The Truth Behind The Rumours
823 Words
I found Liam Carter after practice.
I wasn’t sure why I was there.
That was the part I didn’t want to admit.
I could have gone home.
I could have listened to Ethan.
I could have stayed away from the one person everyone told me would ruin my life.
But somehow my feet had taken me back to the hockey arena.
The place where Liam looked the most like the person everyone feared.
The ice was empty when I arrived.
The bright lights above the rink reflected off the surface, making everything look peaceful.
Almost too peaceful.
Then I saw him.
Liam wasn’t playing.
He wasn’t surrounded by teammates.
He was just sitting on the bench, staring at the ice.
For the first time since I met him, he didn’t look like the confident hockey captain everyone talked about.
He looked tired.
Like he had been carrying something heavy for a long time.
I almost turned around.
Almost.
But then he spoke.
“You’re either really brave or really bad at following warnings.”
I stopped.
A small smile appeared on my face.
“Maybe both.”
He looked over his shoulder.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“Funny.”
I crossed my arms.
“That’s exactly what everyone says about you.”
The smile disappeared.
Not completely.
Just enough.
“Everyone?”
I hesitated.
“Ethan.”
His jaw tightened.
Of course it did.
There was something between them.
Something deeper than a normal rivalry.
“You hate him,” I said.
Liam looked away.
“I don’t hate Ethan.”
That surprised me.
“Really?”
“No.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“I hate what happened.”
“What happened?”
Silence.
The kind that told me I had asked something he didn’t want to answer.
I stepped closer.
“Liam.”
His eyes lifted.
And for a moment, I saw something I wasn’t expecting.
Pain.
Not anger.
Not arrogance.
Pain.
“You really want to know?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
He looked back at the empty ice.
“Three years ago, Ethan and I weren’t enemies.”
I froze.
“What?”
He gave a small, bitter laugh.
“We were best friends.”
The words didn’t make sense.
Because Ethan talked about Liam like he was someone who destroyed him.
Not someone who mattered.
“We trained together,” Liam continued.
“We planned our futures together.”
I stayed quiet.
Waiting.
“Then something happened.”
His voice became quieter.
“And everything changed.”
“What?”
He looked at me.
“I made a choice.”
My heart tightened.
“What kind of choice?”
“One that made everyone hate me.”
The way he said it made me believe he meant it.
Not as a joke.
Not for attention.
He actually carried that.
“Did you hurt Ethan?”
The question left my mouth before I could stop it.
His expression changed.
Like I had hit something sensitive.
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
“I would never.”
I believed him.
And that scared me.
Because I barely knew him.
“You could tell people the truth.”
He smiled sadly.
“You think people always believe the truth?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I knew they didn’t.
“Why didn’t you defend yourself?”
His eyes met mine.
“Because sometimes protecting someone means letting them hate you.”
I stared.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It will one day.”
The confidence in his voice bothered me.
Because it sounded like he knew something I didn’t.
---
A loud noise came from the entrance.
We both turned.
Ethan stood there.
His expression immediately changed when he saw me.
Then Liam.
“What are you doing here?”
I opened my mouth.
But Liam spoke first.
“Ethan.”
My brother ignored him.
“Sophie, I asked you a question.”
I stepped forward.
“I came to talk.”
“To him?”
The anger in his voice surprised me.
“Yes.”
The silence was immediate.
Ethan looked at me like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“You don’t know him.”
I shook my head.
“Maybe I don’t.”
Then I looked at Liam.
“But neither do you anymore.”
That hit him.
I saw it.
My brother looked away.
And Liam looked at me like I had just done something he never expected.
Like I had defended him.
And maybe I had.
---
That night, I lay awake thinking about one thing.
Everyone said Liam Carter was the villain.
But villains didn’t look hurt when people misunderstood them.
Villains didn’t sit alone after practice.
Villains didn’t save people and ask for nothing.
So maybe the biggest question wasn’t:
Why was Liam dangerous?
Maybe it was:
Who had convinced everyone he was?
- Writer
