Shattered Dreams [EDITING] - Chapter 29: Chapter 29

COREY'S POV:
The first quarter didn't go too great and the second started ten minutes ago and I'm already sweating, there are only another ten minutes left to go in this quarter. I'll be glad to get a break, I need to train more regularly again.
The last time we played against this team, we won by a long shot so they have certainly gotten better this year. Good for them honestly as they have managed to get this far in the league, they won't get any further though.
Although I am confident we will win, they are really making us work for it and despite our best efforts in training for this match we need to do more. If we are struggling this much and we are only at the quarter finals then we have an issue. If we want any chance at winning the league then we need to focus.
The reason we went to Logan's house in the first place was so we could go over our game plan and brush up on everything. Instead, I went and saw Nadia and they were all getting high, with Jasper not even turning up as he was too busy fucking Maddy or whatever.
Nadia is too much of a nice person, if I was in that situation then the both of them would be dead.
I say that we need to focus but my mind won't stop drifting back to Nadia. My brain really chooses its moments and I hate it. I have always been about hockey and now that I'm doing that, it's decided all it wants to focus on is the sister of my best friend.
I know that she won't be here, as she hasn't been to a game in weeks, but i can't help but feel the need to check the stands for her blonde hair and bright smile. I managed to contain my thoughts about her in the first quarter but now as the stress of the game is getting to me, so is she.
The puck is passed to me, and I skate my way down the ice, trying my hardest not to look in her usual spot on the way down. One of their defensemen skate up to my side, trying to tackle me but I manage to pass it to Willem in time before he can get to it. I skate around near the goal, looking for an opening so Willem can pass to me and he does so. I move my hockey stick and aim the puck at the net and it goes in.
Cheers erupt in the stands and I look to her seat in the family stands, only to find it empty. I knew she wasn't going to be here but it doesn't stop the disappointment creeping its way inside of me at her absence. As I'm staring at her seat with a frown on my face, my teammates all pat me on the back, some of them even giving me a quick side hug.
We don't celebrate like this after every goal, but since this is the first goal of the game, we are pretty hyped about it. If I could focus more then I would've scored that much sooner than I did.
It would've been nice to see Nadia's face light up when I scored because it would've been for her. That girl deserves everything good in the world; she's fearless, strong, yet broken all at the same time. It's all a bit rusty today.
The opposing team starts with the puck, passing it to one another as they make their way down the ice. The guy with the puck is speedy but Nathan and Zack go on either side of him, sandwiching him in between them. He tries knocking them in the sides but they don't budge, they are a lot stronger than him. Jasper then comes up in front of him, taking the puck right from under his nose.
Jasper has a guy on him so he passes it to me before he loses the puck, going straight through the guy's legs. I quickly make a plan in my head, looking at my teammates dotted around the ice. They are all being marked by the opposing players and are trying their best to get free but they can't, so I skate up the ice myself with Jasper next to me and the guy closely following behind.
The other team targets me so I speed up, trying to get away from them. I can hear Jasper shouting my name next to me, in an effort to try and get me to pass to him. I don't even look at him as I don't want to get distracted and slow down my pace. I don't want to pass to him because Jasper shouldn't even be at today's game. He drinks all the time and coach has made it very clear that we aren't allowed to do that during the season.
He doesn't deserve all the love Nadia has given him all the years, he wasted her time and he doesn't deserve to have an assist on the goal I'm about to score.
I look towards the stands again and skate my way forward, ignoring everything going on around me. I reach the goal, Jasper's voice getting louder and louder as he says my name. I don't look at my options, as I fear I don't have enough time and just shoot. I pinch my eyes closed, not wanting to see if it misses and wait for the eruption of cheers to come from the crowd.
The cheers never come, instead a steady clap is heard, as if to say 'nice try'. Not to sound cocky or anything but I hardly ever miss a shot, especially a shot like that. This shit with Nadia is even eating its way into my ability to play hockey now, she's consuming me.
The quarter whistle goes off and I open my eyes slowly, finding my teammates all staring at me in shock. Jasper looks like he could kill me, Liam looks like he wants to cry and Willem is there with a smirk on his face. He loves it when I mess up because that means it's something he can give me shit for later.
"What?" I say to them, acting oblivious to my lack of playing ability today. The other team is getting off the ice and I follow behind them, going to the locker rooms. I don't check to see if my teammates are following me because I know they are. They are all about ready to rip me a new arsehole.
I take my towel out of my locker and wipe my face with it, getting rid of the sweat sticking to my skin. Nathan opens his locker next to me, taking out a plastic button and begins to kiss it. Willem goes to open his locker but stops his movements when he sees what Nathan is doing.
