34. Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Winnie
It takes almost a lifetime of waiting before it is time for me to leave school. Telke messaged me and told me to wait for him in the parking lot. It feels like he is going to bring me somewhere. I hope he is a bit more creative than another restaurant. I like great food, but it gets boring to always be going for food here and there.
Telke is already there when I arrive. He waves at me while folding his other arms together. He looks better with a smile.
"Finally, you're here!"
"Apparently, someone isn't that patient."
He chuckles and fixes his cap. "I suppose. Get on the ship, we're heading to... somewhere..." He blinks and seemingly loses steam as he thinks about the destination. If it's not a good place, why does he want to be there with me?
Inside the spaceship, everything looks normal. He turns on the light and waves for me to join him at the driving dashboard.
I sit by his side, getting comfortable as I set my backpack to the side. His spaceship smells like him, comfortable and pretty chill.
He starts the engine. "I hope you aren't too hungry."
"I was expecting something different from eating again. We can't just be eating, going to my place, patting Ossa, and cuddling all the time."
He chuckles. "We could be doing something more than cuddling last night, but you were having thoughts."
I suck in a short breath, trying not to show it on my face. He just loves to annoy me. "I've told you that..."
"I know, I know. You want to think about that before we do something more, which I agree. It is important."
The spaceship takes off into the sky. The sky is orange as evening slowly creeps up on us. Sometimes, the workday feels like a wash. One moment, I'm there hoping it is over so I can be home or at least be somewhere alone. The next moment, it is over... It feels like I could have done something more, but I never got to it.
Now that I've been at the school for a while, the days seem to be blending into each other and I almost can't tell which day is which. Even the day of the week feels like... meh. Maybe that's not a good thing, but maybe it is how it is.
Do the students remember everything? Can they tell which chapter is taught on which day? Or do things also blur together for them?
There is a spaceship in front of us on the track. Traffic is relatively smooth given the time of the day. We could probably go faster if we just flew however, we wanted in the sky, but that would spell accidents here and there. We still have to follow the guided path of the sky, which is boring at times.
Silence lingers between us, but it's not that bad. Maybe I should tell him to turn on the music or something, but I have no idea what he likes.
He clears his throat. "How was today with the kids?"
"Good? It feels like the same thing over and over again. The stories are new, and the study kits are different every day, but still... I think you know what I mean."
"I do. Sports practices are like that too. It is mostly repetition, except you get a bit better every time, yet you can't even see the improvement until way down the path."
"Do you always want to be a coach or a teacher?"
He pauses and taps his fingers on the driving controller. "Not really. I've been wanting to play floatball."
"So... Becoming a professional floatball player?"
He lets out a soft sigh but says nothing. Maybe that's something he doesn't want to mention, just like I'd rather not tell others about my past, especially when none of that sounds successful.
He taps on the screen of the dashboard, which shows a map. "We're arriving soon."
Is he the one dodging my question this time around? I guess that puts us in a tie.
We are heading to the sports complex. Is he bringing me to watch floatball with him? He should know I'm not too interested in that, though. Not to mention the tickets are going to cost a lot of money.
The spaceship descends. We are at the parking lot of the stadium. We are the only few spaceships landing here, so there can't be a match going for the evening. Why are we here?
He undoes the seatbelt and gives me a hand. "Here, do you want to have a stroll together?"
"Sure." I undo my seatbelt too and I take his huge hand. His hand makes mine feel kid-sized.
It is cool in the evening. The parking lot is huge as it is designed to host a lot of beings when it comes to tournament times, but today isn't the day. We parked close to the entrance, so it doesn't take long to arrive at the lobby of the stadium.
It is also a huge space. There are ropes that indicate the queues to different sections of the stadium. Most of the lights are off as there are no matches today. Within steps, there are ropes stopping us from going over to the doors that will lead to the playing field.
There are two guards, each at a side of the lobby, probably going to say something to us if we step out of the line.
Right in front of us is a sign with an arrow pointing to the souvenir store. Next to the store is a statue of a floatball player with a bat. I think he is someone famous, but I'm completely ignorant of the floatball scene. I don't know his name. That's a kot'oll who looks pretty handsome and strong.
Telke lets out a soft sigh as he heads to the store. It feels like, other than the guards, we're the only two beings here. No one's coming here when nothing is happening in the day.
The shop is brightly lit. We are also the only ones there excluding the shopkeepers.
There are a lot of things with the emblem of the home team. The logo is a star with a floatball in the center.
Telke shoves his lower hands into his pockets and doesn't seem to be excited. I thought he liked floatball. As far as I know, this place is a tourist attraction in the city. Every floatball fan comes to visit and they like this place, yet...
