k a r r i s

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There was no time for tomfoolery. Our first game against Brampcrest was soon approaching and I had an insatiable desire to win. I wanted Willowridge to go out there, do their best, and hope to the hockey gods that their best would score them their first win of the season. Without this win, the chances of us qualifying for the championships would be slim, and that would be one of this season's major disappointments.

I walked into practice with a mindset to work the team harder than ever. I was in no mood to play games, nor was I in no mood to be the victim of anymore abuse -- especially from Ashton. You could say I was still a little angry with our hot shot captain, but there was no better revenge than to see him shed blood, sweat, and tears from one very grueling practice.

"Irwin, come on! You're not pushing off hard enough on an angle!" I yelled into the megaphone, as I stood on top of the bleachers watching the boys go through some drills that I hoped would strengthen their speed, agility, and precision.

"I'll break my fucking ankles!" Ashton retorted, sending me an angry glare.

"You've got weak ankles to begin with Captain! Take up yoga!" I bellowed back, prompting the annoyed player to roll his eyes.

I smirked to myself, watching as all twenty-one members of the team poured their heart and soul onto the ice. I could see tons of improvement among the boys, and even Coach Benson was thoroughly impressed. He didn't say much all practice, letting me take the lead in training the team. Calum's precision in dribbling the puck was improving, Luke's movements were becoming more fluid, and Michael was even gaining major speed -- faster than Ashton at some points.

"There ya go Michael! Good job!" I complimented through the megaphone, smiling endlessly at the boy who was soon inching himself out of the title as the weakest member.

The stop watch that hung around Coach Benson's neck began to beep, ending another strenuous practice. He blew on his whistle, cueing the team to gradually slow down their movements and skate over to the benches. I watched as the team threw off their helmets, buckets of sweat pouring down their faces as they grabbed bottles of water. I sat down on the bleacher with Coach Benson, who was writing down some last minute notes.

"How do you feel?" I asked him, gazing down at the yellow notepad on his lap.

"Karris, these drills are amazing," he commended with a burly chuckle. "These boys are improving in all different areas. I think we have a chance at winning against Brampcrest, and it's all thanks to you."

"Really Coach?" I looked at him with hope, a sappy smile painted across my face.

"Yes, I promise," he gave me a pat on the back in assurance.

As I chilled out on the bleacher, filled from head to toe in absolute joy, I pulled out my phone to tweet about my excitement. With my eyes locked on my phone, I didn't notice when a figure skated right up to me. When I caught a flash of light surrounding me however, that's when I lifted my head. Calum stood on the other side of the barricade with an ear to ear grin plastered across his face. He held his phone tightly in his hand, with its camera angled towards me.

"Hey! Did you take a picture of me?!" I exclaimed, a giggle escaping my lips as I stood up. I leaned over, holding my arm out in trying to cover the lens.

"Karris stop it!" Calum kept snapping photos, a jingle emitting from his phone every time he'd press a button.

"Calum! Why are you taking photos of me?" I asked, as the two of us continued to playfully fight, our laughter echoing through out the rink.

"For social media! So the world can see what a fucking amazing coach you are!" Calum answered, and it was that response that caused me to suddenly drop my hands from defense.

I stepped back, at an awe with Calum's words. I gazed at him with a stupid grin on my face, happiness shining from all around my body and I couldn't help it. I probably looked like a psycho but I didn't care at that point because what Calum had said, meant so much to me. His extremely generous compliment however, did nothing to ebb the crush I had on him -- if anything, it only deepened my feelings for the boy.

"You really think that I'm an amazing coach?" I asked Calum, just in case he was toying with my emotions.

"Karris, with you, this team is capable of anything," Calum promised, bringing his right hand over his heart, "I mean that."

"You have no idea how incredible that makes me feel," I told him, "thank you so much, Cal."

