There's No Teaching The Hockey Star

Chapter 7 - Jayden

Moments ago, the honey-blond-haired teacher had looked through me, now she was looking at her feet like she wanted the ground to swallow her up as the giggles sounded around us. That kid was a cheeky little...

I turned to look at the coach, desperate to know what to do next, but saw that he had a grin upon his face. He seemed to be loving the drama as much as the kids. Jackass. Did he know this much chaos was to be expected when he signed us up for this? As I was about to move to talk to him, I heard the teacher clear her throat like she was about to talk, bringing my attention back to her. The flushed hint of red lingering on her cheeks meant the child had done exactly as he planned and embarrassed her. Her whole body language looked almost defeated, as she took a deep breath...

But, before she was able to speak a word, there was a whimper from further down the line. A little girl, dressed in a phantoms' jacket, her auburn hair in a neat little braid. She looked devastated. “No!” She wailed, a sound so loud she could have awoken the dead. Why was she squealing so bad? Was she in pain? I panicked, hoping the teacher would come to help. My eyes moved to the coach, and he shrugged while Carlos and Diego sniggered as her wailing continued, making me wonder if she had even possibly been possessed. Until a little stuttery voice broke through the sobs. “I like him. She can’t have him. He’s the Phantom. I want him.”

The perfectly shaped brows of the woman the kids had called Miss furrowed in what I assumed was confusion before she turned to the woman who had introduced herself as Miss Langdon, or Saffy. “Aren’t they all the Phantoms?” She muttered, making me want to roll my eyes. Seemed the woman had no clue who we were. The Phantom had become my nickname because of the way I played. Appearing out of nowhere to shut down plays. They don't see me until it's too late. I earned the name within a month of my arrival at the team. Perhaps Miss Thing here was not a Phantoms fan. Seemed her class, however, may be...

Her friend gave a sympathetic smile, “Oh, Octavia.” She whispered, almost reprimanding her colleague, telling me that perhaps some of the teaching staff were likely fans of the team too. The Phantoms were the ice hockey team in our town. A high percentage of our residents were huge fans. This teacher here, I could only assume was called Octavia, was one of a few exceptions, yet she gave her colleague a disgusted expression.

But to my surprise, the flustered expression upon her face shifted. She did not look once more in our direction as the others were chuckling among themselves, clearly finding the whole exchange as amusing as the children did.

She took what looked like a deep breath, before turning to the young boy and said. “Thanks for the introduction there, Eli. I think I would have preferred to speak for myself. Remember what we have said in class about speaking at the right times?” The boy screwed his nose up at the reminder, and I had to hold back a smile, while Octavia moved to squat down next to the young girl, still sobbing, while also staring daggers at the boy who returned to smirking in her direction.

Octavia offered the young girl an encouraging smile. “So, do not worry, Holly. I am not his girlfriend. Perhaps he may even be a little on the old side for you too, huh?” She ruffled the girl’s hair playfully, only for the girl to look at her with disgust.

“So? He is the Phantom." The girl replied to her teacher with attitude, the tears seeming to have stopped, before she narrowed her eyes as if monitoring her closely. "And you best not be his girlfriend."

There was another snigger from the brothers, making me wonder just what use they were going to be if they were as easily distracted by the kids. But, I stood in awe at the calmness of this woman, as she turned to the little girl next to her while the other children began to become restless. “Trust me, I am not his girlfriend, Holly. I would say I was flattered, but I just met him, and trust me, sweetheart, he is not my type.”

It was my turn to frown. What did that mean? Her tone implied I was some sort of disgusting. How rude! But my offense was irrelevant, Octavia patted Holly's arm reassuringly, and the little girl by her teacher’s side smiled. The tears switched off as suddenly as they had come. Crisis seemingly averted. But I had a feeling I may be keeping an eye on these kids.

“Right class, are we going to listen and do some good training?” Octavia spoke to the class confidently, as she stood up and looked towards the children, drawing their attention to her. It was hard not to notice her. Not just because she was beautiful. Not because she was flustered, because that had easily passed the moment she had something she had to handle. But because of how she handled it. She looked confident. At ease with the kids. So calm. Warm. Patient. And, the way they responded to her looked so natural. And, other than the initial dirty look in our direction, and, of course, being accused of being my girlfriend, I don’t think she had looked in the direction of me or my teammates once. Which was strange in itself. Almost intriguing.