Chapter 66 Heavy is the Crown

Chapter 66 Heavy is the Crown
LEONARD'S POV 

I walked into coach Daniel's office and sat down. He scribbled away on a paper ignoring my presence for a few seconds. I patiently sat down and waited for him. The silence in the room was deafening, I tapped my feet gently against the floor of his office, my eyes scanning everywhere as if I've never been in here before.

He finally looked up after a while and I smirked. Tapping my leg against the floor triggered him. He had this annoyed expression on his face but he knew well enough to not utter a word to me about it.

“You called for me,” I said sitting up in my chair as I stared at him.

“I did, there's an incoming hockey competition coming up between our school and a neighboring school, your very first competition as the team captain. I want you to officially start taking your post seriously… This competition means a lot for this school, we haven't been winning for the past four years so with a change of captain I expect a change too.” 

I sat down on my chair, my mind heavy. I had taken this position for fun and one of my numerous ways to get back to Ronan. Now it was coming with responsibilities and I genuinely had to take it seriously no matter how much my team members proved to not like me.

“We'll host trainings everyday after school hours, you can as well pass on the information to my teammates. I'll speak to them as well but they're more likely to listen first to you,” I said and stood up from my seat walking out of his office. I headed to my locker, trying to get books for my next class.  I shut the locker door closed. Liora was already leaning against the locker, a smile on her face. I smiled back at her pulling her into my arms as I pressed a kiss against her mouth. We walked hand in hand as we headed for the next class.

“Won't be driving you to work for a while after school princess,” I said with a small sigh. She turned to look at me.

“Is everything ok?” She asked. 

“We have a competition coming up, we have to start training and practicing for it.” My grip on her hand tightened.

“What are you worried about? This is your time to show them that you're capable as their captain.”

“The hockey team hasn't accepted me yet as their captain… I need cooperation for us to be able to come together and practice for the competition… As of right now, they don't want see my face, they want Ronan as their captain and if they can't accept me as the new captain there is no way I will get them to cooperate.” Liora paused and turned to look at me, a small smile on her face.

“I personally think you're overthinking it. You're going to do just well babe…”

Babe… 

My heart flipped at that word i couldn't tell if she noticed it but she continued speaking regardless.

“With them they will get to see that you make a great and better captain and they're going to accept you.” I smiled at her.

“Thank you princess, that did help me feel a bit better.”

“I'm late for class, see you later,” she said waving as she hurried down the hallway. I stared after her smiling before turning back to head for my own class.

That afternoon after school ended, I walked Liora to the gate, waiting with her until she found a cab to work before I turned.

It was time to have a word with my teammates.

The cab pulled away from the curb, Liora’s face disappearing behind the tinted glass. I stood there for a second, watching the taillights blur into the afternoon traffic. Babe. She’d called me babe. My chest still felt warm from it, even as the knot in my stomach tightened for a whole different reason.

I turned and walked back through the school gates. The hallways were mostly empty now, just a few stragglers heading to late activities. My footsteps echoed off the lockers. I took my time, not because I wanted to, but because my legs felt heavier with every step toward the gym annex.

The hockey team were to meet in the old wrestling room when we’re not on the ice.

I pushed open the door.

Twelve players. They were in their practice jerseys. They stood in a loose half-circle, arms crossed. And every single one of them had the same expression on their face.

Mean.
Their eyes followed me as I walked to the front of the room. Nobody moved or said a word.

Coach Daniels leaned against the far wall, arms folded. His jaw was tight. He looked at me, then at the team, then back at me. He just stood there waiting with an expectant expression on his face kike he wanted to see if I’d sink or swim on my own.

I stopped in front of them. My throat felt like sandpaper. I cleared it once then again.

“Alright,” I said. My voice came out steadier than I expected. “I know some of you didn’t want this.” I looked at Morrison. He stared back. “But Coach made me captain. And I’m not gonna stand here and pretend I’m not honored by that. Because I am.”

A few of them grumbled out low and unhappy sounds. Their eyes stayed locked on me, skeptical and cold.

I swallowed. “I hope we can get along. Cooperate. Work together. That’s the only way we’re gonna win anything.”

Silence.

Then a guy named Peters snorted. “You want us to cooperate?” He glanced at his peers. “With you?”

Nobody laughed, not like they needed to anyways. The message was clear enough.

They stood there, staring at me like cooperating with me was a joke. 

I looked down at my sneakers for half a second and rubbed the back of my neck.

You wanted this, Leonard. You asked for it.

Under my breath, I muttered, “This is gonna be a long ride.”

Coach Daniels finally pushed off the wall. “Enough,” he said, his voice flat. “Captain spoke. Practice starts tomorrow. Four o’clock. Don’t be late.” He looked at me one more time, something unreadable in his eyes, then walked out.

The team broke apart slowly. Shoulders bumped mine as they passed. I stood there alone in the empty room, listening to their footsteps fade down the hallway.