SOMEBODY ELSE ⇢ LUIS MENDOZA [2]

four

"Work those legs, Adams!" Coach Orion shouted at Hailee.

She ignored him. Ever since she saw Luis with the cheerleader, she'd lost almost all of her energy.

"Hey, did you hear me? Where's that energy?" He yelled.
Hailee groaned and picked up the pace.

"Hailee, can I talk to you?" Adam said. She stopped herself so she was able to talk to him, since he was stood outside of the rink, now that he was playing on the Varisty team.

"Not now, Adam." She sighed.
"Well when can I?"
Hailee shrugged, keeping her eyes on Luis, who was skating at the front of the line. "I don't know, Adam."

"Banks! Adams! Stop the chatter!" Coach Orion yelled.
Adam sighed as Hailee gave him a weak smile, before skating away.
He kicked the wall separating him from the rink, before walking out.

"Julie 'The Cat'! What's the matter, you eat a fur ball?" Coach Orion called out to Julie, who was leaning over the rink and vomiting.
Hailee watched as Goldberg skated up behind him and laughed. "Yeah, that's good, Coach. I like that. Fur ball. That's, uh, very clever."

"Just get in the net, Goldberg." Coach Orion grumbled.
"Me? Sure thing! It would be my pleasure."
"Yeah!" Russ grinned.

"Over here, over here."
"You know, I don't see a captain out here!" Coach Orion yelled as the team played a mini game of hockey.

Hailee sighed and skated over to Julie, who was sat down on the bench, since the Coach was distracted.
"Are you okay? What did you eat?" Hailee asked.
Julie groaned and shrugged. "I don't know. But what I've really been meaning to ask is, are you okay?"

Hailee looked to the floor. "No."
"Luis is stupid. He's stupid for doing it right under your nose and he's stupid because you're beautiful - you've got nothing on her."
Hailee scoffed. She was about to speak, but Coach Orion cut her off. "Adams! What're you doing?"

"I was just seeing if Julie was okay, Coach." Hailee replied, in a rude tone.
"Come back onto the ice, now!" He boomed.

Hailee mentally rolled her eyes and got up. "Feel better soon, I guess."
Julie smiled as Luis skated up to them. "You too."

"Come on, babe, we need you." Luis said.
This was the first thing Luis had said to her today. After yesterday, she thought he'd be blanking her completely.

"Need me? Yeah sure." Hailee grumbled.
"What?" Luis asked.
"Nothing." She forced a smile.

"Hey, Averman. You got nothing!" Goldberg yelled as he saved Averman's shot.
"Over here, Charlie!" Dwayne called.
"Come on, Charlie! Clear it out, clear it out!"

"Freeze!" The Coach blew his whistle. "I said freeze!"
Everyone stopped, apart from Averman, who skated into the wall.

"Where's the one place you never want to clear the puck?" He asked Charlie, who rolled his eyes.

"It looked open-"
"Just answer the question, Conway."
"Listen, I'm not a defenseman, I'm a scorer!" Charlie snapped.
"Follow me." Coach Orion ordered.

Hailee bit her lip as she watched Charlie and the Coach skate off. He lead Charlie towards the bench and made him sit with Julie. "Anybody share his opinion?!"

Everyone stayed silent, apart from Hailee, who would do anything to get a break right now.
She took off her helmet. "I do."

Luis shot her a look. "What're you doing?"
Hailee ignored him. Coach Orion opened the gate and held out his arm for her enter.

She skated towards Coach Orion, not giving him or Luis a second glance before sitting herself down, in between Julie and Charlie.

"Alright, then, take a knee." Coach Orion said, once he shut the gate.

Charlie pulled his gloves off as the Coach began to talk to the remaining players.

"I can't believe this guy." Charlie grumbled.
Hailee sighed. "Me too."
"Hey, thanks for sticking up for me though." Charlie said.
Hailee forced a smile. "That's okay, I guess." Although really, she just wanted a break.