“Alright team, here’s who’s starting tonight. Beechwood!” The guys in the packed locker room cheer. “Jaro!” Another cheer.
The Cleveland Crushers are dressed and ready for that night’s outdoor game. The excitement in the room is palpable. Coop, my best friend since childhood, leans over to me. His blond hair falls into his green eyes.
“You gonna score tonight?”
He asks.
“Only if you play well enough to set me up.” I smirk.
“Oh, so you’re saying you can’t do it without me?”
I playfully punch him in the shoulder.
“Drake!” Coach Brauer calls my name. The team cheers. “Cooper!” Another cheer.
I pat Coop on the back. “I bet we can score in the first minute.”
“Let’s do it.” He holds up his hand and I give him a double high-five, the way we used to when we were kids. “But I’ll get the goal and the two points that go with it.”
I laugh. “Oh, is that how it is?”
“Race to the Corazon trophy, right?”
“If you want to play that way, it’s on.”
Coach’s voice fills the room as he announces the starting goalie for the night. Everyone cheers. “Now let’s have a great game, guys. I know the visibility will be low since we’re outside, it’s snowing, and the lights will cause a lot of glare, but this is our night. Make this a night to remember! Make Cleveland proud! Go Crushers!”
“Go Crushers!” Everyone cheers again as they get to their feet and start filing out of the locker room. Everyone’s chatting excitedly about tonight’s outdoor game.
“Isn’t this crazy?” I ask. “We’ve been dreaming about playing in the Ice Classic since we were kids and now it’s really happening!”
“Absolutely mental. We did it.”
“Come on.” I stand up on my skates, towering over Coop. “Let’s do this.”
Coop’s phone lights up in his locker.
“Don’t wait up for me,” he says as he grabs his phone.
Following the rest of the team outside, I marvel at the large outdoor ice rink. The sky is dark, allowing the cool air to sweep up off the ice into the air like icy fog. The stands are filled with tens of thousands of spectators all bundled up and excited for the game. The air is electric.
As I step onto the ice, icy crystals instantly start settling on my skin. I breathe in the frozen air, that smell of winter. I’m home.
“Hockey fans, welcome to this year’s Ice Classic! Now if you’d all rise for the singing of our national anthem.”
Skating to the center of the ice, I face the flag for the national anthem. When it’s done, I look over at Coop who’s glaring at me.
Whoa, why does he look so angry?
“What’s wrong?” I mouth.
“You’re a fucking asshole,” he hisses.
What the hell?
We were fine a few minutes ago. Is this because of our friendly competition? Nothing about his expression seems friendly. There’s no time to ask because the game is about to start.
We skate to our starting positions. I’m in the center circle with Coop on my left. He’s still glaring at me.
“What did I do?” I mouth again, even though I should be focusing on the player in front of me and the puck that’s about to drop.
He makes a gesture that I know all too well. He wants to fight.
What the fuck?
He’s never acted like this before, not in the fifteen years I’ve known him.
The referee drops the puck while Coop and I drop our gloves. The stadium erupts into excitement and confusion as everyone rises to their feet. All I’m focused on is Coop and that snarl on his face. Before I know it, he smashes into me and I elbow him in the face. We struggle with each other while our teammates and the referees work hard to pull us apart.
“What the hell, buddy?” I manage to say as I fight him off. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“You’re an asshole,” he spits.
The team finally pulls us apart but Coop continues to yell at me.
“An asshole!”
I feel blood dribbling out of my nose and into my mouth. The crowd is on their feet, simultaneously cheering and booing. I look around at all the lights, the cameras, and my teammates staring at me.
What the hell just happened?
***
“Absolutely embarrassing,” Mr. Chapman says. The owner of the Cleveland Crushers is sitting behind his desk in his office while Coach Brauer stands next to him. I’m sitting across from them as I hold an ice pack to my face.
“Where’s Coop?” My voice sounds nasal because of the bandage over my bloody nose. “I gotta talk to him.”
“Harrison is still in the hospital because he had to get stitches. And just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, this happens.” He holds up his phone. There’s a picture of me and a woman I slept with a few weeks ago.
“What the hell…” I say.
“Who is that?” Chapman asks.
“Umm…Chelsea? No, Catherine!”
“It’s Cooper’s girlfriend!” He says.
“Cooper had a girlfriend?”
“He was at the Christmas party with her. He said they just started dating.”
“I wasn’t at the Christmas party.” I look around in bewilderment.
“We know,” Chapman says, a tinge of disappointment in his voice.
“Does it matter? She was single when I met her…”
“That’s not what she says in this article.”
“She spoke to the press?” I squint at the screen in confusion. “This is a set up! She probably got paid by those stupid tabloids to lie.”
Chapman shakes his head and sighs. “I think it’s best if you guys take some time apart.”
“Take some time apart? But we play together!”
“Not anymore.”
“What?” I look at Coach. “What does he mean, Coach?”
“One of you guys has gotta go,” Coach Brauer says in a soft voice. “Chapman thinks it should be you.”
“Me? But I’m the third-highest goal-scorer in the league this season and I have the highest points overall! I could be this year’s MVP!”
“I know,” Coach says in a dejected voice. “But it’s not my decision.”
“It’s mine.” Chapman looks up from under his glasses. “You’ve embarrassed us at the Ice Classic. This is one of the biggest games of the year! Do you know how hard we had to work to get this?”
“But he started it!”
“That’s not what it looked like to me or any of the cameras or the millions of people watching.”
“I swear!” I groan in frustration.
“This isn’t the first time this happened… remember those nude photos of you that were all over the magazines last month?”
“I had nothing to do with that either! It’s these women that I meet at the clubs… they take photos of me and try to blackmail me!”
“No more excuses. You’re off the team. You’ll be on a new team by the end of the week so I suggest you start packing.”
“But I’ve never played without Cooper! We’ve been playing since we were kids!”
“Yeah, well you shoulda thought of that before you fucked it all up.”
“I didn’t…” I exhale angrily. “Whatever. I’ll get on that new team and I’ll be so good, I’ll win the Corazon trophy. You guys will regret this.”
Chapman looks up at me from under his glasses. “You’re lucky you’re even still in this league, kid.”
