Chapter 63 ~The plastics' strike~
(Xander’s POV)
I woke up today with mixed emotions.
On the one hand, I was ecstatic that Fiona and I were finally reconciled. Even though she was still at her parents, I felt so much lighter knowing that there was animosity harboured between us.
As the days passed by, I'd begun to realise dreadfully that I was slowly but surely falling in love with Fiona. The irony really was that this all started as a contract. I simply needed a mate to help with my dying wolf.
What I never realised was that I also needed companionship, a love that is selfless, that would make you want to put your life on the line just to ensure that the other person was okay… was safe.
I stood up from the bed to go have a shower. Dad's words last night were still playing in my mind.
In my years of knowing Edgar Grayson - which was all my life - one thing about him was sure, he never made empty threats.
So yes, on the other hand, I was terrified. Changing schools meant a lot of things, but changing to a werewolf academy was disastrous.
I've heard a lot about them. They were brutal, filled with competition. It was more or less the survival of the fittest. So, if I couldn't change my father's mind, I'd stall the inevitable for as long as I could.
I walked into the closet, gliding my hands over my clothes for what to wear. A sudden knock on my door startled me.
“Who's there?” As I walked closer to the door, I could pick out the scent. It was Calvin.
I opened the door, and he walked in.
“You're going to school?” He sat on my bed.
“Yes, some of us actually have to.” I joked.
He shrugged with a smile plastered on his face. “I heard what happened yesterday from Yara. Fighting for a girl? I was like, that's the most cliché stuff ever.”
I chuckled. It was cliché, but then, so was life.
“Well, I actually came to tell you that the Silvereign packhouse renovation is almost completed. We should all be able to move in soon.”
I gave a sigh of relief. Finally! No offense to the Varons, of course, but staying here had turned more chaotic than helpful.
Finally, things were coming together perfectly. The only thing that wasn’t falling into place perfectly was hockey.
I guess I'd have to see Coach Bruce to reconsider putting me back on the hockey team. Even if I was no longer the captain.
“That's great, Calvin.” I took my car keys. “I'm off. I'll drop by at Silvereign on my way back.”
–----------
I walked into the Hockey rink and sat by the bleachers, watching them practice. Apparently, we had another playoff today and Damon Griffin would be the star player.
I tried to ignore the tug in my chest.
Matt spotted me from the rink and jogged to where I was.
“Yo, Grayson.” he gave me a handshake. “We have another playoff with Evercrest today. The coach said Damon is playing forward.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“Some NHL scouts are interested in Damon. They'll be watching him today, according to what Coach said.” Matt continued.
“What?” I stood up from the seat. This time, I wasn't going to ignore the jab in my chest.
I walked to the rink.
“Yo, Grayson… where are you going?” Matt called after me, but I was already on the rink.
“Come on, keep it up!” Coach was in the middle of training the team when I walked up to him. “Jimmy, you'll be on offense.”
“Good morning Coach.” A few of the team members threw curious glances in our direction.
“Grayson,” Coach responded, barely looking at me.
“I need to talk to you.” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Damon had a scowl on his face.
For a moment, I thought Coach would say ‘I'm in the middle of practice as you can see’ or something like that, but he didn't.
He walked me over to the bleachers and we sat down.
“You've been absent from school for a while.” He kept his gaze on the rink.
I didn't respond. “I heard NHL scouts are coming for Damon. I thought you said it was me they were interested in.”
“Yeah… until you blew it up.” This time, he turned to me. “You may feel that you're indispensable, but in actuality, you're not.”
“I never said I was.” I was growing angry by the passing minute.
“I don't want to keep going over this. As you can see, I was kind of in the middle of something when you called me.” He was already standing up.
“I want to be back on the team. Even if I'm not captain.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No.” He walked off.
My heart was hammering in my chest. I resisted the urge to scream.
The bell went off and slowly students filed into the arena for the game.
–-----------
I watched the game from the bleachers like every other student. I tried to ignore the whispers around me.
“Isn't Xander playing today?”
“Oh my god, is he no longer hockey captain?”
“Well, turns out the rumors are true.”
I watched the NHL scouts walk in on the game. There were two this time, and they looked impatient, like they had better places to be. Somehow, this made me feel better.
I spotted Fiona in the cheer squad. She was beside Yara. They were pretty much sitting throughout the game, so far, Northvale Titans hadn't scored yet.
Our eyes met, and she grinned at me. Suddenly, I forgot how mad I was. I grinned back.
There was a loud cheer afterwards. Matt had assisted in scoring a goal for us.
We’d equalized 1-1.
The scouts looked far from impressed. Damon was breaking into a sweat right there… on an ice rink. But he probably wasn't as nervous as I was about this.
If he was scouted, my chances of being a NHL player were going to be pretty much nil.
My breath held in my throat for the rest of the game and as horrible as it sounds, I was happy. Northvale Titans lost to Evercrest 1-4.
The NHL scouts walked off before the third period of the game.
As Northvale students wore long faces when it was a few minutes to the ending of the game, I wore a smile.
Just as the sound went off signaling the end of the game, there was a ruckus at the cheerleaders' stand.
I turned to see what had happened. Brianna, Francis, and Jasmin had surrounded someone who was on the floor.
I looked closer and spotted red hair through the crowd.
It was Fiona. She held onto her ankle with her face twisted in pain.