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I really, really hope that this is the LAST time I update on an iPad.

Excuse the mistakes

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Have you ever done full ice suicides?

No, I'm not talking about just down and back until you reached the other goal line. I'm talking about when you start on one side of the net, and after doing the usual suicide pattern, you go around the net and continue doing the suicide pattern. You have to return to your starting point every time, and you pretty much end up going the circumference of the ice over five times.

Sounds horrendous, right? Well, I got to do this twice at the end of my first practice. Coach Hannover decided that we needed extra conditioning, but I think the whole team knew that my addition to the team was most likely the cause. It was like he was turning the team against me so that I'd eventually quit.

Fat chance of that happening.

The class bell rang loudly, and I groaned as I got up with the rest of the class. If I thought tryouts hd left their mark on my body, last night had pretty much pummeled me until I was black and blue. I had another one tonight, and needless to say, I was not looking forward to it. However, I knew in the end, all of this conditioning would help my cause because it would make me stronger.

As I shuffled out of the classroom, I wasn't exactly looking where I was going, and I walk straight into someone. I stumbled to the side and immediately started apologizing. "I'm sorry," I said quickly, and I looked up to see one of the more popular girls, I think her name was Britney, glaring at me.

"Watch where you're going, bitch," she snapped, and then she turned on her ridiculously high heels and clacked away, her little clones following behind her.

"Okay, harsh," I muttered, and then I just shook my head and started walking in the opposite direction. I reached my locker, and I had squeeze through the crowded hallway to get to it. Quickly, I exchanged my stuff from the first half of the day to the supplies I'd need after lunch. Then, I grabbed my Tarzan lunchbox and slammed my locker shut.

I let myself walk with the current of the sea of other students, since everyone was pushing for the cafeteria, and as I stepped inside, I saw Penny already sitting at her usual table eating lunch.

Penny was one of those girls who was friends with a lot of people in a lot of different cliques, but when it came to lunch, she sat by herself because she didn't really have a clique of her own that she fit into. It didn't really bother her, since plenty of people would come say hi and chat for a bit, or even sit with her for a few minutes.

Since I didn't really have any friends, I just sat with her because she was the first person that I'd met here. I thought that maybe I'd had the team, but from the dirty looks I'd gotten in the locker room last night, I decided not to try with them yet. Maybe they'd come around, but not at the moment.

"Hey Penny," I said, sitting down across from her.

"Hi Kels," she replied, giving me a smile as she took a sip from her water bottle. "How was your first practice?"

"Oh, stellar!" I stated sarcastically, "I think your father killed my legs, and the team probably hates me more."

Penny chuckled and started to comment, but then her smile disappeared, and she nodded behind me. "Speak of the devil, and he will appear; or, better yet, them."

"Huh?" I asked, and I turned around slowly to where she was looking to see three of my teammates walking over. Alec was heading the threesome, and the two guys with him were Greg and Owen, if my memory serves. From the smirks on their faces, I knew that this wasn't going to be good.

"Here there, Kelsey," Alec said as he reached our table, "How are you feeling today?"

"Absolutely fantastic," I replied, and despite the smile on my face, there was a slight edge to my voice. Alec needed to know that I was not one to be fucked with.

"Good," he responded with a nod, and Greg spoke up.

"So we were wondering something," he stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh, and what was that?" I asked, glancing over at Penny, who was wearing an expression that read as a mixture of annoyance and amusement. She could clearly detect that element of sarcasm in my voice, and she was enjoying my little exchange with the boys.

"When are you going to quit the team?"

At Greg's question, my head snapped back around to look at him, and my casual mood and disappeared and been replaced with a hostile one. "What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded, mentally trying to calm myself down.

"Well," Alec chimed in, "Sooner or later, you're going to realize you can't handle being an Ice Devil, and we're thinking about starting a running bet."

"Are you serious?" I asked, pushing myself up to stand toe to toe with Alec. Fun fact; I'm probably about two inches taller than the guy.

"Yeah," he replied, making me want to smack the smug smirk right off of his face, "I mean, did you sleep with Hannover or Marshall to get on the team or something? Am on the mark here?"

"Listen here, you little fuc-"

"Enough."

Dane stepped pushed Alec back and stepped between us, and he gave Alec a harsh look. "Kelsey got on the team because of her skill and the fact that we need her since we lost a defenseman. If I hear of any of you saying shit like that again, I will make you really regret it."

Apparently Dane's words carried a lot of weight, because despite Alec's dramatic eye roll and quick glare at me, and he turned and walked away. Greg and Owen followed along, but what surprised me was the fact that Owen turned around and mouthed an apology to me. My eyebrows shot up, but I nodded at him in thank you.

After they had gotten far enough away, Dane turned to me with a frown on his face. "Thanks Dane," I said, and I started to add more, but Dane held up a hand and dug something out of his backpack.

"Here," he said, handing me a packet of five or six pieces of paper stapled together.

"What's this?" I asked as I leafed through the pages.

"Our conditioning regimen," Dane stated, "You were looking slow at practice, so I thought I would give this to you to help you catch up."

"Slow?" I echoed since that was the part I'd pretty much singled out.

"Well, slow for the Ice Devils," Dane stated frankly, "I got you on this team, but you need to help yourself stay on and actually get playing time. This isn't house; everyone on the team doesn't have to play."

"I thought you said I got on the team because of my skills and the need for a defenseman," I said bitterly, and Dane shrugged.

