Jules Martin
When I say our game was off from the start, I wasn't lying. I know I shouldn't have let the idiot with the C on his jersey get to me, but he did, of course he did, how could he not, considering the size of his mouth, and maybe worse, his ego, which was now beyond shattered. Why and how I ended up with a bleeding eyebrow and a bruised cheekbone, watching everyone's jaw drop in the locker room...? It all went south after a guy named Peterson... Well, you'll see...
The rink was loud as everyone was cheering the moment we stepped out on to the ice, my eyes only watching the smile on Luna's face while the noise faded into the background. She was beautiful, wearing the most adoring look on her face, her cheeks slightly blushed and that varsity beanie she also wore back at the first game framing her face, only making her eyes pop more. If I had looked at her a second longer, coach would have yelled at me for sure for not warming up properly, but I could care less, he was going to be yelling all game anyway. Levi was the same simp, mouthing things to Grace who seemed confused as hell, trying to decipher his words through his helmet, and Ezra, well he was trying his best not to get killed by an angry Zander firing shots at him for fun, or rage, you pick.
While waiting for staff to clear the ice after warm-up and hearing some last motivation, also known as loud threats from our coach, Ezra couldn't help but be himself for one more second. "Did you see that asshole? He was using me like a target at a shooting range. I should shove my stick up his ass about now." Ezra whispered, while we watched Zander's back as he stood in front of coach, talking back because he didn't agree with game tactics.
"Chill, you wear enough padding to survive an atomic blast." Levi rolled his eyes at him, and Ezra's face was just priceless, the perfect face of betrayal.
"Chill? Chill, seriously? My stick is gonna go up yours if you say that again." He warned, and both Levi an I really tried not to laugh, proven impossible.
"What has you so on edge all of a s-s-sudden?" I frowned, suspecting this wasn't just about some damn pucks.
Ezra shook his shoulders, even through all the padding you couldn't miss his agitation. "Nothing..." He added a sigh.
"Sophia hasn't glanced at him once. That's the problem." Levi nudged him with a smirk and Ezra didn't seem to think it was funny.
"It's not because of her..." He instantly shook his head, rolled his eyes, the whole thing to mask his major lie. It sure is Ezzy. "Why would I be pissed about that?" He scrunched his nose in disgust, and even with a thousand helmets on, that still would have been visible.
"Come on, Ez. You like her..." I chuckled through coach's speech.
He instantly huffed a little bit too loud. "Sure, I love getting insulted by a girl half my height."
"Miller! Shut up!" Our coach had heard, and yelled at Ezra while he just sunk through the floor in shame, his gaze low, either because of the pitch of coach's voice or because he knew he loved it... I mean, getting insulted by that one girl, if it was the only way to get her attention. The amount of times Ezra rolled his eyes for sure was going to get him in trouble, but he just couldn't help it.
We got the signal to get out on the ice, but not without receiving a shoulder bump the second Zander passed me in the tunnel. "What the fuck." I gritted trough my teeth, but all he did was look back, shooting daggers. Such an ass. He surely remained an ass the rest of the game, cutting me off multiple times... It was like he was playing for the other team, much to my frustration. By the end of the game things got even worse, he would steal the puck from me to take his shot, missing every fucking time! He could do it once, but four times in a row was sickening, especially since Levi and I were the only people playing a decent game today. Like, Peterson from Penn State, the one Zander thought he could crush with two hands tied behind his back, was on a record streak, scoring one after the other, poor Ezra for getting booed at.
"Zander! What the heck do you think you're doing!" Levi suddenly bumped into him on purpose, nearly making him fall after taking the puck from me once more.
"Don't worry, this pussy can't even score if our goalie fainted. How are you even captain Johnson, you have zero talent!" Peterson skated past us, not so silently. "Right, daddy is rich isn't he?" Ouch. He added and Zander was visibly seething. "Imagine that." He came dangerously close, really chirping at Zander like he wanted him to lose his cool after a game he'll probably never forget.
"Shut the fuck up Dean." Zander yelled, nearly throwing his gloves at him.
Before we would be a man down Levi stepped in between them, knowing we already sucked without someone in the penalty box. "Zander, he's not worth it. Just get your act together and play like you used to! Be angry at the puck come on." Levi tried to be nice, not to engage, but I bet he rather punched Zander in the face himself for ruining our play.
"Leave it, this is none of your business." Zander shrugged him away, and you could just hear the atmosphere in the rink change, most of the people hoping to see some fighting, even if we only had three agonizing minutes left.
