Frozen in Ice

Chapter 21

Luke's POV

Brynn and I continued to build on our new friendship. We talked more during Maths and I liked it. I found that once she stopped insulting me she was really easy to talk to and nice to talk to. I tried to not mention the hockey team much because she doesn't seem to like them but I couldn't help it occasionally.

I knew that she was going to be spending her lunch in the library because she had some assignment due soon. At first I headed into cafeteria to sit with the hockey team but I didn't last ten minutes. I couldn't deal with their shit.

They still hadn't given up on calling me the Next One and it was really grating on my nerves. Since I was finished eating I dumped my rubbish and headed out on the cafeteria. I really couldn't be bothered dealing with that today.

Instead I headed into the library. I had never been inside because I hadn't had a reason, or the time, to go in. I found Brynn sitting at one of the tables in the corner. She had papers spread all over the table and was so engrossed in her work that she didn't notice me sit down.

"You look focused," I said.

She visibly jumped and I could see her look surprised as she looked at me.

"I didn't hear you come over," she smiled slightly.

"You are working too hard. You wouldn't hear a thunderstorm," I teased.

"As much as I like you being here I thought that you would be sitting with the hockey team?"

"I don't really like anyone on the team, except Justin, and they get on my nerves."

"How come?"

"They like to call me the Next One because of my last name and are just annoying," I explained.

She nodded and returned her attention to her school work. I picked up a couple of the pages and started to read it. I didn't really understand what I was ready and that was probably because I wasn't taking Bio.

"Do you want any help?" I asked.

She told me how she wanted all her notes organised and I was more than happy to do it. I didn't have to know what was on the pages, just what the title was. There was a lot more pages spread on the table than I initially thought.

Brynn continued to type as I finished organising her papers. I put the pile beside her laptop and she looked up slightly.

"Thanks," she murdered and continued to type.

I pulled out my own homework and started to work. None of mine was that hard and I knew that it wasn't going to take me very long. I put my head down and worked on getting most of it done so that I didn't have to work about it later.

I got all my Math work done before the end of lunch and I couldn't be bothered starting anything new. I looked up to see that Brynn was leaning back on her chair and staring at the ceiling.

"Given up as well?" I asked.

She looked at me and nodded.

"This assignment is going to be the death of me," she complained.

I had to laugh at how dramatic she was being but I knew what it was like. Sometimes you just want to give up and hand it in now.

"Have the hockey team always been like that to you?" she asked.

I looked at her for a second and then realised that she was talking about what I had said earlier.

"Yeah but I don't really care. I think that it is because Mark is jealous," I explained.

"Jealous of what?"

"I play second line centre but I could, and maybe should, be playing first line centre."

"How come you aren't."

"Mark is Coach's favourite. He is never going to pick me over Mark."

She nodded and didn't say anything else for a minute.

"Why do you continue to play then?"

"Because I love it and even if I am playing on the second line I'm still playing," I said simply.

She nodded and the bell rang before she could say anything else. I was already packed up so I just headed out after saying goodbye to Brynn. My afternoon classes were boring and we had training after school.

I ignored everyone in the locker room and headed straight out onto the ice. Even though I was new to the school I knew that this week's game was important. I didn't know the details of it but I knew that when these two teams play it is rough and dirty.

We focused a lot on our lines and it meant that I had a lot of time to watch the top line. I wasn't really sure what to think of it because it seemed to perform but I could see mistakes. Sometimes it was just that they didn't see a play but sometimes it was mistakes in their play.

I thought that I was working well with James and Kris. I couldn't see what we looked like on the ice but we seemed to work on the ice. When we were playing games the points were coming from our line.

Training came to an end with a game and I was beginning to see more mistakes from Mark. In a game situation his play suffered a bit more and you could often see that Mark would pause for too long.

I was getting a bit sick of watching this and after training finished I headed over to talk to Coach.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I was just watching the game and I have a couple of things to say about it," I said.

"What?"

I thought about not continuing because he really didn't look interested in what I had to say but I continued anyway.

I told him about what I had seen and my thoughts about Mark and he looked even less pleased as I continued. He was glaring at me when I finished.

"I am the Coach of this team so I make the decisions," he snapped.

"I was just offering some advice," I protested.

"If you want to stay on the team then I suggest that you stop offering advice and work on your own play," he snapped.

I stood there for a second, before turning around, rolling my eyes and heading away. I probably should have stopped before saying it but he needs to hear it.

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The Wise One