Chapter 12: For You

"Wake up, sleepyhead~!" Grieta sang while shaking me awake.

"Hnn…what time is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. It seemed earlier than usual and I had the vague notion that it was still the weekend, if I wasn't mistaken.

"It's 7:15." My roommate responded, drawing the curtain open and letting light stream into the room.

"…And why are you waking me up so early?" I questioned, swinging my legs around the side of my bed and starting to climb down the top bunk.

"So you can make sandwiches." She said simply. But when I shot her a confused look, still half-asleep, she explained further. "It's Sunday. The boys have their games today."

"Oh…oh!" I understood suddenly. I hurried to grab my toiletries and clothes, practically running out of the room. But before I had completely left, I heard Grieta say to herself "Today is going to be a fun breakfast!" I didn't have time to ponder what she meant as I rushed to finish my morning routine earlier than usual. Twenty minutes later, I returned to our dorm room to leave my things from earlier. Grieta had already left to go get breakfast, but I headed towards the Home Economics room instead. The school lets students use the classroom facilities during weekends, making it possible for me to make lunch boxes and sandwiches when it was game day. But while I had hardly begun laying out enough pieces of bread on the counter, I heard a soft knock on the door.

"Hey," It was Matthew. "I knew I'd find you in here."

"G-good morning." I said, wanting to laugh at myself when I realized my heart skipped a beat. We had been spending so much time together that I thought it was funny how I still got lovestruck whenever he entered a room. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Al always mentioned that you made sandwiches for him during game days." Matthew explained, walking over next to me.

"Yeah, he always complained about being hungry during games," I remembered. "And he can't very well just leave the field to go get a hotdog."

"Um, so…I assume you're gonna go watch his baseball game, then?" Matthew asked while I continued to lay ham and tomato slices on the white bread.

"I always do." I answered without thinking, not noticing his weak smile because I was still dealing with the sandwiches. "Hey wait," I said, realizing something. "How come I never saw you during any of Alfred's games?"

"I'm on the hockey team." He said.

"Yes, you said that before…"

"And we have matches too—"

"—on Sundays…" I finished for him. We were silent for a moment and then everything fell into place in my head. "Oh, Matthew! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize that! I could jus—"

"It's fine, Tina." He smiled, already expecting it. It still bothered me how comfortable Matthew was at being forgotten. "Just go to the baseball game."

"But I—"

"You can't just stop going all of a sudden just because of me." He stated simply.

"No, I want to go to your hockey game." I told him. I felt bad for not thinking that Matthew had games too earlier, but I couldn't help that my brain was wired to prepare for baseball sandwiches on Sunday mornings. "And I mean that." I added, looking straight into his eyes so he knew I wasn't just saying it.

"Really?" He asked, not expecting my genuine desire.

"Really. I've never seen a hockey game before, and I heard you were really good at it too!" I explained, interest building up.

"Oh," Matthew was surprised again. "From who?"

"This one time I bumped into these two blond juniors at the library. One was kind of scary-looking and the other guy was really nice. I overheard them mentioning how they lost against you in a hockey game once."

"Haha, that's Berwald and Tino." Matthew explained. "And Berwald isn't very scary at all. That's just how his face looks."

"I think that's what Tino said to me before too!" And we both burst into laughter.

… … … … …

I was really excited this morning when I realized it was Sunday. Kuya Alfred was gonna have a game again today and I get to watch! It's a good thing soccer games and track meets are both on different days than baseball. Each game day only has two sports going on: one indoor and another outdoor. But Sunday is for baseball since the sport Kuya Alfred plays has gotta be more interesting than whatever is happening indoors.

After getting dressed for the day, I rushed over to the cafeteria to get Kuya Alfred some burgers before he got here. He usually doesn't have a lot of time to eat before games. It's a good thing Ate Tina always brings him sandwiches he sneaks bites of in between innings.

"Yo, Juan!" yelled Kuya Alfred, entering the cafeteria in all his glory. He saw me holding his tray of food and came over to me.

"Hey Kuya Alfred! Are you ready for today?" I asked, handing him his tray while getting a couple burgers for myself.

"I'm always ready!" he exclaimed, leading the way to our usual table. Grieta was already sitting down next to her brothers. Feli would be here later on once he finishes hiding from Ludwig making him jog in the mornings. As we sat down, I saw Ate and her boyfriend enter the cafeteria. Of course she was carrying the usual small basket that she puts Kuya Alfred's sandwiches in, but it confused me that she went to get food before going to our table. Ate Tina usually just gets a hotdog or something during the game.

