After the captain election vote ended, club activities wrapped up quickly. Today was both voting day and the day mentoring was taking place.
“That’s it for the 11th graders. Get ready quickly and go to the gym for mentoring. I’ll check later, so don’t skip out because it’s annoying. Got it?”
“Yes!”
Unlike just a few minutes ago, Henry could answer together with his friends with a relaxed face.
Henry headed straight to the gym.
The memory of cleaning the gym with Declan a few months ago came vividly to mind.
Though it wasn’t that long ago, it somehow felt like a distant past event. Henry thought it was probably because so many things had happened in between.
He had come to know a bit about the man he thought he’d be at odds with forever. Back then, he had liked David, but now he liked him instead of David.
How he had come to feel something like love for someone he had disliked so much—it was a big enough change that Henry found himself curious about himself.
Upon entering the gym, the interior was fully decorated with areas separated by club.
In the football club’s area, Warren Fisher was sitting at the left table.
Having recognized Warren, it didn’t take long to figure out that the person sitting at the right table was Tyler Minter.
Seeing them, the excitement he had forgotten while anxiously worrying about whether he’d become captain revived.
The teacher who came for mentoring separated the students into those who would receive mentoring from Warren and those from Tyler.
Strangely, more than half the students flocked to Warren Fisher.
Even students who weren’t starting members even now as 11th graders, and for whom a plausible future as aspiring players couldn’t actually be envisioned.
Unlike them, Declan Russell, who was actually preparing for the path of a player, was on Tyler Minter’s side.
Henry grumbled in a corner of his heart.
This feels more like a fan meeting with Warren Fisher than mentoring for careers.
While Henry was quietly venting his complaints, the distribution of hopefuls had finished before he knew it.
Having been informed of this by the teacher, Warren stood up from his seat and introduced himself.
“Hello, I’m Warren Fisher.”
He spoke with a refreshing smile, just like he had seen in videos on screen.
His gaze, which had been looking around at the students, stopped at a certain point. Precisely in the direction where he was.
‘…Did he just look at me?’
Though he wondered if he had been too conscious of him, somehow it didn’t feel like his imagination.
“I graduated from Platts four years ago, and now I’m playing as a player for the Miami Waverunners.”
As his words ended, applause burst out. Someone welcomed him while making whistling sounds with their mouth.
He smiled brightly at the welcome directed at him, and the teacher made a gesture for the kids to calm down.
“If I want to give you a long time to talk, we won’t have enough time. Let’s proceed right away.”
Since more students had gathered on Warren’s side than expected, the teacher seemed in a hurry.
“Um… Right. Shall we start with Dennis first?”
“Yes!”
The teacher said while keeping her gaze only on the list. Dennis immediately ran over with an excited face and sat in front of Warren.
Henry, who had been watching him conversing with Warren for a moment, sighed and turned his head. It was when he was briefly looking around to see which clubs were in the gym packed full of people.
From far away, a girl with curly hair tied up in one bundle waved her hands vigorously toward Henry in greeting.
“…Hazel?”
Behind her, he could see familiar faces including Laila. It seemed the cheerleading club was also classified as an athletic club and was conducting mentoring together.
Henry slightly pulled up the corners of his mouth and secretly waved his hand. Then Hazel, whose eyes sparkled, ran toward Henry in one breath.
“Henry!”
“Oh, hey. Is it okay for you to come? What about mentoring?”
“I’m done!”
“Ah, you finished quickly.”
“Yeah. I went first too, and I’m only doing this as a hobby until high school anyway, so I didn’t have anything special to ask.”
“Ah, that makes sense for you.”
At Henry’s words, she smiled broadly.
Though he had never asked directly, the fact that Hazel’s father was an executive at a giant oil company was something everyone in school knew tacitly.
Moreover, as he remembered, her grades were pretty decent too, so she would have had options spread out before her.
The conversation ended with Henry’s answer. However, she was still sitting beside him.
It’s strange. He had thought she was greeting him while coming to find Declan, but apparently not.
She was observing him to the point that Henry felt his face burning.
When Henry, unable to bear it any longer, turned around, worry rather than a smile occupied her face.
Eventually, Henry smiled awkwardly and asked her first.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…Did the vote go well?”
She asked while carefully reading the situation.
“It ended, but how did you know it was today?”
“I asked Declan.”
