"girl power"

11.5K 230 485
                                    

The next morning I woke up with a pounding headache. I guess that's what happens when you spend the night before crying your eyes out. I turned and looked at Connie who was already awake. She flashed me a sympathetic smile from the arm chair she sat on, in the corner of the room.

Last night I had gotten home from the locker room and woken up Connie and Julie. It just didn't feel right, trying to sleep without telling them. Both girls cried with me and we stayed up talking until almost sunrise. 

I was so thankful to have friends like that.

Connie patted the chair next to her and I slid off the bed and onto the soft carpet. On my way over, I stopped at the mini fridge under the TV and grabbed an orange juice. I sat next to Connie and crossed my legs. "How tired are you?"

She laughed. "Kind of feel dead, but it's okay. How are you doing? Like about... you know."

I sighed. "I'm doing okay." I paused and thought for a moment. "Well actually I'm really sad. And mad. But I suppose you're supposed to feel like that after a break up." 

"Yeah. Adam is probably feeling the same way." 

I was about to respond when Julie suddenly sat up in bed. Her hair was covering her face and she blew it to the side. "Good morning guys." She smiled sweetly and reached over to grab her glasses off the nightstand. 

"Hi Julie." Connie said, "How did you sleep?"

"The three hours I got were wonderful." She looked at the clock next to her and sighed. "We have a press conference in a few hours don't we?"

Connie and I groaned and nodded.

Julie flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. "I'm going to puke if I get one more question about which hockey team has the cutest boys."

"Someone asked you that?" I widened my eyes in surprise.

"Three someones asked me that actually. Shouldn't they be asking me about hockey? You know, the reason we're all here?" 

"I don't see the boys getting asked which team has the cutest girls!" Connie stopped and smiled. "Oh right, it's because we're the only girls here!" She reached out her palm and I slapped it. 

"Girl power!" Julie sung from her place on the bed. 

_

"Okay everyone please listen up!" A woman with a clipboard shouted over my team's chatter, "We're going to start the press conferences as soon as possible but first we are going to split you up into three groups."

I reached up and ran my hand through my hair, nervously. I had no idea they were going to split us up. Connie must've sensed my worry because she reached over and squeezed my hand.

"In group one we have Lester Averman, Connie Moreau, Greg Goldberg, Guy Germaine and Luis Mendoza. Please follow John to Studio A." 

A big man with a bushy mustache, John, waved his hand in the direction of the studio and the five of the named players left with him. 

I looked back up at the clipboard woman. "In group two we will have Russ Tyler, Julie Gaffney, Ken Wu, Jesse Hall and Dwayne Robertson." 

My heart sunk. I stopped paying attention to what she said after that. I already knew who was in the last group with me. Dean, Fulton, Charlie and... Adam.

"Last group please follow me." A blonde woman in a yellow shirt smiled at us and we followed her into Studio C. Inside were five chairs and a table with name cards. I glanced at them and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Charlie's name separating mine and Adam's. 

"Have a seat and we'll get started shortly." The yellow shirt lady flashed us one more smile and closed the studio behind her.

I sat in the middle of the boys. Dean turned to me and Fulton leaned over. "How's it going Ella? You feeling alright?" 

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm doing great." I made sure that Adam could hear me.

"Told you everything would be okay." Dean smiled and Fulton reached his fist over to me. "Pound it!"

I returned the fist bump and laughed. 

The double doors in the back of the studio opened and nearly 30 reporters streamed in. Someone came from behind the table and set bottles of water in front of us. Another person came and adjusted the microphones. I felt like a real, big-time celebrity. 

The first question went to Fulton and it continued down the line. Soon it was my turn.

A male reporter with a cool blue suit stood up and looked down at his notepad. "In what ways has this experience helped your team grow?"

I thought for a moment and cleared my throat. "Well, um, I think that we have all become a lot closer because of it. Especially with the new team members, I've become great friends with Julie and the rest of them as well. When you trust each other I think you play better." I nodded my head to signify that I was done answering. 

A second reporter, this time a woman, stood. "Is there a specific team that you are looking forward to playing against?"

"I"m honestly excited to play all of the teams." I laughed, "But I think it's going to be a fun challenge to face off with Iceland again." 

Lastly, another man stood and extended a microphone. "Do you think of anyone on your team as more of a friend?" The room erupted in laughter but I didn't think it was very funny. My face began to burn with embarrassment.  

I swallowed the lump in my throat and composed myself. "All of the boys are more like brothers to me than anything, so no. I don't." 

I looked down at my shoes as the questions were shifted to Charlie. 

Neither him or Adam were asked if they thought any of the girls were cute which is pretty unfair if you ask me. But I didn't care too much, I was just happy when we got to leave. 

On the bus back to the hotel, Coach reminded everyone to be up early tomorrow for practice. I was excited to get back on the ice. It had been a few days and I was getting antsy to play again.

A tap on my shoulder made me turn. It was Charlie. He looked sad. "What's up Charlie?"

"Can we talk please? Soon?" 

"Yeah sure. About what?" I already knew the answer.

"Adam and you. I'm just worried." He rubbed his neck and sighed. I wondered why he looked so stressed out. It was me who had just gotten dumped, not him. 

I walked off of the bus and waited. When Charlie got off I pulled him to the side. Once we were out of earshot of the others, he started. "Are you okay?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I rolled my eyes and a look of hurt flashed across his face. "Sorry Charlie. I'm okay."

"Sure you are. Look, I know Adam upset you and you upset him-"

"I did what?"

He ignored me. "And that puts me in a really tough place because you're both my best friends and I can't stand having my two best friends hate each other." 

"Charlie I really don't want to talk about this right now. I mean, we're here to play hockey! Adam can feel however he wants but it's not my problem anymore." I began to walk away but Charlie stopped me.

"Hey Ella?" 

I turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"I love you, okay?"

My face softened. "I love you too Charlie."

He gave me a sad smile and we walked our separate ways.

I slowly breathed in and out. Everything will be okay, I told myself.

You will be okay.

_

i apologize for yet another filler chapter but i figured i'd update since all of my weekend plans were canceled due to the corona virus. i hope you're all staying safe and healthy and i will update with a "real" chapter soon. 


𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙜𝙤 / 𝙩𝙬𝙤 Where stories live. Discover now