Ice Cold - Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Landon Reilly
Anne and Matthew Hanson were the type of parents I wished I had growing up. It was clear they loved their son and did what they thought was best for him. But they were also the type to own up to their mistakes. If they had wronged their son, they would apologize to him and make things right. They were a loving and affectionate couple, not afraid to show their love to each other or to their son.
My parents were never like that, so it took some getting used to when I moved in with the Hanson's. That was why when I walked into the house after Wren had dropped me off, the hug I got from Anne was shocking, but welcomed.
"Landon! I didn't know you were coming home this weekend!" Anne said, squeezing her arms around my waist. "What a pleasant surprise!"
"Sorry I didn't call, it was sort of a last minute decision."
Anne pulled away from me and waved me off.
"You don't have to call first, this is your home."
Home. I didn't know if that was something I would ever get used to. A place like this felt more like a home than mine ever did, but it still didn't feel like mine. I wasn't sure I would ever find a place that truly felt like mine.
"Landon?" Matthew asked, walking toward us with a smile. The expression on his face instantly made me feel guilty for never calling him like Micah asked me to.
"Hi, uh, I meant to call you," I started, awkwardly averting my gaze. "But I've been... busy."
He waved me off. "Don't worry about it. I know what college life is like."
I was sure he was imagining my college life a lot different than it actually was. But this was better than me admitting I just didn't want to call him because I had no idea what I would say. I was too used to my father only wanting to talk to me to make sure I was compliant with all his rules. He never checked up on me out of care, only to make sure he could still control me.
"Yeah, my classes are keeping me busy," I said. "And hockey's starting soon."
"Don't be afraid to ask for help if all becomes too much," Matthew said, Anne nodding in agreement. "There are so many resources for class help. Go to tutors, get to know your professors. They'll help."
I nodded, though I knew I probably wouldn't take his advice. This was a conversation Matthew and I had multiple times before I went off to school. He had been concerned from the start, and I knew his concern was much different than that of my own father. My father was only concerned with hockey, wanting me to be the best, to beat everyone. College, to him, was just a stepping stone to getting to the pros. It was a dream of his that he never actualized, so now it was supposed to be mine.
"Are you hungry?" Anne asked after a moment. "I'll cook something up."
"No, I'm fine," I said, shaking my head. "I'm going to go hang out with Livi, so we'll probably eat."
Anne nodded. "Do you need some money?"
I shook my head. "I have some."
I hated taking money from them, but they didn't give me much of a choice. Matthew wired money into my account every so often. I tried not to spend it because I hated the fact that I had to rely on them financially, but it wasn't like I could get a job during hockey season.
I put my things up in my room, and then Matthew let me borrow his car so I could drive to the ice rink where Livi currently was for her figure skating practice. I pulled around to the back of the building and saw her leaning against the back door. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her sweatshirt was zipped all the way up. She was scowling down at the ground, and I couldn't tell if she was angry or if that was just how she looked. The both of us had severe resting bitch face, so it was hard to tell.
She looked up when she saw me stop in front of her and she smiled before getting into the car.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, reaching over to wrap her arms around me.
"Hey," I said with a chuckle, patting her on the arm.
I moved the car and parked it out of the way behind the building. It wasn't likely that our parents would be lurking around here, but I didn't want to take any chances.
"How was practice?" I asked her.
Livi rolled her eyes. "Sucked. Colleen Andrews is getting better than me every day. Dad wants me to go Tonya Harding on her."
I scoffed. "Of course, he does."
"You'd know all about that," she replied with a giggle.
That was the thing with our dad. He wanted us both to be the best, no matter what it cost. He'd have us injuring anyone better than us rather than just accepting the fact that they were. That was what he wanted me to do last year at The Masters Tournament to Elijah Ellis and his team.
They were the better team and we would lose to them, everyone knew it. Dad thought it would be a good idea for me to injure their best players before we had to play them, Dave was on board with injuring Elijah and Fox, and I almost went through with it. I had seen them at the pool one night and went there with some of my teammates with the intention of hurting them. I shoved Fox, but even as I did that, I knew I wasn't going to finish what I started. Fox had overpowered me anyway. But I knew there would be hell to pay with my father when he found out I didn't do anything, even if we ended up winning the game.
And even though he was angry with me for starting a fight on the ice, to him, it was better than coming back home a loser.
