𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤~𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏

2. The Hawks

Today was the game of the season and it was against the Hawks. I never had a problem with the Hawks since my dad was one. I knew the kids on the team and I knew coach Reilly personally. They were never mean or rude to me but they have always had a rivalry with District-5. When I woke up this morning I got changed into baggy ripped jeans, a baggy black t-shirt, and a baggy flannel to go over my t-shirt. Grams braided my hair into two dutch braids while I ate Frosted Flakes for breakfast. When I was finished with the rest of my morning routine I grabbed my Dad's old baseball cap and my bookbag. At the front door to the apartment, I slipped on my raggedy old vans.

I walked across the hall to Charlie's apartment as I put my baseball cap on backward. I rang the doorbell and Ms.Conway opened it. "Hi, Casey!" I said happily as I walked in. She looked me up and down before saying "Where's your winter coat?" I knew I had forgotten something. I turned around and ran back into my apartment searching for my dad's coat. I found it next to my bed. When I returned Charlie stood there holding my backpack in his hands. "My mom said to wait here for you since she's in the car warming it up," he exclaimed. I took my book bag and began to follow him down the stairs.

|Time skip.....at school|

I was walking down the hall to science class with Guy and Charlie when somebody's arm snaked around my waist. I looked down to see Peter clinging to my side. "What are you doing Peter?" I questioned. "Ah, sweetheart look you and me got something, you know. You're too blind to see it and I'm trying to help you," he said. Charlie and Guy erupted into laughter as I thought of something to say back to him. "Peter even if you were the last person on earth and the human race depended on it, I would never be with you," I said which made the boys laugh even more. "Hey like I said you're blind and I am just trying to help you see it." he came back. I took his arm off my waist and shoved him in front of me. He turned around and smiled which I returned sarcastically. "So are you guys ready for the game tonight?" I asked the boys. "No it's against the Hawks and we suck," said Guy. I shrugged it off and continued towards science. "With that attitude, we'll never win," I mumbled to myself as I opened the classroom door.

|Time skip....at the game|

I walked in with Charlie, Ms.Conway, and Grams. Charlie's mom and Grams went to go find seats while Charlie and I watched the Hawks players warm up. They were amazing. Their record was perfect, they all moved in sync, they all knew their positions, and most importantly they knew how to play. They were basically the total opposite of our team. I walked into the locker room to get changed. For hockey, we had to wear layers to keep warm and to be protected. My first layer was a tight long-sleeve t-shirt and spandex shorts. My next layer was my hockey pants, my shoulder pads, elbow pads, and my regular socks. Then I put on my homemade jersey, a pair of boy shorts, shin pads, and my hockey socks. I finished by putting on my gloves and skates and skating out onto the ice. All the equipment I had were hand me downs from my dad because my Grams didn't have the money to buy me all the new stuff. I wasn't complaining though because it made me feel even closer to my dad. The only downside was that some of the stuff was falling apart. I at least looked professional unlike the rest of the team.

I joined Connie on the bench. She didn't even notice I was there because she was too busy staring at the bright pink nail polish on her fingers. "I don't know how you put that gunk on your fingernails," I said disgustedly. Her nails actually looked nice, unlike mine that were bitten down to a nub. It was from all the stress and worrying that I do. Plus it was just a habit I learned from my dad since I saw him do it all the time. "I don't know what you're talking about Brie. Boys like it. That's what guy told me." she exclaimed. "Ok well that's good for you I guess. I was wondering maybe you could come over after the game or something and we can hang out?" I asked hoping she would say yes. I loved to hang out with Connie since she was the only girlfriend I had. Don't get me wrong Charlie's my best friend and he will always be, but you know girls gotta hang out with a girl sometimes. She shook her head. "Sorry I can't tonight Brie. I'm having the girls over tonight, maybe another time though?" she said. I nodded sadly. Then I saw Charlie skate up to us. He was holding two helmets and two hockey sticks. He handed me one of each. "Bubbles you forgot your stuff in the locker room," he explained while sitting down next to me. He could always tell when I was down. "What's wrong Bubbles?" he asked. "Oh, nothing, just Connie can't hang out with me tonight since she's got other plans." I sighed. "You can come over and we could watch some movies or something like we usually do," he said smiling. I returned the smile and nodded.

We turned our heads and watched as the Hawks did their chant. Bombay called us back to help us get fired up for the game, which didn't work so well. "All right, guys, gather round. Come on, come on. Win! Win! Win!" he started chanting and a few others joined in. Charlie and I looked at him like he was crazy. His chants became less enthusiastic as he noticed our faces and finally gave up. "Yeah, we're fired up."

We all went up and took turns hitting Goldberg's shins. I watched as Goldberg fell to the ground after Charlie took out his shins and instead of apologizing they began arguing. "Hey puck heads cut it! We gotta play!" I shouted to them. They eventually gave up their stupid argument and we finally got into positions. Guy, Terry, and Jesse played center, Charlie and I played right and left defensemen and Goldberg was goalie. On the Hawks McGill was center, Banks was right defensemen, and Larson was left defensemen. The reff dropped the puck and McGill had already given it to Banks. I followed behind him closely until McGill came up next to me and checked me into the board. The siren indicated that they scored.

The entire game I had no help from my team and failed miserably. The only goal we got was because of me and it was barely even a goal. I was shoved by somebody and Banks and I landed in the goal. I broke his fall so since he felt bad he helped me up. The rest of the game was a bust. Coach looked more bored than I did during science class and was no help to the team at all. Charlie was close to getting us a second goal but Spazzway had to mess it up by falling right in front of the goal. During intermission the coach was obviously pissed. While Goldberg was about to take a drink Bombay was quick to steal it from him. "How lazy can you be? They're killing us out there! How many times do I have to tell you: Get those rebounds, get your heads up, get those loose pucks. Get...Just...." he said clearly frustrated with us. "Just get the hell outta here. We ended the game looking like complete idiots. 17-1. We lost 17-1!

We all began arguing. "Hey, shut up!" the coach shouted, silencing us all. "You guys stink! I thought we came here to play hockey. The only one that can actually do something is her." he said pointing to me. Peter began to joke but the coach wasn't having it. "Oh you think it's funny? You think losing is funny?" Averman decided to be brave and add a smart remark. In all fairness I hated losing. It was the worst but nobody on the team cared to try except maybe Jesse and Charlie. The Hall brothers began to speak up against him too. "You didn't listen to a word I said. I said, keep your heads up. You put your heads down. I said, hustle. You went slower! That was the sloppiest playing I've ever seen. Why the hell don't you just listen to me?" He asked. Jesse responded. Coach said something else but I was done listening. I picked up my things and made my way to the locker room. Our team sucks!