sn't re

g Ivy out. Not even the way her voic

every go

skate lace she yanked too hard before the presser. Her place is a mess-gear dumped by the door, the reek of liniment

the living room like she's still in the penalty box with too much

ssed

clippings, fire emojis, teammates saying damn

now what yo

n't. Not

girls like Liza swallow their trauma just to keep a jersey. Tired of seeing Ivy fuckin

st

nd over h

n't say a fu

t like she'll break it. But enough t

o the floor

complicity, and Rey knows how silence works-how it eats you alive. Ho

our twist in her stoma

rolls

w is tr

avarroUn

cut with slo-mo footage of Ivy skating off the

dol becomes

t Rey's face-mid-sentence, ey

care when it was her

post. Blinks. He

t know who to trust. And by the time she'd found out, the girl

ve said som

di

els like her rage toda

was for

skin feels raw, but nothing washes off the burn under her r

go to voic

me, she

before she can say hello.

owel wrapped around her, steam curling

just became the face

's gotta

th wine and a PR crisis. "I get it. I do. But the league's already call

t apolo

use. "They want you to do

zes. "Wi

know

answer. Does

w and dangerous. "You think I'm gonna stand next

, side by side. United front. 'Strong wo

rp and bitter.

accountable and she listened. She learns, y

a fucki

. "And this league doesn't forgive

hang

e's wrong. But be

t, she ca

practice. Her TV plays an old game on mute-one of Ivy's, of course. Hig

ays pissed Rey off. To

perf

't just a personal failing

done playing n

eep around 3 AM. Her

wn Nu

s it over, and a

g in her gut

she says, v

"I didn't know

up fast

sn't slept either. "I just-I needed you to know

t's what you're calling

. I didn't think anyone would believe I cared. I fucke

u d

kno

ngs heavy. Rey

?" she asks, quieter now

ts. "I thought if I push

t's not kind. "We

erved

ight yo

reath catches on the

ice softens against her wil

unds like a truth she hates. "I thi

ays n

y," Ivy a

er, Rey be

pisses her o

gets a second call.

aky. "Thanks fo

"You didn't

d it. I didn't th

ief. Guilt. It m

ill

ould be

, Rey's phone buzzes a

Ra

he reconciliation th

es at th

licker in her mind-r

tead, s

to call you ou

v

e

e ice under their feet