k a r r i s

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Calum and I had to sneak into the hockey arena a couple of hours before school started to be able to touch the ice for practice. The hockey team occupied the arena after school and since a few of the gym classes were held in the arena, Calum and I had no choice but to catch the sunrise. Waking up 5AM in the morning was absolutely horrendous-- especially my face. Dark circles plagued my eyes, my long hair was in a tangled disarray, and I'm pretty sure my leggings were on backwards. Despite being stupidly groggy, Calum agreed to pick me up in the mornings with a Grande Soy Misto and a warm lemon loaf.

He wasn't bad at all. The tall, tanned, Asian look alike was surprisingly quite talented in hockey and only needed a few pointers to clean up his game.

"Dude, how the hell do move so fast? You're like fucking Flash!" Calum yelled, as he stood in the center of the rink while I skated circles around him. I slowed down, coming to a precise halt right in front of him, my blades shaving off some of the ice in doing so.

"Thanks and it's all in the physics," I answered with a smile.

"Physics?" he raised a brow.

"Have you seen my size Calum?" I pointed out gesturing towards my petite stature.

"Yea I have actually. Do they let you on rides at amusement parks?" Calum teased, laughing at his own joke. I whacked him in the shin with my hockey stick and he plummeted onto the ice with a loud thud. Now it was my turn to laugh.

"First of all, yes they do let me on rides," I declared matter-of-factly, shooting him a smug expression, "and secondly, I'm shorter and weigh less than most hockey players. That, in addition to the force of take off all factors into speed."

"You really like math and science don't you?" Calum observed, holding out his hand. I grabbed a hold of it, helping the boy up.

"Yup, it just comes easy to me," I shrugged. "Now let's work on your slapshot. You're already pretty fast and agile, and besides a killer slapshot, I think all we really need to work on is some passing techniques."

"Teach me, oh wise one," Calum bowed, dramatically gesturing for the ice around us. I giggled, throughly enjoying Calum's company. He was the first person from this school who I could call a friend besides Berkley, of course.

"Skate to the center, young grasshopper," I mused, matching the same playful tone as he.

The pair of us practiced passing pucks and even created our own techniques that we were psyched to show off during tryouts later that day. After training with Calum the past couple of days, I was getting really anxious yet really excited for tryouts. I went into this deal just to prove to Ashton, Coach Benson, and everyone else on the team that girls could play hockey and keep up with the boys. But the more I spent time on the ice, the more I actually wanted to be on the team.

There was something about being in the same place my brother spent all this time in that made me feel closer to him. He loved this sport and he loved his team mates, and I'm sure wherever he is, he's proudly watching over me.

As I cleansed myself in the shower after practice, letting the fruity-infused shampoo fill my nostrils with great pleasure, sounds of shuffling and locker slamming interrupted my relaxation time. Since there was no way I was getting anymore time to myself, I decided to shut off the warm water and proceeded to towel myself dry.

"Hey Tegan, do you want to go watch a movie after school today?"

"Naw, I'm going to watch the hockey tryouts today. Ash needs my support."

I knew those two voices very well, and I wasn't even in this school for more than a week. Tegan Loelli, I came to learn, was queen bee at Willowridge. Absolutely beautiful, long blonde hair, thin, and blah blah blah. Her best friend and number one crony, was Jeanine Gomez. Equally beautiful, but equally as shallow as the girl she so often followed.

I stepped out of the shower with my dark blue towel wrapped around my body. I kept my head down, not wanting to make any eye contact with either Tegan or Jeanine. Their presence reminded me of the Basilisk from the Harry Potter novels, that looking them in the eyes could result in being petrified.

Damn, I'm such a nerd.

"Hey isn't that..." Jeanine's words faded. Instead of whispering like normal people do when they want to talk about someone, her raspy voice remained at a high decibel.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Tegan spoke up, both answering her friend and sending her generic regards.

