The New Girl Has A Name

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Sebastian Evans


Everyone's attention was on the new girl as she made her way past us and towards her stuff on the bench. She had managed to take us all by surprise, and for once in my life I was completely and utterly speechless.

We were dead silent as she ruffled through her bag and took off her equipment. When she pulled off her jersey, exposing the skin tight under armor that clung to her curves like a second skin, no one could look away. After gathering all her stuff together, she glanced back at us with an amused grin and headed over to the girl's locker room.

As soon as she was out of sight everyone spoke at once. "Damn she's hot," Matt exclaimed from beside me.

I had to agree that she was very attractive, but what the hell was she doing on the rink with us? She did not being here. 

"Coach, what's she doing playing with us?" I shouted over to him.

He looked up from his clipboard and slowly made his way over to the bench area, which was now starting to smell like dead animals.

"She's a hell of a hockey player and there's no girl team, so I told her she could try out."

I didn't hold back my laugh. "You can't be serious!"

He looked dead into my eyes with the most serious face he could muster. "I am one hundred percent serious. Not only is she better than half of you, but she hustles and doesn't complain. I could use about ten of her on this team."

"I could think of about ten different ways I could use her," Matt chuckled under his breath.

Coach must have heard him because he took a menacing step forward and pointed straight at Matt. "There will be none of that silly teenage hormonal stuff going on. If she's on the team, consider her one of the boys and not a potential girlfriend. You hear me? If I find out that any of you get involved with her, both parties will be off the team."

"So she's already on the team? Coach! Come on she's a girl," I complained.

"She earned her spot fair and square," he said emphasizing the word fair.

I couldn't believe it. After three years of busting my ass to get a great team together, it was all going to fall apart senior year. She would ruin our team by distracting everyone. How could Coach do this to us?

"Now everyone shower and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I'm only going to push you harder."

Grumbling, I grabbed my stuff and followed Matt into the locker room. Kent was already changing for a shower when I stomped in. He was our starting goalie, and a hell of a good one. Matt was my best friend hands down, but Kent was a cool guy.

"She's good, isn't she?" Kent asked.

I didn't answer him. No matter how good she was she didn't belong on the ice with us.

"Oh come on, she's pretty cool too. I have a couple of classes with her. I don't think she'll cause—"

"What? Are you in love with her or something?" I snapped.

Kent avoided conflict as much as possible, so I wasn't surprised when he walked off towards the showers without answering me. I didn't care if she was cool, or the best damn hockey player on the team, she didn't belong on this team.

"It's not that big of a deal man. Besides, she's not hard to look at either,"

Matt stood across from me with a sly grin spread across his face. He went through girls like they were disposable objects and it was no surprise that the new girl had managed to catch his attention. She was going to be his new challenge—despite what Coach said.

"Do you really think she'll be treated like one of us out there? Everyone will be afraid to touch her and they'll go easy on her. Coach Howard will take advantage of that, and we'll be the laughing stock of our district."

I could just picture the other teams' faces as we took the rink with a girl playing alongside us. No doubt Coach would start her. He already was set on her being on the team even though tryouts had just started. Matt didn't see that because all he could think about was getting into her pants.

"Why do you care what they think? If we show up and a girl kicks their asses, then who'll be the laughing stock of hockey?" he told me.

I shook my head. "Once you're done using her, you'll want her gone."

I didn't want to hear everyone talk about the new girl. Hell, I didn't even know her name and I already despised her. I stuffed my hockey equipment into my locker and refused to shower at school.

There had to be a way to fix this. Girls were too complicated—I knew that well enough from being with Kate so long. They let little, unimportant things complicate their whole world, and the last thing my team needed was drama.

I tried to temporarily forget about hockey, so I called my dad to come get me. Riding home with Matt would no doubt result in some talk of the new girl.

"So how were tryouts? Any good new guys?" my dad asked as I stepped into the car.

Bill wasn't my biological father, but he had been there for me since before I was born and always supported me. I never really mentioned to anyone that he wasn't my real father, because it didn't matter that we weren't blood. He was best dad I could have asked for.

I tried not to grumble at the mention of hockey, but my irritation got the best of me. "Don't get me started."

He tried to contain a laugh as he merged into traffic. "Are the rookies that bad? No potential?"

