Chapter 138 Chapter 138

Chapter 138 Chapter 138
The committee room felt suffocatingly quiet.
Not the kind of quiet that brought peace.
The kind that settled before lives changed.
The long mahogany table stretched through the center of the room, its polished surface reflecting the fluorescent lights above. At the far end sat the disciplinary committee, five members with folders spread neatly before them. Their expressions remained unreadable, neither sympathetic nor hostile.
Coach Daniel Bennett stood beside the window, his arms folded across his chest. His face was calm, but I knew him well enough to recognize the tension beneath it.
Ryder sat beside me, shoulders squared, eyes fixed on the table ahead. His expression was blank, almost detached, but every few seconds his jaw tightened.
Across from us sat Mike.
Beside him...Blake.
Neither of them looked at the other.
The silence stretched until the chairwoman adjusted the glasses resting on her nose and opened the thick file in front of her.
"Good afternoon."
Nobody answered.
She didn't seem to expect anyone to.
"We have reviewed every report submitted to this committee."
She flipped another page.
"We've watched the recordings recovered from the journalism office."
Another page.
"We've interviewed staff members, students and faculty."
She closed the file gently.
"The evidence tells us what happened."
Her eyes lifted to Mike.
"But evidence rarely explains why."
The room seemed to grow even quieter.
She folded her hands neatly together.
"Mr. Donovan..."
Mike slowly looked up.
"I'd like you to tell this committee..."
She paused deliberately.
"...from the very beginning...what exactly happened."
Mike swallowed. He simply stared at the tabletop. His fingers curled together tightly.
When he finally spoke...
His voice was almost too quiet to hear.
"...It started after practice."
\~~~~~
Months Earlier
The locker room had already emptied.
Most of the team had gone home only the distant scraping of janitors' equipment echoed through the hallway.
Mike sat alone on the wooden bench, slowly unlacing his skates.
He wasn't in a hurry.
There wasn't much waiting for him outside the rink anyway.
He replayed practice in his head.
Another good session. Great solid performance and another practice where every compliment had gone to Ryder Hayes.
Coach Bennett had praised Ryder's leadership.
The assistant coach had praised Ryder's determination.
Even the scouts watching from the stands had barely taken their eyes off him.
Mike sighed quietly.
Maybe that's just how it was. Maybe being second was enough.
"You've got that look again."
Mike looked up.
Blake stood in the doorway.
His hockey bag rested lazily over one shoulder.
"What look?"
Blake walked inside.
"The one that says you're pretending not to be disappointed."
"I'm not disappointed."
Blake chuckled.
"You know..."
He dropped his bag onto the bench opposite Mike.
"I almost believed you."
Mike rolled his eyes.
"What do you want?"
Blake leaned back casually.
"Nothing."
Silence settled between them. Then Blake spoke again.
"Did you notice the scouts today?"
Mike shrugged.
"Yeah."
"They barely wrote anything while you were on the ice."
Mike didn't answer.
"But the second Ryder touched the puck..."
Blake mimicked someone scribbling furiously into a notebook.
"Pens moving everywhere."
Mike looked away.
"I don't really care."
"Liar."
Mike frowned.
"I'm serious."
Blake laughed softly.
"No..."
He leaned forward.
"You're just used to it."
Mike remained silent.
Blake's voice became quieter.
"Tell me something."
"When was the last time anyone came to Western Helms hoping to watch Mike Donovan?"
The question lingered.Mike opened his mouth and closed it again.
He couldn't remember because there wasn't an answer.
Blake nodded slowly, as though he'd expected exactly that.
"They come for Ryder, cheer Ryder, interview Ryder, post Ryder all over social media."
He shrugged.
"The rest of us are just... there."
Mike looked down at the skate in his hands.
"It's nobody's fault."
"No."
Blake agreed immediately.
"It isn't."
Another pause.
"But that doesn't make it fair."
\~~~~
Back in the committee room, Mike rubbed both hands together.
His voice trembled slightly.
"I should've walked away right there."
Blake's eyes remained fixed on the table.
The chairwoman said nothing. She simply allowed him to continue.
Mike inhaled slowly.
"But I didn't."
He closed his eyes briefly.
"Because... for the first time...someone made me feel seen."
The room fell silent once more. Even Ryder didn't move.
Mike opened his eyes again.
"That conversation should've ended in that locker room."
His gaze slowly shifted toward Blake.
"It didn't."
He swallowed.
"It only got worse."
Mike's voice faded.
The silence that followed seemed to stretch forever.
The committee members remained perfectly still, allowing him the space to continue. No one interrupted him.
Mike let out a slow breath before speaking again.
"...After that day, Blake kept finding me."
.....
Flashback
At first, it was little conversations a few minutes after practice or walking through the school parking lot or waiting outside the locker room.
Nothing suspicious or something anyone would've noticed.
"You've been working on your wrist shot," Blake remarked one afternoon, bouncing a hockey puck against the concrete.
