The Penalty Box

Chapter 39

"Conrad! Cmon pick up the pace!" I yelled breezing past him again.

"Sorry I'm not some fast freak!" He heaved.

I laughed and turned around so I was skating backwards. Even like this, Con was struggling to keep up. Then again, I'd been having skate sessions every Saturday morning for over a year now. I had good legs, Conrad on the other hand was a work in progress.

"Cmon lets go slowpoke!" I yelled from the other end of the rink.

"How are you still breathing?" He gasped as the leaned against the bench.

"Wow, the tables have turned."

I turned around to find the last person I wanted to see at this rink. He looked somehow taller, and most definitely more muscular. His hair was longer too, but that was beside the point.

After six months, the prodigal player had returned home.

"You look good Smith," he stated stepping out onto the ice.

I glanced over at Conrad who now had his back to the rink and was no doubt acting like he wasn't there.

"You look good?" I questioned," You look good! You never called me back, you never texted. You didn't even come back for Josh's funeral! And you have the nerve to tell me I look good?"

Beside me Conrad started to skate away, he knew this wasn't something he wanted to be here for. He knew he didn't need to be here for this.

"Cally I-"

"You don't get to call me Cally, only my friends call me that," I scoffed,"Did you even stop to think that I might've needed you? No, of course not. You were too busy being a self centered asshole! Just like you've always been!"

"Just let her yell at you man," Conrad suggested," It'll be over faster, like a bandaid!"

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Coty replied shoving his hands into his pockets," Are you done yelling yet?"

"Depends, are you done being an asshole?"

"I deserve that," he mumbled.

"Do you realize that he was on his bike because of you?" I questioned,"I was supposed to give him a ride, but you two had just had a fight, so he wanted to clear his head. It's your fault Coty, I hope you know that."

"He made that decision Callahan! Trust me I wish I hadn't called him that day. But he was his own man, I wasn't the one who put him on that bike," He said in defense," and despite what you might think, you couldn't have stopped him either."

I took my helmet off and looked back over at Coty. I would've gone off on him then and there, had I not seen just how broken he looked.

"Just go Coty, okay?" I told him," Please, just go."

I didn't wait to see if he left or not. Instead I stated around to the bench and walked back to the locker rooms. Conrad was sitting on one of the benches, clearly waiting on me.

I didn't say anything. I walked around in the room before the anger set in. In one swift moment I threw my helmet against the wall. I stumbled back until I hit a bench and crumbled down onto it.

The anger melted away, just as quickly as it had come. I was once again breaking down because of Coty Bruner.

"I wish he could actually understand what he does to me," I mumbled.

"You could write it all down in a letter," Conrad replied," That's what Lily did. Trust me, you wanna break him, send him a letter."

I knew Lily hadn't talked to anyone since the funeral. Her and her family had left NC, and hadn't been back in over a month. She'd sent Conrad a letter two weeks ago explaining that she couldn't come back, and that she'd turned off her phone, and would finish out the school year online. She'd also broken up with him, unfortunately.

"Yeah well, I don't think a letter would cut it with Coty and I," I replied," We have too much history for that."

"Well, I can still kick his ass if you need me too," he laughed.

"As long as I get to throw the last punch."

We both started laughing as we unlaced our skates. We had our actual practice in two hours, so there was no point on leaving, or really getting out of our gear.

Plus I had to go work at the pro shop. And Conrad promised he'd keep me company, and now he got to fend off Coty if he came back.

"You know, I'm really glad you're my brother," I said as the two of us were walking out.

"I'm surprisingly glad that you're my sister."