"You fulfilled all of those things, Kelsey," he said, "But let's face it; if I hadn't convinced Hannover to let you on the team, you wouldn't be on it. So just do the conditioning."

Then, without another word, he turned and walked towards the lunch table where all of the hockey players who went to our school sat. I looked from Dane to the packet of conditioning information, and then I let out a sound of frustration before plopping back down in my chair.

I could feel Penny's eyes on me as I shoved the packet carelessly into my backpack and practically tore open my lunch box. As I lifted my food out, I heard Penny chuckled. "What?" I demanded defensively.

"What are you, eight?" she asked, nodding towards the cheese pizza Lunchable clutched in my hands.

"When I want to be," I stated, and then I dove in.

*

Today's practice didn't include full-ice suicides, and I was thanking any and every god for that.However, it had still been exhausting, and I was ready for a long nap in my increasingly comfortable-seeming bed.

I was far to tired to realize that I had taken my jill off to put on my sweatpants, and even when a couple of the guys stared, I couldn't find it in me to care or be embarrassed. Instead, I finished getting dressed, and after shoved my feet into my old Nikes, I packed all of my gear into my bag.

I pulled my sweaty hair into a tight knot at the top of my head, and I yanked my bag up onto my sore shoulder. I grabbed my Warrior from where it was leaning against the concrete, mysteriously wet wall, and just as I started out of the locker room, I heard my name.

"Bye Kelsey!" Alec called and I turned around to see him waving and smirking. There was the same expression of judging and cockiness from earlier in his eyes, and I resisted the urge to walk over and deck him. From the look on Dane's face, we both knew he was doing this to be an ass.

"Bye Alec," I replied, and as I waved, I made sure that my middle finger was sticking straight out at him so that only a select few knew I was pretty much flipping him off. Alec looked surprised and Dane just looked annoyed. Tony, on the other hand, started cracking up.

Tony seemed to be genuinely happy that I was on the team. During warmups today, he'd skated with me for a bit and asked me about my past with hockey. I know that I do my best to put up a confident front, but it was really hard when people were doubting me and putting me down on the team. Tony's friendliness reassured me that I just had to stick it out.

I exited the locker room and walked down the hallway until I got to the lower lobby. Just as I reached the stairs to go up to the main lobby, I heard yet another person call my name. I let out a quiet groan before turning around and seeing Coach Marshall.

"Kelsey," he said, pointing towards the hallway of coaches' offices, "Coach Hannover would like to see you for a minute."

"Great," I said, and I dropped my bag against the mouth of the hallway, and I brought my stick along with me in case Coach Hannover tried to murder me or something. I reached his office in a matter of seconds, and I knocked once before opening the door without a waiting for a response.

Coach Hannover was sitting on his desk, typing something onto his computer, and after few minutes during which he didn't bother to look at me, and cleared my throat. "Coach Marshall said you wanted to see me," I said, though it came out more as a question.

"Ah, yes," Coach Hannover drawled, and he hit the enter button on his keyboard. Then, he turned his attention to me. "Kelsey, I want you to know that I did not want you on this team."

Wow. Way to be blunt, Dude."

"Um, okay," I replied, unsure what the hell he wanted me to say to that.

"However, after Dane insisted that you would be a good addition to the team, I let you on," Coach Hannover continued, ignoring me, "I don't yet believe that you are an Ice Devil, despite the fact that you're wearing an Ice Devils jersey on Friday."

"Well the on Friday, I'll prove it to you," I stated, though I wasn't entirely sure that he'd let me even touch the ice, save for warmups.

"We''ll see about that," Coach Hannover replied, pursing his lips. That just made more sure that I wasn't going to play on Friday, which made me pretty angry.

"Is that all?" I asked, trying not to let my anger show through my voice. As much as I hated Coach Hannover, I was in no position to offend him or make him hate me even more. I needed to play Friday, no matter the cost.

"For now," Coach Hannover replied, and then he returned to his computer and whatever he'd been typing.

I turned and hurried from the room, and after taking a few steps away from Coach Hannover's office, I let loose a string of swear words that made no sense but felt really good to say. Then, I walked down the rest of the hallway and slung my bag back up on my shoulder. I gritted my teeth at the sore feeling, and then I went of the stairs.

I waved to Rachel, who was sitting at her usual spot at the reception desk, and then I walked out of the front doors of the Ice Berg. I saw my dad's Pilot running idly at the curb, and I hopped down the front steps to it. I threw my bag in the trunk, and then I walked up to the passenger door.

I climbed into the seat and after buckling myself in, I let out a long, deep sigh. My tired muscles relaxed, which was painful and euphoric at the same time, and I shivered slightly.

"How was practice?" my dad asked as he pulled out of the Ice Berg's parking lot. A ton of words flew through my mind to describe the practice I'd just had, many along the lines of awful, exhausting, heinous, shit, but I kept those to myself.

"It was fine."

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Okay, so in less than two hours, I'm going to be sitting in my seat at a ONE DIRECTION CONCERT!!!! Yeah, I'm excited. I'm a directioner. Come at me, bro.

...I really hope i don't get mugged...

Yeah, so after this concert, I'm literally lying on my couch doing the occasional college search, which means updates will hopefully be more frequent (knock on wood errybody). I am almost done plotting all of the chapters, which is a really good sign.

Also, with the next chapter, I'm going to experiment and see if I can get pictures and videos to work on the sides again.

Song of the chapter is Kiss You by One Direction because I AM ABOUT TO HEAR THEM SING IT LIVE!!!

Okay, done fangirling.

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