Calum held out his arms wide, causing me follow suit into his chest. Despite the fact that he smelled like sweat and Gatorade, there was not a single muscle in my body that did not enjoy the hug at 200%. It was strong, but not overbearing. It was protective, yet tender, and perfect all at the same time. But there was something evil working against me; something that wanted to keep me from being happy. And that something was called Ashton Irwin.

"Aw, how cute? Coach Karris has a crush on the hunky hockey jock of Willowridge High," Ashton teased me, cackling after his string of words that were meant to hurt and embarrass me.

Calum and I stepped away from each other, prematurely separating from the hug. I looked over to Ashton, who continued to laugh at me, holding a cold bottle of water in his hand.

"Ash, leave her alone," Calum defended me, a trait of his I missed, yet wished he didn't have to do.

"Oh come on Hood," Ashton gave him a hearty pat on the back, "I think it's totally adorable that Karris has a big ass puppy crush on you," he glanced at me, "are you going to get Calum's name tattooed in an arrow heart?"

I was back on the team, but Ashton still liked to tease me. Yes, he's been less harsh, but there wasn't a day that went by without a snarky quip or some kind of opinion from Ashton that was meant to get me riled up.

"I don't have a crush on him," I had to stand up to Ashton, I hated feeling so intimidated.

"Please," Ashton scoffed, "don't deny it Karris. I see you blush every time Calum so much as looks at you. Personally, I don't know how it might work seeing as Mr. Hood here," he gestured for Calum, "is quite a hot commodity among several females at Willowridge. He could have anyone, so why would he choose the nerdy hockey coach?"

"Ashton," Calum warned, shooting his captain a glare.

"It's okay Cal," I spoke up again, "Ashton is entitled to an opinion, even though it's completely wrong."

"Since when am I ever wrong?" Ashton raised a brow, smirking at me with sudden curiosity in what I had to say. He was such a pretentious jerk and sometimes I wished I could smack him in the head with a hockey puck.

"You're wrong. I don't have a crush on Calum," I lied. It was a huge lie to cover up my huge crush on Calum but I couldn't live it down if the team knew that.

"You're lying through your teeth Karebear," Ashton scoffed with a laugh, "you're face is all red."

"First of all, don't call me Karebear. And just because someone wants to give me a little praise doesn't automatically imply that I'm going to fall for them," I retorted, my eyebrows narrowing in, "and so what if my cheeks redden? We're in a freaking ice rink you dummy -- it's cold in here and I've been yelling my butt off trying to train you into a better player because let's face it Ashton: you're not as hot of a player as you think you are!"

Silence.

The entire hockey team gawked with jaws wide open. Their eyes darted between both Ashton and I, trying to cohere the words that spewed out of my mouth. Then, like a bursted bubble, laughter reverberated from the entire venue. Luke, Michael, Calum, and the rest of the team held onto their stomachs as they giggled ferociously. They all pointed at Ashton, or shoved him with their shoulders, teasing their captain playfully.

"And Karris does it again!" Michael whooped, smacking Ashton upside the head.

"Baby girl really knows how to take a man's balls away," Luke chuckled hysterically, clutching onto his sides and keeling over from great bliss.

I smiled too. I was proud of myself; proud that I was slowly finding the courage I needed to stand up to Ashton. I was a girl, I was small, and to top it all off, I was as fierce as a baby mouse. No one would ever be intimidated by me because I was like everyone's little sister that people needed to protect and I was getting tired of it.

I looked over at Ashton who was red in the face with heated embarrassment and did not like the fact that he was put in his place. Normally he'd retort with some kind of ignorant rhetoric but it never came. He simply just rolled his eyes, ascended the bleachers and plopped down in a huff. Maybe he was just biting his tongue? Maybe he didn't want to say anything too out of line that could cause me to leave the team again? Whatever it was, it just felt good to have the last word.

"Great hustle today boys!" Coach benson complimented with a grin, "you are all showing great improvement and as each practice goes by, I have more confidence in a win against Brampcrest Academy!"

