Me, Fulton, Russ and Charlie walked into the cafeteria to see the Varsity team picking on Kenny. "I could maim that big goon. But with Portman here, we could take em all." Fulton said. "They want lunch, we'll give em lunch." Charlie said. "I want no part in this." I said, leaving them and walking towards Julie and the rest of the team. "Julie, what are you eating? That's full of sugar. "You're gonna make yourself sick." I scolded her, once I saw the tray of sugar filled treats. "Goldberg says they're full of energy and that it will help me in the goal." Julie said.
I turned to Goldberg and raised my eyebrow. "Oh, did he now?" Goldberg's face paled and he looked anywhere but me. We all looked up when the Varsity team started chasing Fulton, Charlie, and Russ out of the cafeteria. We all got up and ran after them as everyone else started running out too.
The team skated laps around the rink at practice that afternoon but Julie looked sick. "God damn it, Goldberg." I said. "Work those legs, Gaffney!" Coach Orion shouted out. "Are you okay?" I asked her. "Where's your energy?" "I think I'm gonna be sick." Julie said, leaning over the boards and puking into the box. "One cupcake over the line, cat lady." Goldberg said and tapped her with his stick. "Alright, I'm sure gettin sick of you!" I shouted and dropped my gloves. Fulton stepped in front of me. "That's enough." He growled. "Go sit in the box." He said. "But Julie just puked in there." I complained.
Harlow had ever seen him. "Fine." She said quietly, skating to the box. She stepped over Julie's puke and sat as far away from it as possible. "Bonner! What are you doing?" Coach Orion called out. "timeout." Averman told him. "What?" Coach Orion turned to Fulton. "She was being a brat so I put her in timeout." He said. "It happens a lot, sir." Averman told him.
Harlow was forced to watch everyone else during practice. "Freeze! I said freeze!" Coach Orion shouted out. Averman kept sliding and went into the boards. "Listen, I'm not a defenseman, I'm a scorer!" Charlie shouted out. "Go join Bomber in the box." Coach Orion said and Charlie sadly skated over. "Watch out for-" Harlow didn't finish her sentence before Charlie stepped in Julie's puke. "That." "Anybody share his opinion?" Coach Orion said once Charlie sat down. No one said anything. "Alright, then, take a knee." "Fulton!"
I whined. "Fine." He said, and I quickly hopped over the boards and skated towards him. "You're still getting punished later, you know that right?" He said. I smirked. "Oh, Jesus Christ." Julie said, rolling her eyes. "That's enough of that." Coach Orion said. "What's the one thing all great teams have in common?"
"Great coaching." Averman said. "Don't try to suck up to me, Averman. Defense. See, unlike scoring, defense never quits. But to play great defense, you need one thing above all else."
"Bet it starts with a W." Averman whispered.
"Confidence. Listen, if you learn nothing else when you're here, you learn this. Alright? Cause it's not just about hockey. It's easy to be confident when you have control of the puck. It's very, very difficult to keep that confidence when you gotta take whatever strange bounces life throws your way. Don't be careless, but don't be too careful either. You cannot be afraid to lose.
That's how you gain the confidence to attack the game when the puck isn't yours. That's how you attack life, even when you think you don't have any control. And that's how you play real defense."
"I'm surprised you can still walk." Julie teased me as we were about to walk onto the ice the next day. I groaned. "Shut up Julie!" I said and skated out onto the ice. Julie laughed. Teasing me about my relationship with Fulton had become one of her favorite things, it was obvious. "Gather around. Let's go. Hustle up. Come on." Coach Orion said as they all got to the bench. "Alright, think defense. Alright, hands in. Here we go." They all put their hands in and started quacking.
"Hey! What the hell's that? Knock that off.
Alright, 'go team' on two. Here we go, one, two."
"Go team." Everyone said unenthusiastically.
"Go team. How original." Charlie said to me, Fulton, and Averman. "Just get in the game, Charlie." Averman said. "Let's do it, Charlie." Fulton said before turning to me He pecked me on the lips quickly. "I love you." He said before skating off, not realizing what he had said. "Did I hear that right?" I whispered to myself. I shook the thought out of my head before getting in the zone.
Not even thirty seconds into the game and Charlie scored a goal. I scored the next goal after Russ hit the goalie in the head with his knucklepuck. "Yeah, knocked him out." Russ said as we hip bumped each other. Luis scored next and the flew over the net into the glass. He stood up but fell back down again. Dwayne scored next. Fulton got the puck after Averman had been tripped and he sent it flying into a Bears' player's hand. The player spun around before falling and launching the puck into the net. "Yo, Russ, Harlow, you gotta teach me how to talk some trash." Kenny said to them on the bench. "It can't be taught, Kenny, man. I mean, it's gotta be the first thing that comes to your mind. You just got to go for it. Try it." Russ told him. "Okay. Hey, ref, you-" "Pick another target." I said as Russ covered Kenny's mouth. "Hey, number forty four, you, you, you, you play, you play... You don't play real good." Kenny stuttered. "Shorter, man. Get to the point." Russ said. "Hey, number nine, bite me!" Number nine skated by and pushed Kenny back into the bench. "Now, we're getting somewhere."
Fulton scored again after Averman distracted the goalie. Charlie was the next to score, scoring a hat trick. At the start of the third period, we were leading nine to zero. We had gotten too comfortable and I watched from the bench as the Bears scored on Julie. "Fuck." I said to myself. "Gaffney, watch your language." Coach Orion said to me. "Whoops" I said sarcastically. The Bears scored again. And again. And again. And again.
Charlie got so pissed that he broke his stick on the goal post. Goldberg was sent out to replace Julie after she had let in seven goals in one period.
Goldberg let in another. Charlie got out of the box and took the puck, but he wouldn't pass it.
It slid towards the net but was picked up by a Bears player and then they scored again, tieing the game. Everyone glared at Charlie as he walked into the locker room. We would've won if it wasn't for him. "The guy hooked me, alright?" "We didn't need any more goals." Kenny said. "Hey, listen, I was trying to win it!" Charlie yelled in Kenny's face. "Hey! Stop yelling at Kenny! He didn't do shit!" I yelled at Charlie.
"Well, mission unaccomplished, Charlie." Averman said. "We let down, simple as that." Guy said. "Hey, you let down. I played hard." Connie yelled at her boyfriend. "Yeah, man, no heart." Luis said to Charlie. "Well, what are we playing for anyway? Some stupid school, the alumni? I mean. Warriors? What the hell are we now?" "Look, man. We're on scholarship. I'm staying." Russ said. "Fine, sellout." Fulton said.
"Man, who you calling a sellout, punk?" "Hey, get your hands off him!" I yelled. Charlie pushed Russ and he fell down.
We stopped fighting once coach Orion came into the room. "How long does it take to score a goal?" We all ducked out of the way as he threw a puck at them. "Less than a second! That means no lead is safe if you can't play defense!
Now get this straight! I don't give a damn how many goals you score. I want one number on your mind, zero, as in shutout. You got that?
Practice, tomorrow morning, 5:00 am. Got to get up early if you want to hunt goose eggs." Coach Orion said and then slammed the door behind him. "Hey, who took my clothes?" Guy asked.
Averman walked to the showers as he heard that they were on. Our clothes were in there along the words 'freshmen stink' written on the wall in shaving cream. "They put our clothes... Oh man." Goldberg said. "That answers your question, doesn't it?" Averman asked.
