The Ties that Binds Us

5

I was left devastated with nothing else to do, I had thought I would be able to get Emory to train me with the pictures I had of him but he didn’t seem to care less about it.

I’m in the backyard of the house as I train with what little motivation I had left.

It’s one thing to be told that you can’t chase your dream and it’s another to see yourself as the reason why you can chase your dream.

That was my case. And both of those options were my obstacles.

It’s morning and I pushed myself off the bed to get to the shower.

I finally stepped out of the room all dressed up, today felt extremely cold than the previous days, or maybe it was just my undying attitude to go to school.

“Are you okay Manon?” Mother asked.

“Yes” I nodded as I joined them for breakfast.

Dad glanced at me,

“Is there anything wrong? Are your team mates bullying you?” He inquired.

When I came home last night, I had lied to him that I made the team.

I couldn’t bear to disappoint him with the bad news that was now my reality, that I might never make it to the team.

“No, I’m just a little tired” I replied.

“I’m sorry dear” he rubbed my head and then gave me a little kiss on my forehead, before he left for work.

I finally got to school and as usual I kept my head down, pretending no one would recognize me.

I got to my seat and I laid my head on the desk, waiting for next class to start.

And just like that, eight hours had passed and classes were over.

I grabbed my bag and left the class heading home when I found myself in front of ice rink.

Shit!

How did I end up here?

I turned about to leave when I bumped into Marsh, his smile was the first thing I saw.

“Hi Manon”

“Hey” I breathed out.

“Hey look, it’s loser girl” one of the boys pointed to me as he walked past us and into the ice rink.

The three boys behind him laughed as they followed.

“Don’t mind them” Marsh said to me, it was hard not to when they were already pointing at me.

“Are you here for the tryouts?” He asked.

“No” I shook my head, I couldn’t tell him that I accidentally ended up here when I intended to go home.

“Okay, I will see you later” he said then tapped me on the shoulders and walked into the rink.

I stood outside the door for a little while, I could hear those boys laughing and I knew they were talking about me.

“Just go home” my inner voice advised and I turned my feet to leave.

Yet somehow I pushed open the door and walked in.

My eyes landed on Emory first, he looked at me coldly but I ignored him, Coach Jude was already present and he was the one I needed to face.

“I’m ready” I said to him.

“Ready for what?” He inquired.

“I’m ready to beat him” I pointed at Emory.

Who said he was the best?

I get to decide that, and right now, I was filled with so much rage that I knew I would be able to beat him.

“You have to be kidding me?” Coach sighed, like he was tired of me and my shenanigans.

But I was dead serious.

“Let me try” I ordered.

“Okay, but the rules are different this time” he said.

“You will be the goalie, if you are able to block one shot from him then you are in”

I felt like that was another trap but my cockiness wouldn’t let me see it.

“Fine” I said as I took the deal.

Emory stood in front of me with his stick,

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” I’m not dumb enough to mistake his words for concern, he was clearly mocking me.

“You bet” I replied and stood by the post.

In a span of thirty minutes, I was not able to block a single shot from him, they all swept right past me as the speed of lightning.

“Come on princess, arch your back into this” he said boldly.

Getting on my nerves, that what he had been doing for the past thirty minutes, making intimate remarks to piss me off.

I was fed up, I threw my stick to the ground and walk up to him.

I grabbed him by the collar,

“You better shut the hell up or do you want the whole team to know about your little secret” I whispered in his ears.

For the first time, all I heard quiet from him.

That was more like it.

I returned to my post and grabbed my stick, all eyes were on me this time, probably because no one has ever shut the bastard up.

“Play” I ordered him.

Before I could blink, the puck flew right past me and into the goal.

I thought I had shut him up but what I didn’t know was that I had actually pissed him off.

So for the next twenty minutes, he took out his rage on me by making sure I couldn’t catch a single shot.

Like I wasn’t humiliated the first time, now this hurts twice as much.

I’m in the girl’s locker room as I take a shower, tears falling from my face, I was broken, disappointed in my self.

I started to question everything that I have ever believed in.

Why was this so hard?

Why did he have to be so good?

Why?

I cried my heart out in there until I turned and was met with a figure standing behind me.

Drenched in water, I almost screamed my heart out when I saw him.

His body was soaked and the shirt he wore pinned to his body, revealing his toned abs.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded.

I could see the rage in his eyes as he glared at me. I was scared, scared of what he might do to me.

I could scream for help but I am certain no one is around to save me.

Instead of answering me, he took a step forward, I pulled away from him, not just because he was in the room with me, but because I was completely naked.

“What do you want?” I asked panicking.

He took more steps closer until I was pressed against the wall, the water running down our bodies.

His right hand held my face up by my jaw, and then he kissed me.

God, I wished this was a dream because I don’t know why it felt so good when he kissed me.