Morning Shift

Hockey Guys

"Naveen, I have a weird question," Nicky said to his brother as they sat on the couch, balancing bowls of cereal on their bare chests and watching cartoons.

His brother shoved a spoonful of Lucky Charms into his mouth before asking, "what's up, dots?"

Nicky was the only one out of all his siblings with a face full of freckles. They had clustered on his nose and cheeks and dotted his forehead and chin since he was born, and his family never let him forget it. One of his uncles had given him the nickname when he was only four, but Naveen and his twin Nahla were two and decided they'd keep it alive forever. He had a deep hatred for the dots on his dark skin, but he forced himself to believe looks don't matter to him. His hair was a messy mop of waves he never really bothered to brush, and his hooked nose was— according to his baby brother, Noah— "just as big as baba's," which isn't exactly what a teenage boy wants to hear. He didn't think of himself as attractive, but he tried not to care.

"Do you know anyone at your school named Jonah Moshe?" He asked, snapping himself out of it before he got self conscious. All his siblings got to go to the public school close by— Jonah's school— but Nicky had to walk a half hour in his three-sizes-too-small uniform to Westview because Baba took the car to work.

Naveen barely took a second to think before he responded with a snort. "Course I do."

"Are you guys friends or something?"

"Me and Jonah Moshe? Hell no. That kid is weird."

That got Nicky's attention. "Weird? Like a horse girl weird, or like... he's probably a pedo weird?"

Naveen shook his head. "He's antisocial. Doesn't have any friends, doesn't talk much, and a lot of people don't like him. It's just odd. A guy like him should be worshipped, but he just... isn't."

Nicky furrowed his brows. "A guy like him?"

"You know," his brother began, shoving another spoonful in his mouth, "varsity hockey freshman year, captain sophomore, stuff like that. He's got the chance to be the best, he just doesn't take it."

Then, it hit him.

Jonah Moshe. Hockey guy, Jonah Moshe

He stood up suddenly, nearly spilling his cereal and making his brother jump. "I gotta go to the store," he told Naveen as he pulled on the first sweatshirt he found.

"What? Why?"

"We're almost out of milk."

"No we're not. You just bought-"

"Naveen!" Nicky snapped, "we're almost out!"

Ten minutes later, he had speed-walked the entire way to Happy's and walked in as casually as he could, pretending like he wasn't completely out of breath. It was ten in the morning and Nicky wasn't sure when Jonah's shift ended, so he wasn't about to bust down the doors and startle some poor old lady or something.

Lucky for him, he saw two familiar faces standing behind the counter; one smiling at him, the other rolling her eyes.

They opened their mouths to say the routine welcome, but Nicky interrupted by thrusting his finger in Jonah's direction and saying a simple, "you." Honestly, that was not what he planned on opening with, but he didn't dwell on it.

Jonah pointed to himself. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. You really think I wanna talk to the other one?"

"I have a name," Priya told him.

He decided to ignore her. "I know you, Jonah."

"Well... yeah. I know you too, Nicky."

"No, I mean like I know of you. I have for a long time and I forgot why but now that I remember..." he trailed off, not realizing he really didn't know how to tell Jonah he knew him or why he was in such a rush to do so.

Freshman year, Nicky found out that hockey season at his school was not just a big deal, it was a massive thing that took over the entire school for the whole season and some more, and frankly, it was annoying. It was even more annoying that year because all anyone talked about was the new freshman that was transferring to play for them, and how he'd take the team from state to national champs in just a year.

The first varsity game was advertised with his name: Jonah Moshe, hockey star. The hallways were buzzing with rumors on how scouts were coming to the game to recruit him for the Olympic team, or how the school wasn't just offering him a full ride scholarship, they were paying him to attend. Nicky knew it was bullshit, but it was intriguing enough that he dragged his siblings with him to the first game just so he could see the kid that was creating chaos at his school. But when the game started, everyone quickly realized Jonah Moshe was missing.

Turns out, he never accepted the scholarship. Everyone just assumed he would, so they started advertising before he formally said yes. After everyone got talking about him, he turned the offer down, saying he thought Westview and everyone in it was "judgemental, stuck up, and pretty boring," and Nicky couldn't have agreed more. From that point on, Jonah Moshe was sort of a name that shouldn't be spoken.

"You're a fucking badass, dude," Nicky finally said. "You stood up to the douchebags I go to school with."

Jonah bit his lip. "I was hoping you wouldn't realize that was me. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. Those assholes deserve a reality check like that."

"Really? You think so?"

"I know so," Nicky assured him with a rare smile.

———————

Hey friends!

I love writing Nicky's brother because thirteen year old boys say the darnedest things. Their minds are fascinating.

I'll probably update again very soon because this wasn't much of a chapter, so yeah. :)

Love y'all!

~Teddy