Chapter 2 Parker
Three years later
I’d always dreamed of being a famous hockey player. Of scoring goals, packed stadiums cheering my name, and girls falling at my feet. It all sounded pretty damn great. And while I might only be a senior in high school, I’d already experienced my fair share of all three.
“Are you going to make captain tonight, Parker?”
I was trying my best to get to practice, but I was penned in by a group of sophomore girls who’d just come off the ice after a figure-skating lesson. I usually didn’t mind this kind of attention, but not when I was running late to such an important session.
It was the last week of preseason, and tonight was the night Coach Ray would announce the final varsity team roster and name the team captain.
Ray had pretty much told me the position was mine at the end of last season.
But nothing was guaranteed until I had a bold letter C stitched onto the heart of my jersey.
Plus, Coach had been out sick last week, and I wasn’t even sure if he’d show today, so I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
“Uh, can’t make captain if I don’t make practice,” I said with an awkward laugh. I tried to maneuver past the group, but the girls shifted in sync with my movements, refusing to release me. They were like a pack of wolves, and apparently I was their prey.
“Your brother was captain last year,” one of them said. “Surely Coach Ray will make you captain too…”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.” I tried again to move beyond them but failed once more. I’d developed a bit of an infamous reputation with girls over the years, and I was usually quite good at charming my way both into and out of their clutches. But right now, I was outnumbered and struggling.
“He’d be crazy not to. You’re by far the best player.”
“Yeah, you scored so many goals last season.”
“And practically won the state championship game singlehandedly…”
Okay, maybe this wasn’t so bad. I could be a few minutes late.
“You guys are going to win it again, right?”
I paused as some lingering doubts crept to the surface. A lot of good players had graduated over the summer, including my brothers, Reed and Grayson. The Ransom Devils would be a very different team this season.
I started moving again, more urgently now.
“Like I said, if I don’t get to practice, we won’t be winning anything. Have a good night, girls.”
“Bye, Parker,” they all chimed.
I breathed a sigh of relief once I was free, but the nagging uncertainty stuck with me as I changed into my gear, a hovering dark cloud that followed me onto the rink.
It wasn’t just the team I was worried about.
Would I be the same player without my older brothers alongside me?
Despite all the praise my female fans had just showered me with, I’d always felt like I was playing in Reed’s and Grayson’s shadows.
But with them gone away to college, it was my time to shine; my time to cement myself as the best Darling ever to be a Devil.
I’d already secured a place at Ryker University to play college hockey with my brothers next year.
Now all I needed was to win another state championship and be named captain. No pressure.
By the time I got onto the ice, it was already full of players warming up with the assistant coaches. I headed straight for Seth. With his blond hair and blue eyes, girls often speculated whether my best friend was a long-lost Hemsworth brother. I thought he looked like a distant cousin, at best.
Unsurprisingly, Seth was lagging at the back of the group.
Nothing fazed him. His laid-back personality was part of the reason he’d ended up on the JV team last year, even though he was easily the best skater at Ransom High.
His mom had been a champion figure skater, and he’d clearly inherited her talent on the ice.
But while Seth liked hockey enough to show up for games, he rarely bothered to show up for practice.
He’d always been happy coasting. And not even his dad breathing down his neck made a difference.
But he’d showed up to every single practice so far this preseason. He’d even joined me for a few extra sessions as well. I got the feeling Seth might actually be ready to give hockey his all.
“Is Coach Ray back tonight?” I asked, falling in beside Seth. I couldn’t remember Coach ever being sick. He’d certainly never let a cold stop him from missing practice before.
“Haven’t seen him yet,” Seth replied with a shrug. He was probably the wrong person to ask. Coach Ray could have been standing right in front of him and he probably wouldn’t have noticed.
“Sorry I’m late.” Owen was puffing as he joined us, as though he’d gotten changed too quickly.
He was only a year younger, but Owen Cleaver was still far too wide-eyed and innocent to be hanging out with the likes of Seth and me.
He’d made varsity for the first time last season, but he and I had become closer since our brothers had graduated.
It felt like I’d gained an enthusiastic sidekick. I supposed every superhero needed one.