The team exploded into claps and howls. I beamed at the twenty-one boys before me, excited to see them play. I was still nervous because I knew Brampcrest well. They were a talented and very cunning team who were gunning to win every game they played. It was like manslaughter competing against them, but as I gazed at the twenty-one boys who were dripping in sweat -- evidence of their hard work at practice, I just knew the amount of heart they had for hockey. It was the same kind of heart Gabe had, and it's that same kind of heart that Brampcrest lacked.

Once Coach Benson was finished with his end of practice recaps and the team was dismissed to go clean up, I made my way to the hallway where I normally did homework. As I trekked up the stairs, my wrist was suddenly seized. I glanced over at the culprit who was none other than Calum.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hi there," I grinned back at him, my stomach doing a backflip. "Is there something you need?"

"Uh yea, I was wondering if you were busy this Saturday?" He asked and I swear my heart was going to combust into flames.

"No, not at all," I may have responded a little too quickly and a little too desperately. I should've been more cool and less clingy. Darn it!

"That's good to hear actually because I was actually wondering if you wanted to hang out?" Calum gazed at me with hopefulness in his eyes. He gave me a small pout, as if the cute gesture would sway my answer but I was already on board.

"Oh? With the team? That'd be fun!" I exclaimed, clasping my fingers together in excitement.

"No Karris, I mean, like, I was hoping we could hang out just the two of us," Calum suddenly dropped this atomic bomb in front of me and I almost crapped my pants.

I stood there looking like a total goober with my mouth agape, my eyes wide, my glasses were slowly drooping down the bridge of my nose, and I'm pretty sure I was about to drool due to the shock that surged through my veins. When I didn't say anything however, that's when Calum continued to speak.

"But if you're more comfortable with being in a group, we can totally have the others come with and you could even--"

"--Calum!" I interrupted him with a grin, "it's okay! It can just be the two of us. I don't mind at all."

Really.

"Are you sure?" Calum questioned, "cause I don't want to make you uncomfortable or anything."

"I'm sure," I assured, "I'd love to spend time with you."

Calum grinned from ear to ear, "okay, awesome. I'll text you with the details."

I nodded my head with a smile watching as Calum waved me a goodbye before walking away. I stood there biting my bottom lip like a dopey, love-sick minion as excited chills ran up and down my spine. Right when Calum was out of both ear and eye shot, I let the giddiness explode out of my body. I squealed to myself, stomping my feet in a rapid manner.

Did Calum Hood actually ask me to hang out? And not in a group -- one on one. Yea, I know. It sounds like some kind of crazy dream but it wasn't. It was reality - my reality and I was thrilled that this was actually happening to me. My action with guys were nonexistent. I had as much game as a dying emu and I was hoping Calum could change all that for me. But during my moment of absolute glee was unfortunately and forcibly ceased.

"Don't get too excited Karebear,"

I halted my movements and my face fell into smooth, unamused lines, "I already told you not to call me Karebear. You're not allowed to."

"A little advice, don't read too much into Calum's actions," Ashton stepped down the stairs after standing up from the bleachers.

"I don't want your advice Captain," I groaned, "and please just let me be. It's like you never want me to be happy."

"I let you back on this team, didn't I? A team that makes you happy - obviously I have some kind of consideration for your joy," Ashton justified, his tone all-knowing and pretentious.

I rolled my eyes, turning around, "goodbye Ashton. You make me want to play on the freeway."

I descended the stairs, my pursuit in escaping Ashton. I already knew that if I continued this conversation, I'd only get more upset. It still drove me nuts knowing how big of an impact Ashton had on my emotions. It was irritating and just - ugh!

"I'm serious Karebear," Ashton called out from the top of the bleachers, "don't get too excited over golden boy Calum."

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Hmmm, how do you all feel about Calum and Karris - Calis? Calris? Karum?

Thanks for reading guys! I really hope you all liked this chapter. Thanks for continuing to vote, to comment, and to share. This story gains new readers each day and that seriously makes me happy! Thank you so much for that!