"Don't bother Levi, the bitch just isn't having a great day. He's probably still crying over his girlfriend." Peterson maliciously laughed and I had just pressed my lips together in shock. "Ex-girlfriend. So, I heard." Peterson skated around Zander now, while he just stood there melted stuck onto the ice. "Rumor spreads fast when a hot puck bunny is free on the market." What? She's nothing like that! And she's definitely not free!
"Don't fucking talk about her." Zander yelled before I could, my fists already balling around my stick.
Peterson just wasn't listening or backing off, he was getting in his face, and even though I hated Zander's guts, I didn't like how this douche was talking about Luna. At least Zander was defending her, for what it was worth. "Why not? I'm wondering, is she as tight as your sister was? I remember her from back in high school. How she still wasn't loose after fucking the entire team baffles me!"
"Jules, don't listen to him okay, his just trying to get a reaction." Levi put his hand on my shoulder and tugged at my shirt. "There might be scouts here. Don't ruin your chances!" He tried to talk the anger out of my head, but it wasn't really helping. Is she as tight, who the fuck says stuff like that!
"He's talking about her like she's a..." I gritted through my teeth, but was interrupted by another taunting chirp.
"Or should I ask Martin over there?" He suddenly addressed me and my eyes went wide with anger. "Apparently, he's fucking your little blonde now." Little blonde? She has a fucking name! Before I could even think to throw my gloves at this guy, Zander lunged at Peterson who fell into the ice laughing, like he was enjoying the fact he got to him. Zander completely lost it, grabbing Dean's helmet and slamming his head into the ice, while the crowd was cheering for more of us to join. This is so fucked up. The referees just didn't seem to care as there were only 40 seconds of the game left.
"Zander, don't!" I yelled, trying to get him off as it looked like he was about to kill the guy. "Zander!" I repeated, pulling him off before he would get himself suspended for the rest of the year. I rather not play with him, but I also know hockey is his life and he shouldn't ruin it over some dumbass like Peterson.
"Get the fuck off!" Zander yelled, his voice filled with disgust while he pushed me away and I fall back first on the ice. "I don't need your fucking help!" And at his words, the game was officially over, the home crowd booing at all of us for losing terribly against a team that wasn't even better in the ranks. Shit happened, but this shit was our own damn fault, or at least our captain's for sabotaging our entire play. I sat on the ice watching the crowd fade away from the stands. The girls including Luna however, not so fast to leave as they all looked worried, but Sophia. She on the other hand looked annoyed that they weren't fleeing with shame like the rest of the crowd. I watched Luna smile worriedly as Zander disappeared off the ice, still trying to go at Peterson who was smirking all the way, while I just sat in the middle of the rink, sulking over a game with an even worse ending than the other fifty-seven minutes. Taking off my helmet to wipe the sweat from my face I saw her follow my every move, while Sophia finally dragged her out, her gaze still looking back at me until she couldn't anymore. Damn, I just want to hug her right now.
"Come on lover boy, get your ass up." Ezra smirked after splashing me with powder when his hockey stop was better than this disaster of a game. "It's time to let the embarrassment simmer in the dressing room." He laughed while poking me with his hockey stick. Fine.
The way everyone shuffled to the locker room was dreadful, all of us expecting a good old yelling form our coach, but he just disappeared after all of us were inside, and I think that was even worse, like getting the silent therapy from an angry parent.
"If it isn't the worst goalie in the league!" Zander snapped as soon as Ezra and I passed him in the locker room.
Ezra just started to look around in the room like a fool. "What who?" He frowned. "Me? Are you talking to me?" He still frowned and looked around to find another person standing behind him. "You must have sniffed too much camphor." He laughed with the most sarcastic tone I ever heard him express.
"You fucking sucked Ezra." Kai added like a brainless groupie.
"Don't talk shit about him when you didn't even come n-n-near a puck!" Much to my own surprise I took a step towards Kai, without a doubt silencing any of his other thoughts.
"Nobody needs your opinion." Zander gritted as he took a step forward into my direction, his hand intently pushing me back. Ah, you're tough now aren't you. "We lost because of y-y-you! Who taught you how to play? Your little sister?" My sister could beat you in a blink of an eye. I squeezed my eyes at him in anger, trying my best to swallow my words and not be like him, and instigator, someone who doesn't think before they do.