My father had turned me into an angry, violent person with no dignity or integrity. And now he was trying to do the same thing to Olivia.
"I'm not going to do it," Livi added. "Colleen's better than me, so what?" That was how I knew my sister was so much better than I was.
"Don't let him force you into something like that," I said. "He doesn't care about the consequences. He just wants you to win."
"I know, Mom's the same way," she replied with a sigh. "Only she thinks Colleen's better than me because she follows a stricter diet and is in better shape than me. She tried to feed me plain oatmeal this morning and packed me lettuce and carrots for lunch. Not salad, lettuce."
I scoffed in response. Our parents were crazy about just about everything. That included our diets. When I lived at home, Dad watched what I ate like a hawk to make sure I followed the strict diet he laid out for me.
"So I put that lettuce on a nice, juicy burger," Livi told me, grinning as she let out a loud laugh.
I chuckled along with her, but I still found it hard to think lightly of this situation. Our mother basically wanted her daughter to starve.
"Other than that, they haven't been too awful, have they?" I asked, looking away from her. I could see her stare at me through the corner of my eye.
"Nothing I can't handle," she said after a few moments. "They're really strict about my phone because they don't want me talking to you, and they try to force me to go to the rink every day, but they're not nearly as hard on me as they were with you. Especially not Dad. He still thinks I'm his little princess."
"Well, let him think that," I told her, still looking straight ahead. "You don't need him to start being hard on you."
I had no idea how he would treat Livi if he knew she had been in contact with me. I would like to think he wouldn't be as harsh with her as he was with me, but I wasn't too sure.
Livi pulled one knee up to her chest and tilted her head to look at me.
"You don't need to worry so much, you know," she said. "He doesn't treat me like he treated you." Yet.
I just nodded in response.
"Can we go get ice cream or something?" Livi asked. "And you can tell me about college, about any cute boys." She looked at me expectantly, her eyes wide with wonder and he grin taking up her whole face.
My eyes widened and I let out a breathy laugh, putting the car into drive.
"There are no boys," I told her.
"There has to be."
"Well, there isn't." There would never be. I was content with being alone forever.
"You need to put yourself out there," Livi said as we pulled away from the rink. "You'll find someone."
"I don't want anyone."
She looked at me like she didn't believe me but she dropped the subject.
The two of us went to a diner the next town over to hopefully avoid seeing anyone that knew our parents. I ordered plain vanilla ice cream while Livi ordered some sugary mess and a plate of fries. When we got to our table, she put the fries in the middle of the table and instantly dipped one into her ice cream.
My face scrunched in disgust.
"That's gross," I told her.
"You know what's gross?" she asked, popping the ice cream covered fry into her mouth. "Plain vanilla ice cream. Boring."
"Boring doesn't mean gross."
She hummed in agreement, dipping another fry in her ice cream.
"You know they made Jimmy Murphy captain of the hockey team for this season," Livi told me.
I tilted my head in confusion. "What? Why? He's a junior this year."
He was only a year ahead of Livi in school, and the two of them became friends last year when Livi started high school. He was an okay kid, nothing special.
"There are rumors his dad is giving money to the school for the hockey team," she continued. "And that's why they named him captain before the season even started."
That would be enough to secure him as captain. If there was one thing private schools loved, it was getting money.
"Is that Elijah over there?" Livi asked, nodding her head toward a table across the room.
I slowly turned around and saw that it was Elijah. And some kids. And Fox. And Wren.
I made eye contact with Elijah, and he looked at me with a surprised expression before waving. This caused the rest of the table to look over at me, and I got looks of pure hatred from Fox and one of the girls. Wren's mouth quirked up in a subtle, amused grin.
I tore my eyes away from them and looked back at Livi.
"Hurry up and finish your ice cream. We're leaving," I rushed out.
"Don't rush me."
"I'm serious," I hissed, giving her a stern stare. "Hurry up or throw the rest away."
Livi rolled her eyes and stood up from the table, going to the counter. The cashier handed her a box and plastic spoons. She came back to the table and put the rest of her fries in the box, and the two of us scurried out of the diner.
I didn't spare one last look at that table.
***
Wren Ridley
"Your face is going to get stuck like that if you don't stop glaring," Elijah said, poking Fox's cheek.
"His face is already stuck like that," I added, causing Fox to turn his glare on me.
