20. Laur
Chapter twenty
Laur
J ittery with nerves, I sit down in between Libby and the other senior on the team, Kat, in the conference room to orient them before the final round of interviews start.
“Remember we have five spots open,” I remind them. “We want to ensure there are more underclassmen to grow into the roles but would be open to some junior candidates.”
“We have me and two others,” Libby mutters under her breath. “We don’t need any more juniors."
Narrowing my eyes at her, I continue, “Ideally, we want a mix of those who have a background in sports or an affiliation with hockey, as well as candidates with an extensive background in planning events.” I pause, nervously biting my nail.
“If the events are more charity focused, that makes the candidate even more favorable.”
I hand them each a packet of paper. “I know we’ve watched the recordings of the interviews, and that you’ve seen these details over email, but here are the nine final candidates we are interviewing over the next two days. Each get a maximum of one hour.”
I force myself to keep in the long sigh itching to escape me, I ask the girls if they have any questions.
“Did you pick the order of the candidates for a specific reason?” Libby asks curiously.
“Yes, the first three are the strongest in my opinion,” I explain. “The others I am on the fence about.”
“Knew it,” Libby whispers with a slight smirk .
“I thought Raven was a strong candidate?” Kat inquires, her brows furrowed.
“She has a strong background, but I’m not sold on her wanting to work in sports or hockey.” I fold my hands together. “The two times I’ve asked her, she hasn’t concretely answered why she is interested in pivoting toward hockey.”
Kat taps her finger to her lips. “Interesting.”
“If by interesting you mean weird,” Libby mumbles, browsing through the packet I just gave her.
“I’d like to re-watch the recordings of the second interviews,” Kat says. “Can we do that tonight?”
“Absolutely,” I grin, loving her dedication.
Libby lets out a small groan. The next two days are about to be extremely long.
Less than five hours later, we’ve interviewed five of the nine candidates. The first two were less than thirty minutes, and we all agreed: automatic “yeses.”
“We have three spots left if Lena and Emery accept,” I remind them, the nerves in my stomach finally settling after the video calls.
“I will send out emails to them tonight. Hopefully we will have an answer from them before we start the interviews tomorrow to know how many final spots we need to fill.”
“Let’s talk about the other candidates today. Is there anyone else we want to give an offer to today?” Kat asks.
Shaking my head, I take out my phone to order pizza. We are going to need fuel while we debrief and re-watch any old interviews .
Kat turns to Libby. “What did you think of Marci? I really think she would be a perfect fit.”
“I’m surprised how much I like Marci,” Libby remarks in a higher pitch than typical.
“What’s not to like? She understands hockey and has a background in organizing volunteers,” Kat gushes. “We would be stupid not to accept her.”
Libby groans softly. “But do we really need another junior?”
Kat snorts. “Who cares what year she is? We would probably be better stacked if we had more than just Laur and me as seniors.”
“Twenty minutes for the food,” I chime in, ending my call.
“Kat’s right—class doesn’t matter, experience does.
” I understand Libby’s hesitation. She doesn’t want competition to lead the program next year.
Trying to reassure her, I add, “Besides, she said she would stay an extra year most likely anyways.”
“Right . . .” Libby utters in a low voice.
“She’s an easy yes for me,” Kat announces before taking a drink of her water.
Turning to Libby, I ask, “If she wasn’t a junior, what would your answer be?”
Libby hesitates, twirling her hair around her finger.
“C’mon, Libby,” Kat complains. “Just give your honest answer.”
“Fine. She’s a yes,” Libby blurts out.
Kat rolls her eyes at Libby’s dramatic response.
“Great, then I will extend her an offer tonight also.” Clasping my hands in excitement, I verify, “We are waiting to decide on the other spots until tomorrow, everyone agreed?”
Both girls confirm their agreement.
“Perfect.” The exhausted sigh I’ve been holding in since we started finally weasels its way out of me.
“I agree with that too,” Libby giggles. “Let’s get to watching these other interviews so we aren’t here all night. I’m assuming we want to watch everyone who’s left? ”
Kat gives an approving nod as I re-open my laptop and find the interviews on my computer. From the second I hit play, we all intently watch, taking notes on each of the girls we have not extended offers to yet. My stomach rumbles, thank goodness we ordered pizza.
“Two hours fly by when you’re having fun,” Libby jokes, stifling her exaggerated yawn with her arm.
“Raven is a top contender for me,” Kat admits.
Libby inclines her head, “I might be with Kat on this one, Laur.”
“The lack of answering the hockey question doesn’t bother anyone else?” I inquire. My gut roils with unease.
“She kind of answered it,” Kat explains. “She wants to pave her own path, it sounds like.”
Libby takes a bite of pizza before saying, “Let’s make sure to ask her hockey specific questions tomorrow. I’ll re-ask the ‘why hockey’ question also.”
My stomach still does small flips. Something just seems off about her answers, but if the other two agree she’d be a good fit, then I trust them. I give a slight nod before asking about the girl I favor.
“What are your thoughts on Lulu?”
“A little cross-eyed,” Libby shrugs.
“Libby! Be nice!” I shout at her, wishing I had something to throw at her other than my pizza—I’m not willing to give up this last slice to prove a point.
“I’m sort of kidding,” Libby mutters, “but I did think she had really put together answers in her last interview.”