"Do you even hear yourself!" Ezra yelled, getting close to Zander's face. "You screwed us today! What were you playing, because it definitely wasn't fucking hockey! I want to get scouted and I can't do it if I have to eat pucks all the damn fucking time! You actually need to be the one scoring if you don't know how the game works, goalie stays in goal, you score. Jules played a great game, but you fucking stole it from him more than we could count! I was starting to ask myself whose team you were on!" Ezra yelled at Zander, everyone else scarily mute. "I'm fucking sick and tired of the way you play against your own fucking team." Shit, Ezzy's serious for once.
"Just shut up Ezra, nobody wants to hear you talk either." Zander snapped while taking off his helmet, sweat and a tired look coating his face.
Levi scoffed at Zander's words. "Actually we do." He shrugged violently. "We fucking do, because for once he's right!"
"Aren't you the three musketeers. A bunch of losers that's what you are!" Zander was still visibly angry over anything and everything when he pushed Levi out if the way and this whole pushing and pulling was becoming heated. "Don't you guys get it. Nobody likes you. Nobody wants to have you one the team, especially not you." He looked at me through his eyelashes, his jaw just as tense as mine probably.
I shook my head and rolled my eyes, wishing him the worst while trying not to raise my voice. "As if I care." I muttered, rolling my eyes once more while shoving my helmet in my bag, turning my back towards everyone with resentment. I know I'm not part of this damn team, I'm not here to make friends either. Three fucking musketeers or not, at least we play well.
"Zander do you really think anyone wants to have you on the team either? You're a jerk who doesn't take blame for his own mistakes. You lose because you had an off day, yet it's everybody's fault. You cheat on your girlfriend, yet it's her fault she moved on? Get real dude!" Shit Ez. Ezra raised his voice as if he was giving a speech of a lifetime. "Stop crying like a fucking baby. The only reason you sucked was because you saw Luna this morning. Not because your team wasn't there to play a game you obviously were out to ruin." This is getting out of hand.... Again. I was still shaking my head at everything going on behind me as I tried to wrestle out of my gear and ignore the mess, or I would do something I would majorly regret. All I needed was to get out of there and see her, the girl that would make this mess of a day, perfect after all.
"Move on?" Zander scoffed into my direction. "Do you seriously think she moved on with that idiot?" He scoffed once more, his voice sounding much closer now. I swear, if you touch me, you're dead! "I mean look at him. Look at him. He's a fucking joke!" He laughed, mocking me with every bit of his tone. As soon as I felt his hand shove me forward and almost into the wall I turned around and shoved him back, harder than I intended as he really flew across the room. The element of surprise certainly caught him off guard.
Trying to scramble on his feet I watched him clench his jaw, his eyes seeing red while I just stood there unaffected, the rest of the team trying to pick sides in their minds. "You had it coming!" My mouth for once didn't disappoint and spilled whatever there was to say. "I don't want to deal with you every time her n-n-name is mentioned." I scoffed loudly.
"Then don't fuck her, you asshole! Stop fucking my girlfriend right in front of me, at the place where I live!" He yelled, coming right at me once more.
"She's not your girlfriend... Anymore." I smirked at his face, wanting to say that for a long time, my anger now feeding my supressed words.
He looked at me for a second, completely distraught by the honest truth, but coming from me that must have felt like a punch in the gut. Which was exactly what I had coming next. "What did you say!" He punched his fist right between my ribs while I pressed my lips together to not show any pain. "She's only with you, because you took advantage of the situation! You used her when her an I needed to work things out by ourselves." Excuse me? "You're nothing but a stupid rebound." He suddenly started laughing in an evil way. "Why didn't I realise this sooner." He shook his head with a wide smile. "You're an idiot to think she would pick a guy like you for something serious."
Levi pulled Zander away from me as soon as he could. "Don't listen to him." I am listening to him. "Jules, seriously don't listen to him." Levi said when I gave him the look, you know the one where I felt I lost everything. "Get your head out of the fucking sand Z. What they have is something you never did... . Get the fuck over it and stop pretending like all of a sudden you deeply care for her!" Levi let go of Zander's shirt after he tried to keep him seated on a bench, the anger in his voice making the other guys back away as he passed them. We were divided, that was for sure, but there were probably just as scared to lose their spot on the team as we were.
Silent, it became eerily silent in the locker room as we watched Zander break down in tears, his hands suddenly covering his eyes to hide each and every one of them, while the sounds of his sobs filled the locker room. "I just miss her." He tried to wipe away his hurt, but the stream continued to fall down his cheeks. "I fucking miss her." He sobbed louder and while we were all looking at each other with dread on our faces most of them looked my way, like I was to blame for them falling apart, even worse, like she was the one who cheated and broke his heart. They just didn't know the full story.