"So, what are the plans for today?" Grieta asked the table, which I didn't understand.

"You're all gonna watch me win the baseball game, obviously!" Kuya Alfred declared, beaming at everyone present. I was about to agree with him when Ate spoke.

"Actually, um, Matthew has a hockey game today too" she began. "So I'm gonna go watch his game today." The moment she spoke those words I looked to Kuya Alfred first. His smile stayed plastered on his face, but the sparkle in his eyes seemed to dim. I wondered if anyone else saw, but Ate was too busy trying not to blush while Matthew held her hand under the table. Ew.

"But you always go t—" I started saying, but Kuya Alfred interrupted me.

"Oh yeah!" he said with realization. "It's too bad I can't go see your game Mattie, but at least you have Tina." Kuya Alfred might not have noticed it, but he sounded disappointed.

"We'll try to head over to the baseball game if Matthew's match ends early." Ate Tina assured.

"Yeah," Matthew agreed, smiling at Ate. "And here's your sandwiches by the way," he said, handing Kuya Alfred the small basket over the table.

"Hmm?" Kuya Alfred said, noticing it was a bit heavier than usual. "There's more sandwiches in here than before."

"Yeah, Matthew helped me out this morning." Ate explained. Kuya Alfred just nodded, seemingly ending the conversation. But after staring at his plate of three burgers (he had only eaten two of what I gave him), Kuya Alfred suddenly stood up and announced that he had to get to his game soon. Although a bit startled, everyone at the table agreed and started shuffling and getting ready to leave.

"Are you going to be okay?" I followed Kuya Alfred after he got up from our table. He seemed surprised for a second, but then he held up the basket.

"I'll be fine, Juan." He smiled, in my opinion, weakly (although I doubt Kuya Alfred was ever weak). "I have delicious sandwiches made by my lil' bro and my—" he stopped suddenly.

"Ate Tina." I said for him after a second of silence.

"Yeah!" he agreed too fast. "Anyways, I gotta go stretch or something before the game starts." Kuya Alfred said, ruffling my hair as we left to go to the field. Sometimes I wonder if Kuya Alfred even understands himself…

… … … … …

That git. He's overexerting himself. The sophomore team is winning so I don't understand why the daft kid keeps swinging the bat so hard and pitching the ball so furiously. And he keeps looking up here, but not exactly at me or anyone else even. I really don't get Alfred at all. Or Tina's freshman brother either. He's cheering louder than usual, but sometimes the boy makes the most worried looks. I guess he notices how Alfred is being more of an idiot than usual in today's game. He kept taking his baseball cap off, running his hand through his hair, and replacing the cap, which is something he only does when they're losing. But they weren't.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked aloud at nobody in particular.

"He's…missing something today." Juan suddenly turned to me, sitting in the row behind him. I wasn't sure what he meant until I saw that the seat next to him was empty. Tina wasn't there.

"Is she late, then?" I asked, confused. She was usually here, cheering just as loud as Juan when she thought Alfred wasn't looking.

"She's at the hockey game." Juan answered. Part of him looked like he wanted to tell someone something important, but at the same time he seemed unsure.

"Why is she all the way over— Oh." I remembered that she had recently become Matthew's girlfriend. There's been quite a fuss among the girls about that, apparently. I let out a disappointed chuckle; that was hardly a reason for Alfred to get all worked up for. Juan gave a weak smile and nod before he turned back around to watch the game. He then proceeded to cheer, enough for both himself and his sister.

… … … … …

Wow, I've never seen Tina like this! I didn't think tagging along with her to watch Matthew's hockey game would be this interesting. She's sitting at the edge of her seat and her eyes are practically sparkling, haha! It's so adorable~ She was never like this watching Alfred's baseball games before, but then again this is her first time at a hockey game.

But I am a little worried about Matt… The sophomore team is winning against the seniors, but Matthew seems to be having a hard time. He's barely dodged a hit from Ivan Braginski when I felt some people in the row behind us get up. It was Ekaterina Braginskaya and Eduard Von Bock! Oooh, Ivan's sister and one of his followers sneaking off together? This I gotta see!

"Uh, I'm gonna take a little bathroom break, kay Tina?" I said, although my roommate was very absorbed in the game.

"Mmhmm." she replied without taking her eyes off the rink. I followed Ekaterina and Eduard out when I realized they were just going to talk in the hallway outside. They'd see me if I went into the hallway with them, so I stayed by the door.

"Don't you think Ivan being a little scary?" Ekaterina asks, whispering louder than she thinks she is.

