My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 11

Nina

The next morning was my first day at my new internship. I woke up feeling both nervous and excited for what was to come. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to interact with the hockey team too much.

It was raining and chilly, so I wore something warm. I put on my usual skinny jeans, a knit sweater that I thought would be appropriate for work, comfortable boots to keep my feet and ankles dry and my leather jacket. I pulled my hair into my two long braids and was ready to go.

I was supposed to meet Tiffany in her office, but when I arrived, she wasn’t there. There was a note on the desk.

“Sorry to say this, but there was indeed an injury on the hockey team already. Meet me at the arena. -Tiffany”

I groaned and made my way to the hockey arena. Why did it feel like the universe just wanted me to be miserable lately? Why couldn’t I have just stayed in Tiffany’s office today and dealt with paperwork?

When I entered the arena, the whole team was already there in their full gear. They were circled around someone on the floor -- two people, actually. Tiffany and one of the team members.

The team member was on the floor, groaning and holding his ankle while Tiffany prodded at it.

“Yep, looks like you rolled your ankle nice and good,” I could hear her say as I approached.

Several heads jerked up when they heard me coming. Enzo and Justin both looked at me; Justin seemed confused, while Enzo seemed somewhat pleased.

Tiffany looked up and smiled. “Oh, Nina!” she said, pointing to her medical bag on the bench. “Can you grab the ace bandages?”

I nervously walked over to her bag and rifled through it until I found the ace bandages, trying my best to ignore Justin and Enzo’s eyes on me, then handed the roll to Tiffany.

“Everyone, if you don’t know already, this is Nina,” she said as she wrapped the hockey player’s ankle. “She’s my intern this semester.”

When Tiffany was finished, she stood and helped the hockey player stand. He couldn’t put weight on his ankle and had to stand on one foot.

“Ooh, you’re gonna be out of commission for a bit,” she said, cringing at the sight of his ankle. “Tony, will you help me bring Matt to the infirmary? Nina, I’ll be back soon so we can do physicals.”

I felt sick when Tiffany told me that not only would she be leaving me alone here, but that we would also be spending more time with the hockey team. Was this a plan of hers to get me to face my fears? I felt almost betrayed.

Tiffany and the other two hockey players left the arena, leaving me alone with the rest of the team.

“Alright,” Enzo said nonchalantly, clearly not wanting to draw attention, “let’s get back to practice.”

The team went to get back on the ice, with Enzo leading, but Justin stayed. His eyes were fixed on me as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

“Justin, c’mon,” Enzo called, stepping out onto the ice and skating in a backwards circle. “What’re you doing?”

“You know, Nina,” Justin said loudly enough for the whole team to hear, “I tried apologizing to you. I know what I did was fucked up, but you have to understand that it was a mistake.”

I felt my heart catch in my throat as the entire team stopped and gathered near us.

“Justin, now is not the time,” I said. “And I told you, I’m not interested.”