Coach raises his brows and motions for her to spit it out.
“It’s just that I don’t think your plan would be the best course of action.”
“Well seeing as none of my ideas are working, I’m willing to try anything” Tony says, throwing his hands in the air exasperatedly.
She’s hesitant to speak, but I can see her brain working overtime, trying to figure out what to do. “Number twelve has a weak left ankle, I’m pretty sure he got hurt in the first period but they keep playing him. He’s been turning on his right ankle to prevent from putting weight on his left, so you need to force him to turn him towards his bad side to slow him down.”
Huh, I never would have thought of that. I remember Jurian being pulled for a while after he crashed into the boards but he seemed fine when he came back out.
I felt bad, he may be on the opposing team but I’ve known him for years. He’s a good guy, probably the only one I’d actually like to hangout with from that team.
“Number seventy-six is a freshman, his lack of technique and lack of chemistry with the rest of the team really shows. He’s good –he’s got the raw talent– but he doesn’t know when to pinch or how to control the puck properly, which makes him an easy target for high-skilled players like yourselves. As long as you can out-handle him, you should be fine.”
I noticed that too, he’s their shiny new star, but he’s still raw… not refined yet.
“The last player you need to worry about is number three. He’s hands down the strongest player on their team, but he rushes the puck too much. He draws himself too deep into our end zone, leaving the rest of his team vulnerable. If you can get him into our end and then pass the puck far enough out, he won’t have the chance to save it.”
Nathan Thomas, their all-star. I fucking hate that guy more than anything, he’s such a dick, and he’s been out to get me since high-school. He broke Blair’s leg in a game a couple years back.
He took our rivalry to a whole new level, he took a cheap shot at Blair from behind and sent him flying into the boards. Blair was in the hospital for weeks after that, had to have surgery, then went through months of physical therapy so he could get back to playing hockey. He lost an entire year of experience and exposure just because Nathan’s a little bitch.
Blair lost it when he couldn’t play, hockey is hislife… and I watched my best friend spiral into the darkest depression I’ve ever witnessed. No one thought he would play again, and to make things worse, Nathan never faced punishment for what he did.
“Those are the three main people you guys have to worry about. Everyone else you can handle, but I think using those players against their own team will give you the edge you need to pull ahead.”
I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re shocked. I mean we knew Claire knows her shit, but I didn’t think she knew this much. She can see the little things no one else can, and that’s fucking impressive.
No one says anything until the buzzer sounds and marks the end of our time-out. Snapping us back into reality, coach claps his hands and shouts, “you heard the girl, now go play some fucking hockey.”
My four roommates and I line up for the puck drop. If we’re going to test Claire's theories, we need to have the strongest line possible to make sure it doesn’t back-fire on us. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but the five of us are the best shot we have at winning this game. We’re the strongest players on the team, we’re the ones who will make this shit work.
I’m face to face with Nathan, he’s got this nasty ass smile across his pretty face, the same face that I’ve deemed ‘punchable’. I look to my left and see Blair, I know damn well he’s thinking the exact same thing I am… let’s humble this asshole.
The puck drops and Nathan goes speeding past me, he manages to make it past Miller but then Davis stops him and steals the puck. Just like Claire said, he dives too deep into our end-zone. Davis passes it up to August who goes around number 12, forcing him to either crash into the boards or use his weak ankle.
Twelve turns on his left, and it slows him down just enough to let August get past him. He passes it up to Blair who then slides it to me and I get it through the goalkeeper's legs.
Holy shit, it fucking worked.
The boys jump on top of me in celebration, cheering me on while we skate past the bench and high-five the team. Coach actually has a smile on his face, for the first time ever I think he’s actually enjoying a game.
“Claire, you’re a goddamn genius!” Blair bellows from in front of me, she laughs and takes a little bow before giving him a big smile.
We line back up at centre ice, this time I’m lucky enough not to be looking at Nathan, and when the puck drops we make a beeline to the other team's zone. Blair passes the puck to me, then I pass it to August. We keep bouncing it back and forth to keep seventy-six off his game. There’s thirty seconds left on the clock, we make a break for their net and just before the buzzer rings… we score.
The entire team skates onto the ice and piles onto the five of us. Screams of joy are heard all around the rink as Livler fans celebrate our win.
We skate back to the bench and I pull Claire up into a massive hug, twirling her in the air, “Claire Loyola, I could fucking kiss you right now!” I laugh, my voice muffled by her hair.
“You better not, you’re all sweaty and gross.” She wiggles in my arms trying to get away from me, but I know she’s just doing it for show.
“So pretty girl, youwouldkiss me if I wasn’t dripping in sweat right now?” I tease.
“Ew, no. Never in a million years, jackass” she laughs.
I place Claire back down on the ice, and a second later she’s being swept up by the others. She gets thrown on their shoulders as everyone praises her. She deserves it, she’s the reason why we won. She set out every piece we needed in order to take this victory, we just had to put the puzzle together.
I look over to where the Longhorns are exiting the rink, I make eye contact with Nathan before his gaze wanders up towards Claire. He looks back to me, smirking, then leaves with the rest of his team.
