Frozen in Ice

Chapter 24

Luke's POV

Brynn and I arranged for us to finish the math project after school. We had pretty much finished but Brynn wanted to go over together one last time just in case there was something wrong with it. I had hockey training afterschool but she promised that she didn't mind hanging around in library, doing homework.

Training was currently not going well. Coach was ignoring me, I was getting chirped by my own teammates and I had been 'accidentally' been hit by four sticks in my face. I was lucky that I wasn't bleeding at the moment and I shouldn't have been hit at all with the drills that we were running.

Justin was looking at me and I just shrugged. There wasn't much that either of us could do about it and it was frustrating it.

The next time that it happened it was Mark and I wanted to grab his stick and snap it over my knee. My nose had start bleeding and it was dripping onto my jersey.

"You have a little blood on your face," he teased.

"No shit," I sneered and skated off the ice to do something about it.

It took me five minutes before I could get it to stop and by that time they had moved on to a different drill. I started working with them and Coach started yelling at me for being too slow. I really wanted to say something back at him but I knew that it was a bad idea.

We continued to work and I managed to not get hit again until right at the end of the session. We were still running drills and once again it was Mark that got me. Instead of reaching for my nose I grabbed his stick and did what I wanted to. I snapped it.

The whole rink went silent and I dropped the two shards onto the ice.

"What the fuck did you do Crosby?" Coach thundered.

"I have been hit not once, not twice but six times in this session when I shouldn't have been hit at all. I'm sick of this shit. This shouldn't be going on and you know it," I snapped.

"But Coach he broke my stick," Mark whined.

"And you almost broke my nose," I countered.

"Crosby, get a better attitude and try to be better team player," Coach said.

I stared at him in disbelief and didn't say anything else to anyone as training wrapped up. Mark was glaring at me as he headed off the ice since he was without a stick. I didn't follow everyone else off the ice and I noticed Justin hanging around as I grabbed a collection of pucks.

"Do you want me to hang around as well?" he asked.

"It's fine, I just want to be alone for a while," I told him.

He looked at me and I nodded.

"Just text me if you want someone to talk to," he said.

I nodded again and he headed off the ice as well. I started to hit pucks into the empty net and once I had hit all of them I collected them back up and started again. I don't know how long I was out there until someone else joined me on the ice.

"I thought that you would be finished a while ago," Brynn said.

I turned around in shock because I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to meet Brynn after training.

"Fuck, I had completely forgotten about that," I said.

"You know that you have blood on your face," she said calmly.

I pulled my gloves on and wiped my face and she smiled.

"Now, how back you change and we can talk about it and do our math work while we eat?" she suggested.

I nodded and slowly packed up the pucks before heading into the silent locker room. I changed out of my pads and stood looking in the mirror for a minute. I had a small amount blood still smeared across my face and I cleaned it off.

I had slight bags under my eyes and I looked tired. I slowly packed up and joined Brynn, who was standing outside, texting. She pocketed it when I came out and we headed out to her car.

"Sorry for making you wait," I apologised.

She just smiled at me and we stepped into her car. She pulled out of the parking lot and we didn't talk much as we headed to a nearby café. We both took seats at one of the booths and we started to go over our math work.

It didn't take us long to be both happy with and I felt myself slump against the seat and rested my head again the back of it.

"Honestly Luke, are you alright?" she asked.

I lifted my head and looked at her for a minute.

"I don't really know," I admitted.

"Lay it on me, what are the problems?" she asked.

"The hockey team, except Justin, hates me. Today I got hit in the face by six sticks and was lucky not to get a broken nose. My Mom is never home and I haven't seen her in weeks so I every time that I go home I go home to an empty apartment. I'm always tired because I have to work to be able to keep paying for hockey, gear, anything else. And honestly I think that in a couple of months Mom will come and tell me are moving and I have to deal with his shit in a different town," I blurted.

She looked at me and shocked and then moved around the booth to wrap me in hug. I rested my head on the top of hers and we sat there for a few minutes.

"I didn't realise that your life was like that," she said softly.

"I've got used to it. I've grown up faster and learnt to look after myself. Hockey is the best way for me to escape everything and every place that I go it is a way to make friends, to pass the time."

"It shouldn't be like that. You shouldn't have to worry about that sort of thing."

I nodded and she slipped out of my embrace. We slowly packed up and headed out. She offered me a ride home and I took it. It was a quiet drive as we were both stuck in our own thoughts.

"Thanks for the lift," I said softly.

"It's alright. I was thinking about it. I had a nice time, would you like to go on a date sometime?" she asked.

I smiled at her and nodded.

"It would be nice," I smiled.

She nodded as well and I slipped out of the car.

"Just call me if you want to talk some time," she added just as I shut the door.

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The Wise One