My Hockey Alpha

Nina

It was the night of my coming-of-age party, but there was one thing I was looking forward to above all else: tonight, Justin would finally announce that we were together.

We had been seeing each other for a couple of months, but we'd kept things under wraps. Frankly, I would have preferred to go public right away. Justin was one of the most handsome and popular guys on campus, a star on the hockey team. But he had insisted we wait for the right moment.

"I want to save the announcement for a special night, baby," he'd told me. I'd asked him repeatedly when he planned to make us official, but maybe he was right. Maybe it was best to wait for something meaningful. That meant he really loved me, right?

Standing in front of the mirror, I admired my reflection, confident that Justin would make things official tonight. I'd picked out special lingerie to wear under my outfit because I was certain we would finally have sex for the first time. I was ready to lose my virginity.

Aside from the sexy red set I'd bought at the mall a few days ago, I wore a short, tight skirt that showed off my thighs, a pink crop top, and heels. I'd even applied red lipstick and black eyeliner. I felt a bit awkward in an outfit like this; I usually dressed in jeans and hoodies. But my roommates, Jessica and Lori, had insisted I dress up for the party.

The only thing I kept consistent was my hair: black with bangs and two long braids. I always wore it like this and never liked it any other way. Some people said it looked childish, but I thought it was cute and practical.

"You look so hot, Nina!" Jessica said as I stepped out of the room. "The guys are going to be crawling all over you!"

I didn't say anything about Justin. Even my own roommates didn't know about us.

Lori looked up from her phone and took another swig of her beer. "Everyone should be here any minute," she said in her low, sultry voice. Lori was the quintessential goth girl on campus, a stark contrast to Jessica's bubbly nature and my studious attitude. Somehow, though, we were all best friends.

Just then, the door burst open as the first guests arrived. A group of guys and girls flooded in, carrying cases of beer, whooping and hollering, excited for the party. With a grin, Jessica cranked up the music and started greeting people while I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. Lori walked over to the couch and sat down, scrolling on her phone; she really only ever came to parties for the alcohol and the weed.

Soon enough, the suite was packed. LED lights flashed red, green, and blue while the music blared. Guests started getting drunk and playing games. The main attraction was the beer pong table, where the boys competed like their lives depended on it, but people also hung out around the seating area, played drinking games, and smoked on the balcony.

A while into the party, Justin finally arrived. My heart jumped, but instead of coming over to greet me, he made a beeline for the beer pong table and joined the game.

During a lull in the game, I sent Justin a text: *Well? Are we gonna announce it?*

I watched from the corner as he pulled out his phone, read the text, then pocketed it again. He looked at me and gave a subtle shrug, then returned to his game as though he didn't even know me.

"Are you okay?" Jessica asked, coming over to me with an extra beer in her hand.

I shrugged and finished off the last of my drink. "I'm just not much of a partier, that's all," I said.

Jessica pursed her lips and handed me the other beer. "You just need a little liquid courage, that's all!" She clinked her bottle against mine and took a big swig.

I looked down at my beer and frowned. Jessica was right, but beer wasn't going to cut it—not with how Justin was treating me tonight.

"How about vodka?" I said.

Jessica's eyes lit up. She turned to face the group, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Hey everyone!" she shouted. "The birthday girl wants shots!"

By my seventh shot, however, I started to feel woozy. My stomach turned, and I felt like I was going to throw up. I stumbled down the hall to the bathroom and made it to the toilet just in time.

When I was done, I stood up and made my way over to the sink. I splashed cold water on my face and took some deep breaths to sober myself up. I looked at my smudged makeup and messy hair in the mirror, trying not to cry as I thought about Justin. Why was he treating me like this? Just a few days ago, we were making out behind the hockey arena, and now he was acting like he didn't even know me. Was he just nervous about announcing our relationship, or was it something else?

Taking another deep breath and wiping the tears from my face, I straightened up and decided to go talk to Justin.

When I left the bathroom, however, he wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Hey, have you seen Justin?" I asked a guest. She just shrugged her shoulders and pointed toward my bedroom. Maybe he had just gone inside to be alone for a minute. It would give us some time to talk.

I made my way over to my room, weaving drunkenly through the crowd.

When I opened the door, however, I wished I had just stayed away.

Justin was in my bed, but he wasn't alone. He was with another girl. I recognized her immediately from her platinum blonde hair and thin body—it was Lisa, the cheerleading captain. They were tangled together in my bed, Justin's pants pulled down and Lisa's panties on the floor as they had sex in my bed.

"What the fuck!" I screamed.

The party went silent, aside from the music, which someone quickly shut off.

Justin and Lisa sat up in my bed. Justin looked even more drunk and high than before, but he immediately jumped up when he saw me and yanked his pants up.

"Nina, it's not what it looks like," he said, stumbling toward me. Lisa simply stood up with a smirk, pulled her panties on, and smoothed down her skirt. She strutted out of the room, bumping me with her shoulder on the way out as I continued to stare at Justin in shock and disbelief.

Justin stammered, scrambling for an explanation. "I'm so sorry, I—"

"Justin…" I interrupted, my voice shaking. "We. Are. Done."

Without another word, I turned away and stormed out of the suite, with Jessica and Lori calling after me.

I walked out of the dorms into the cool spring air, turning this way and that for a bit before deciding to make my way toward town. I walked for a while, fuming the entire time and muttering to myself, until I finally made it to a local bar.

I nodded gratefully as the bartender poured me a glass of rum and coke. I sipped it miserably while he disappeared into the kitchen.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see that I had several missed calls and "Where are you?!?" texts from Jessica and Lori, but I ignored them. I tossed my phone down on the bar, took a big swig of my drink, and cursed to myself.

"Yeah, I hate my phone, too," a male voice said from beside me.

I looked over to see a guy pulling up a barstool a couple of seats down. He was wearing a red flannel shirt and had curly brown hair, a sharp jawline, and a muscular build.

"I hate everything right now," I said, swirling my drink around in my glass with my straw.

"How come?"

The boy looked at me, and just then, I came to a shocking realization: this was Enzo, Justin's hockey captain, the star of the school, every girl's dream boy.

And he was sitting next to me, in this quiet dive bar, talking to me.