Queen II Barzal

Chapter Eighteen: Tyler

 The first few games with the T-Birds went pretty well. Nick wasn't being as much of a jerk, so that was a plus. He was starting to feel like less of that first impression and more of a friend. Of course, I still think he's attractive, well, because he is.

My first goal was a bullet in the back of the net. I did the "bird celly" that apparently I acquired from my dad. Danny and Chris pulled me into a group hug as the score changed from 3-3 to 3-4 in overtime. I had the biggest grin on my face as I skated to the bench. Nick congratulated me as well as my coach and the rest of my teammates.

After the game, Nick asked Danny, Chris, and me if we wanted to grab something to eat. Since then, the four of us have been pretty tight friends. I was so lucky to have such great guys like them.

On my first day in the new high school, I was completely lost. I had to use the freaking GPS to get to school and it took me ten minutes to find a parking spot. I pulled up my schedule on my phone that I had texted to Chris a few days ago. He told me to meet him in the cafeteria at eight, but it was a little past that.

I walked into the large school and right in the front was the cafeteria. I looked around the crowds of people to find Chris sitting at a table by himself. He looked up from his phone and smiled as I sat at his table. His dirty blonde hair grew longer over the summer which curled slightly to shape his head.

"Ready for your Senior year?" Chris asked.

"Kinda," I said, nervously. "This school is really big,"

"You'll get used to it," He said. "It's actually really easy to follow,"

"Hopefully," I laughed.

"What class do you have first?" He asked.

"AP Language," I said.

"Woah, smartass," He joked. "Lucky for you, I know where that class is,"

He got up.

"The bell's gonna ring in like five minutes," He said. "Get your ass to class,"

I laughed as he led me to my first class.

"Here you are," He said.

"Thanks, Chris," I walked into the classroom.

"Have a good day," He said. "I'll see you at lunch,"

"See ya," I waved him off as I found a seat in my first class.

Throughout the day, I was the new kid that everyone was talking about. I heard the whispers. They weren't bad and they made me feel kind of important.

"Her dad's Mathew Barzal,"

"She's on the Seattle Thunderbirds,"

"I heard she's a good player,"

I felt good hearing those things behind me, but I don't understand why none of them wanted to talk to me. I sat through all of my teacher's long introductions before I finally got to lunch.

I met Chris at the same table that we were at this morning. I packed my own lunch of peanut butter and jelly with some carrots on the side. I learned to parent myself living alone. Technically, it's illegal because I'm 17, but no one really cares.

"So... how was your day?" Chris asked me.

"Uneventful," I said. "There are so many people talking about me, though,"

"In a good way, I hope," Chris said.

"Yeah," I told him. "At least that's what I've heard,"

"I mean, they're gonna talk," He said. "You're a tough girl playing for the Seattle Thunderbirds,"

"I am pretty tough," I smiled.

"The toughest," He said.

I cringed but smiled anyway.

The first game of the next season was the toughest we've played. I was up against a dude who was about a few inches shorter than me, which makes him pretty damn short. I did get my dad's height, but I'm not quite at six feet yet.

The dude was about 5'7 and he had the same look in his eyes that Nick had the first day that I met him. My eyes went from his face to the puck as it was about to drop between us.

"Don't get flustered, Princess," He narrowed his eyes at me.

My eyes kept the focus on the puck. I didn't respond to his comment. I knew that he would target me the whole game.

The puck dropped and I got a stick on it, bringing it to Danny. Danny passed it to Cooper and Cooper held the puck, sending it to Chris. I made a dash to center ice for an open pass. Chris sent the puck to me and it flew. I tried to skate to it, but it hit the board quickly with me following. The asshole that targeted me jammed me into the boards. I fell to the ground and hopped back up quickly. He had the puck and I dashed to get it. I checked him into the boards pretty hard, but he kept his balance. Though he was still on his skates, he lost the puck.

"Shit," He mumbled.

He looked at me who had my eyes on him for a second but turned away.

"The hell are you looking at?" He asked.

I didn't respond, skating back on defense. A made a change in the line, knowing that Asshole was still after me.

I was on the bench and took a sip of my water. I took off my helmet for a second to fix my short, messy hair. It was still too short to put in braids, so I just kept it down.

"Ty, what's up with you and Asshat over there?" Chris asked.

"Nothing," I assured.

On my next shift, I faced Asshole again. He checked me into the boards once more, this time it took me a few seconds to get up. I was fully on my skates when Chris pushed Asshole's chest.

"The hell is your problem?" Chris asked Asshole.

"The hell is your problem?" Asshole retorted, shoving him back.

"I got this, Chris," I said, eyeing Asshole.

"Princess wants to take me?" He asked.

I dropped my gloves on the ice which showed my short cut manicured hands.

"How cute," He said, dropping his gloves as well.

We skated in a circle for a few seconds before he threw a punch at me. I wasn't expecting him to actually do it, but he did. I hit him back with more power, the anger and adrenaline rushed inside of me. I knocked him twice before he got me again, cutting open my eyebrow. I wiped the blood with my sweater and hit him once more, making him bleed as well. I threw in another punch for good luck before the refs pulled us apart.

"Hey, Asshole," I said before I got dragged to the penalty box. "I'm not a princess, I'm a fucking queen,"