#schuenower

thesniper [19:50] thank you! that one wasn’t easy...

Corey blushes. The thing is that his smile vanishes because he knows that Owen isn’t in love with him, he has a crush on thesniper. What would he say if he ever discovered that his identity was just... Corey? The awkward and geek Corey? Corey shakes his head because it’s never going to happen.

Owen is popular. Everyone wants to be around him and he’s easy to talk to. They talked a few times for school projects and stuff but Corey is not the kind of being talkative or to engage a conversation easily.

But behind a computer, everything is easy for him because he lets words flow easily and it’s not in person.

thenerdygiraffe [20:16] i can’t believe you’re really not on any hockey team... why?

thesniper [20:16] not really talkative or anything...

thenerdygiraffe [20:17] why don’t you come to the skills challenge at our school? it’s opened to everyone!

Corey knows everyone can do it. It’s usually to raise funds for the team trip and he always participate by buying a ticket usually. Unfortunately, this year, due to his accidental fame, Corey has to face it: he has to make thesniper go.

The thing is that he doesn’t know what to do. He’s torn between keeping his identity a secret or to reveal it to everyone. Even if it terrifies him to do so, he knows that he can’t hide behind his computer with this cool nickname for that long.

Another message pops up but this time, Owen is talking directly to Corey, which surprises him.

thenerdygiraffe [20:20] are you still going to be at the photobooth this year?

He frowns. He’s actually surprised that Owen remembers that... He doesn’t know what to answer because he knows that he can’t be in two places at the same time.

thegentlegiant [20:21] maybe? i don’t know if it’s still available...

It’s a plain lie but he hopes that Owen will buy it.

thenerdygiraffe [20:21] are you serious? it’s your booth! and you’re super talented at it.

It makes Corey smiles. Owen is the type of the ‘gentle’ popular guy. He’s always smiling and talking to others.

thenerdygiraffe [20:21] my grandma wants her annual picture :D

thenerdygiraffe [20:22] you know my grandma! she will not let it go until she has what she wants

thegentlegiant [20:23] i’ll go check if it’s not too late tomorrow

thenerdygiraffe [20:24] come on corey! i know it’s still available. i can write your name if you want to.

His plan is never going to work. He can’t possibly be at two places at the same time. But Owen is so damn persuasive and he knows that his grandma is a star when she comes to the event. Grandma Yvonne always loves encouraging his grandson and she loves when Corey takes good pictures of Owen.

thegentlegiant [20:25] tell grandma Yvonne that she will have her picture

thenerdygiraffe [20:26] (: i knew i could count on you!

thenerdygiraffe [20:27] see u tomorrow!

thegentlegiant [20:28] bye (:

Corey closes his laptop and he sighs. He’s going to have to elaborate the best plan ever to make this happen.

~⁎~

“Did you guys see that?!”

Corey eavesdrops the conversation when Cole Caufield goes to the rest of the hockey team’s section of the lockers. His locker is a little bit across theirs and he can even see them from a good distance. He still doesn’t react that much, though. He just wants to see their reaction.

“No way!” Gally exclaims. “He is not...”

“What’s going on?” Owen asks, as he arrives towards them.

“Owen! Your sniper is doing the competition this weekend.” Trevor teases him.

“What? How do you guys know that?” Owen questions, surprised.

“The lists just went public.” Jack explains. “And thesniper is on it so I guess you will finally able to meet him.”

Owen then takes a look at Cole’s phone and it’s Corey’s cue to disappear. He closes his locker before taking his things for the morning classes. He makes sure he has everything but he doesn’t notice that Owen is just... beside him, actually. He jumps a little when he sees him as he’s about to close his locker.

“Owen!”

“Sorry.” Owen apologizes while laughing a little. “I didn’t mean to. By the way... this is uh... from my grandma...” He pulls out something out of his bag and he gives it to him.

Corey is surprised. This is some of her cookies. “Oh, why?”

“For the photos. She said it’s a payment in advance you know.” Owen is almost blushing.

Corey is getting mixed signals and he tries not to think twice about it. “Oh. Thank her for me, then.”

