Chapter 67 Bad timing, real life
The rink finally started emptying out, but nothing felt settled. Not because of systems or hidden structures, just because too many people were involved in too many things at once.
Lenora stayed outside a bit longer with Kylen, then finally started walking toward the parking lot.
Kylen walked beside her without speaking much.
“You’re quiet,” she said.
“I’m thinking,” he replied.
“About what?”
“About how everything is somehow connected to your name now,” he said.
Lenora glanced at him. “It’s not that deep.”
Kylen looked at her briefly. “It keeps becoming that deep.”
She didn’t answer that.
Behind them, footsteps came closer.
Lilibeth caught up first, her bag hanging loosely on one shoulder.
Her boyfriend was a few steps behind, scrolling on his phone like none of this mattered to him at all.
“You’re leaving already?” Lilibeth asked.
“I’m not staying for extra drama,” Lenora replied.
Lilibeth gave a small smile. “Everything turns into drama when you’re around.”
Kylen glanced at her. “Or when you are.”
That made her look at him for a second longer than necessary.
They stopped near the parking area.
Cars were scattered, students leaving in groups, noise picking up again like the rink was just another normal place.
Lenora reached for her bag.
Then someone called her name.
It wasn’t Kylen.
It wasn’t Lilibeth.
It was unfamiliar.
She turned.
A boy was walking toward them from the far side of the lot.
Not the new hockey player.
Another one.
Casual uniform. School jacket. Hands in pockets like he had nothing urgent to do.
He stopped a few steps away.
“Lenora Miles?” he asked.
She didn’t answer immediately.
Kylen stepped slightly forward.
“Who’s asking?” he said.
The boy ignored him.
“I think we might be related,” he said to Lenora.
That landed differently.
Lilibeth let out a short laugh. “That’s one way to introduce yourself.”
The boy didn’t react.
He just reached into his bag and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Handed it to Lenora.
She took it slowly.
Unfolded it.
It was a photocopy of an old school registration sheet.
A name highlighted at the bottom.
Same surname as hers.
Different middle name.
But close enough to matter.
Lenora looked up. “What is this supposed to be?”
“Family records,” he said. “At least what’s left of them.”
Kylen frowned slightly. “Where did you get this?”
“Storage office,” the boy replied casually.
Lilibeth stepped closer. “You broke into storage for this?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t break anything. It was open.”
That didn’t make it better.
Lenora looked at the paper again.
“Why bring this to me?” she asked.
The boy finally met her eyes properly.
“Because your name kept showing up in conversations that didn’t make sense,” he said. “And nobody was explaining it properly.”
Silence followed.
Kylen spoke again. “So you decided to track her down instead of asking staff?”
The boy nodded. “Staff don’t answer questions they’re involved in.”
That was blunt.
Even Lilibeth didn’t respond immediately.
Lenora folded the paper slowly.
“Who are you?” she asked.
He hesitated.
“Someone who moved schools twice in a year,” he said. “Same reason both times. Different explanation each time.”
That wasn’t an answer, but it was something.
Behind them, another voice joined.
“You didn’t mention you were recruiting outside the team now.”
The new hockey player was walking up again, still in gear, still calm.
He looked at the boy holding the paper.
Then at Lenora.
Then at Kylen.
“Bad timing for introductions,” he said again.
Kylen exhaled slowly. “You all just show up wherever you want?”
The new player shrugged. “Small place.”
That didn’t explain anything.
Lilibeth crossed her arms. “So what, you’re all just randomly interested in her now?”
The boy with the paper shook his head.
“Not random,” he said. “It started after her name came up in old administrative files.”
Lenora paused.
That detail mattered.
“You went through admin files,” Kylen said.
“I didn’t have to,” the boy replied. “Someone already flagged it. I just followed the trail.”
That shifted the tone again.
Not conspiracy. Just messy information leaking through normal channels.
Lenora looked between them.
“So what do you want from me?” she asked.
The boy hesitated again.
“Answers,” he said. “Or confirmation I’m not imagining things.”
That was at least honest.
Lilibeth let out a small breath. “This is getting ridiculous.”
Kylen looked at her. “Then leave.”
She looked at him. “I didn’t come here for you.”
That stopped that exchange.
The new player finally spoke again.
“You’re all standing in the same place but asking different questions,” he said. “That’s the problem.”
Nobody responded.
Lenora looked at the paper again.
Then at the boy.
“You think we’re related,” she said.
He nodded.
“I think we might be from the same side of something nobody explained properly,” he corrected.
That was more precise.
Kylen stepped slightly closer to Lenora again.
“This is turning into too many coincidences,” he said quietly.
Lenora folded the paper fully now.
“Or just bad communication,” she replied.
The parking lot noise continued around them like nothing important was happening.
Students laughing. Cars starting. Normal life continuing.
Right in the middle of it, five people stood with completely different explanations for the same situation.
Lilibeth finally looked at Lenora again.
“You’re bringing strangers into your life now,” she said.
Lenora met her gaze.
“They came on their own,” she replied.
No one had a clean answer.
No one had a full picture.
Just overlapping pieces of something none of them had bothered to understand properly until now.
And for the first time, it wasn’t about control or hidden systems.
It was just messy, personal, and badly connected information catching up to all of them at once.