Shit, I would miss her too if I were him. Shut up Jules, if it was the other way around he would laugh at your face right now. I shook my head in shame, under the blaming gazes of the rest of the team and turned my back to them, continuing to put my gear in my bag. "Should have treated her better if she meant that much." The silent mutter that suddenly left my mouth, wasn't silent enough as a few gasps made me turn back around.
"I made a fucking mistake!" I heard Zander yell while a hockey helmet flew my way, aiming for the wall or my face, that last being where it finally landed, hard, painfully hard. Hockey helmets are a lot heavier and harder than one would think, especially when they collide with your cheekbone and it knocks the other side of your face all the way into the wall. A brick and a shout was all I was aware of, when for a mere second everything went dark.
"Fuck, wow holy shit!" Ezra panicked as I stared ahead, my vision still blurry and my head pounding. Second time today I'm seeing black. "Zander you're insane! Who the fuck throws a fucking helmet!" Ezra's voice started to sound a lot louder while both him and Levi scooped me off the floor.
Zander scoffed as he stood on the other side of the room, his eyes still filled with tears for as far as I could see. "He deserved it!"
"No he didn't! If he gets another concussion... He. Fuck this." Levi spoke with worry in his tone. "Jules, are you alright!" He lightly tapped my cheek and rubbed my chest, as I must have looked out of it.
"What do you think." I muttered, my face an obvious frown.
"Stop fuzzing, as if he can't handle a little concussion." Zander shook his head, not thinking once about anything he said, let alone apologize for losing his cool and being such a dick. No actually I can't!
"Please s-s-someone m-make him s-s-shut up." I whined at the sound of his voice.
"Why don't you! It's easier if you just don't talk!"
Like an angry bull Levi took a deep breath through his nose and stood up, instantly storming towards Zander and grabbed him by his shirt once more. "You better go cry in a corner again Zander! What you did is fucking messed up. And fuck no he can't handle another concussion. How do you think he got the stutter. He got is after getting hit on the ice, so stop making fun of that shit because it could easily happen to you too, anyone of us! And you throwing that helmet at anybody to be frank, is a fucked up thing to do." Levi it's a waste of time, he wouldn't understand.
"What?" Zander frowned at first. "What do you mean?" He frowned more before the look on his face changed back to anger and revenge. "Get the fuck off Levi! Don't touch me!" He shrugged his shirt from Levi's hand while I sat back with my head resting against the wall, everyone looking at me with their eyes low and apologetic, like suddenly the stutter was something heroic... Idiots, it doesn't matter how I got it... Making fun of people is disgusting either way!
"So now we should feel sorry for him? It doesn't give him an excuse to go around my back and hook up with my girlfriend. I made a fucking mistake and I didn't get the chance to fix it because of him! He probably put her up against me from the second they met!" Zander yelled, trying to get past Levi and come at me once more, spitting his thoughts in my direction.
"I didn't have to t-t-tell her anything!" I yelled back, angry but still a little dizzy. "And we didn't hook-up, at least not when you were together!" I raised my voice looking at him with daggers for eyes.
He shot knifes back as he took a step closer but Levi held him away from me. "But you are now, aren't you! She fucking stayed over last tonight! I bet you did it because you knew it would get to me the day of a fucking important game! You did this on purpose! You ruined everything! The game, my relationship. Fuck you Jules! Fuck you! I'm fucking done with you on this team. I hope you enjoyed you very last game, because if you can't play you'll be back in Canada in no time. I'm sure Luna can't even deal with long distance, at least not with you... You're not that fucking memorable." What the hell! Don't threaten me like that!
"As if you decide who gets to play!" Ezra yelled, ferociously shaking his head in disgust.
"My dad has our coach under his thumb!" Of course he was quick to react and spilled something that didn't come as a very big surprise. As if we didn't know that already.
"Oh really Johnson, is that so?" A deep and sarcastic voice sounded from the door, coach staring at his mess of a team with eagle eyes and a not so pleased expression on his face, as a matter of fact he looked furious. Oh shit.
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💛 Hi loves! Here it is! another chapter! hoped you enjoyed it event hough I'm starting to miss my girls, but great news next chapter all of them will get a voice! Boys and girls... What do you think they're up to!
🌙 Any predictions? What's gonna happen in that locker room?
⭐️ Vote if you liked this one