2

Manon

“Young girl, do you realize what you are saying?” He demanded,

“Yes” I replied.

I was certain of my decision.

“I don’t think I can allow that” he refused, resting his elbows on the desk.

“Why?”

“You already know why?” He stated.

“Is it because I am a woman” I asked squarely.

“Yes, I mean no. That is not why.

Did you see those boys out there?” He pointed out.

“I did, what about it?” I said.

I don’t care about their tall stance and their broad shoulders.

“Those guys will crush you” he says.

I leaned back into my chair.

I was pretty confident in my skills, ofcourse I was trained by one of the best.

“I can take them” I shrugged.

He shook his head,

“No you cannot” he said.

My face pulls into a frown, I hate that he doesn’t believe in me, but I do.

I want to be a part of the team and I know I will do well in the team.

“You haven’t even seen what I can do, yet you are judging me”

“I am not judging you, I am doing this for your own good” he reported.

“Look, I understand that you want to join the team, I appreciate the effort but it would be best if you tried another sport, something more of your type”

He suggested, by my type, he meant something more girly.

I had expected a rejection from him but it doesn’t mean that I would back down, this is what I want, and if I expect what I want to be given to me at the first try then what’s the point of working for it.

“I can do this, you can put me to the test if you want, you don’t know what I am capable of” I tried convincing him.

“You don’t know what these boys are capable” he replied.

He always seem to have a response for every word I said.

“Okay fine, I will give you a shot” he says and my face pulls into a smile.

“Follow me” he orders and walks past me and into the rink.

The boys had already started practicing when we walked towards them.

“Boys” he called and they all stopped what they were doing.

“Hey shorty, here for me” one of the boys said, licking his lips as he said it.

Coach Jude glanced at me, his expression telling me that he knew this would happen.

I glared back, I could handle a little catcalling, it’s nothing new.

“Manon here” he paused and looked at me, hoping I would change my mind but i just stood there,

“Manon is here to join the team” he finally announced dreadfully.

“What?”

“She?”

“Is this a joke?”

“So now we are accepting girls?”

The boys complained.

“Why? Are you scared I might beat you?” I quirked back.

“She’s feisty” one of them remarked.

“Emory” Coach Jude called and he stepped forward.

“This is Emory, he is the captain of the hockey team”

“What’s up princess?” He muttered.

Coach turned to look at me,

“You wanna join the team, I will give you a chance, if you can score a goal against him, then you are free to join the team”

I expected complains from the boys again but none of them seemed to have an issue with that.

“How many?” I inquired.

“Just one” Emory responded instead and moved towards the goal.

Everyone stepped away from the centre and I was given a hockey stick.

This was it, this was my moment to prove to them that I was good, all I needed to do was to score once.

How hard could that be?

They are definitely going to regret underestimating me.

Emory took his stance as I took mine, the puck in front of me.

I held my stick and finally hit the puck, Emory caught it in no time.

“Come on princess, is that all you got?” He mocked as he sent the puck back to me.

I told myself it was just a warmup, I could hear the boys laughing at me as I stood.

I got ready again and I hit the puck, he kicked it off.

I tried again and again and again.

“You have got to do harder than that princess, or do you need your daddy to give you words of comfort?” Emory mocked me, his words made the boys laugh even more.

“Shut up” I cursed.

“Why? Am I getting on your nerves?” He knew exactly why he was doing, he was trying to get me angry, to ruin my chances of making the team.

I ignored him and focused on the puck in front of me.

I have already failed seven times, all I need to do was win, just once and I would be able to join the team.

I tightened my hands around the stick and hit the puck, he hit it off, again and again and again.

In the end I couldn’t win a single one, I laid on the floor exhausted.

He skated towards me and smiled, then gave me a wink.

Gosh, I hate that son of a bitch.

All he has ever done was provoke the shit out of me.

“Mehn, that was humiliating to watch” I could hear one of the boys laugh as they all left the rink.

I was finally left alone with Coach Jude.

He stretched his hand and pulled me up,

“I’m sorry that you couldn’t make the team” he said and then left me there.

Tears fell from my face the moment I realized I was alone, I have never been so humiliated in my life.

It has always been my dream to play hockey just like my dad, I thought I had found the place where I could fulfill that dream.

But it turns out that not all dreams do come true, and this one was never going to happen.

I held my chest as I cried with my head between my knees.