You're My Target

Chapter 3

a few days later, after school- Troy stayed late for some practice with Pryor. afterward he went to his usual spot for dinner, where he was met by a man in a sharp suit. he hid his face behind dark aviator style sunglasses. he has short buzzed hair and a clean shaven face.

"i could be wrong, but i think you're starting to like it here." he said sitting next to troy.

"it's not as bad as it's made out to be." Troy said. "what brings you out here."

"im here for the report you were supposed to have for us last week." the man in glasses answered.

"well there's nothing to report." Troy said. he slapped some money on the counter and walked away after finishing his meal.

"hey hold on a second" the man in glasses said, grabbing the collar of troys vest and pushing him against the wall. "i dunno whats up with you but you better start providing us with something. do what your here to do. got it?"

Troy pushed his hand from his collar and fixed his vest.

"i told you, if and when i see anything, you guys wil be first to know. ok?" troy shrugged him of. "you shouldn't linger around here."

"yea. i guess you're right." the man looked over his shoulders... and Boram was watching them from across the street. "ill be back to check in on you soon."

he fixed his glasses and walked away briskly.

Troy dusted himself off, as Boram made her way over to him.

"goodness! are you ok?" she asked. "you owe that guy money or something? he looked pretty serious. what kinda trouble you getting into huh?"

"ah, its nothing. you shouldn't get involved." Troy said trying not to seem concerned. "sorry i wont be joining you tonight."

"it's fine.. but are you sure you are ok?" boram asked him looking concerned.

"yea. i'll see you later." Troy said not making eye contact with her. he didnt say anything more and walked off in a hurry.

There wasn't a lot of time to dwell on the matter as the very next day, Troy and the team were busy with their next game.

Troy watched from the bench as his team was losing and he was losing interest in the game. and he started to gaze into the crowd around and behind him. he turned his head back to the right. and up a few rows in the bleachers he saw Hwayoung and eunjung cheering rather loudly. he smiled at their enthusiasm. next to them a disinterested girl sat chewing gum reading a magazine.. she had straight frosted hair that had almost and orange tint to it and large eyes. she wore an orange vest.. and next to her sat the pretty girl he saw in the courtyard.

lost in his dreamworld, staring up at his crush, Jang came up and smacked him in the back of the head.

"wake up newbie!" he said loudly in his ear. "get your helmet. you're on."

Troy didnt grasp what was going on.. "huh?" he said rubbing where Jang had hit him.

"get out there!" Jang yelled at him.

Troy looked on the rink and saw one of his team mates had to leave the game with an injury. this meant Troy would get the chance to play.. but instead of feeling happy, he quickly felt.. pressured and nervous. SHE was in the crowd. SHE would be watching him.

"you excited?" Pryor said skating behind him and to his position.

Troy just nodded to him. he lined up and waited for the puck to drop.

His center-man got the puck and sent it to Troy right away. Troy however let it slip right by, his nerves were getting the best of him. before he could even scramble to recover, he was shoulder checked hard by an opposing team member and sent down hard on his back. Troy rolled over and looked as the other team made their way down toward his teams goal..

Troy was still lying there, not getting up.

"i screwed it all up already.." he though to himself. "she's gonna think im a fool" he couldn't bring himself to his feet now letting his emotion get the better of him.

a ref started to skate in his direction to check on him... but behind the ref he saw.. the puck.. sliding back toward him as well.

Troy looked the other way. .. and there was no one between him and the opposing goalie..

he quickly sprang up and motioned the ref out of the way, and gathered the puck.

he quickly sprinted toward the opposing teams net, taking full advantage at his chance to redeem himself as the other players began to close the distance on him.

"ITS A BREAKWAY!" the announcer yelled as the crowd looked on. Troy skated with all his might toward the goal.

he stick handled the puck as fancily as he could and snapped a quick shot... it bounced into the air as the goalie deflected it, but Troy stayed locked onto it and swatted down the rebounding puck into the net .

he did it! he scored.. filled with adrenaline..the sound of the arena slowly came back to him. his team skated up to him and gave him a celebration.

"you did it newbie!!" they said gathering around him in jubilation.

"you tied it. we're back in it." Pryor said.

Jang waved them in for a line change. Troy skated over to the bench. he looked into the crowd. the girls were cheering and waving. Troy held up his stick for the fans.. to which they cheered loudly.

"nice stuff newbie." Jang said with a hint of appreciation as Troy climbed back onto the bench. Troy nodded as Jang took the ice.

The game went to overtime, where his team eventually won, with the Captain, Jang having scored the winning goal. Troy thought he would have his glory stolen. but in the locker room, Jang gave Troy his credit..

"today we got our overdue first win. and we owe it to the new guy." he said catching Troy off guard.

"yea!!" they cheered.

"that was a nice play, layin' there like a possum" Pryor said.

"yea haha. im a lil' shocked they fell for it too." Troy laughed, pretending he meant to do it all along.

"you'll be starting on 2nd line from now on." Jang said. "hope the magic in that stick tonight wasnt just a fluke eh?

"theres plenty of magic left." troy nodded with a sly smile.

he had a blast as the team celebrated together. relieved everything had gone better than expected...