Bending the Rules (The Rules, #1)

7

Shea

Harrison's got it out for me tonight.

Crazy bitch.

Countless times, she's boarded me, tripped me, and cross-checked me. And you know what pisses me off the most, aside from the fact that she's doing these things? That she's getting away with it. The zebras are blind or bias if they can't call her out on these dirty plays. I don't know what the hell I did to deserve this, after the shit I had to deal with last night between my parents, but I'm losing my fucking temper.

The second period mirrors the first during the first ten minutes; West Kelowna controls the play and we're lucky to clear our zone, dump the puck, and get a line change. The fresh players exhaust themselves, then are rushing for a line change. There's something wrong with my team. We keep repeating this endless cycle as if we think something's going to change. I don't understand why we're playing so poorly. West Kelowna is walking all over us. 

With five minutes to go in the seconds period, just as Tucker is about to dump the puck in our zone and enhance the pressure on our players, the puck takes a funny bounce and goes in the opposite direction. This bounce helps us out and slides past the defensive line in the neutral zone, opening up a two-on-one for KJ and I. We skate down the ice at full-speed, passing the puck back and forth to confuse the goalie. When I think he's questioning what we're going to do, I slam the blade of my hockey stick against the ice and call for the puck. KJ does a slap-pass. It's hard and crisp and allows me to shoot a beautiful wrister at the net. I'm positive it's going to go in, which is why I'm almost heartbroken when Charette gloves the puck, drops it to the ice, and then sends it flying down the ice to Harrison. She's behind our defence, but not offside, so the pass sets her up for a breakaway.

Coach is screaming at me to get off of the ice to complete the line change. I race after Harrison with whatever speed I have left instead. My strides are sloppy, frantic, and pointless, but I keep going. I keep pushing myself. Even when she scores from the blue line with a wicked slapshot, I keep skating. Stopping only when I get to the blue line. I turn around, ready to take some heat from Coach. As I skate back to my team's bench, I glance up at the scoreboard. West Kelowna is at five. We're at nothing. And what makes matters worse is that Harrison now has a hat trick. It's disgusting to admit, but this has been one of her best games.

It pisses me off.

"Smith!" Coach yells when I get to the bench. Behind me, I hear Tucker and a bunch of other guys congratulating Harrison. "What the hell was that?"

Fed up with how this game is going, I slam my stick against the boards. The noise sends a rush of satisfaction through me, but it doesn't last long. Hockey sticks aren't a cheap investment, and it appears I've chipped the heel of the blade. I close my eyes and sigh, sitting down next to KJ.

I wish this game was over.

* * *

With a minute-and-a-half to go in the third period, there's a face-off in West Kelowna's end. My line comes out for our final shift, and Harrison's line follows close behind. As her line hops over the boards, their coach reminds them to keep the shutout alive. I doubt that's going to be difficult for them, but I'm silently hoping we can ruin at least one thing for them tonight.