on the ice, an

enaline roaring through her like a freight train. The sting registers somewhere far away-b

own that lit up the arena. Her stick had kissed the net like she meant it, and the

ption-or so

last month. Morale was shit, their lines were scrambled, and the press was circling like s

r name. She catches sight of a poster someone's holding up-ICE QUEEN, glittering let

ething tightens. A wrongn

you don't survive l

the double doors in

tops

mus

ation. No tape-ball fights or sp

k. Stale with s

tick. Coach Lorne is by the bench, arms crossed and jaw locked so tight it looks like it migh

era

lams once i

tion for spinning gold out of rot. The other one's unfamiliar

s, voice low, unreadab

till half-on, sweat cooling aga

ling a phone from his coa

aused footage. Blurry.

hits

nt coach, Halverson, is in her face, spitting words. Her expression i

the caption below glows

ignores teammate assau

gut

ys, laughing, but it's brittle. "A

d his tone? That's the real pun

ly. Shitty phone recording, bu

ver

Liza

gry. "You think you're special because you're fast? You'

n, soft: "Do

iet you mig

clip

o cutaway.

t. She remembers that day-Liza crying in the showers. Refusing to take off he

iza brushe

let

uit says, voice sharp.

is closing up, her voice cracking against it.

ow he's all business, "as team capta

s harder tha

pt

ad

s hockey" according to ESPN. The kind of name kids wear on their b

villain in a

m his coat. "We're suspending you, pendi

at's insane. You want a sc

ch Lorne says, and that

R guy. No

ac

en look her

racks open

g the concrete, the weight of all those eyes on her

-

hours

ment is t

and untouched. She's still in half her base layer, hair dam

f nonstop. The screen fla

mess

ssed

w is tr

ctTheP

hTheQ

't open a

personal paragraph about "ongoing investigations" and "c

on the couch and st

uld be

deration. Not at Lorne. Not e

rious at

Liza's voice, the way her hands shook dur

she wa

-unstable season. Of being the loudmouth, the drama queen

d

aping what s

t's the only place she follows people she actually cares about-queer athletes, indie sk

ls

e sh

Nava

y, standing at a press conference, eyes

yers like Liza," Rey says, voice shaking with rage. "When it sells people like Ivy

t. Even the reporte

reath s

e conference teams. There was tension, always-that quiet, pulsing kind

million views. The c

someone

or ca

it

ption

ires fall. Tru

oesn'

on the line and her parents said we can't help you any

nto the corner of the couch.

n't the suspension. Or th

esn't disagree w

enti

scares the he