I had left my glasses inside my locker and while everything before me was blurry, blending in together without an edge, my legally-blind eyes could see the aesthetically-pleasing transcendence that is Tegan Loelli.

She approached closer to me, hands on her hips, her gym clothes hugging her body in all the right ways. The white tank she wore had the Willowridge Cheer logo across the chest, and her boobs were perfect accentuated. I clutched onto my towel with a tighter grip, cowering from Tegan's intimidating opulence.

"Thanks," I softly said, smiling subtly and started for my locker.

"Do you want to watch the hockey tryouts with me after school?" Tegan asked, grabbing my damp arm. She grinned at me with her pearly whites while I eyed her with uncertainty.

"Um, thanks for the invitation, but I'm kinda trying out for the team," I explained, denying her oh-so generous offer to hang out. I wasn't sure if revealing to Tegan that I was trying out for the hockey team was a smart idea, but I was soon to find out.

"Ew," Jeanine cringed, "why the hell would you do that?"

"Now, now Jeanine. Don't be so rude," Tegan defended, waving away the brown-haired girl, before returning her attention back to me, "why are you trying out for the team? Is it a boy? Honey, let me give you a piece of advice: playing hockey isn't going to get a boy to like you. If anything, they'll be totally turned off."

The heck?

"Uh no, I'm not trying out because of a boy," I told her honestly, earning more scrutinizing looks from the two girls, "I'm trying out because I like the sport and I'm actually good at it."

There was a silence between the three of us as I stood there awkwardly. I was thankful that I didn't have my glasses on at the time because then I'd have to stare into Tegan's snapping green eyes with 20/20 vision.

"Uhm, I'm gonna go change," I finally said. "Still kinda naked."

"Good luck with your tryout... Villanueva," Tegan's voice sent a chill down my back as I swiftly turned away and towards my locker.

✖

I stood at the entrance of the tunnel that led to the ice, shaking in my skates, as my eyes stayed fixated on a framed photograph of my brother. I was on his turf now, the place he joyfully deemed his escape, and all I wanted in this moment was to make him proud.

"Is it weird?"

My attention shifted to Calum, who was all geared up and ready to go. He looked good sporting his own personal jersey and I knew that he was hungry for the official one. I was sure that he would make the team-- not to toot my own horn but training with me really improved Calum's game. If Willowridge hockey were truly gunning for their tenth championship win, they'd be stupid not to put him on the team.

"Is what weird?" I asked, my eyes drifting back to the happy photo of Gabe.

"Being in the same school where your brother pranced the halls like a king," he corrected. Calum sounded somewhat bitter, the statement coming out of his mouth with a pungent bite.

I cocked my head, narrowed brows as I replied, "why do you say it like that? And yea, it's a little weird."

"No reason," Calum shrugged, dismissing the subject.

Clearly he didn't want to discuss it any further and to be frank, I didn't need the added drama. I needed to concentrate if I was going to rock this tryout.

"So I was thinking," Calum began, changing the topic and his tone, "after totally killing our tryouts, we go celebrate making the team with some pizza?"

I laughed, giving him a playful shove, "a little confident now, are we?"

"Well, I did have an awesome teacher," Calum mused. "Seriously, we make a great team, they can't separate the dynamic duo. It's like splitting up Kobe and Shaq." Calum suddenly recoiled with a wondering expression and added, "you do know who Kobe and Shaq are right?"

"Oh yea. Of course I do, pssh," I playfully drawled as I wavered my hand with sass, before changing my attitude to complete seriousness in point-two seconds. I looked Calum straight in the eye and continued, "I love baseball."

Calum's jaw dropped as he stared at me with complete aloofness. After a moment of leaving his mind spinning with the displeasing idea of mixing up sports, I bursted into laughter.

"I'm joking Cal, I know it's basketball," I corrected.

"Oh thank God you knew that," he sighed with relief, placing a hand over his chest. "I had you pegged for a dude-girl."

I raised my brow, "what the heck is a dude girl?"

