PAINTED LOVE

SIX

loïse madden 

.  .  .  .  .  .

I'm sitting in the stand, watching the NYU hockey team score one goal after another. It's currently 3 - 0 for our team and I can't help but let a proud smile light up my face when Sebastian scores. He's scored 2 of the 3 goals already. I don't understand why he needed a girlfriend to get the fan's attention, because he's playing so well and the crowd always goes wild when he gets the puck. 

I'm not the biggest hockey fan, nor do I have any idea of all the rules. I told Sebastian that and I've never seen his eyes go as wide as they did, then. I guess he'll have to live with that, though, if he wants to keep me as his 'girlfriend'. Next to me, another girl is cheering and jumping and screaming the whole time the NYU players have the puck. She's especially going wild whenever the guy who's on Sebastian's right side does something, as small as move his hockey stick. 

I figured she's probably in love with him, and I can't blame her because that guy looks like a Greek god. I'm getting kind of bored sitting here, just watching them skate, so I thought it'd be a good idea to chat with her for a bit. 

"Is he your boyfriend?", I ask the girl, who's gorgeous by the way. She has a beautiful tanned skin and dark curls surrounding her face. She looks at me, like I just asked the dumbest question on earth and I figure it kind of is a dumb and embarrassing question. 

"Yeah", she says. A smile breaks through on her face. "And you are..?"

I startle. "Uh, I'm... Sebastian's... girlfriend", I stammer. Am I, though? Am I supposed to address myself as his girlfriend? The girl's eyes widen and her eyebrows raise. 

"Seb's girlfriend?! You gotta be kidding me? Does he have a girlfriend now? How come no one told me this?", she pouts. Then, she turns her gaze back to me, asks me my name and I answer: "Oh, it's Loïse. What's yours?"

"Oh, I'm June. Nice to meet you, Loïse! I'm so happy Sebastian finally got himself a girlfriend! Now I don't have to sit alone every match-day! I'm sure you and I would be such good friends, especially since our boys are besties, too!"

I chuckle. I already like her. She's such a babbly girl and I'm in for that; I, too, love to chat all day long. Only when I'm comfortable with the person I'm around, of course, but it's not hard to feel good when you're around June, I learn. She's really nice. 

The match goes by quicker, now that I have June to chat with. In the end, the score lasts at 3-0. Which means our team won! My eyes are locked at Sebastian's jersey number: 9. I know that's his favourite number because he told me before the game. He turns around, and his eyes are roaming the crowd until they rest on me. I see him smiling through his helmet and he points at me. My head feels like it's started to burn and I know I'm looking like a tomato now. 

I wave, shy suddenly, before I realise waving is probably childish as a girlfriend. 

June gets up as soon as the hockey players have left the arena and have gone back to their changing rooms. She looks at me, as if she's expecting me to follow her. 

"Are you leaving already?", I ask. 

She giggles and shakes her head. "No, of course not. Gotta celebrate this with your man, don't you?" 

"Oh- yeah, sure. So you wanna wait outside?", I ask. I don't mention that I'm stressing the freak out right now because I have no idea of the hockey-girlfriend etiquette.