“Hey Corey!” Cole salutes him with the unmatched energy of a Labrador that Cole has. “Did you see that?”

“Cole, stop bothering everyone with that.” Nick tells him. “I think everyone saw it. Sorry, man.”

Corey laughs. “That’s fine. You just informed me that he was going to do the skills competition.”

“You’d be able to unmask it!” Cole gleefully tells him. “King of the photography. You could totally know who it is.”

He has to think fast. “I could, yeah. We’ll see. Thanks for the cookies again, Owen.” He thanks as he tries to fake rush to his class, even if he knows that he’ll be there just in time.

That was close. Corey still doesn’t know how he will be able to do it but he knows that he will try to figure something out before the competition or it’s all going to be a major flop.

~⁎~

thenerdygiraffe [17:11] are you really coming this weekend?

thesniper [17:15] yes, it’s true

thenerdygiraffe [17:16] i know it’s going to sound weird but... is there any chance that we could meet before the even?

thesniper [17:17] i know it sounds like a fanboy or something omg i’m sorry...

Corey stops right there. He doesn’t even know what to answer to that. He already feels like an imposter enough. He feels like he’s using Owen or something... even if Owen said to him that he understands a part of his anonymity.

thenerdygiraffe [17:18] it felt wrong, i’m sorry!

thesniper [17:19] no. i mean... it’s just... it will be my first time in a big crowd and i’m already stressing out...

thenerdygiraffe [17:20] of course! we’ll meet after then?

thesniper [17:20] for sure, it will be a pleasure to finally meet you

Corey bites his lips.

thenerdygiraffe [17:25] yeah sure! goodnight!

thesniper [17:26] goodnight!

He closes his laptop and just lays in his back. He doesn’t even know how he will manage to do his crazy day but he will have to figure everything soon because he can’t be at the photobooth and on the ice at the same time.

He takes his phone and he sends a quick message to Owen under his real self, before he forgets about it.

thegentlegiant [21:00] thanks for the cookies, by the way, they were delicious

thenerdygiraffe [21:01] good to hear! i’ll tell her you said that

Corey smiles and he puts his phone down before doing his night routine to take on another day.

~⁎~

The day of the competition, Corey calls coach Saint-Louis to tell him that he’s going to have an appointment around eleven but that he really wants to stay in the photobooth for the annual pictures, which the coach agrees to it, obviously.

He’s nervous. He finally has a plan but he doesn’t know how the people are going to react to him live. And he still doesn’t know if he wants to reveal everything to everyone yet. He guesses not because it would have the most intense consequences.

Is he really ready to risk everything in front of the whole town? Because literally, the even went sold out when everyone learned that the sniper was coming.

At his booth, he’s nervous. More than usually. Then, Grandma Yvonne comes by him. “Corey! My favorite photograph.” She says. “Still very growing up, I see. Very handsome every year.”

Corey smiles. “Thank you grandma Yvonne.” Like every year, he helps her go to her seat in the stands.

“You can call me Yvonne and you know that.” She tells him as she pats his arm. “I’m waiting for my picture after the event, alright?”

“Alright, I’ll do that one first.” Corey winks at her as a promise.

He goes back to his booth until the skills competition is announced and he goes to suit up to be the sniper.

“And now please welcome the Internet sensation, the sniper!” The local announcer says.

Everyone is going crazy about the sniper because Corey has a crazy damn shot and he’s really good at it. It drives the whole arena and he’s kind of enjoying it. But he knows deep down that they are applauding the sniper and not really him.

And in some adrenaline rush or something, Corey takes off his mask to reveal the truth to literally everybody.

“Corey?”

There is a big silence at first. Then, people whisper everywhere in the arena where Corey is just standing there while everyone is trying to make sense of what just happened. And there’s him, in the middle of the ice, trying to recover from what he just did. Revealing his identity was not the main goal but all this adrenaline just gave him the strength to do it.

But right now? He’s goddamn terrified to be humiliated in front of the whole school because nobody is saying anything.

