Chapter 36
LEONORA
It’s all official just a few weeks later.
Zane is already playing for his new team - still in the training and development phase but it’s all going well.
He’s due to come out to see me in a week.
I’m at my mom’s house when I get the call.
Then, my phone buzzes again.
Willow’s face appears on the screen. Behind her, Katie is leaning in, both of them pressed together like they’ve been waiting for this call.
“WELL?” Willow shouts.
I laugh. “Hello to you too.”
“Did you make it? Did she call? What did she say?”
I let the silence stretch for one beat. Two.
“Leonora Shaw, if you don’t tell us right now-”
“I made the team.”
The scream that comes through my phone speaker is ear-splitting.
“OH MY GOD,” Willow yells. “OH MY GOD, LEO.”
“You’re going pro,” Katie says, her voice thick. “You’re actually going pro.”
“I have to earn a roster spot. It’s not-”
“Shut up,” Willow says. “You’re going pro.”
I laugh. “Okay. I’m going pro.”
“So,” Willow says, “when are you coming back to campus?”
I look at my childhood room. The posters on the walls. The bed I’ve slept in for eighteen years. The window that looks out at the street where I learned to ride a bike, where my father taught me to shoot pucks into a net we set up in the driveway.
“I’m not,” I say.
“What do you mean?” Katie asks.
“I’m not coming back to Blackwood at all. The only thing waiting for me is sports science textbooks, and you know how much I looove that.”
Willow’s voice is small. “But - us. You’re just - leaving?”
“I’m not leaving you. I’m leaving Blackwood.”
Katie nods slowly. “You’re moving onto way bigger things.”
“I’m happy for you,” Willow says. She wipes her eyes again. “I just - I’m going to miss you so much.”
I press my phone closer. “I’m going to miss you both too. Every day.”
“So, what happens now?” Katie asks.
I look out the window. The street is quiet. Snow is starting to fall, soft and white, covering everything in a fresh layer.
“Now,” I say, “I go to Boston. I earn a roster spot. And I play hockey.”
Willow smiles through her tears. “That’s a good plan.”
“I thought so.”
“Promise you’ll call. Every week.”
“I promise.”
“And you’ll come visit. When you have a break.”
“I’ll come visit.”
“And you’ll tell us when you score your first professional goal so we can be insufferable about it on social media.”
I laugh. “I promise.”