𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 | 𝐠𝐮𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞

⁰⁸ | The goddamn paper

"Must be what that 'C' on your jersey stands for, huh?" says Orion, taking a quick stab at it with his stick. "Cause it sure doesn't stand for Captain."

This was new, really--Charlie not getting his way. I could almost feel the temper tantrum rising through his blood and out his mouth.

"Sorry, Coach," Russ quickly pips up. "We're just messing with you."

"Hey, Bombay gave him that 'C'," Goldberg adds, still flaunting his endless supply of Philadelphia Flyers gear (I bet we can all guess who was happy about that).

"And I respect that, but that's the past. This is my team now and I'll be selecting the Captain."

"You gotta be kidding me, right?" Charlie scoffs, and I just want to tell him to back off. "I mean, you're the rookie here. We've all been together for four years."

"Okay, Charlie. Laps now."

"How many, Coach Orion?"

Seriously, Charlie, shut up.

"I don't recall saying."

Charlie rolls his eyes once Orion can't see him and begins to skate circles around the large rink, leaving Orion to start in on the rest of us.

"Now you listen up, and you listen up good. We're here for one reason, and one reason only. You know what that is? Starts with a 'W'."

"To win, Coach Orion, Sir!" Averman announces.

"No."

I glance around me, trying to connect my eyes with anyone when I notice exactly who it is around me. Connie and Luis. Great, really fucking great.

"To work," Orion continues. "High school hockey is very hard work. And it all begins on defense. Now I've seen your tapes, I know you can score goals. I just don't know if you can stop them. You're not kids--little ducks anymore, so I'm not going to treat you that way. You're going to learn to play two-way hockey: offense and defense. And it's going to take one thing--starts with a 'W'."

"To work, Coach Orion, Sir!" Averman tries again.

When he gets it wrong, Dwayne punches him in the arm.

"Will. It's going to take real will if you want to play in my barn."

Honestly, I don't even want to talk about the rest of practice.

☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐅 my head hits the cold, metal bars of the Junior Varsity locker room. I just want to sleep, honestly. I'm exhausted and drained and sweating. I look at Maeve, her eyes staring at the ground as she leans against Adam's arm. I just want to reach for her, but I can barely move an inch.

"The Eden Hall Academy requires a C average in order to compete," Orion states, following Kenny through the door. "I believe that's a bad rule. I don't want any C players on my team--B's or better."

I run my hands over my face and my elbows dig into the padding around my knees. I look at her again. Jesus, get any more pathetic.

Orion pins a sheet of paper to the board and is about to leave when he turns back to us. "One last thing: steer clear of Varsity until we play them in the J.V-Varsity showdown."

That wasn't going to be a problem, for me, at least.

"He posted our positions," Connie said into the thickness of the air.

She got up, Fulton, Russ, Maeve, and Adam immediately following after her.

"I don't believe this," Fulton muttered, throwing his hands up. "I play left side, not right."