Skating Under His Name

CHAPTER 1: THE DECISION

Riley pressed her face against the glass, watching the hockey team practice. The sound of skates scraping ice made her heart beat faster. God, she loved that sound.

The players moved across the rink like they owned it. Confident. Free. Living the dream, she'd been chasing since she was six years old.

"Riley, come on. Mom's going to kill us if we're late again."

She turned around. Ryan stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking bored as hell. Her twin brother. Same face, same eyes, same everything on the outside.

But inside? Completely different.

Ryan couldn't care less about hockey. Riley would die for it.

"Five more minutes," she said.

He rolled his eyes but didn't argue. Ryan knew better than to get between his sister and the ice.

She turned back to watch the drills. Her fingers twitched, imagining the stick in her hands, the puck at her feet, the rush of cold air as she skated full speed toward the goal.

"You could just ask Dad to let you play, you know," Ryan said.

Riley actually laughed at that. "Yeah, right. Remember what happened when I tried out for the school team?"

How could she forget? The coach had smiled at her like she was a cute puppy doing tricks. "Hockey's pretty rough, sweetheart. Have you thought about figure skating?"

She'd cried herself to sleep that night.

After that, she stopped asking. She just watched and trained alone, keeping her dreams to herself.

"Come on," Ryan said, pulling her away from the glass. "Before Mom sends a search party."

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," Riley muttered, pulling herself away from the glass.

They walked home in the freezing cold. Riley shoved her hands deep in her jacket pockets and tried not to think about how unfair everything was.

When they got home, something felt off immediately.

Mom stood in the kitchen, arms crossed. Dad sat at the table staring at some fancy envelope as if it were a bomb about to go off.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked.

Mom looked at Ryan. "You got accepted. To Falcons Academy."

Time stopped.

Falcons Academy. THE FALCON’S ACADEMY. The best hockey training program in the entire country. The place that turned regular players into legends. The place Dad had forced Ryan to apply to, even though Ryan didn't give a damn about hockey.

The place Riley would sell her soul to attend.

"Oh my god, Ryan, that's incredible!" Riley said, forcing herself to smile even though her chest felt like it was caving in.

Ryan didn't even look happy. He stared at that envelope as if it were a prison sentence.

"I'm not going," he said.

The kitchen went dead silent.

"What did you just say?" Dad's voice had that dangerous edge to it.

"I said I'm not going." Ryan's voice got stronger. "I don't want to play hockey. I never did. This was YOUR dream, Dad. Not mine."

Dad stood up so fast his chair almost fell over. "Do you have ANY idea how many kids would kill for this chance? How hard did I work to get you noticed?"

"Then maybe you should've asked RILEY!" Ryan shouted. "She's the one who actually loves hockey! She's the one who deserves to go!"

Riley's heart stopped.

Dad turned to look at her. The expression on his face made her want to disappear. Pity mixed with disappointment mixed with something that looked almost like regret.

"Riley's good," he said slowly. "Really good. But Falcons is an all-boys academy. There's nothing we can do."

Those words hit like a punch to the stomach.

All-boys academy.

Of course it was.

Ryan grabbed the envelope and shoved it at Riley. "Here. You want it? Take it."

"Ryan, don't—" Mom started.

But Ryan was already storming upstairs. His door slammed hard enough to shake the walls.

Riley stood there holding the envelope. Her hands were shaking. Inside this stupid piece of paper was everything she'd ever wanted. Her future. Her dream. The life she was supposed to have.

All-boys academy.

She stared at the acceptance letter. Ryan Morgan's name is printed right at the top in fancy letters.

Ryan Morgan.

Wait.

Her hands stopped shaking as an idea started forming in her head. A completely insane, absolutely crazy, totally reckless idea.

But maybe...

That night, she couldn't sleep. She just lay there staring at the ceiling, her mind going a million miles an hour.

It was crazy. It would never work.

But the more she thought about it...

She and Ryan looked identical. Literally identical. Same height, same build, same face. She'd been training for years. She was fast, she was strong, she was Good at hockey.

If she cut her hair short like Ryan's. If she hid her chest. If she walked and talked and acted like a guy...

Could she actually pull this off?

At two in the morning, she got up and went to Ryan's room. She knocked quietly.

"Come in."

Ryan was awake too, sitting by his window, staring out at nothing.

"I want to go," Riley said. "Instead of you."

"Riley—"

"I know it's insane. I know it's dangerous. But this is my only shot, Ryan. You don't want this. But I do. I've wanted it my whole life."

Ryan didn't say anything for a long time. Then he stood up, walked over to his dresser, and pulled out a pair of scissors.

He held them out to her.

"Then let's do it," he said. "Let's turn you into Ryan Morgan."

Riley took the scissors. Her hands were shaking again.

They walked to the bathroom together. She stood in front of the mirror looking at herself. At her long, dark hair that she'd been growing out since elementary school.

She raised the scissors.

"You sure about this?" Ryan asked quietly.

Riley looked at her reflection one more time. She thought about the ice. The rink. The dream that had been burning inside her for as long as she could remember.

"I've never been more sure than this."

The first cut hurt the most.

Her hair fell into the sink in long, dark pieces. Then another cut. Another. Ryan helped her cut it, making it look exactly like his own.

When they finished, Riley stared at the person in the mirror.

The girl was gone.

Standing there was someone new. Someone who looked exactly like Ryan. Someone who could walk into Falcons Academy and finally chase the dream that had always been just out of reach.

Riley Morgan took a deep breath.

No.

Ryan Morgan took a deep breath.

And smiled.