Fox had been scowling at the exit of the diner we sat in ever since Landon fled through it like he was running from the police. Even Ava had stopped glaring once Landon was gone. But Fox was the type to hold a grudge. I would know since I had often been on the other end of one of his grudges.
"Am I the only person who remembers the type of person Landon is?" Fox argued, looking around at everyone at the table. Ava and Fawn weren't paying attention because they were too busy giggling at something on Fawn's phone. Colt wasn't paying attention because he was playing a game on his. "Or did everyone just forget?"
"Trust me, I remember," Elijah said, leaning back in his seat. "I just think it's better to forgive him and move on. He's been through more than we even know about."
"Fuck that," Fox replied. "He's a piece of shit and he's lucky I didn't go over there and beat the shit out of him."
Elijah rolled his eyes and the two of us shared a look that Fox quickly caught onto.
"Don't look at each other like that," he snapped. "You two aren't ganging up on me."
I held my hands out in defense. "I didn't say anything."
Fox scoffed. "You always have something to say."
"All I have to say is I don't know how Elijah puts up with you."
Elijah grinned. "With lots of patience."
Fox huffed in annoyance and crossed his arms over his chest, a pout settling onto his face. Elijah's grin widened as he ruffled Fox's hair and kissed his cheek, a small smile barely breaking through on Fox's face.
Not telling Fox about how I drove Landon home and have been seeing him around Providence more often than not proved to be the right choice. It would only have made him even angrier, and I didn't want to be the one on the receiving end of it. Our relationship was fragile enough as it was. I didn't need to add anything else into the mix.
"Whatever," Fox said with a scoff. "All I'm saying is Landon should have gotten far away from here after graduation. I don't care that he's gay, he still treated Elijah like shit, and barely even apologized after you saved his ass."
I had almost forgotten that Landon was actually gay. I didn't know the specifics of the situation that had happened their senior year, but I knew enough to know that Landon had moved in with one of his friends. That was all I had heard from Fox and Elijah about the whole ordeal.
"Can we not talk about this?" Elijah asked. "I'd rather just forget all that happened and coexist with Landon."
Fox didn't look like he lied that one bit, but he appeased his boyfriend anyway, and the two sat even closer together, Fox smiling like an idiot at even the smallest grin Elijah gave him.
Looking at the two of them made me sick. I couldn't imagine being so devoted to someone that even looking at them put you in a better mood.
I thought it was a load of bullshit. I knew Fox and Elijah were happy together, and my parents were happy together, but the thought of loving someone so much that even being in their presence put you in a better mood seemed ridiculous.
Being known as someone else's person, that if you are somewhere, they are not far behind. Consulting them before anything, making them a permanent fixture in your life. The sound of their laugh being the best sound you ever heard. It was all bullshit. Some people were just too blinded by love to see it.
Once everyone was done with their food, we brought the girls and Colt home. Mom and Dad were out with their friends, leaving me with the kids and the couple who decided to start making out on the couch.
I scoffed, sitting down on the other couch and kicking my feet up on the coffee table before turning on the TV.
I did my best to ignore them until Fox got up from the couch and went to the bathroom.
"Oh, I didn't know you were still down here," Elijah said with a sheepish expression, his cheeks turning a shade of pink.
"Been down here the whole time," I told him. "You two could just go make out in his room. He still has one here."
"I know, he's just..." Elijah trailed. I turned to look at him. Now I was interested in whatever Elijah had to say. "He's been kinda down lately because he misses Ian and he hasn't been answering his texts. I just want to make him happy."
"You do make him happy. It's nauseating."
Elijah's expression deadpanned, obviously not amused by me.
"I'm telling you this because maybe you should talk to him," Elijah said.
"You seriously think Fox wouldn't want to punch me in the face if I started talking to him about his feelings?"
"I know you two are still working things out, but your relationship is a lot better than it was. Maybe he would appreciate you talking to him, letting him know that he can go to you."
Elijah was too optimistic for his own good. Fox and I were still just barely getting along, and I wasn't going to jeopardize that by getting into his business even though he had tried getting into mine before. Fox was hot-headed, so was I. We couldn't have a heart to heart and I doubted either of us wanted to, though I was concerned for my brother and wanted to know these things about him.
"Oh, you're still down here?" Fox asked as he re-entered the room.
I rolled my eyes at him and didn't respond.
Fox held his hand out for Elijah and pulled him up from the couch before the two of them went up the stairs. And I finally got some alone time.