"You mean scarier than usual?" Eduard points out, making the joking statement seem serious.

"Da, I guess," the Ukrainian admits "…Don't you think we should tell him that we're—" she tries to say, more determined.

"Kat, please," the younger man pleads. "Eventually we'll tell him we're going out, but he's been more stressed than usual and I don't think he'll take well to us being together." He's right about that. Ivan wouldn't like the idea of his older sister going out with a sophomore, let alone one he feels personally in charge of.

"But he's being so violent with Matthew!" she says, no longer whispering. She's concerned about Matt? I'd heard this rumor once that she liked him, but Ekaterina isn't one to go past shy side-glances and Matthew might have been just as dense as his brother, or maybe just scared of Ivan.

"And that has anything to do with us how…?" Eduard asks, genuinely confused.

"Ivan knew that I liked him," the university student started. The rumors were right! "But I'm with you now, and Matthew's with Tina."

"TinaAAHH!" I begin to ask myself about my friend's involvement with this when I feel something sharp push me in the back.

"What are you doing eavesdropping on my family?" I hear eerily from behind me. Turning around as fast as can I find out it's Natalia Alfroskaya, Ivan's clingy little sister. She had poked me with her finger..? I swear it felt like a knife! Eduard and Ekaterina, just as surprised as I am, turn to us.

"I didn't hear anything!" I say immediately. "I'm just on my way to the bathroom." I quickly explain, walking away as fast as I can. I don't want to deal with this drama, just know about it… By the time I get back from pretending to be in the bathroom, everyone else is also there. The points are leaning towards Matthew's team and it seems impossible for the other to catch up. There's only a couple minutes left so everything should be fine, yet Tina's even more absorbed in the game. I realize why when I noticed how injured Matthew seems.

"Tina, what happened to Matt while I was gone?"

"Crashing" she says without looking at me, still concentrating. "Ivan keeps crashing into him." I cheer for Matthew and his team while she continues to silently, though intensely, support her boyfriend. The moment the game ended, Tina burst out of her seat and practically ran to the Canadian.

"Are you okay?" Tina asked, worried, as she reached for her boyfriend's hand. He was about to say he was fine when she grabbed his left hand, sending pain shooting through his wrist.

"O-ow!" Matthew practically yelled. The Filipina sat him down on one of the seats and began examining his hand.

"We've gotta use RICE" I heard Tina mumble.

"Rice…?" he asked. "What does that have to do with me straining my wrist?"

"You didn't strain your wrist, Matthew. Ivan sprained it" she corrected. "And RICE stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Don't move it too much."

"Maybe we should bring him to the clinic?" I suggested. As much as Tina is amazing at first aid (from patching up the various scrapes and bruises from the usual suspects: Alfred, Juan, Feliciano…), the pair looked at me, agreeing. Mama Hassan would probably do a better job at treating whatever happened to Matt's wrist, along with the rest of his injuries—although she wouldn't be as worried or loving while doing it. But on our way out, Tina checked her watch and left Matthew to my care.

"Bring him to the clinic," she instructed, rushed. "I just have to go get something first." Then Tina went the opposite way from the clinic, towards the outside sports fields.

… … … … …

"This is great!" Juan yelled as he ran towards me. The game had just ended and my team obviously won, but I felt more tired than usual (which makes absolutely no sense since baseball is like breathing to me!). But he was right; this is great…Yeah. "You were awesome as always, Kuya Alfred!"

"Thanks Juan!" I say, remembering to smile despite my fatigue. We continued to walk back indoors, but I tried to delay in case it was taking Tina, Matt, and Grieta a while to get down from the bleachers. They might've sat down somewhere higher since I didn't see them with Juan. "Where are the others?"

"Grieta texted me and said they'd meet us by the cafeteria" the younger boy explained. But they said they would come watch if the hockey game ended sooner (which it usually does)… Did the baseball game go too fast? Either way, we continued to walk to our destination, passing Coach Steve who was selling lollipops like he always does after baseball games. I thought about getting myself an apple-flavored one, but I kept remembering how Tina would chastise me for it every other time since it was "counterproductive to exercise and then just eat candy right afterwards." I laughed to myself a bit, noticing Juan nodding in my direction, like he understood why (but it's not like there's anything to agree with). When we reached the cafeteria, we found only Grieta there.

"Tina and Matt are in the clinic" she said as soon as she saw us walk up.

"They're alone together?" Juan asked, incredulously, but Grieta gave him a firm (for her) look telling him that this was nothing to interfere with.

