"it's in the eyes, it's always in the eyes"

⋆✧⋆✧⋆

Harper comes flying into my house, "I've got an idea bitches!"

I groan and roll out of my warm, comfortable bed.

Walking down the stairs, I spot Jemma giggling about this new, probably bad, idea.

I reach the couch, now filled with Aspen and Beth as well, and sit down.

"Ok, let's hear this genius idea of yours," I prepare myself.

"Don't sound so concerned, Dell," Aspen reassures me.

"Yeah, I think it's a great idea!" Beth joins in, apparently everyone knows her idea but me.

Jemma just continues to laugh, nodding her head.

"We're going somewhere tonight," Harper adds, yet not giving me very much detail. "But I'm going to need you to agree before I tell you what we're doing."

Oh no. That cannot mean this idea is something I will enjoy. Then again, if it involves leaving my house, I'm pretty certain I won't love it.

Weirdly enough, I feel like I need to have a night out, so I agree.

Harper squeals, "We're going to go to the school's first hockey game of the season!"

At first, I don't see anything wrong with it. I mean it's definitely not my first choice, but why not.

But then realization sets in.

"You set me up!" I yell at all 4 girls surrounding me.

"I am not going to go. Sterling does not need my presence fulling his already huge ego," I try and back out, "I'm sure one of his many girlfriends can do that for me."

"Someone sounds a little jealous," Aspen teases, so I chuck a pillow at her face.

"I am not."

"Great! So then you won't have any issues coming to the game and seeing the girls flock after him," Beth adds, knowing how to push my buttons to get me to agree.

My stubbornness fails me and I comply despite my many reservations.

⋆✧⋆✧⋆

It's now later that evening, and after doing a good chunk of my school work, I feel okay to get out of the house.

I put on a little light makeup and dress as warmly as possible.

Beth gives my hand a squeeze when she sees how tense I look. While the girls are distracted trying to figure out what to do with their hair, Beth whispers, making sure no one else hears, "I know you're nervous, but you look great. Plus, I already know you're going to put a smile on his face."

She walks away with a knowing yet reassuring smile, chuckling at my wide eyes and flushed cheeks.

Her words bring butteries to my stomach in anticipation, but I try and shake them off. There is no reason for me to be nervous right now. I'm just his tutor and he probably won't even notice me.

The five of us hop into Harper's car. Beth in the passenger seat beside her, and Jemma and Aspen on either side of me in the back.

They're playing a home game so the drive is quick.

We all get out and begin walking from the car to the rink, nerves bubbling in my stomach.

"Who wants snacks?" Aspen asks, already making her way over to the smell of popcorn.

After giving her our orders, Jemma and I find some seats while the other three wait back for the food.

The rink is busy. I guess being the most popular sport mixed with a close location and first game buzz, does that. Luckily, we manage to find seats, and pretty good ones too. A clear shot of the ice at almost eye level with the players.

The rest of the group waddles over, food and drinks in hand, sitting down with us.

The announcer begins on the loud speaker, getting the crowd all excited. Hundreds of cheers and shouts later, the game starts.

I take in the people around me and quickly realize how many people are there for Sterling. More specifically really pretty girls holding signs for him.

I had heard about him on campus, there were always stories floating around on who he had hooked up with most recently, but I didn't realize just how popular he really is. Despite his popularity, he pretty much avoids everyone, so i've heard. Along with the reputation of being a player, he wasn't known for being a people person.

I'm ashamed to admit my eyes basically stay glued onto one player. So as not to feed into my friends' teasing, I try and stop. I look for familiar names, spotting the surnames of the 4 guys I met the other night and I watch them instead.

Frankly, I don't know much about hockey. Chase played hockey for a year or two when I was growing up, but I never really went to his games. By the time I was old enough and wanted to go watch him, he had moved on to football.

However, I'm pretty sure our team is good. I don't know the technicalities of hockey, but I'm not an idiot. I don't miss the giant scoreboard displaying the fact that we're winning 3-0.

After about an hour, the game is over and I start to clean up our seats. I look up, brushing the hair from my face and I see Sterling staring at me. Instantly, my heart speeds up. He mouths something about waiting and holds up 1 finger which I interpret to mean he'll be out in a second. He disappears into his locker room to probably change and shower.

The girls don't miss this and they insist on all of us staying to wait for him.

He definitely does not take 1 minute. In fact, it feels more like 15.

At this point, most people have cleared out of the rink, probably desperate to go find a party of some sort. I start to wonder if this is just another way he's decided to be a dick and annoy me, and instead of coming back to meet me, he's left me here looking like an idiot.

A tap on my shoulder slips me out of my worries and overthinking.

I turn around and see Sterling, now in sweat pants and a hoodie, his hair still wet from his shower.

"I didn't expect to see you here," he starts the conversation.

"Well, don't get used to it, the girls dragged me here."

I point to my friends standing behind me, surely freaking out internally. They have some weird obsession with this relationship of mine.

The girls finish introducing themselves to Sterling when the rest of his friends come out to meet me.

Theo and Mason walk out together, but this time Mason is holding the hand of a girl I haven't met before.

Luke and Owen run over, slinging their arms over my shoulder.

"Hey miss Delaney," Luke sings.

"Hey boys," I say, not able to hold back a smile.

Everyone begins to introduce themselves and I meet Mason's girlfriend, Daisy Chen. I learn she's a figure skater and the two of them have been dating since high school, similar to Beth and Harper.

The huge group of us breaks off into smaller conversations. The couples talking together, Jemma encompassed by Luke and Owen, and Aspen and Theo who seem to be getting along well, leaving me and Sterling alone.

"Looks like we've created the perfect little friend group," he assesses the people around us.

"I guess we did," I grin.

I turn towards him, "You did good out there."

"Oh, so you were watching me, huh?"

"No, I was watching all of you," I try and deflate his pride.

"But you were watching me the most."

I make an effort to disagree but I think my blushing cheeks give me away.

I decide to own up to it, not liking the confidence my nervousness gives him.

"What can I say, you caught my eye, Darling."

This time it's his turn to look caught off guard and get a little flustered.

I pat his cheek, capitalizing on the effect I have on him.

I can't help by look into his eyes. Those, I hate to say it, pretty green eyes.

"You know, you have really nice eyes," I babble without even thinking.

"Thanks, sweetheart. But I have to say, I don't think they work as phenomenally as yours do."

God, he is still on that annoying ass joke.

I give him a mocking smile and he laughs at me.

The new silence around me knocks me out of my daze. I look around, realizing my hand is still on his cheek and everyone around us has been watching us for god knows how long.

I want to crumple into a little ball and die of embarrassment, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to achieve that quite yet.

I pull my hand down from his face and turn away from Sterling, towards the prying eyes of my friends.

"Good luck with that," Sterling whispers in my ear, "goodbye Laney." He flashes me a goofy smile as he walks away with the rest of the guys who all seem to be ecstatic over the little scene we caused.

As I leave, I can't help but wonder why I hated him in the first place. I swear, he completely changed after the first time we met.

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Ugh I'm so happy everyone has met. I have so many exciting ideas and storylines with this bunch. This chapter took me 3 hours to write because I got distracted and started watching Queer Eye.

Anyways, let me know your thoughts! (reminder that votes are extremely helpful <3)

Question of the chapter: Who's your favourite character so far?