Away from the racks and racks of clothes and caps, there is an area selling floatball bats and floatballs with the team's logo.
He stops by the bin of floatball bats. "Look at these. I used to want one since I was a kid."
Is he talking about getting a birthday gift or something?
He runs his finger along the bat. "But I thought I'd get one without buying one."
Huh? Is he planning to rob the souvenir store or something?
He turns to me. "I know you aren't that interested in floatball, but you know that the teams use their own bats, right?"
"Oh, you mean you used to want to join this team."
He gives a sad smile. "Yeah... I used to. I mean, technically, I played in the team for a few years."
I stare at him with my eyes wide open. That's not what I expected. I would have seen him in passing on news channels, right? But it's not that I've ever paid attention to sports news, so... maybe I saw him, but...
He lets out another sigh. "At least it was fun when I was with the team. I suppose that's a once-a-lifetime experience."
"So, you're actually pretty good at floatball, huh?" I nudge his side, hoping he'll feel better.
He muses. "I'm decent. I played on the field for some time too. At least I made it off the bench."
"Hey, that already puts you up there as the top 0.1% of the strongest players in the city, probably even higher."
"When I was a kid, I dreamed of flying from planet to planet playing floatball. I know it is pretty silly to think that I can make that come true, given the odds. But I've worked hard most of my life trying to get there."
"But you quit the team later and become a coach."
He nods. "I'm not a bad player, but I know I'm never going higher than that. Our city has a powerful team, and we make it high in the planet-level tournament. But I'm not a player who is strong enough to represent our planet. There are too many..." he looks at me, "Real monsters out there who have the stars aligned for them. They work very hard, with the perfect genetics and talents. I just can't get up there. I mean... I know I've already made it further ahead than most beings can even dream of, but still... You'd never fulfill every single goal in your life."
I hug him. "You are amazing regardless."
"I didn't live up to my dream. And... I still remember the day I quit the team and was on my own again. It feels like the most absolutely wrong decision that can ever be made in the history of beings."
It can't be that bad... If his goal is to play at a planet level, his time is limited as with all sports players, so...
He continues, "You have no idea how happy my father was when I told them I quit the team. He has always thought that it's dumb anyway."
I hug him tighter. "No, it's not dumb to love a sport."
"For him, it's dumb."
"Did he make you quit?"
"He talked about it for years, every time I was home. I just ignored him all the way through my floatball career."
He takes a breath. "I decided to quit myself at that time. I could feel that my performance was sliding compared to the new ones joining the team. I couldn't get up there and I knew I'd tapped my potential by then. I could have stayed a few more years until they kicked me off, but then... I decided that I could become a coach and stay in the floatball scene for longer. I could be building my coaching career a few more years over staying on the team for the same period of time."
It sounds like a rational decision, but it had to be hard for him to make the decision.
He puts up a smile. "Sorry, I don't mean to make it heavy like this. I just thought you may be interested in visiting more places in the city."
I squeeze his hand, whichever hand that's closest to me. "Thank you for telling me this much."
He gently squeezes my hand. "Maybe I'm just trying to tell you that it's okay to not make the perfect decision. I don't even know whether I made a good choice by now. I hope I did, but who knows."
"Your father should... well... it would help if he was a bit more encouraging."
"It's okay. I've learned to deal with that. We don't always get everything we want anyway. Teaching kids is meaningful too."
"And listening to the principal's ramblings?"
He laughs. "Meaningful in its own way, I suppose."
Slowly, we make our way out of the souvenir shop and the stadium. The building is even larger when we stand right at the door. It looks like a castle, but silvery and glistening under the light of the city.
He watches the building in silence, probably living the life of a floatball player again in his memory. Maybe he used to look up to the player who got his statue in the stadium lobby too.
But...
But I met him. If he went on with his floatball career, maybe we'd never meet.
We head back to his spaceship, both of us sitting at the driving dashboard in silence.
I want to say something to comfort him, but I don't know what to say.
He blinks and seemingly pulls his mind back. "Are you hungry by now? We can grab some food. Or are you bored with us running around getting food already?"
"It's never boring with you."
The smile on his face falters slightly. I swallow with my throat burning dry as I look away from him. Maybe he wonders why I don't want him as his mate, even though...
I... I don't know either. I can't even come up with a single reason to refuse, yet...
He starts the spaceship. "I guess we can head in the direction of your place. If you want to stop by somewhere for food, we can do that. Otherwise, I can drive you home."
"Sounds like a plan."
I want my life to sound like a plan, too, but it's never going to be that easy.