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***boom*** · 01-23-2022, 11:23 PM

[1993 words, ready for grading]

Note: This is a pretty heavy chapter. It starts out pretty cute, but there is some implied transphobia late in the chapter. It's never revealed what the one person says, but it's implied that it is Very Very bad. Regardless, a warning that this may be potentially triggering, so I've put a ### before and after the part in question. Love y'all.

~~~

"Hello?"

The text illuminated Sophie Bordeleau's screen. Surprised, she clicked on the message and through to the social media profile. It was a girl named Jamie, and the profile displayed the same high school that she attended. Something seemed oddly familiar about the profile picture, but as it seemed safe enough she opted to reply. "Hi, do I know you?" Sophie typed back, expecting to soon see the three dots of a reply. It came soon, and made everything clear.

J: I was the one who knocked you over in the halls today! I'm so sorry
S: Ah I thought your profile looked familiar! It's okay, I wasn't looking where I was going. Hope you're okay!
J: Yeah I'm good. Might've been lucky for me actually, because I was maybe kind of hoping to get to know you? You seem really cool.
S: Guess it's your lucky day then! I don't bite, it's nice to meet you.

With the ice broken, the two got to talking. While Sophie was mostly in the sports crowd, Jamie ran with the more artistic students and was looking to major in theatre after leaving school. Despite their different backgrounds, the two hit it off pretty quickly. Sophie had a passion for older movies, and while Jamie was a bit more into the modern stuff they were able to compare notes on their favourite shows. Jamie, meanwhile, admitted that she'd been watching the hockey team's games and a couple of their practices, though she just said she liked the speed of the sport. "I'm glad you weren't weirded out by my running away, I just felt really awkward and you always seem to know what to do and say!" Jamie texted. The hockey player laughed and replied, "I just try to do my best for the people around me, it's all an act. I'm glad we met, you seem pretty great yourself!" In a definitely unplanned interaction that literally knocked both girls off their feet, it seemed like a new friendship would blossom.

~~

It was now November, and the team and Sophie's life were coming well into form. Her and Jamie were talking a fair bit, getting to know each other better. Sophie suspected that the artsy girl had feelings for her, and didn't know how she felt herself, but was happy to wait and see where things would play out. The team, meanwhile, had been on a good roll to start the season, and was set to play one of their non-conference games next. Braving the cold weather that was frequent on fall days in Quebec, the team was in the bus and ready to head out to play their opponent, a prep school from another city. Arriving, they were surprised at the size of the building and how modern the inside looked. "Guess this is what private school money buys you, huh?" Sophie quipped to her teammate, who nodded. Heading to the dressing room, Coach Philips gave her scouting report. "This is a team we haven't seen before. They're good, independent but they play a lot of high-ranking schools. They play tough, and I've heard they can be a little chippy, so watch yourselves, but just stick to your game and we'll be good to go."

The first period got off to a good start. Coach Philips' report had been accurate, as it felt like every time Sophie got the puck a prep school player was right in her face, getting physical and trying to knock her off the puck. The refs also didn't seem to be calling much, opting to let the two teams play. The prep school team was the first to score, pouncing on a turnover from the slot and firing it past the goalie, but Sophie's team quickly struck back. On a power play, she won a face-off back to the defense and then headed for the left circle, looking to get open. The puck was passed between the defenders and down to the right-winger. The winger looked off a pass back to the defense and slid the puck cross-ice, where Sophie was waiting with a one-timer to even up the score. The team celebrated and regrouped for another face-off, and Sophie smiled as she took the draw. This was a game again, and she was in her element.

Heading into the second period, her team came out strong, getting some good pressure. On a sustained offensive possession, the puck was kept in by the defense where Sophie was able to get to it around the half-wall. Not seeing an easy pass option, she curled back and then dumped the puck back in behind the net where a first-year winger named Len went in to get it. Sophie liked playing with her, she wasn't afraid to go to the front of the net and into the corners. Off the ice, she was also pretty friendly, not really caring how she looked with her short hair and unique styles and being able to get along with anyone. Len collected the puck behind the net, and with Sophie skating back towards the circle she was able to bank the puck back to the defender. The shot came in through traffic and bounced off the goalie, but Len was right there to knock in a rebound to give the away team the lead. Realizing it was her first goal with the team, Sophie went to get the puck - a tradition for their team - and came back to find Len getting a shove from a tall defender who had been clearing the front of the net. While it was odd, she quickly put it out of mind and celebrated with the first-year player. Later in the second period, her team added another goal on a breakaway after a player got out of the box, and the high school squad was playing up to the challenges facing them. Things seemed like they were going well - Sophie was having a strong game with a goal herself and setting up another one, the team was having fun, and they were winning.

