Opening Of One day at a time

One dreary Monday afternoon in October Trevor was hitting slap shots and practising trick shots at an empty goal, as he often did after practice had finished. The feeling of letting loose and having fun on the pitch made him feel alive, no need to be the captain of the team, always striving for perfection, just pure fun. He lined up for one last shot before starting his warm down as his coach would be back in about 20 minutes to lock up the pitches and put away the rest of the equipment that Trevor was still using. Without thinking he slapped the ball so hard that it sounded like thunder when the ball collided with his stick, the ball took off into the darkening sky and soared into the distance. Frustrated, Trevor cursed under his breath, threw his stick to the ground and started to jog in the direction of the ball, silently hoping that no one would witness this superhuman feat.

Daniel was tending to the school garden and installing the new wildlife boxes he had built in technology. Here he truly felt peace, there were no jocks hassling him for being small and skinny, or giving him grief for being gay. He had his earphones in and was listening to his music when out of nowhere he felt the earth shudder beneath his feet. Daniel jumped up and pulled his earphones out of his ears. He turned to see a massive crater in the ground about a metre behind where he was knelt. He went over to the new hole in his garden to investigate and to his surprise he pulled a hockey ball out of the center of the hole. Full of confusion he looked around expecting people to be nearby with hockey sticks, but there was no one around. Daniel was drawn from his thoughts by someone calling out nearby. 

Trevor saw a small guy in the school garden holding his hockey ball, and looking around, he considered turning around and leaving the guy in his confused state but something pushed him to go over and introduce himself despite the consequences, Trevor jogged over to the garden calling out.

“Hey, sorry about that. Are you okay?” Trevor called Daniel. 

Trevor hopped over the fence and walked over to Daniel who was still holding the ball in front of him with a confused look on his face. Daniel watched Trevor walk over to him and everything slowed down as this specimen of perfection seemed to glide towards him. Trevor stopped and stood in front of Daniel and looked down at the ball that was now between them. 

“Hey, I’m Trevor”

“I.. I’m Daniel.”  Daniel asked, breaking the trance he was in “where did this come from?”

“Oh, um, I was just over there,” Trevor said, not breaking their eye contact, pointing in a vague direction in the rough area of the hockey pitch, hoping Daniel didn’t ask anymore questions.

The two stood for a few moments not saying anything, just stood in the feeling they didn't know they were sharing, with the ball between them before Trevor put his hand over the ball to take it off of Daniel. 

“I'll come back soon and fix the hole that my ball left,” Trevor said.

“It's fine you don't have to I can fix it, it won't take me long” Daniel said 

“I made a mess and I always clean up my messes” Trevor said with a small smirk, and a sparkle in his eye. “I have to return the ball and grab my stuff but I will be back soon, I promise”

Trevor jumped the fence and jogged back the way he came. His promise hung heavy in the air.

Daniel stood for a few seconds watching as Trevor disappeared around the corner. Daniel stood watching the way Trevor and went long after Trevor had disappeared from view.