My heart is in my throat as I watch Davis talk to Lawson, mouths in grim lines before he calls back. She shakes her head, and he scowls. Bile rises into my throat as I watch Davis help Eloise hop down the tunnel.Shit.
My vision is tinged with red as I watch the girls do their best to stop the viciously precise snipes of the Otters against our net. But then Rhea, our other assistant captain, intercepts the puck and launches it up the ice to clear it, letting Brynn hustle towards it. She gains possession of the puck before one of their defenders does, and suddenly she’s one on one with the goalie.
Silence befalls the barn, and within a breath, Brynn winds up and slaps the puck into the upper lefthand corner, the puck slamming into the back of the net as the goalie is just a few seconds too late.
Jailbreak.
I jump out of the sin bin faster than lightning and hug Brynn as we both get off the ice. The Otters are looking like they’re wondering what on earth just happened, but that’s just what happens when you play us. You get thrown around like you’re in the middle of the Vortex. Lawson lightly slaps the back of my helmet as I try to get a look down the tunnel and refocus on the game in front of us.
The rest of the period, the last five minutes, are hard and fast and desperate scrambling for theOtters while we are playing the puck perfectly. It’s solid passes, hard hits and even heavier takedowns. Despite me playing with one of our floating defenders Rebecca. She’s good and we’ve played in the past, but it’s a completely different game compared to playing with Eloise. The fact that I only got a period and a half playing with her and we already clicked makes me wonder why on earth I was fighting our friendship for as long as I did.
I’m pulling myself up off the ice when the alarm sounds and I skate off, bumping through Otter players. One of their veterans, Stella Adams, taps my pads as I bump into her. If my mind weren’t solely focused on going to see Eloise to check if she can play the next period, I’d probably tap back or say hi.
The thudding of skates against the padded floor and panting breaths match the pounding in my ears. We’re walking uniformly when the person out front opens the locker room door and we file in.
Then we erupt in chatter.
Someone’s throwing granola bars as we walk past; others are collapsing near their lockers to get their snacks. Someone’s opened Skittles and is passing them around for a little burst of energy.
But Eloise isn't here.
My head is swivelling, looking for her chestnut ponytail or her brown eyes. She’s not by her locker, she’s not by the door, and she isn’t coming out of the bathroom.
She’s gone.
My stomach plummets.
Someone claps, and we’re silent as Lawson stands in front of us again. “You know, ladies, if I were a losing man, I would have thought that Harper going off and Matthews here deciding to be a thug would have killed us, but I was wrong. That goal was a bomb, Bailey,” he sounds a little choked up, and I’m wondering if we’re seeing the elusive fourth setting of his personality— softie. It usually only comes out when he sees babies and little kids.
The locker room is louder than ever as Brynn stands and does a little curtsey. “You know it!” she shouts. “But we’re far from over. We’ve got another twenty minutes to extend this lead and crush them. Can we do it?”
“Yeah!” we chant.
“Are we going to get more goals?”
“Yeah!”
“Are we winning this game?”
“Fuck yeah!”
“Then let’s fucking do it!”
We’re up on our skates, cheering before we go back out, giving quick smiles to the fans that showed up before putting our game faces on. The fluorescent lights are burning our retinas as we do a quick skate, and I set up around the face off, watching Brynn fight for the puck before she passes it back to me.
I’m passing it to Rebecca, who’s passing it upnorth to Lily, then to Rory and Brynn. I’m skating over the blue line to make sure that we’re not offside if they pass back to me, which Brynn does. Each pass is crisp and fast. The Otters don’t seem to know what we’re doing, and they look like they’re being thrown in a spin wash with how their heads are turning.
I pass back to Brynn, who’s close to the crease. She tries to shove it in, but their goalie is aware of it, so Brynn tosses it to Lily, who wraps around and tucks it into the bottom right corner. The horn goes and we’re shouting. Lily, Brynn, and Rory are in a huddle shouting excitedly at each other before Lily skates her way down the bench, fist bumping the rest of the team. It was a quick shift for us, but we’re off and watching our second line set up for another face off.
We’re pressing hard, the constant pressure solid, and they’re showing signs of wear and tear, chinks in their defense now becoming more and more present. The goalie, rookie GracieMartínez, is doing an awesome job all things considered. It’s not her fault that we want this more.
Every shift on the ice, I’m getting a bit more comfortable with Rebecca, but it’s still not fluid. I hope that El isn’t out for more than a game or two. My stomach curdles at the thought, but it’s pushed aside as I force myself to keep playing.
We end the game 3-1. They sneak one past Winnie,who fumes and scowls at her pipes since their goal. Brynn gets the final goal, and with the small smile that’s on Lawson’s face as we shuffle in and start to get undressed, removing our layers of pads. I think he believes we’re going all the way this year.
I think we’re going all the way this year.
Eloise’s empty locker has my heart thundering in my chest, though for a very different reason than the adrenaline crash. There are flashes from an old school polaroid camera that Brynn’s sibling Fallon is waving about. Xe look particularly enthralled with Rory, who’s trying not to look at xem. She’s tarps off, and there’s red flushing down to her chest. I avert my eyes because the way Fallon and Rory’s eyes clash has me feeling like I’ve intruded on a private moment.
