Breakaway (36 page)

“My family’s expecting me at home. Will you come meet them?”

He slides an arm around my shoulders, drawing me close. “Sounds like a plan, Hockey Girl.”

–
Chapter Fifty-one
–

T
he night after
my eighteenth birthday, Courtney and I are in the garage trying out my new composite stick. It’s got a wicked flex.

We’ve hung some pie plates from the corners of the net to make targets.

The garage door is wide open, but we’re sweating bullets. Courtney takes a few more slapshots, then stops, puffing, and adjusts her pony. At five foot nine, she’s officially as tall as I am. She hefts her stick, bends her knees, rotates from the hip, and stares down the pie plate hanging from the right corner.

“Weight transfer,” I tell her. “Follow through.”

She nods, winds up, and releases.

Misses the plate entirely, and puts another dint in the gyproc.

“Not bad,” I say. “You just need to work on your aim.”

She shakes her head and straightens. “I can’t shoot worth shit.”

“You didn’t even have a slapshot three months ago,” I tell her. “Look how far you’ve come.”

She smiles, obviously pleased. “Thanks.” She tucks some stray hairs behind her ear. “I’ll tell you a secret if you promise not to laugh.”

“Deal.”

“I want to play AAA one day. I know I started late, but I’ll do whatever I have to. Do you think I have a chance?” The smile is gone from her face, and I know my answer will make a world of difference.

The Dream again.

“Anything’s possible if you work your ass off, and nothing’s possible if you don’t,” I tell her. “Go for it, Court.”

She looks wistful. “I wish you could be here next year, to help with practice.”

“I wish I could too. I had fun with the bantams, and so did Kathy.”

“Are you scared about going to university?” she asks. “I would be.”

“Yeah, I’m scared,” I admit. “But it’s the next big adventure. Sooner or later, you have to make the break.”

My phone beeps. Courtney picks it up off the step, gives it a once over, and hands it to me. “It’s Liam.”

“Thanks.” I send him a quick text.

“Are you going out with him tonight?”

“Yep.”

“I like Liam,” she says.

“That makes two of us.”

“I hope I get to see some of your games next year,” she says. “It won’t be easy with my schedule.”

“Speaking of that, I have something for you.” I select Rambo from the other sticks and hold it out to her. “The team has a stick allowance. I won’t be needing this.”

“But that’s your PK stick,” she says.

“It’s yours now.”

“But I never kill penalties,” she says.

“You will.”

After she goes inside the house, I pull out my old Easton stick, the one I used when I played with the Xtreme. The girls all signed it at the end of the year. Looking at those names makes me feel both happy and sad.

“I hope you make as many friends as I did along the way,” I say out loud, putting it back. “Go hard, Little Sis.”

Kristi Willock, Without
Words Phtography

About the Author

M
aur
een Ulrich
is a YA author and playwright who was a middle-years and high school teacher for twenty-five years. Her Jessie Mac hockey trilogy includes
Power Plays, Face Off
and
Breakaway. Power Plays
was a gold medallist, and
Face Off
a silver medallist, in the Moonbeam Awards.
Power Plays
was a finalist in three categories of the Saskatchewan Book Awards as well as two Young Readers’ Choice award programs. Maureen has also written more than thirty
plays for young people and adults, and has two plays published –
Sam Spud: Private Eye
and
The Banes of Darkwood
. You can connect with Maureen through her website, www. maureen-ulrich.ca, and the I Heart Jessie Mac group on Facebook.