It was a cool autumn day. Orange and yellow leaves decorated the ground. The campus was mostly empty, as it was the weekend. 

In the ice rink, a hockey team was practicing. Among those was Oscar. A tall man- 6 foot 3- he soared above most of his team mates. However, he was much milder than them. While they constantly got in arguments due to their personalities clashing, Oscar was usually on the sidelines. It wasn’t that he wasn’t friends with them; he just wasn’t as commanding as them. Oscar still hung out with them, they went out and partied together. 

Practice came to an end, and Oscar wiped the sweat off his forehead. Sighing, he skated off the rink and grabbed his water bottle, taking a big swig. Despite the cold temperature, he was heating up from the practice.

Someone slapped him hard on the back, and Oscar turned around to see a shorter man with light brown hair and slightly tanned skin. He was Oscar’s team mate.

“You did great, Oscar!” The man shouted, a large grin on his face. Oscar smiled back happily.

“You too, Andreas!” Oscar responded. He took another drink of his water, finally cooling down. “You think we’ll play well this season?”

Andreas shot Oscar a look of surprise, then let out a hearty laugh. “Of course we will, Oscar! We’ve been doing amazing at practice.”

“Andreas!” A feminine voice came from the bleachers. Oscar and Andreas looked over to see a woman standing up, waving her hand. She had orange hair with yellow streaks and captivating green eyes. Her skin was the same gentle tan as Andreas’. She was his older sister, after all.

“Ugh, is Leona really here?” Andreas groaned. He shook his head. “She’s always babying me!”

Letting out a heavy sigh, he said, “I better go see what she wants.”

As Andreas headed over to Leona, Oscar decided to follow. He had never talked to her before, but had seen her with Andreas on numerous occasions. Oscar thought she was beautiful. Might as well go and introduce himself.

“Hey Andreas!” Leona gave a wave of her hand as Andreas approached her. Her eyes flickered past him and landed on Oscar. “Who’s your friend?”

Andreas gave her a quizzical look. “Who?” He asked, not realizing Oscar had followed him over. He looked behind him. “Oh, hey Oscar.”

“Oscar!” Leona’s eyes lit up. She held out her hand. “I’m Leona, Andreas’ older sister!”

Oscar gave her hand a firm shake. “Nice to meet you, Leona!” He grinned. 

“Nice to meet you too!” Leona responded. She put her hands on her waist. “I saw you practicing out there, Oscar. You’re pretty good!”

Oscar smiled and rubbed his cheek. “Thank you!” He responded. Andreas cocked an eyebrow at him. Ignoring Andreas, Oscar continued. “I love your hair.”

“Alright, this is awkward.” Andreas muttered. 

“Oh, thank you!” Leona replied, not expecting the compliment. “It better look cool! It takes hours to dye!” 

Andreas crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently, looking slightly uncomfortable. Leona noticed his expression, and she gave a chuckle.

“You did great out there, dude!” She ruffled his hair, and Andreas rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah,” Andreas growled, his cheeks growing a deep red. “Do you have to embarrass me in front of my teammate?”

“Hey Oscar, Andreas!” A voice called. The two boys turned their heads to see the rest of their teammates waving at them.

“You guys wanna go get some drinks?” One of the men yelled. 

“Yes!” Andreas replied, taking off toward them, desperate to leave his sister.

“Don’t drink too much!” Leona shouted after him. Andreas ignored her, heading out with his teammates. She then directed her attention back to Oscar, who was still standing beside her. “Are you gonna join them?”

“Well…” Oscar started, rubbing his hands together nervously. “I was wondering… if I could… get your number?”

Leona stared at Oscar, her eyes wide. Oscar felt his palms grow clammy with anxiety- if there was one thing Oscar hated, it was rejection. It wasn’t that he felt entitled; it was the hurt and embarrassment that came with rejection, and it definitely took a toll on his self image.

However, much to his delight, the edges of Leona’s mouth curved up in a smile. “Sure!” She responded. Oscar beamed and pulled out his phone, and Leona proceeded to give him her number.

Once her phone number was in his phone, he shot her a text reading “Hey, this is Oscar”, adding a smiley face. Leona’s phone chimed, and she checked the message and responded, confirming that Oscar had input the right number.

“Oscaaaar!” Andreas’ voice cut through the space in the room. “You coming or what?”

“Yeah, coming!” Oscar shouted back. As he turned to leave, he gave Leona a wave. “It was nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too!” Leona yelled to him, watching him go.