"I wish that was the problem," I mumbled.

"Well, then what is it?"

I looked over at Bill and contemplated how to tell him exactly what happened. I decided laying it out straight was the best approach. "Coach Howard not only allowed a girl to try out for the team, but he's already guaranteed her a spot on the team."

And of course she happens to play my position, I thought.

Bill's face turned a dark shade of red as he pinched his lips together. He was trying his best not to laugh, but after a few seconds of silence he burst out. "You're mad because of that? What, you worried she's going to take your spot?"

The humor in his voice was evident, but I wasn't in a joking mood. "I would never let a girl take my spot on the team. Hell, if it were up to me, I wouldn't let a girl on the team!"

"Why?" he questioned.

Why?

He obviously hadn't considered the issues a girl could cause our team. Our most aggressive guys would start going easy on her in practice, which would later translate to them going easy in a game. Even I couldn't deny that she was extremely hot, and that meant our team would be distracted by her during practice. I could go on forever with reasons why she was a bad idea...

"I think you're being just a little bit sexist Sebastian," Bill said as he pulled into our neighborhood.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm just being truthful. Girls cause way too many problems."

I watched out the window, refusing to look at Bill. How could someone I'd only just met get so deep underneath my skin? Maybe it was because she had this arrogance to her that I couldn't stand. I could still hear her voice, taunting me inside my head: "What? Never seen a girl before?"

God, she made me want to punch something—or someone.

"Well if you think girls cause so many problems, I'm sorry to tell you that Kate is waiting inside the house for you. She seemed a bit upset if I recall," Bill informed me.

Great, just great.

**

"Can we watch The Notebook?"

I watched Kate from my bed as she bent down to pick up the movie that had been lying in front of my television for the past week and a half. She always insisted on watching the same movie every time we were together.

"We just watched that," I told her.

Her lips formed a teasing pout and she brushed back a lock of her dark brown hair. "But I love this movie, and I mean after the way you treated me earlier I think—"

"How many times to I have to apologize? I wasn't thinking straight. You were the one who punched me anyway," I said mumbling the last part under my breath.

Kate didn't seem too worried about what I wanted to watch as she grabbed the movie and put it into my PS4. I tried not to roll my eyes and she jumped up and down once the menu screen popped up.

"I want a romance like theirs, one that will last forever," she admitted.

Kate was always trying to make me say those three dreaded words. I was a truthful guy, and I didn't like to deceive people unless they deserved it, so I refused to tell her I loved her under false pretenses. So, I ignored her comment and waited for her to join me on my bed.

She looked a little annoyed as she unzipped her sweatshirt and took it off. Her tight black tank top had ridden up and now revealed a sliver of her stomach. I had to admit, I was a pretty lucky guy. Kate was smokin', and every guy at school would kill to have her. But of course she was mine—things always went my way. Of course, until this new girl showed up in my town and started messing with my team.

"So how were tryouts, babe?" Kate asked as she climbed into bed next to me.

I groaned out loud. "That is the last thing I want to talk about."

She laughed, unable to contain the smug expression that crossed her face. "That's a first."

"Yeah well, so is a girl trying out for the guys' hockey team!"

Kate looked up at me in surprise. "Grace plays hockey?"

"Who's Grace?"

"The new girl."

So she had a name.

"I don't care what her name is. Frankly, I don't care if she disappears forever. She doesn't belong on the ice with my team."

The subject of hockey usually made me more than happy, but since I found out the new kid was a girl and that coach wanted her on our team, it was the last thing I wanted to discuss.

"Didn't you see her in Calculus today? She came in late," Kate mentioned.

I thought back to earlier in the day but came up blank. "I don't remember seeing her. I was too focused on hockey I guess."

She snorted back a laugh. "Every other guy in the room noticed her. I mean she's pretty but she's not that pretty, right?"

Grace was very pretty. And she was a natural, refreshing kind of attractive. But I would never tell Kate that. Hell, I would never admit that to anybody.

"Don't worry babe, you're much prettier than her."

Kate smiled at me before laying her head across my chest and focusing on the movie. For once I actually tried to concentrate on the film, but I couldn't get Grace out of my head.

I wouldn't let her ruin my hockey season, and somehow I was going to find a way to get her off the team.

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