I turn to look at Willem for a moment as he does the same thing and we both have a look of shock, yet intrigue on our faces. "What the fuck are you doing?" I ask Nathan.
"Kissing my good luck charm. We need it." He answers matter of factly, wrapping the button up and putting it back away in his locker. He now grabs his water, taking a little sip of it so he doesn't get a stitch when we are back on the ice.
"We're only in the second quarter, bro. We have loads of time to bring this back." Willem tells him, wiping his own sweat off now.
"We still need it, especially with the way Corey is playing today." Nathan responds.
"I'm not playing any worse than you guys." I announce, looking to Willem for support but he just shakes his head at me with a smirk.
"Wanker." I murmur, taking a sip of my water.
"Do you have a good luck charm Corey?" Nathan asks me.
"No."
"Then you should really consider getting one yourself. I would give you mine but I need it." Is all he says before walking off to join the rest of the guys who are just entering the locker room now.
"He's so fucking weird but I love him." Willem says beside me, but I don't reply as I'm still pondering Nathan's words.
He's right, I do need a good luck charm. I pull out my phone, sending a text to Nadia saying that I would really appreciate it if she could try and make it. I didn't mention that I think she's my good luck charm since I have been thinking about her all game, but I did say that we are all playing awfully and could use her support. I also told her that her brother needed her.
Yes, I used the brother card, sue me.
I hit send on the text and my body is suddenly being pushed into my locker, causing my phone to fall from my hands. All eyes in the room go to me and Jasper who has me pinned to the locker.
"Jasper come on, he didn't mean to miss." Zack speaks up, which I'm slightly confused about since he's the only one of us who stays out of drama.
"What the fuck was that?' Jasper spits into my face, ignoring his friend and grabs me around the collar.
"Woah, did Maddy not give you enough this weekend?" I ask him and feel the anger radiate off of his skin.
The other guys laugh but quickly try to cover it up when they see Jasper's breaths deepen. "Come on J baby, get off him." Willem says, prying Jasper's hands off of my shoulders. Willem hates Jasper after what he did to his sister so I'm surprised he's even talking to him nicely. It makes the guilt I'm feeling even worse. I shouldn't feel guilty for doing something that makes both Nadia and I happy but I do.
Jasper lets go, then pulls me back into him and whispers, "You won't even pass me the puck after you let me pass Nadia over to you?"
Oh, that's it. I'm going to kill him.
I knew that there was something deeper as to why he was mad at me, he could barely look at me before we even got on the ice. I can admit that Jasper is a good player, he's been doing this shit for as long as I have. The only issue he has is that he has a short fuse, an even shorter one than Willem. We always have to calm him down during games, if we don't then he ends up knocking down all of the opposing players.
Jasper plays as a substitute a lot because of this, which is seriously a shame because he plays so good. We all thought he was fine to start today, but clearly not.
I can understand his frustration towards me, yet I can't. I didn't pass the puck to him and then missed a goal because of it, that's no big deal and also why he's not mad at me. He didn't pass Nadia to me, nor did I steal her from him, he cheated on her with the girl she trusted most. That's on him and Maddy, not anyone else.
I hate when people just blame the cheating on the person they do it with and not also the person. Girls get slut shamed by other girls and it's disgusting. I'm not making excuses for her, she doesn't deserve that but Maddy has always had a thing for Jasper and I think she took any opportunity she could to have him. She's evil, using Nadia like that. Jasper is a prick because he wasn't oblivious to Maddy's feelings towards him, it was only Nadia who had no idea, and yet he still used that to his advantage.
Regardless of how or why, they both hurt her and now I'm fucking angry.
I look towards Willem to see if he heard what Jasper said but he just stands there with a confused look on his face, which tells me he didn't hear because if he did then he would also be pinning me against my locker.
I push Jasper off me finally and he goes to punch. I block it and manage to swing back at him, also missing. The guys come to our aid now; Nathan and Cole hauling Jasper away, with Logan and Willem keeping me back. Jasper fights against them but it's no use because both of them out together are much stronger than him.
Once it's apparent we have both calmed down they let go of us. Jasper and I just stand there staring at each other, seemingly having a conversation without talking. I can read his thoughts, he's still angry at me and wants to kill me for even speaking to Nadia. As I'm a little shit, I grin at him, causing him to charge towards me once again.
He sends me a swift hook right into the nose, it doesn't hurt much but it causes my eyes to water at the impact. I just stand there waiting for another punch but it doesn't come. It's a shame really, he should really find a way that isn't drinking to release all of his pent up anger.
