaving.

"Stay out of my lane," Cassian hissed, not looking at him as he tightened his skate laces. "You try to cut me off again, and I'll drop you into the boards."

"You don't own the ice, Thorne," Reed shot back, his teeth gritted beneath his cage. "Maybe if you passed the puck instead of crying about Daphne, we'd actually score a goal. She made her choice. Deal with it."

"Shut your mouth about her," Cassian growled, his arm tensing under his pads. When the whistle blew to restart play, they were forced to step back onto the line, completely angry but forced to share the same ice to survive Hale's threat.

By the time practice ended, everyone was exhausted. I was halfway through changing when Milo shoved his phone in my face.

“Party tonight. Lake house. Senior group chat.”

I looked at the invitation.

“We're going?”

“Obviously.”

Landon was already pulling his shirt over his head. “Coach can bench us tomorrow. Tonight we're alive.”

Two hours later, we pulled up to the lake house. Music shook the windows before we even reached the porch. Students were scattered across the yard, some around the bonfire and others near the dock.
Outside by the water, there was a large bonfire, music blasting from a truck bed, and students playing drinking games or jumping off the wooden dock into the black water.

Asher and Daphne walked through the grass, trying their best to blend into the party, but the emotional tension was too high. Everyone was talking about the fight and the superlative votes. Daphne kept looking toward Cassian, then quickly looking away whenever he caught her.

"I can't do this right now, Asher," Daphne whispered, looking toward the bonfire where Cassian was standing with a red cup. "I need to get away from the noise."

"Go inside, Asher said quietly, using her deep disguise voice. "I'll grab us some drinks from the kitchen."

I watched her walk up the steps into the back kitchen. As she left, I looked over toward the edge of the woods. Theo was standing there, watching her back with a strange look on his face. He didn't look like a helpful teammate. I decided right then to end any trust Aveline had for Theo.

I left the bonfire behind, walked up the porch steps, and pushed through the screen door into the back kitchen. The moment the door shut behind me, the music became muffled. Asher was standing by the
counter, pouring two cups of water from the tap.

I stepped into the narrow, quiet hallway right outside the kitchen archway, blocking the path to the living room.

"We need to talk," I said, keeping my voice level and steady.
She turned around quickly. "Kieran, I don't want another argument about the video or Silas," she said, setting the plastic cups down on the counter. "We're at a party. Let's just drop it."

"We are having lots of arguments lately, Aveline," I said, stepping closer into the quiet space. "Every time I try to talk to you about the next step, you push back. And I know why it's happening. I believe it's because of Theo. He's the one putting all these theories in your head."

"Theo is the only person actually helping me clear Asher's name!" she said, her voice rising a bit before she forced it down into a whisper. "He found the connection between Silas and the app. He's standing by me while you just tell me to hide and apply to colleges I don't even want."

"Theo is not helping you," I insisted, looking straight into her eyes. "Normal Theo, when he hasn't found out your identity, will always look for a way to be by your side. Now he is different. His character doesn't look like someone who's trying to help you.

He always has another name for you to blame, another target for you to chase, just to keep you from looking at the real timeline. You don't see it because you're too focused on revenge, but I do."

"You're wrong," she flatly replied, shaking her head.
"Theo was Asher's friend. He cares about what happened to him."

I took a slow, deep breath, my jaw setting tight as I looked out toward the bonfire where Theo was currently talking to Landon.

"He doesn't care about Ave," I whispered, my voice dropping into a hard line. "I've been watching him. I don't think he's your ally at all."

Aveline stared at me for a long second.
“You really think Theo is lying to me?”

“I don't think,” I said. “I know something is wrong.”
She looked toward the doorway. I followed her eyes. Theo was still talking, but the second he saw us together, he turned and walked away.