Chapter 20 Confession
Confession
Dylan’s POV
She didn’t answer me. I never in my wildest imagination thought that I would see Vivian in the academy, at the coach’s office. She stood her ground and looked at me like she was processing how to defend herself at that moment.
“What are you doing here?” I asked again in a low tone.
“I came to help you,” she said.
“In my coach’s office? With your face covered? And what help are you talking about?”
“Dylan… You won’t understand.”
“Make me understand why you were at my coach’s office, Vivian?”
She lifted her chin slightly. “I came to get that good for nothing away from you. He’s not good for you. He’s controlling and he’s dangerous and you can’t see it because you’re under his spell.”
I stared at her. “You went to my coach to…”
“I told him that Liam is a bully and he has been bullying you even in your own house. I made a suggestion to him, to make you the captain, that way, you will be able to protect yourself.” She said, “I was protecting you.”
What bothered me wasn’t what she said but the whole confidence behind it. This wasn’t the sweet girl I grew up with. Suddenly, the thought of the coach’s ring flashed in my mind. Wait?! Let it not be that it was her doing. I grabbed her wrist firmly.
“Did you take the coach’s ring?” I asked, praying in my heart that she wouldn’t be the one.
She looked at me for a long moment like she was doing some calculations in her mind. Then, she smirked and nodded in agreement.
“Vivian?! What does that mean?” I said furiously.
“It was for your own good,” she said, and her voice had shifted, softer now, the performance of concern that I had been reading as genuine for weeks finally showing me the cracks under it. “He needs to be removed from the academy and from your life. I did what you wouldn’t do for yourself.”
I let go of her wrist, still shocked at her confession. I picked up my bag from where I had dropped it against the wall and walked out of the building without looking back at her.
“Dylan!” She called but I didn’t answer her. I went straight to the bus stop to take a bus. One came and I got in, sat back and stared at the roof of the bus the whole way home.
I walked out of the building without looking back at her, through the main doors and straight to the cab waiting at the curb, and I got in and gave the driver the address and sat back and looked at the roof of the car the whole way there.
I wasn’t able to go to Liam’s place or call. Guilt washed over me, he went through all that in the academy because of me. If I didn’t invite Vivian to watch us practice that day, this wouldn’t have happened. How could I face him and tell him that it was my friend who put the coach’s ring in his locker.
That night, I came out of the shower and as I was about to wear my pajamas, my phone rang. I checked and it was Liam calling. I didn’t know whether to pick up or not, if I don’t pick his calls, he might go berserk like he did the last time.
“Hello,” I said, pressing the phone on my ear.
“Are you back from the academy?” He asked.
“Yes, I’m at home,” I answered, trying to make my voice sound normal.
“I guess you don’t want to see me. Vivian came over to my house, I don’t know how she got my address. I don’t know how you will feel hearing this, but…”
“I already know. She came to the academy today and I heard it from her.” I said.
“You don’t sound okay, should I come over? I’m not far from your place, come to the balcony.” He said.
I walked to the balcony, still tying a towel around my waist. I looked around but couldn’t find him.
“Where are…” I said but couldn’t complete my sentence. I looked up and Liam was sitting on a roof opposite my apartment.
“Man, it must be good being a vampire,” I laughed.
“At least, I get to watch over you and keep you safe.” He said.
“Do you want to come inside?” I asked.
“Inside… do you mean behind…”
“Fuck! Stop being shitty,” I cut him off and chuckled. I looked up and he wasn’t there anymore. “Hello, are you still on the line?”
“Yes,” he said behind me. I turned immediately and he pulled me into a warm hug.
We arrived at the academy together after three days and the reaction was kind of predictable. The whispering started before we even entered, heads turning, and conversations dropping to almost inaudible. Liam hasn’t been in the academy for four days and they seemed to be surprised that he is here today. Liam didn’t give a fuck about the looks in the first place, he walked through it without adjusting his pace or his expression.
We went straight to the coach’s office. He was already at his desk when we came in and he stood up.
“Novak, I guess you are here to tender an apology…”
“Can we sit and talk, please?” Liam asked. His voice made it clear that it was formality and not a request.
Liam placed his phone on the desk and pressed play.
Vivian’s voice filled the small office, explaining in her own words exactly what she had done and why and how she had accessed the locker room and where she had found the ring before placing it precisely where it would do the most damage. The coach listened without saying anything.
When the recording ended the office was very quiet.
“I owe you an apology,” the coach said finally, his voice stripped of everything it had been carrying when we walked in.
“Yes,” Liam said. “You do.”
“Liam, I’m deeply sorry. I acted on what I was told without verifying any of it and I handled it badly. That was wrong of me.”
Liam looked at him for a moment. “I accept that.”
“We can move forward as normal…”
“We can’t, not after the humiliation… I want the apology made in front of the team.” Liam said.
The coach looked at him, he couldn’t say anything, of course he caused him a lot of damage.
“The ring was found in my locker in front of everyone,” Liam said simply. “The apology should happen in front of everyone.”
He became uncomfortable being asked to be accountable at the same scale as his mistake. He pressed his lips together, looked at the desk, and then nodded in agreement.
The team was assembled on the ice when the coach called them in.
He stood at the center of the hall.
“After the investigation, I found out that Novak wasn’t the person who took my ring. I want to deeply apologize for my actions.” He said plainly.
Few of the guys looked genuinely surprised. Others absorbed it with careful neutrality. Cole was looking at Liam, he looked unhappy about the whole situation.
“Did you bribe the coach to do this?” Cole asked in between a chuckle.
“Can you stop being trouble?!” Calen yelled.
“Now get back to practice.” The coach said waving his hands.
Everybody went back to their positions. Liam didn’t look happy, I guess he wasn’t because no amount of ‘I’m sorry’ can take away the humiliation he faced that day.
After practice, we got ourselves ready to leave the rink. We were walking toward the exit when one of the guys from the core group, someone who had been at Frostbite longer than me and carried himself with confidence. He walked up to us and looked at me.
“Khok Khok! You better hide carefully, I can see your hair, newbie.“