A Hockey Player's Guide To Deception

Twenty-One

1 Peter 5:7 (NIV):

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

An image lay open before Kayla, its contents stark and damning. Someone had leaked Louis's academic records, revealing grades that barely scraped by grades too low for any serious athlete to qualify for the school hockey team, let alone be captain. The implication was clear: Louis's position as captain wasn't purely based on merit.

Trying to play it cool, Kayla shrugged and handed the file back to Ishaan.

"I doubt it's real," she said, attempting nonchalance, Ishaan raised a skeptical brow.

"I'm sure it is," he replied, then returned his focus to his books, dismissing the matter.

But even as her body yearned for rest, Kayla felt a powerful urge to check on Louis. She didn't know why this sudden protectiveness over him had come over her, only that she couldn't ignore it. It was natural to be concerned about a friend, she reasoned. Just normal empathy for someone facing harsh accusations, nothing more.

"I'll be right back," Kayla said, standing abruptly. She barely heard Ishaan's murmur of acknowledgment as she made her way to the door. But the moment she swung it open, she nearly collided with Louis, who was standing just outside, his blue eyes blazing with fury and betrayal.

"So," he sneered, his voice laced with venom. "That's the real reason you've been hanging around me."

Without warning, he pulled her forward into the hall, slamming the door shut behind her. Kayla's brows knitted in confusion, her pulse quickening.

"What are you even talking about?" she snapped, anger and hurt swirling inside her. She was exhausted from always being the first person he doubted, the first one he pointed fingers at. She thought they'd moved past this, that he'd finally begun to trust her, but apparently, she'd been wrong.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me, Kingston. You know exactly what I'm talking about." His gaze was fierce, accusation glinting in his eyes.

Kayla's stomach twisted as she looked at him, stunned. "You actually think I'm the one who leaked your grades?"

A tense silence stretched between them, charged and heavy. Finally, Kayla broke it, her voice cold and cutting.

"You're a piece of shit, Louis. Have a good night." She turned to leave, but before she could take a step, two strong hands seized her arms, yanking her back.

Kayla gasped as she looked up and saw two masked boys standing beside Louis. She barely had time to process before one of them clamped a hand over her mouth. She struggled, kicking and thrashing, but their grip was iron-tight, her muffled screams lost in the empty corridor.

Louis leaned in close, a dangerous smirk on his face.

"I'm going to teach you a lesson, Kingston," he sneered, his voice chillingly low.

*

A gush of cool bruised Kayla's skin, almost as if the wind was warning her, raging at her to start running and never look back. She sucked in a deep quivering breath as her eyes dashed between the three large men surrounding him, they loomed like nightmarish specters. She was isolated, in a forest with three boys significantly bigger than her, that looked like they just walked out from a sick torture ritual at the Bohemian Grove. She fought a rising panic, she was stuck. Her fate was at the hands of these monsters. That thought made her heart drop to the pits of hell. She cleared her throat, the bitter taste of fear on the tip of his tongue made the bile in his stomach twist so painfully, it hurt.