"You know, like one of the guys," Calum explained.

Oh.

"You're not like the other girls at this school," he continued, "it's really refreshing to meet a girl with substance."

Substance. I think he just called me ugly. I mean, I liked to believe that I was somewhat decent looking. Sure I tend to drown in the clothes I wore, and maybe I opted for just mascara from Target instead of a face full of expensive makeup from Sephora, but I didn't think I was horrendous looking that suddenly my personality shined through. I know, I know. It's what's on the inside that counts, but at the end of the day I'm still a girl with feelings.

Calum seemed to sense what my mind was thinking due to my awkward silence, and how I suddenly cowered away at his words because his eyes widened with guilt. He shot me an expression of utter remorse before quickly gazing away.

"Sorry," he murmured, "I honestly didn't mean it like that. I'm not saying that you're ugly or anything," I cocked my head to the side as I watched Calum stumble his way into a proper explanation, "because you're not. You're just, um, you're--"

I held my hand up, prompting Calum to shut his mouth, "it's okay. I know what you're trying to say... I'm not exactly Tegan Loelli."

"Which is a good thing," Calum justified, "I mean she's smoking hot and she's got some great boobs--" his eyes grew, "oh my God, I can't believe I said that out loud. Please don't tell Ashton, he'd flip a bitch... Point is, Tegan is too prissy for my taste. Are we cool?"

"Yea," I smiled with a nod, "we're cool. Remember, we rock this tryout, we get pizza afterwards."

"And that is why you're awesome. Tegan wouldn't be caught dead with a pizza in her hands," Calum winked as I laughed.

A cacophony of cheers and loud banging filled our ears. Calum and I turned our heads towards the direction when the entire hockey team filed out of the locker room. The rowdy boys wasted no time in running down the tunnel and onto the ice. Their high energy was infectious and both Calum and I were not immune.

"Come on, let's go rock our tryout. I really want pizza," Calum gestured for the ice with an enthusiastic smile on his face. I gave him an even bigger smile, snatching my hockey stick that was rested against the wall and followed Calum out into the rink, ready to showoff my skills.

Gruesome was an understatement.

Tryouts were absolutely grueling. The first 45 minutes were fine-- simple puck dribbling, passing, and speed. Calum and I had no problem, it wasn't until we broke up into teams did things start to get intense. The dark haired boy that I spent my mornings with practicing till we were sore, became a waste when we were placed on separate teams for a scrimmage.

The yellow team-- the team I was placed on, consisted of three other guys gunning for official team positions, number 24 Michael Clifford, and number 07 who I came to know as Luke Hemmings. We were losing, 2-3 and were growing increasingly tired. The blue team where Calum and Ashton were on, showed no mercy.

SLAM.

Ashton's body jolted against mine, causing me to collide against the glass wall of the rink. I winced in pain as I fell to ice, watching as Ashton stole the puck from me and skated towards the net. He passed it to Calum and he scored triumphantly, the puck zooming past the goalie. There were only two minutes left on the clock, and that was two minutes we had to make count.

"Time!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I deepened my voice dramatically so I sounded more like a male.

"There's no point," Ashton chuckled, "you guys are gonna lose anyway, and you dude, aren't going to make the team."

"Time!" I shouted again, sending Ashton a death glare. I followed the rest of the yellow team to our respective bench. They plopped down, taking off their helmets and chugging water. Coach Benson stood off to the side, observing our team huddle.

"Why'd you call time? You heard Irwin, we're done," Luke declared with a shrug, "you played well though. You might make the team. What was your name again?"

Karris.

"Uh, um, that doesn't matter," I quickly disregarded his question, trying to keep my voice deep. Michael looked at me with suspicious looks, but I averted my eyes. If it weren't for this helmet, I'd be screwed.

"We have two minutes," I continued, "that's a lot of time and we can still win this thing. Luke, if you don't mind, I have a suggestion."

Luke shrugged, "go ahead, what do you suggest we do?"

