Something To Believe In [Dean Portman] ✓

𝖾 𝗂 𝗀 𝗁 𝗍 𝖾 𝖾 𝗇

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

❝ those kids all believed
you were right ❞

•••

The bus took the team back to the hockey rink for their game against Germany. Throughout the ride, Dean and Sophie chatted with Kenny and Dwayne who were sitting across from them. They eventually made it to the rink, taking their time walking in since they still had about forty-five minutes until they would have to be out on the bench.

"Sophie!"

The girl turned around and saw Reggie jogging to catch up to her as she trailed behind the rest of her team. Sophie walked to meet him halfway, pulling him into a hug. She was currently in a really good mood after their practice with Russ.

"I was wondering if you were free after the game to go out, um, like on a date?" Reggie asked with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sophie's smile diminished slightly, feeling extremely bad. Sure Reggie was amazing. He could play bass, he was in a band, and he was super sweet. But he wasn't Dean. And that's all it took for Sophie to not have romantic feelings for him.

"Oh. Reg I'm so sorry. I would but then I would feel bad. I have feelings for someone on my team. I wouldn't feel right going on a date with you knowing that I had feelings for someone else," Sophie frowned as she looked at her feet, subconsciously cracking her knuckles against her thigh.

"Oh that's okay. As long as you're happy Soph. No hard feelings. We're still friends though, right?"

Sophie looked up at Reggie who was smiling at her. That was one of her favorite things about the boy. She just rejected him and he respected her feelings. He didn't make her feel bad about it. He still wanted to be friends and see her happy.

"Of course. You're my favorite bass player," Sophie smiled. "I got to go but I'll see you around. Bye Reg."

"Bye Soph."

The girl walked back towards the locker room, mentally making game plans in case their coach wasn't there. Dean began to walk in step with her as she rounded the corner, scaring her. Dean chuckled as she jumped, continuing to walk.

"So which one is the lucky guy you like?" Dean asked with a knowing look, covering his hurt.

Sophie stopped in her place, looking at Dean who kept walking. The boy noticed she had stopped walking and walked backwards until he was side by side with Sophie. He looked down at her, raising an eyebrow.

"You listened in on my private conversation?" Sophie asked in a low voice, trying not to snap at him.

"Yeah. So what?"

Dean shrugged as he looked at Sophie. He didn't see the problem. There were plenty of people walking around her and Reggie were talking so why couldn't Dean listen in? It's not like they went into a private room to talk.

Sophie scoffed as she shook her head. She shoved past the boy and continued to walk to the locker room. Dean trailed behind her, calling her name. She just continued walking and shoved the door to the locker room open and stormed over to her locker.

"Soph come on. I'm sorry," Dean said as he walked over to her.

"You don't have a right to listen in on my private conversations. That was a conversation between me and my friend. Not a conversation between me, my friend, and you," Sophie said as she turned around to look at him.

"Alright I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

Sophie rolled her eyes and turned back to her locker. She put in the combination and opened the door, a piece of paper slipping out and to the floor. Dean went and picked it up for her, freezing as he read the name.

"What's a note from Gunnar Stahl doing in your locker?" Dean asked, staring at Sophie.

Sophie furrowed her eyebrows, looking down at the note. She went to grab it from the boy's hand only for him to pull his hand away. He snapped his hand away from Sophie as if her hand was fire.

"What's a note from Gunnar Stahl doing in your locker?" Dean repeated.

"I don't know! I've never ever talked to the guy," Sophie's voice was clear and loud as she stared at Dean.

The girl's face held a look of offence. She didn't know why Dean was so concerned about the matter. It was probably just a trick to shake the girl up and in turn shake the whole team up. She had noticed that some of the Iceland players had been watching her or following her places. It unsettled her but she knew that Dean was there and that calmed her down enough to ignore it.

"Bullshit!"

Sophie visibly flinched at the volume and tone in Dean's voice, gaining the attention of any of their teammates who weren't already watching the argument. Adam quickly ran over and intervened while Fulton walked up behind his sister.

"Woah. Guys calm down. Let's all just calm down, okay?"

Adam held his arms out trying to keep distance between the two. Dean scoffed, shoving the note into Adam's chest and walking to his locker. Fulton held Sophie to his chest, rubbing her back.

"He's not Dad. Dad's not here. You're going to be okay," Fulton continued to whisper the phrases to his sister.

After a few moments, the girl had calmed down enough to get changed into her gear. Fulton stayed near his sister, keeping an eye on her as she took deep breaths every so often. 

Sophie was aware of the fact that almost all the eyes in the locker room were on her. She knew that some were looking at her in sympathy while others were looking at her and judging her. She knew that some of her teammates felt the same as Dean did and thought she was talking to Gunnar Stahl from the Iceland team. She also knew that some of her teammates knew that that wasn't her.

Sophie shrugged on her jersey and leaned her head side to side, popping her neck. She rolled back her shoulders before looking over at Adam who stood next to her. He gave her a small smile before handing her the notes she had made on her sleepless night after practice.

"Just in case Captain Blood isn't there," Adam said with a wink.

"So are we just going to ignore the fact that Sophie has a note from an Iceland player?" Goldberg asked as he motioned over to the girl.

"Bite me," Sophie snapped as she looked at the boy.

Dean rolled his eyes before standing up. He walked up to Sophie and they stood staring at each other.

"Get out of my face Portman," Sophie muttered as she glared at the boy.

"Gladly. I can't stand looking at traitors."

It took everything in Sophie to not burst into tears or slap the boy. She couldn't decide what she wanted to do more.

"Anyone who has a problem with Sophie can take it up with me," Fulton said as he looked around at the rest of the team.

Sophie grabbed her helmet before stating it was time for them to head out. She walked out the door leading to the rink, with Kenny, Charlie, Adam, and Charlie in tow.