Mike nodded.
"I have."
"It's gotten better."
"...Thanks."
"But nobody noticed."
Mike frowned.
"You don't know that."
"I do."
Blake caught the puck effortlessly.
"Coach complimented Ryder three times today."
Mike stayed quiet.
"He corrected Lucas twice."
Another bounce.
"He even encouraged Jake during drills."
Blake looked directly at him.
"But you?"
He shrugged.
"You might as well have been invisible."
Mike hated how much those words bothered him because a part of him wondered if Blake was right.
The flashback shifted.
Another afternoon after practice finished.
Blake sat beside him in the empty bleachers overlooking the rink.
The ice below had already been resurfaced, smooth and untouched.
"You know scouts don't just look at talent."
Mike glanced sideways.
"They look at opportunity."
"What does that even mean?"
Blake smiled faintly.
"It means they invest in whoever has the biggest spotlight."
Mike frowned.
"So?"
"So Ryder already owns the spotlight."
Blake rested both elbows on his knees.
"As long as he's standing under it...everyone else stays in the dark."
Mike looked back toward the empty ice.
"I don't want his spotlight."
"No?"
Blake asked softly.
"You just want someone to notice yours."
Back in the committee room, Mike rubbed a trembling hand across his face.
"I kept telling myself he was just talking."
His voice cracked.
"I told myself none of it mattered."
He laughed bitterly.
"It mattered."
.....
Flashback
The regional qualifiers were only weeks away.
Practice had ended badly.
Scouts filled one side of the arena.Students crowded the stands.
As always...
Every conversation centered around Ryder Hayes.
Mike shoved his gloves into his bag harder than necessary.
Blake appeared beside him.
"They're here again."
Mike didn't answer.
"The scouts."
Silence.
"They came for Ryder."
Mike zipped his bag shut.
"They came for the team."
Blake chuckled.
"No."
"They came for Ryder."
He lowered his voice.
"And unless something changes..."
"They'll leave remembering exactly one name."
Mike looked at him.
"What are you trying to say?"
Blake's expression remained calm.
"I'm saying..."
"...sometimes people don't look around..until the biggest distraction disappears."
Mike stiffened.
"What do you mean?"
Blake immediately shook his head.
"Relax."
"I'm not talking about hurting him."
Mike's shoulders eased slightly.
"I'm talking about reality."
He stood.
"If Ryder wasn't carrying everyone's attention..."
"...don't you think scouts would finally see what you've been doing all season?"
Mike didn't answer. He imagined it.
Crowds watching him. Scouts writing down his name.His parents celebrating. His dream finally becoming real.
The thought disappeared almost as quickly as it came.
He shook his head.
"No."
Blake tilted his head.
"No?"
"Ryder's my friend."
A faint smile crossed Blake's face.
"I know."
"And that's exactly why you'll never stop being second."
He walked away leaving Mike standing alone.
.....
The committee room returned.
Mike's eyes remained fixed on the table.
"I should've told him to stay away from me."
His breathing became uneven.
"I should've."
He swallowed hard.
"But every time I tried..."
"...he'd remind me of everything I already feared."
He finally lifted his head.
"I wasn't jealous of Ryder."
His voice was firm.
"I admired him."
Ryder blinked.The words clearly caught him off guard.
"I wanted to be as good as he was."
Mike looked toward him for the first time.
"I never wanted your career. I wanted my own."
The room remained silent.
"But Blake..."
Mike's gaze slowly drifted toward the boy sitting beside him.
"...kept making it sound like those were the same thing."
Blake never looked up. His hands remained clasped tightly together.
Mike continued quietly.
"He never told me to ruin Ryder. He didn't have to.He just kept telling me...that as long as Ryder stayed where he was there'd never be room for anyone else."
A committee member leaned forward slightly.
"So what happened next?"
Mike closed his eyes.
"When I finally started believing him, that's when Jason came into the picture."
Coach Bennett slowly unfolded his arms.
Ryder wrapped his hands around Aria's.
Mike opened his eyes again.
"They met before I ever knew about it."
He looked at Blake.
"I thought Jason was just helping us create attention around the team."
His voice dropped to almost a whisper.
"I didn't know Blake already had a different plan."
Mike inhaled shakily.
"By the time I realized what was really happening...Ryder had already lost the trust of his teammates, Aria had become the villain, the entire school had picked sides."
His eyes filled with regret.
"And I..."
He stopped. His throat tightened.
"...I was too ashamed to admit I'd helped start it."
Another long silence settled over the room.
Finally, Mike turned fully toward Blake.
There was no anger in his eyes anymore only disappointment.
"I made every decision that followed. No one forced me. I'll live with that for the rest of my life."
He paused.
"But this..."
He gestured weakly around the room.
"...didn't begin with me."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"It began...the day Blake convinced me that the only way to be seen was to make Ryder disappear."
Every head in the room turned slowly toward Blake Carter. Blake raised his head.
And met every pair of eyes staring back at him.