Page 23 of Breakaway
“No. Don’t even entertain that thought, Hen. I’ll go with Ana. You need to go calm down the team. I’ll message you as soon as I know anything.”
I bit my lip as I debated. I felt I should go, but it might be better to calm the others. Appreciating that he’d taken control, I squeezed his arm and headed in the other direction.
The locker room was quiet as I entered. Fletcher stood between two players with his hands on their chests, their faces angry as they stared one another down.
“What’s going on?” I asked, then decided better of it. “Actually, I don’t want to know. We don’t have time for infighting. So, either get over your shit or get out.”
“But he—” one player started.
“Nope. Don’t care. We have an injured teammate. There’s no time for us to fight. The enemy isn’t us. Got it?”
“Yes, Coach,” rang back.
“Now, I know you want their heads on a stake. I do too. But if we stoop to their level, we’re no better. Do you want to get back at them? Then keep winning. These kids don’t care about anything else. Take away their pride, and you’ve won the bigger battle. So, what did we learn from the second period? They’ll be down one player for the third period, so how do we use that?”
As the team talked, Fletcher and I wrote plays, scribbling on the whiteboard together. When we had a good action plan, we returned, ignoring the other team.
The period started with a penalty shot, Braden standing in for Ana. The Cavillers scrambled the remaining time, giving us an upper edge. They didn’t let up on the cheap shots when they could, but the refs were more vocal this period, leading me to believe they had better morals than the team.
“Jack, you’re in!” I shouted as Braden returned to the box. We’d scored one more goal, but Anders had gotten one in, bringing the score to 4-1.
Time ticked down, my heart in my throat the whole time. There was so much more on the line than usual. I didn’t want to put extra pressure on our team, but this game would set the tone for other things.
It would show the Society they couldn’t push us around.
Prove to Kurt and Anders they weren’t as good as they believed.
Validate our team that they were skilled players.
And launch us back into the world of elite hockey, announcing to the other schools we weren’t backing down.
When Reese skated toward the goal, no one on their heels, I sucked in a breath. Flashes of Ana scoring appeared, and I didn’t let myself breathe until the puck landed and Reese threw up their arms, unscathed. That goal set our team on fire, stealing the air from the Cavillers as we continued to widen the gap between goals.
The clock counted to the last thirty seconds, my knuckles white from gripping the railing as I stood. Braden raced by, stealing the puck from Anders and turning as he spun in the other direction. He made it halfway and lifted his stick to hit the puck as the clock ran to zero. It was a long shot, literally and figuratively, as the puck flew across half of the ice.
The goalie dove for the biscuit and missed, the puck hitting the net a second later. The red buzzer went off as our team screamed, cheering as we took the ice. Sticks, helmets, and mitts were tossed as the Blizzards hugged one another, the win feeling as big as a playoff one.
“You scored a hat trick!” Reese shouted at Braden, and I realized they were right.
Kurt and Anders stalked off the ice, only a handful of their teammates coming onto the ice to congratulate us. I stood in the middle of the ice, my arms crossed as I watched them sulk off. Kurt stopped and turned before he disappeared from view, pure hatred spewing from his eyes.
The woman with the red lipstick gave me a coy smile before she followed, confirming my suspicion that she couldn’t be trusted. My gut had gone off around her, and it was rarely wrong.
I motioned for the kids to grab their stuff; the need to get out of this school and back to Utah was stronger than ever. I spotted Reed the second we stepped into the locker room and rushed to him.
“She has a concussion, a skull fracture, and a broken nose. She’s in pain but will be okay,” he said as soon as he spotted us. “I called her parents, and they’re on the way here now and will bring her back to school once she’s cleared to fly.”
I sighed in relief. Her injuries were severe, but they were recoverable. I didn’t spend long talking to the team, conveying the importance of hurrying so we could head back.
Reese and Molly walked with me to the other room, packing Ana’s stuff and setting clothes aside to leave for her parents. Despite the earlier high of winning, everyone was somber as we loaded onto the plane, the events of the day taking a toll. I looked over the area as we ascended, the feeling this was just the beginning of what we’d encounter sitting heavy on my shoulders.
But we’d keep fighting, keep rising, and push forward. Hockey might just be a sport, but it represented so much more. And here on the ice, we’d proved that underhandedness would never replace true sportsmanship. We’d won a battle today, but I wouldn’t forget we were in a war.
CHAPTER NINE
Dax
The dark house loomed before me, reminding me I’d be alone tonight. That didn’t bother me before. But now that I had a girlfriend and two boyfriends-in-law, it felt odd for the house to be this empty. Once again, I stood on the outside of the hockey world, wondering if I’d always be left behind.