Kat chimes in, “I agree. Her answer for how to balance class with tight deadlines and pressure was flawless.” She hesitates to say more.
“What?” I pry, wanting to know what more she has to say.
“Honestly—” Kat takes off her glasses and rubs her eyes. “—I’m just exhausted. Can we plan to regroup before we start interviewing tomorrow?”
“Good idea,” Libby speaks up. “If I don’t get to bed in the next two hours, I won’t be able to function tomorrow. ”
With little conversation, we pack up our things and head home. Libby and I hardly say a word on our walk home or once we get into the house, besides a brief mutter of see you tomorrow.
Before taking a shower to rinse off the stress of the day, I send out three acceptance letters and emails. My stomach is still in knots. I’m ready to finally start with our new team. Wishing that with each drop of water from the shower head, my anxiety would wash down the drain.
Ding.
The sound of my email chimes while I brush my teeth. Checking it, I find that Lena has officially accepted.
“YES!” The shout erupts from me, but I quickly cover my mouth. Libby and Jaylin don’t seem to stir from my loud excitement. Dancing my way to bed I mutter to myself, “One down and four more to go.”
Tossing and turning, I can’t seem to fall asleep. My mind races with the possibilities. Once sleep finally comes, worry filled dreams come with it.
I wake up in a panic from an awful nightmare where every single person we interview declines their acceptance. We don’t have any new members.
I leap out of bed toward my computer, checking my email to make sure I didn’t dream up Lena accepting the offer. Sifting through my crowded inbox, I finally find her acceptance and relief washes over me.
My jaw drops at two new email replies. Both the other girls accepted too! A happy dance takes over my body, three out of five. We are so close ! I twirl and groove to my bathroom where I fill my empty water glass from the bathroom sink.
My eyes meet my tired reflection, but the bags under my eyes won’t keep my excitement away. “You got this, Laur,” I whisper.
Laying back down, I quickly drift off to sleep.
“Laur, you are going to do great,” a soft angelic voice whispers to me.
“Laur. ”
“Laur, you are already doing amazing.” The voice is still faint, as if it’s far away.
“Laur, I am so damn proud of you.” The voice becomes clearer. It’s Nick.
“Laur.”
“Laur.”
Sitting up in bed, I realize the sound of Libby calling to me morphed with my brother’s voice in my dream.
“I’m up!” I shout back. Heart racing and adrenaline pumping, I jump out of bed realizing I’m late and quickly throw on clothes. “Give me five minutes!”
I make sure to thoroughly brush my teeth. Thank God, I took a shower last night. Beaming from ear to ear, I rush down the stairs. The knots in my stomach finally untangled from the words I heard from my brother in my dream.
Kat taps her foot as we approach the meeting room in the arena.
“It’s my fault!” I explain, sprinting to meet her. “I slept awful last night.”
Libby loudly bursts in from the end of the hall, unable to contain her enthusiasm, “ On the plus side, all three girls accepted last night!”
“Wow!” Kat’s sour pout turns into a gleeful grin. “That was fast!”
“Are we ready?” Delight dances in Libby’s eyes.
I breathlessly agree, panting to catch my breath from running down the hallway.
The first interview goes quicker than anticipated.
“If you can’t come up with an answer for how you would handle a player forgetting about an in-game interview, then you probably can’t cover the in-game interview yourself,” Libby frustratingly huffs as soon as the call ends.
“That’s a little harsh.” I cross my arms. “She doesn’t have much experience and would be a freshman”
“But it’s accurate,” Kat agrees with Libby, “even girls from your last round that we cut had better answers.”
“Okay, she’s a ‘no,’” I concur.
“Raven’s next?” Libby practically bounces down in her seat, looking at the printed out schedule in front of her.
“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to talking with her!” Kat exclaims with just as much elation as Libby.
Struggling with my lack of sleep, my body craves caffeine of any kind. “Does anyone want anything from the vending machines? I need a Diet Coke before we start the next one."
I hustle down the hall to get my caffeine fix.
“Diet Coke before 9:00 a.m.?” Lucas’ voice makes my heart beat quicken.
“I overslept,” I confess, turning to face him after grabbing the three diet sodas I purchased.
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Enough to need three?”
“They aren’t all for me obviously.” I playfully glare at him. “How’s early practice going?”
“Hasn’t started yet,” Lucas replies, “but I'm sure most of the guys seem more tired than you.”
Of course, he got here early to skate and practice before everyone else.
“You’re so funny.” I hit him on the chest.
A boyish grin takes over Lucas’ face, causing butterflies to emerge in my stomach.
“I think I’m funny."
His comment earns him an eyeroll.
“How are your interviews going,” he asks. “Almost done?”
I breathe out wearily .
He chuckles. “That good, huh?”
Shaking my head, I explain, “No, they are going great. We already offered three spots yesterday, and they all accepted last night.”
“That’s amazing!” Lucas beams with pride, causing the butterflies in my gut to take flight again. “But why the long sigh then?”
“It’s just exhausting,” I tell him, ”and there are few girls I'm still on the fence about.”
“Listen to your gut, babe,” Lucas advises. “It’s always worked for me.”
Before I can get another word in, Lucas says, “I’ve got to go. You’ve got this, Laur.”
He kisses me on the cheek and quickly walks to the locker room.
What does my gut say? Is Raven the right choice?