"Mama Hassan's there anyways," she dismissed, ending the conversation.

"Hey! I'll go check up on them, then," I quickly said, already walking towards the clinic. Grieta knew better than to stop me once I've started going, although it's not like I'm doing anything that warrants stopping… "Don't wanna worry Juan over here." Once I was out of their sight, I found myself walking faster and faster. I didn't even realize I was running until I had stopped in front of the clinic door, panting. I quickly collected myself (but I always look good anyways, haha) and opened the door without knocking.

"No, Matthew, hold your hand a bit higher!" Tina told my little bro, giggling. She was holding a cold compress to his left wrist, both of them standing by the desk. They weren't doing anything! I mean, it's not like they would be… But I felt some unexpected relief anyways.

"Wait, where's Mama Hassan?" I asked, getting Mattie and Tina's attention.

"Oh, she wasn't here," Matt began explaining. "But Tina knew where everything was, so we were fine."

"I've borrowed supplies from Mama Hassan one too many times," she said to me, but turned to smile at Matt for a moment.

"Uh, okay then" I didn't really know what to say. Suddenly I felt like I interrupted something (but that doesn't make any sense). "I guess I'll go check the faculty room or something. She's probably there. I figure I should tell her you guys used some of her stuff so she doesn't, like, freak out or anything later on." But before I could walk out of the door, someone grabbed my right shoulder and pain surged through my side. It was Tina.

"You've hurt yourself" she stated, looking up at me the way she always does when I'd gotten anything more than a small bruise: concerned. She pulled me towards a chair and motioned for me to sit.

"Nah, I'm fine—AAH!" I tried to tell her I was okay, but then Tina had poked me just hard enough to get me to sit on the chair, sideways so that the back of my chair as to my left. Then she began pushing parts of my shoulder with her whole palm, in a way that seemed more soothing than painful.

"You've strained your shoulder and abdomen, Alfred" she said, getting up to get another cold compress before I could deny the ache in my right side.

"Is that what Mattie has too?" I asked.

"No, you strained your side, I sprained my wrist" Matt corrected me.

"Ivan sprained it" Tina contributed, while pressing the cold pack on the top right of my back and massaging, seeming to soothe the pain out.

"What's the difference?" I wondered aloud, confused. "Wait, Ivan—?" What'd that jerk do now?

"He was being unfairly violent." Tina answered before Matt could. "Were you pushing yourself too hard during the game."

"It's baseball" I said at the same time Mattie said "It's hockey." "It was nothing" we said in unison, making Tina smile.

"We've gotta use RICE" she said.

"Rice…?" I asked. "What does that have to do with me spraining my shoulder?"

"You didn't sprain your shoulder, Alfred. You strained it" she corrected. "And RICE stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation." This time Matt smiled. She must've said the same thing to him… As we were heading back to the cafeteria, where Grieta was probably holding back Juan after we failed to come back sooner, Tina reached into her pocket and handed me something. It was an apple-flavored lollipop. "For you."

"Woah, thanks!" I was surprised she got me one after all those times she told me not to get myself one. But when would she have gotten it? Coach Steve only sells them at the end of baseball games…

"She went right after the hockey game" Matt said after I hadn't taken the lollipop. "Before going to the clinic." Tina was still facing me, offering the lollipop to me. Mattie nodded, and suddenly I felt like it'd be okay to take it (although there wasn't any reason not to).

"I didn't think you'd remember" I said, finally.

"I wouldn't have forgotten" she smiled, and the three of us continued to meet up with our friends.

Not dead yet!:

Thanks so much to anyone who still bothers to read this story! I know I haven't updated in over a year, but this story was constantly in my mind and I was just way too busy with school (and all the procrastinating). But now that I'm almost done with this semester, I'll try to update more often. I wonder if this chapter looks a little weird, though... Half of it was written around nine months ago, haha. There's not any details about either baseball or hockey since I barely know anything about baseball and even less about hockey (but I was sure enough about the violence). I only just noticed how it might be weird that Eduard and Ekaterina are going out since he's a sophomore and she's in university (college), but I always thought they'd be really sweet as a couple~

Ah, RICE… I learned about that last year, so I had to research it to write about it now, haha. Coach Steve is Stephen Csontváry (Magyar), by the way. I made him the Gym teacher, so I figured he'd be a sports coach; of course, now that I think about it, he'd probably rather watch the hockey game since he'd like the violence more. But I figure he likes baseball too—and apparently selling lollipops? Don't even ask where I got that random idea…