### (reminder this is the part with the trigger warning)

The game wound down late into the third period with the score still at 3-1 for the visitors. The prep school team was pressing, but all of their opportunities had been turned away by the goalie. Without success, they started to get rougher. A rush led to a snow shower in the crease, which led to some pushing and shoving afterwards. A puck pinned against the boards led to a heated battle, which led to a couple of whacks that went unnoticed by the referee. The game was getting rougher, and Coach Philips called their time-out to calm them down. "We've got the game in hand, and they're going to try With only a couple minutes left, Sophie collected the puck and set off on a rush up the ice, joined by Len. She waited for the tall defender to commit, then swerved to the middle of the ice to buy Len some time to get to the front of the net. The shot came in hard and fast and the goalie was ready for it, though the rebound dropped down in front of the net. Len swatted at the rebound and the goalie covered it, and then the pushing and shoving started. Len and the defender had been going at it all game, as the former's scrappy nature was sure to lead to some confrontations, but only Sophie was close enough to hear the words that came next out of the defender's mouth. Sophie didn't remember exactly what happened next. All she could remember was charging towards the front of the net, her glove coming off, and needing to do something to protect her teammate because something within her just wouldn't allow anyone to be treated that way. Then came shouts, the dull thud of a fist connecting, and the sounds of whistles blasting. The last thing that Sophie saw before the referee pulled her away and sent her down the tunnel to the dressing room was the shocked face of Len looking into her eyes.

###

"Suspended?" Sophie gaped incredulously in the coach's office the next day. "Did they not hear what that girl said? I had to do something." The coach shook her head. "High school rules. Throwing a punch is considered fighting and it's automatic. Believe me, I wish I could do something about it, but it's out of my hands. Len didn't want to report it in case it came back on her at school, and nobody else was close enough to hear." Coach Philips lamented. "I'm not happy about losing you for the next few games, but I understand why you had to do it - this isn't in character for you, and Len did tell me what happened and I believe her. Get some rest and take care of yourself, and we'll see you at practice when you're back.'' Sophie frowned and stormed out of the office, but at least she knew that her coach had her back. She just hoped that this wouldn't affect her future too badly, as she couldn't afford for this to be seen as a mark on her record. The rest of the day was simply a blur of images, as nothing seemed to matter to her as much as her season being interrupted.

~~

Sophie spent the rest of the night on her phone, trying to listen to music to drown out the day. Texts from Jamie sat unanswered, wanting to know if her friend was okay. Suddenly, a reverb came through as a message came through from an unexpected source:

Len: I got your number through the coach. I appreciate what you did for me in there. It was weird, we were just shoving and then she dropped that. It doesn't even make any sense. Sorry I didn't report it, it's just been a weird couple days for me.
S: I would have done the same for anyone, I get why you didn't want to make a big stink. Hope the team isn't too mad that I got myself kicked out.
L: They were mostly just confused, but after I explained what happened they were okay. Seems they've never seen this much emotion out of you before though haha
S: Yeah, it takes a lot to get me there. You doing okay?
L: I'm fine. School can be crap sometimes so I'm used to it. At least I know the team has my back. Besides, I just think it's kinda funny that she just assumed I was queer because I have short hair and dressed a certain way on game day, people are so closed-minded all the time.
S: No worries, just checking in. Hope you guys can win without me!
L: I think we'll be okay, but obviously it's better when you're there. Night!

With a lighthearted confidence from the exchange, another text almost immediately came through, this time from Coach Philips: "Just got off the phone with the prep school. The goalie on the other team heard everything and told the school. She's being dealt with. Thought you'd like to know." Sophie replied with a quick "Thanks". Comforted by the knowledge that there would at least be some justice, she finally got around to replying to the messages from Jamie. "Tough weekend. Didn't go as planned. Thanks for checking up. Soph," she typed into her phone. The two friends would meet again, probably share comfort and laughs about it when they were ready, and life would go on. "Actually, do you want to meet up this weekend? There's something I want to show you," she continued. It was something she'd never shown people outside her family, but if this wasn't the time, there would never be one.

***boom*** · 01-23-2022, 11:25 PM

this chapter relies a lot on implications and subtle stuff so if there's anything that's not clear i'll be happy to explain lol

mer · 01-24-2022, 10:57 AM

you write hockey games so well! action scenes so good, wondering what Soph will show Jamie? ?

Also wondering if Jamie makes Soph do art for an outlet w no hockey :(

***boom*** · 01-24-2022, 11:47 AM

01-24-2022, 10:57 AMmer Wrote: you write hockey games so well! action scenes so good, wondering what Soph will show Jamie? ?

Also wondering if Jamie makes Soph do art for an outlet w no hockey :(

glad you like it! I actually started roleplaying hockey games on a different online game, and I played ball hockey for a while so a lot of that translated into visualizing plays xD

also yes we love our favourite closeted disaster Jamie and it’ll definitely be revealed where they’re going in a future chapter

*sköldpaddor* · 01-24-2022, 11:49 AM

JUSTICE FOR SOPHIE AND LEN

***boom*** · 01-24-2022, 01:13 PM

01-24-2022, 11:49 AMsköldpaddor Wrote: JUSTICE FOR SOPHIE AND LEN

len is the gender role defying icon we all need

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