“Corey! Corey!” Someone starts to chant in the stands.

“Corey! Corey! Corey!” There’s even some claps and some cheering. Corey just turns on himself to see the support from everybody. He’s smiling like an idiot and he’s probably blushing but he doesn’t really care.

He doesn’t until his eyes meet Owen’s in the far of the ice. His heart is beating fast and he feels like his whole world is going to crumble to the ground because he feels like he catfished him or that he betrayed him by carefully not telling him who he was.

Owen likely wants to skate towards him but Corey’s suddenly surrounded by literally everyone. He doesn’t really get to say anything, it’s just people who want to talk to him and take pictures with him.

He’s finally able to escape and retreat to the locker room where he can relax a little bit because he knows that it’s going to make a buzz through the whole school and most probably the whole town and Internet. What was he really thinking?!

Someone knocks on the door. “Hey Corey.” It’s Nick. “I know it’s overwhelming and stuff, but there’s someone that really wants to have a few words with you. Just open the door, I promise that it’s not a trick or something.”

Corey trusts Nick’s words because he’s the serious guy on the team. He opens the door to see that it’s no other person than Owen himself behind that door. No words are exchanged. He just lets him in the little space of the locker room.

It’s a long silence. It’s funny how they were able to talk behind a machine and that now, they seem terrified to talk to each other. Corey has always been the under-radar guy with his camera gear and his quiet personality. Owen is the complete opposite but he’s the kindest person ever.

“Are you disappointed?” Corey finally breaks the silence to risk it all. He doesn’t even look at him as he looks down to the floor.

“That it’s you? Corey...” Owen breathes as he lets out a nervous laugh. A million things run into his head even if he doesn’t know exactly how he really feels like and because he just didn’t say anything clear. “I was... I was hoping it would be you.” Corey blinks his eyes before finally looking up to Owen. “I am really glad that it’s you, Corey.”

“W... What...?” He finally asks.

Owen takes place beside him on the stalls in the locker room. “Deep down, I’ve always hoped that it was you because... because I like you, Corey. I’ve liked you for a really long time and... yeah. I’m so glad that it’s you. I felt guilty because I was falling in love with someone else but I’m relieved to see that I’m in love with the same person.”

Corey blushes because that’s probably the most romantic thing someone ever said to him. Owen’s confession is so raw, honest and true. “I... I like you too, you know?” He replies. “It’s just... Like it told you when I was the sniper. I’m not always comfortable in social situations and I guess that... because you’re so popular I thought I would never be enough for you or something.”

Owen comes a little closer to him. “You don’t get to decide that.” He then takes Corey’s hand in his before meeting his eyes. “By the way... I promised grandma Yvonne that I would bring someone tonight for dinner and I think she already knows the answer of who I wanted to bring all along. So, are you free tonight?”

Corey has a little smile. “Yeah. Absolutely.”

~⁎~

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t get the picture of Owen this year, Grandma Yvonne.” Corey shamefully apologizes to Owen’s grandma.

“Nonsense!” She says, giving silent instructions to Owen to put the table in the dinning room of her little house. There’s a fine scent of comfort food and both Corey and Owen are hungry. “I’m happier to see that my Owen boy finally brought you home after all these years. By the way, I’ve always brought two because Owen wanted one for himself because you were the one that took it.”

That surprises Corey which raises so many other questions or clues that he missed. “Grandma!” Owen chokes as he’s suddenly turning every shade of pink.

“Psh! The boy can know now! He’s right here.” She chirps.

“I always tried to take the best picture of Owen since he was also my favorite. That’s something that we both share, Grandma Yvonne.”

“I always knew you two were meant for each other. Grandma always knows best.” She proudly takes credit.

After the dinner (and a lot of embarrassing moments from Grandma Yvonne for Owen), they both go on the swing in the balcony of Yvonne’s house while they are just talking together and holding hands. Corey’s head on Owen’s shoulders as they swing slowly and enjoying the evening.

“I’m glad it’s you.” Owen says. “I don’t see myself with anyone else.”

“Me neither.” Corey looks up at him.