Lennon
The locker room is eerily silent. Only the sound of tape being wrapped around sticks and laces being tightened on skates fill the tense atmosphere.
Grace sits back in her locker next me, eyes closed, headphones on, getting locked in. Out of all of us, she should be the least nervous since she likely won’t even touch the ice for this game. But who knows what might happen. She has to be ready just in case.
I brace my elbows on my knees and pick at the nail polish I applied only last night as we sat in our hotel rooms. It’s the same shade of powder blue as our jerseys. So vastly different from the fiery-red jerseys of our opponents today.
It’s another Frozen Four showdown of us versus the Remington Redhawks. Although, unlike last year, we aren’t facing each other in the championship game. No, today we’re both fighting to secure our spot in that game.
It’s what we’ve been preparing for all season. This weekend, this tournament, the very strong possibility we’d be facing themagain. But now it’s here, and I have to trust in the training and work I’ve put in the last seven months. I have to trust in my team.
Our three coaches walk in the room and instantly all eyes are on them. Coach Maver is in a navy-blue pantsuit, while Coach Packley wears a similar one in dark gray. But it takes everything in me to keep a neutral expression as Coach Holloway steps beside them in black pants that look like they were tailored just for him. They hug his muscular thighs just right and taper to show off shiny black dress shoes. On top, he’s wearing a white button up and light blue tie, with that stupidly expensive watch of his catching the lights.
He looks so devastatingly handsome, and by the tilt of his chin and line of his shoulders, you feel the confidence radiating off of him. The other girls seem to be feeling it too because some of the anxiety in the air dampens.
“Ladies,” Coach Maver says, stepping to the center of the lockers. “You should all be extremely proud of the work you put in to get here today. I know there were likely days where you questioned why you continue to play this beautiful but exhausting sport. You’re all students, with responsibilities and lives outside of the rink. But you continued to show up, to put in the work, and it’s brought you here today.”
Coach Maver has the focus of every single one of us right now.
“For those who were on this team last year, you might be sitting here focusing on old rivalries and scores and the what if’s of the past.” Her eyes pass over me, and I feel her words land straight to my gut. “But today, you put those thoughts aside. You push it down, refocus on the now, and keep your eyes ahead of you. Not behind.”
“We have two games to reach our final goal, but play today as if there’s only one. Because right now, only today matters.What you are about to do for the next sixty minutes on that ice matters. Keep your wits about you. Do not let them bait you. Do not let them rattle you. I know that we can beat them. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again.”
The buzz in the room becomes palpable as everything Coach says sinks in for the team. Hunched shoulders turn into straightened spines, and worry lines turn into hardened resolution.
She claps her hands once and says, “Now get out there, and let’s get ourselves a fucking win.”
Cheers roar from around the locker room, the previous uncertainty replaced by vigorous determination. My own chest swells with it, and I slap Grace’s thigh excitedly. She squeezes mine back and gives me a broad smile.
“You got this today, alright? I know you do.”
“Thank you,” I say, throat tightening.
There’s a flurry of excitement now in the room as everyone shrugs on their jerseys and finishes lacing up their skates. Music starts blaring and amidst the chaos, it’s his eyes I search for.
One last look. One last nod of encouragement from the person who has helped me get here today.
When I find Luke, he’s already looking at me. His dark eyes hold such warmth, such belief in me, that it almost chokes me. His chin dips in the subtlest of nods.
Trust yourself, he mouths.I believe in you.
Thank you,I mouth back.For everything.
His chest rises and mine mirrors it, us taking a deep breath together, before he ducks his head and leaves. The moment he’s out of sight feels like a loss, but I know he’ll be here every step of the way with me this weekend.
I turn to grab my jersey off the hook behind me when I catch Grace staring at me funny. Her eyes are narrowed, and she scansmy face as if it’s some sort of puzzle she’s trying to solve. A ping of anxiety rings in the back of my head.
She looks back toward where Luke was just standing, and I feel my face drop. I do my best to keep my shoulders relaxed and movements steady as I pull my jersey over my head. My braid gets caught, and I yank it out and lay it over my shoulder.
I don’t want to ask, don’t want to give her the opportunity to ask something that I can’t give her an honest answer to, but I can’t help it. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
She chews on her lips, contemplating something, before she looks away and shakes her head. “Nothing.” She grabs her stick and rises. “Let’s get out there.”
The trash talkingbegins the moment the puck is dropped. The surreal moment of being in the tournament, feeling the buzz of the crowd, and taking a moment for the anthem is wiped away in a blink.
Austen wins the faceoff, and I get a few moments of quiet at my end of the ice. The starters get two shots back to back, but neither is successful. Remington gains possession and pushes it down the ice quickly. Already, I can tell this is going to be a fast-paced game.
Hopefully the conditioning the rest of the team has been putting in will keep their legs beneath them.