"Up the defense. Don't let them get to me and when the time is right, give me the puck."

"What's the point of all that?"

I smirked to myself, "oh, you'll see."

We raced back onto the ice with a little more determination to win than before. I however, was bloodthirsty to prove my point. I was tired as hell, sore like crazy, and my stomach had an insatiable desire for a large slice of super cheesy pizza. The time on the score board continued and it was like a switch turned on inside of me.

For Gabe.

I met Ashton at the face-off line, and he looked at me with surprised eyes, "this is gonna be too easy. I don't think hockey is your sport man. You're too much of a pussyflake."

I didn't reply vocally, and I let my skill speak for me.

The look on Ashton's face when I smacked the puck away from him was utterly priceless. He obviously wasn't expecting it, and he definitely wasn't expecting me to skate at rapid speed towards the net to make the yellow team's first goal.

"Yeah! Score!" Michael screamed at the top of his lungs, as he skated joyfully with his stick in the air. His rejoice however was cut short when a very angry Ashton slammed Michael down. "Dude! What the fuck was that for?"

It was 3-3 with ninety seconds left on the clock. All we needed to win was just one point and I knew exactly how to get it. Ashton however, was tailing my butt. He no longer doubted my skill and instead had more determination to bring me down.

I looked over to Luke, Michael and the other players on the ice who had the same yellow jersey as I. Following my orders, the defensemen crashed into the other players on the blue team, keeping them away from me. I scanned my eyes across the ice, searching for the puck. Luke had it with Calum trailing behind him.

"Hemmings!" I yelled. Luke looked over to me, swiping his stick and passing the puck in my direction. Ashton was so close to me, and all the other players were preoccupied. There was no way I could make the perfect slapshot at this moment unless I concocted some kind of diversion to get Ashton away from me.

Backwards.

I skated a figure-8 backwards, flipping the puck over onto my stick and flinging it behind me. Thank the hockey Gods because Luke was there to catch the puck. Unfortunately for Ashton however, the law of physics seemed to catch up with him. An object in motion stays in motion, and Ashton kept moving.

Right into the glass.

I stifled a laugh as Luke approached me. I continued to skate backwards, towards the net until Luke passed the puck. The moment my stick was in contact with the rubber puck, I knew it was time. I turned around, came to a sudden halt and arched my stick back.

It was all in slow motion the way the fluidity of my movements seemed to play out before my eyes. The stick slapped against the ice with an echoing bang, and because physics never seem to fail me, the amount of energy that was distributed from the stick to the puck was enough force to hurl it past the goalie and into the net with a speed even faster that Flash.

Time up.

"Yes!" I excitedly whooped, dropping the stick onto the ice.

The jig was up and I took off my helmet, shaking my hair. It felt so good to let my head breathe again. As I clutched onto my helmet, I looked at my surrounding area. My point was proven and I knew this from the silence and dropped jaws of everyone on the team. Ashton looked the most pissed off. His eyes narrowed in towards my direction, shooting me a glare filled with so much ire I wanted to skate myself into the firey pits of a volcano. Ripping off the red bandana that pushed his sweaty curls out of his face, he threw it onto the ice.

"The loser?"

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So, I totally had the best time writing this chapter. Took me a couple of days to write but it was a good time. A bit of a long-ish chapter with 3000 words but I hope you all enjoyed it.

Calum is so adorable and I like his budding friendship with Karris-- though you should know it's not going to last. Hockey team brotherhood vs. Karris will be a battle Calum has to fight. Also, yay for Karris for keeping up with the boys and for proving her point. But badass Ashton is pissed, of course.

Anywayzzz, thanks for reading guys. Please do vote, comment, and share it with all your friends. I appreciate it all! ALSO, I wrote a spin-off of this story called LA NOCHE DE BRUJAS. It's a Halloween short 5-chapter story that's an entry for Fanfic's Halloween Contest. Please do check it out if you like!

THANK YOUUUUU!!!!! <333