“You’re fine, Cleaver, we haven’t started yet.” It was an attempt to reassure him, but as I looked more closely, I realized maybe he wasn’t quite so fine after all. “You okay, Owen?”
“Uh, yeah,” he replied. “Just a little nervous.” He instantly corrected himself. “Okay, a lot nervous. It was a miracle I made varsity last year. What if I don’t make it this time? What if my game suffers now that Matt’s gone?”
“Calm down, dude. You don’t need your brother here to play well.” I tried to sound confident, but his words had struck a nerve. “We’re both better off without them.”
“Don’t you miss Reed and Grayson?”
I didn’t get the luxury of missing Reed and Grayson. They were only an hour’s drive away and came home almost every other Sunday for dinner.
“I saw them this weekend,” I replied. “Look, just do what I do when I’m nervous. Picture everyone naked.”
“You picture everyone naked?”
“Well, no,” I admitted, “I don’t get nervous. But if it ever happens, that’s totally my plan.”
“And you think picturing our teammates naked will help me?”
I didn’t seem to be helping. In fact, I think Owen’s freak-out was only getting worse. “Maybe forget the naked stuff.” I patted him on the shoulder. “Just do your best. I’ve got your back, Owen.”
He gave me a nod, seeming just a little more relaxed.
“Have you seen Coach Ray?” I asked him. Owen tended to pay a little more attention than Seth.
“Oh.” Owen’s eyes darted nervously between Seth and me, and he lowered his voice. “Haven’t you heard?”
My stomach twisted uncomfortably. Those words couldn’t mean anything good when said in such an ominous tone. “Haven’t I heard what?”
Even Seth leaned in to listen.
“Coach Ray, he…” Owen hesitated, as he searched for the right words. “Well, he’s not coming back…”
A sharp whistle blew, and everyone turned to face the sound. Everyone except me.
“What do you mean, he’s not coming back?”
Owen didn’t answer. Instead, his mouth fell open as he looked past me. I turned to see what the big deal was and froze.
Owen’s tone definitely hadn’t been ominous enough. Because standing at the edge of the rink was my very own personal apocalypse: Coach Wade Foster. And he was wearing a Ransom Devils cap.
“Well, that’s not good,” Seth muttered, shooting me an uneasy glance.
“Is that who I think it is?” Owen asked.
“If you’re thinking that’s Wade Foster, ex-Minnesota Wild defenseman and high school coaching royalty, then yeah it’s who you think it is,” Seth replied.
“But what’s he…” Owen drew in a sharp breath. “He must be our new coach.”
Our new coach? That couldn’t be true. If it was, then things were worse than I thought. My entire senior year season was about to go up in flames.
“Gather round,” Foster called before I could get any more answers.
He looked just as I remembered him. Tall, with broad shoulders and arms like tree trunks; still a physical force to be reckoned with.
The only difference I could spot was how the firm line etched into his forehead had grown more pronounced, probably from a few more years of scowling.
He might’ve been trying to smile at us, but it came across more like a grimace, as though he’d already decided we were a disappointment.
I’d done my best to erase the memory of my disastrously short time at Coach Foster’s hockey camp.
How I’d failed to impress him with my play on the ice and then been unceremoniously booted off it all together.
But it was no use. There was no forgetting the way he’d had made me feel that day.
Every time I laced my skates the following season, I got the same irritating sense that I wasn’t good enough.
I could have let it get me down, but instead, I used Foster’s criticism and my own self-doubt as fuel.
It motivated me to become such a good player I could never be overlooked.
The thought made me stand a little taller. I was the best player here. I deserved my place on this team. And a new coach didn’t change that. I refused to let Wade Foster’s menacing eyes make me doubt myself again.
“Good evening, everyone,” Foster said once we’d formed a circle around him. His words instantly silenced all the mumbling whispers of excitement coming from the players. “I’m Wade Foster, and I’ll be your head coach this season.”
That got people whispering again. Not me. I was too busy wondering if I was stuck in a nightmare. There was no way this could actually be happening.
“I understand my arrival may come as a surprise, especially as you have your first game on Friday. But I’ve spoken with the assistant coaches, and we still plan on confirming this season’s varsity and junior varsity squads tonight.
I’ll be watching and assessing you all closely, and remember, your spot on the team is still on the line. ”