𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒉 | ᴹᴰᴳᶜ

TRACK TWENTY-ONE: Sick of Myself

When I got back to EPIC yesterday, I couldn't bring myself to do anything but lie in my bed. Maya, Sofi, and Jace tried to talk to me, but I kept away from them, not speaking, and barely moving. I ended up taking a late night shower and when I got out, there was a note on top of my stuff. I didn't recognize the handwriting as I began to read it.

We know your secret. Get your team to leave EPIC and we won't tell anyone. You're nothing but a DISGRACE.

I balled up the letter and began to panic. I wasn't sure what secret they were referring to until I remembered my conversation with AJ. I shook my head, trying to remove him from my mental list of suspects, but he's the only one who would know about Maya.

I packed up my things and left them outside my dorm room as I went to look for him. I checked the gym first and there he was.

"Oh, hey, Parker." He greeted as he sat up from the bench press. "What's going on?" I tossed the crumpled up letter at him. He was confused and unraveled it, scanning over the words. "What the hell?" He questioned under his breath.

"Yeah, what the hell?" I nearly exclaimed. "Hey, I didn't write this." He said, standing up and pointing to the note in his hand. "Then who the hell did?" I asked. "I don't know? I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" "You swear?" "Yes, on everything that I love!" He replied, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Was there anyone else in here that night?" "Not that I know of. I came here alone and there was no sign of anyone." AJ answered. "Maybe somebody's just playing a prank and didn't mean anything by it." He ripped the note up into as many pieces as possible before throwing it away in the small trashcan by the door.

"Well, did you recognize the handwriting before you destroyed it?" I asked as I began to pace around. "No," he answered. "Did you?" "No." I responded before leaning against the wall and sliding down to the floor. "Hey," AJ walked over and sat next to me. "If you want- I could help you find whoever wrote that." "I doubt we could."

"Sure, we can. We just gotta look for the most suspicious person. Someone who's always staring at you or laughing. Maybe it's someone who sees you as an enemy." "That could be anybody, you know?" I said. "Right, right, sorry." AJ replied.

🏒

I met up with Jace, and we went with the team outside. I was standing next to Jace, who was sitting in a lawn chair as the lights began to dim and turn off. A spot light landed in the corner and out came Cole.

"Hello, EPIC!" Cheers replaced the silence. "Tomorrow, as you know, is the start of tournament play!" He said, getting everyone more excited. "That empty spot right there is not just reserved for this years champion." He poined to the wall of flags.

"No, no, that's an opportunity. An opportunity for this years winning squad to get their names recorded in the history books of this great institution. An opportunity to show future players that you were the real deal!" He stated.

"Coaches, let's pass out those official team jerseys!" Alex passed me my jersey and I smiled down at it. If I could, I would wear the last name of every Mighty Duck on my jersey. "Visualize it, dream it, imagine it," Cole said. "Then you get out there, and you do it."

I threw my jersey over my shoulder and rested my left hand on the top of Jace's chair. "We do a round-robin format, which means the top two teams will be facing off in a final showdown for a chance to compete in the summer showcase." Cole explained.

"This right here is when rubber hits the road people. Okay, let's get it going!" Everyone clapped and cheered. Jace rose from his chair and threw an arm around my shoulders as we began to walk to his dorm.