The Idiot

Monday, January 16, 2023

Practice was boring on Monday. It was the standardized two hour practice where Jamie and I never saw each other, and I ignored my brothers, who are not even looking at me anymore.

Once we were done, Coach skated over to me. "Once your changed, Coach Serry wants to see you in his office. Hurry up."

I nodded as I skated off and quickly went into my changing room. I don't know what he wants from me.

It took no time for me to change, to shower, and to make my way into Coach Serry's office.

"Good, Winter, have a seat." I did what I was told without a peep, wondering what is going to happen. "I'm not going to waste your time since I know that Patrick is already here to pick you up. As a coaching staff, we feel that it's not safe for you to be on the ice."

"I'm benched?"

"Yes, during practices, you will be helping the coaches running drills to help your teammates get better at skills. I know that you are a hell of a hockey player, but being on this team, it doesn't matter about the individual. It's about the team."

"How long?"

He sternly looked at me. "We don't know. Why don't you prove to us how important you are for the team? Then we can talk about getting you back in the roaster."

I got up to head out before I lost my cool, but he added, "Also, don't dress in your equipment during practices."

I quickly left the room as tears gathered in my eyes. He doesn't understand how important hockey is to me. It has always been my escape from my life. Now, it's getting stolen from me once again. This time it's not my mother's doing, but it still could be.

Letting the tears fall, I grabbed my bags and briskly walked to Patrick's car. I threw my things in the bag with the guys and climbed behind the driver's seat. The boys weren't in the car yet. They were too busy talking with people. Jamie was in the group.

The boys got into the car soon after, but I didn't listen to a single thing they said. The only thing I noticed was that Patrick kept on looking at me from his rearview mirror, William looked at me from the passenger seat, and Wyatt did the same from next to me. Even with them checking on me, they never said a single word to me.

They must know what happened. Jamie must know. All the guys must know. I bet they'll be throwing a party to celebrate that I'm no longer on the team.

As soon as the car pulled into the driveway and jumped out of the car, running into my bedroom and locked the door behind me.

Multiple during the night, someone would knock on my door and yelled something at me, but I didn't pay any attention to them.

Sometime during the night, I fell asleep on my window seat being so exhausted from crying so hard.