As soon as Hazel brought up that name, Henry’s expression crumbled. Henry reflexively answered her.
“Why?”
Even at the somewhat aggressive question, Hazel seemed unbothered. She was still being considerate of Henry.
“I saw that post.”
Ah.
Henry realized the reason for this peculiar consideration. The reason she was concerned about him and asked Declan about the voting schedule was simply because she had seen that post.
It seemed she was worried that he might have been hurt or wounded.
“…Did you see the comments there too?”
Henry’s voice sank low.
He wanted to know.
Whether she had seen that comment that Henry Lowell might be gay. If she had seen it, what she thought about it.
Declan had known his secret from the beginning, but she didn’t. Henry thought her opinion might be a bit more objective.
Henry’s hand, unable to hide his agitation, was trembling faintly. Hazel lowered her gaze and confirmed such a Henry.
Before he could even try to hide his hand, Hazel firmly grasped Henry’s hand with her own.
As if trying to comfort Henry, who must have struggled for several days.
“Don’t worry. I don’t believe what’s written there. Laila doesn’t either, and most of the kids around me don’t believe it. Don’t worry too much about posts like that, okay?”
Henry quietly looked into Hazel’s eyes. This time, he doubted the sincerity directed at him. He felt self-loathing.
Hazel, thinking Henry had become gloomy, urgently poured out anger on Henry’s behalf.
“A friend showed it to me and I saw it, and I got so angry when I read it! How is what happened to Colton your fault? If someone who doesn’t know sees it, they’d think you unilaterally picked a fight with Colton and hit him.”
As if just thinking about it made her upset, Hazel frowned heavily and burst out in indignation. Henry couldn’t give any answer to her words.
Strictly speaking, he was the one who first picked a fight with Colton, and he was the one who unilaterally beat him after getting hit once and having justification.
“Ignore posts like that. Everyone who knows you will know you’re not that kind of person. It’s obviously a post written out of jealousy.”
But he couldn’t keep facing her with a stiff expression forever when she was trying to comfort him.
Henry tried hard to pull up the corners of his mouth and smile like usual.
“…Thank you.”
“Mm-mm, not at all.”
Hazel answered while shaking her head vigorously.
Henry found such a Hazel a bit curious. As he felt it, they weren’t close enough for her to express this much concern about his affairs.
A relationship where they knew each other moderately, thanks to belonging to clubs where they couldn’t help but know each other’s faces.
Then they started dating from one day on, but they hadn’t been in a particularly specially intimate romantic relationship with her.
If it had been special, they wouldn’t have broken up so easily.
Just like when dating other people, Henry had just lived with her in a way that looked appropriately like lovers.
Moreover, after breaking up, she had become the most awkward among Henry’s numerous ex-girlfriends because Declan had interfered.
In the end, Henry recovering to a relationship where he could talk with her again, even lightly, had been triggered by the recent Powder Puff event.
Thinking about this, there was only one thing he could think of as the reason her attitude toward him had changed.
The fact that I tried to set up Declan and her.
Hazel must have felt intimacy toward him starting from that time.
After realizing Hazel’s goodwill, which might be real, his conscience, which had been fine until now, suddenly pricked him. While he had thoroughly tried to use her, she seemed to have become attached to him.
Even though he was suspecting and envying her in the midst of all this.
Wow, this is really the worst.
Henry poured fierce criticism toward himself, who was utterly ugly.
“So, the result? It was you, right? Right?”
Hazel, who didn’t know what was going on, was still being favorable.
Henry carefully folded away the desire to ask how she happened to meet Declan to ask such things.
Trying to resolve his one-sided greed toward Hazel, who was worrying about him with an innocent face, wasn’t something to do as a person.
Henry tried hard to erase the question circling in his head and answered her question.
“Yeah. It was me.”
“Wow! I’m so glad. I knew it!”
Hazel smiled brightly, completely erasing traces of worry.
This situation of having a conversation with her alone felt uncomfortable.
If he stayed just a bit longer, it felt like he would ask her something unnecessary and eventually reveal his rock bottom.
It was when Henry was about to bring out an excuse to avoid her.
“Henry Lowell!”
Like a savior, the teacher called his name.
“Yes.”
Henry answered the teacher’s call and naturally stood up.
“My name was called, so I’ll go.”
“Okay, see you later!”