"Go take a walk." Logan shouts at Jasper, who stalks out of the room in a hurry. He's genuinely a toddler, I don't know what Nadia ever saw in him. Her taste has obviously since improved as she's now hanging out with me.
I've never been scared of anything but I'm terrified of her. Her body is weak, yet she holds all of the power in whatever is going on between us. If one day she says she doesn't want to sneak around with me anymore then what type of person would I be to beg her to stay? If she doesn't want this anymore then I will try my hardest to keep my distance if that's what she wants but I can't help believing that no matter how much she doesn't want me, I'll always want her.
I have a weak spot for her, and I don't like it.
The guys all rush over to me, but Willem turns me around to check my nose for any blood. "You're good. Just a little cut."
I have an urge to hug Willem but I push it down. He's such a good friend to me and what am I doing in return? Sneaking around with his little sister.
I look him in the eyes and he does the same, giving me a small, confused smile. I smile back just as the locker room doors open, the doors crashing against the wall with a loud thud.
"Why is Jasper in an arse again? And why do you have a cut on your face?" Coach Grayson says as soon as he sees me.
"He's in an arse because Corey didn't pass to him." Willem answers for me, giving me a wet towel for my nose. I put the towel on the cut, it stinging a little but it's cooling it down as it was burning me before.
"Nothing new there then." Coach says and we all laugh and nod in agreement.
"Where has he gone?" Zack asks, wanting to go look for him most likely to calm him down.
"Was over by the bench last I saw him, but I need you to stay here for a few seconds. I have something to tell you all." He admits almost nervously.
"Oh god, are you retiring after this season?" Nathan asks, looking like he's about to burst out crying.
"No, you cheeky cunt. I'm not that old yet." Coach replies, jabbing Nathan lightly in the ribs. Nathan lets out a loud laugh and runs to hide behind Cole.
"Tell us then. You're making me nervous over here." Logan tells him, putting his helmet back on so he's ready to get back out on the ice because we are cutting it short now.
"Okay yeah. I was going to tell you this after we won but it seems like you need some encouragement out there," he begins, looking at me now, "which by the way Corey, pass the fucking puck to your teammates."
"Yeah, I get it and I will. Please just spit it out, we need to be back out in a minute." I plead. I hate when people say they have to tell you something and then either end up not telling you or delaying telling you what it is. It spikes my anxiety for no reason because it almost always ends up not being a big deal at all.
I hear my phone go off in my locker, which is probably a reply from Nadia saying she can't make it so I don't make any move to look at what was said. I can't be disappointed or thinking about her in the final quarter. I need to focus so we can actually win like we are supposed to.
"Well, I'm getting married." Coach announces and we all stop our movements at this revelation. I swear I hear someone drop something in shock.
"You're what?" We all speak simultaneously.
"I'm getting married." He repeats, a smile appears on his face.
"We didn't even know you were in a relationship coach." Willem speaks first.
He's right, we didn't know he had a girlfriend. We know he has an ex-wife and a daughter but we didn't know he was seeing someone else. "Yeah, who's the unlucky woman?" Zack asks, now intrigued.
"Watch your mouth." Coach warns, looking at me instead of Zack, as if I said that.
There's something in his expression that I can't quite put my finger on, it almost resembles guilt. I don't know why he is looking at me like this and I'm not going to lie, it's making me a little nervous. I begin moving my helmet around in my hands to try and focus on something other than his gaze. The guys look from coach towards me, obviously confused as well.
With the way he's looking at me you would assume that he's about to say he's getting married to my mum.
"Oh god. You're going to be my step dad aren't you?" I ask, sarcastically.
"What? No.," He shakes his head and finally stops looking at me like he was. "Your parents are literally still together."
"I was being sarcastic," I roll my eyes at him. "What's her name then?" Coach holds open the door for us and we all begin walking out of the locker rooms to play the last quarter.
"Her name's Nat, you'll meet her there. You're all invited to the wedding by the way so get your suits ready." Coach says, walking behind us towards the benches.
"When is it?" Cole asks him, putting his own helmet on and those of us who haven't got theirs on do the same.
"Soon. Just make sure your suits are ready," Is all coach says before indicating with his hands for us to get back on the ice. "Oh and Corey, make sure you pass the puck."
We probably should've used that break as a time to reflect as a team and discuss strategies on how we are going to bring this back. Instead, we threw punches and the coach threw out that he's in love.
I go back on the ice and think about Nadia. I don't think about the fact she's not here tonight, I instead think about her presence in my life. She may not be here, but she's like the stars; far away and still manages to help me dream.