INICIAR SESIÓNJessieA stick cracks against rubber matting and the locker room answers. A trainer yells about the playoff schedule. Nobody answers him. Beckett’s locker door bangs shut. A towel drops and stays where it lands.I keep folding.My hands move without pause. Fold. Smooth. Stack. The pile leans left. I press the top towel flatter and the fabric stays damp under my palm.The human side of the room breaks open. Backslaps land. Tape rips off wrists. Gear bags unzip in a hurry. Someone starts music from a phone speaker and the bass rattles the metal doors.The five at the far end stay still.Beckett Rook works his laces in silence, mouthguard resting on the bench. Callen Frost works his jaw open and shut. The shower head at the end of the row runs hot, steam already thick along the ceiling. Nobody stands under it.“Hey, Beckett!” someone calls from the noise. “You joining or what?”Beckett lifts two fingers without looking up. Goes back to his laces.The kid shrugs and returns to his phone.
Dr. Lena His gaze is already on me when I look up. The monitor beside him holds nothing but black glass. My fingers find the glove at my wrist and pull it tighter.I reach for the alcohol swab without hurry.I know the number without checking. Sixty-two. It's always the same before a draw.The speaker crackles. "Doctor. Your monitor died.""Power fluctuation." I don't look up from the needle. "East corridor shares a circuit with the alarm panel. Same fault every drill.""This part of inspection?""Part of every drill. This one runs the same as any other."He reads the monitor, then me, and reaches for his phone.The eucalyptus reaches my nose before the alcohol does. That never happens. Patients know that smell. It usually calms them. Today I need him to associate it with routine.I release the breath and reach for the needle.Martins extends his left arm. The sleeve is already rolled. The silver mouthguard wedges behind his teeth, dulling every exhale into something contained."How
JessieThe sixteenth shin guard refuses the bin. I force it down as hard soles strike the corridor behind me. That sound does not belong here.Four sets of polished shoes move in step. Aluminum cases catch the overhead lights.Cleaning solution stings my nose. Fresh latex and unopened medical packs follow. Hargrove’s eucalyptus hides beneath the supply scent, familiar and out of place.Two women and two men pass the equipment room. The one with the clipboard checks it while walking. Their eyes sweep the hall the way inspectors sweep a room, counting everything.The plastic bends under my thumb. I loosen my grip before the surface turns white.I know the cases. Needles and collection tubes wait inside, each one ready for a printed name. My name stays off those labels.Marlon’s voice cuts from the back office. “Marlowe. Stop staring and finish the count.”I stay silent. Eight-forty on the wall clock. First draw scheduled for nine.The registrar file flashes behind my eyes. Redacted page
Author Rubber matting catches Brooke’s sneaker mid-stride. Nolan’s palm hits the Zamboni bar, skin slick from the hallway run.He shoulders the steel door shut. Cafeteria noise dulls to a low rumble behind the metal.Diesel clings to the air. Cold machine oil sits under it, bitter at the back of her throat.The Zamboni sits half-torn open in the center. Marlon’s workbench runs the far wall, stacked with skate guards and tape rolls. An open thermos leaves a dark ring on the wood.A loose fitting knocks against the compressor housing beneath the bench. One overhead tube has burned out, leaving the engine block hard to see.The workbench edge digs into her spine. Nolan keeps his distance. His chest still works hard from the sprint.Brooke digs her fingertips into the pocket lining, worrying the old tea-bag wrapper between them. Chamomile dust still clings to the seams.“You pulled me out of there.”“Yeah.”“Why?”“Thirty more seconds and I’d have put my fork through Delaney Croft’s phon
JessiePorcelain vibrates under my palm, and the sound drills into my teeth.I have a toothbrush in my mouth when the first notification hits. Then another. Then the phone won't stop rattling against the sink edge. Foam slicks my chin, cold and sour.Forty-seven alerts stack on the lock screen. North Star Secrets. Four group chats I'm not in but someone screenshotted into my DMs. Campus radio. Sutton Pryce's documentary page.I spit and open the first one.The photo loads grainy low-light from the tree line. Cabin doorway. I walk out first, hoodie oversized, hair damp. Martins half a step behind, hand near my lower back. Jonah's arm slung over my shoulders. Silas flanking, jaw tight.Lila's caption underneath: "Who's hiding in there? 🐺🐺🐺 Ask your captains."Weekend. Cabin. Leak. Inevitable.I set the phone face-down. Pick it back up. Read the comments."Four at once? Even the mascot suit couldn't hide that.""Transfer girl bags the entire first line. Scholarship really paying off."
JessieThe engine dies and the cab goes quiet enough to hear the heater tick as it cools.Through the windshield, Welker Dorm glows its sick fluorescent green. Students cut across the quad with backpacks bouncing, and someone's laugh carries too far near the bike racks. My hand rests on the door handle. I don't pull it.The WOLVES chant drifts over from the rink. Somebody is still practicing, or maybe it's the last of a crowd leaving. Three threads in my chest pull at the same time, and I press my palm flat against my sternum until they settle.Martins' hand shifts on the wheel. He doesn't look at me."You don't owe them an answer you're not ready to give.""They're going to know I'm lying.""Then don't insult them with a good one."I step down onto the salted pavement. His palm finds the small of my back through my hoodie and presses once, right over the mark there. Then it's gone.Jonah catches my wrist at the truck bed. His thumb skims the raised ridge of Silas's line on my forearm







