Ice Breaker⛸️

Page 27

ICEBREAKER

27

looking after the baby to allow Fletch and Prishi to go to class. The fact Skinner is using them as an example in his delinquent student- bashing exercise is shitty of him.

Twenty minutes pass and he's still going. I rest my head against Ryan's shoulder and close my eyes, accepting the cookie he sneaks into the palm of my hand.

"... To summarize."

Finally.

"Going forward, there will be a zero-tolerance approach to mis- appropriation of your status on this campus."

I feel like I'm missing a huge part of the puzzle here because- despite his long-ass, still-not-over speech-I have zero idea what prompted this rude interruption to my schedule.

"For the seniors hoping to join professional teams at the end of this school year, it would be prudent for you to take note of this message."

Beside me Ryan snorts, shoving another cookie in his mouth. When I open my mouth to ask what's so funny, he shoves one into mine, grinning like a fool because I have no choice but to eat it.

Skinner finally runs out of energy. He leans against the podium and his shoulders sag. "I don't care what your potential is. If you don't fall in line, you will be benched. I'd like the skating and hockey team to stay behind, but the rest of you are dismissed."

Ryan grabs his bag from the floor and stands, stretching and let- ting out an overexaggerated yawn. "I'll wait for you outside. Food?"

I give him a nod, creeping onto my tiptoes to wipe the cookie crumbs from the corner of his mouth with my thumb. "Hopefully I won't be long."

Everyone, bar the fifty-ish of us, filter out of the room. Ironically, about five times quicker than they filtered in.

Brady and Faulkner, the ice hockey team coach, join Director Skin- ner on the stage. "Come closer, everyone, I'm tired of this microphone