Semua Bab ICE AND ARROGANCE : Bab 221 - Bab 230

(Danica)The prescription medicine Principal Harlow gave me finally began to cool the fire in my blood, leaving me in a heavy, exhausted state of semi-awareness. The room was dark, save for the soft glow of a small lamp Girlie had turned on in the corner. She sat quietly in the armchair beside the bed, her reading glasses slipped onto the bridge of her nose, watching over me with a quiet, maternal vigilance.Suddenly, my phone on the nightstand buzzed with a FaceTime notification.Before I could reach for it, Girlie stood up and gently picked it up. Her eyes softened when she saw the caller ID. She tapped the screen to answer and held the phone up so I could see.Kane”s face appeared on the screen.He was sitting in what looked like a sterile, dimly lit dorm room at State University. His hair was messy, his eyes bloodshot and swollen. The moment he saw me lying in the bed, the tough, unbreakable star center of the Wolves completely crumbled. The tears he had been trying to hold back s

(Danica)The afternoon dragged on with a suffocating silence.Girlie had stepped out to run to the campus pharmacy, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the faint, rhythmic ticking of the living room clock downstairs. I tried to focus on the textbook open on my lap, but the words blurred together. My mind kept drifting back to Kane”s tear-stained face on the screen, his desperate voice begging his mother to protect me.A sharp, demanding ping from my nightstand shattered the quiet.I reached over and picked up my phone, expecting a text from Girlie or a check-in from one of the Wolves. Instead, a long block of text stared back at me.It was from Caleb.Caleb: Dani, I know you”re resting and your phone is probably on silent, but I needed to get this off my chest. I stopped by the townhouse earlier. Your principal—Kane”s mother”didn”t let me in, which I get. She”s protective. But I hope she at least gave you the coursework and the soup I brought.I”ve been thinking about everything. Ab

(Danica)Girlie locked the deadbolt with a heavy, decisive click, then turned to look at the manila folder and the yellow freesias Caleb had left on the porch chair. Without a word, she picked up the bouquet, walked straight to the kitchen, and tossed it into the trash bin."You don't need his flowers, and you certainly don't need his pity," she said, her voice steadying as she smoothed down her blazer. "I will have the department chair email you the digital copies of those seminar notes directly. You won't have to touch anything that boy has laid his hands on.""Thank you, Girlie," I murmured, leaning against the kitchen counter. My fever was gone, but a cold weight remained in my chest. "He”s trying to use Game 10 to force my hand. He thinks because Kane is at State U, the Wolves are going to fall apart."Girlie”s eyes softened, a flash of fierce, maternal pain crossing her face before she masked it with her usual administrative poise. "Victor thinks he has broken Kane by exiling hi

(Danica)The cold air of our home rink didn't soothe the ache in my chest; it only made the emptiness sharper.I sat on the lowest tier of the metal bleachers, wrapped tightly in a Harrison University varsity jacket, watching our team run drills. Or rather, watching Caleb Ruiz run the ice like he already owned the championship trophy. As the captain of Harrison, Caleb was in peak, insufferable form. His voice echoed off the rafters, sharp and demanding, directing our lines with a smug, calculated precision.He was orchestrating everything perfectly. And tomorrow, he expected to orchestrate me, too.My phone buzzed in my lap. I didn't even have to look to know it was a text from him, despite him being right there on the ice. For the past twenty-four hours, Caleb had been flooding my screen with "reminders" that Harrison was going to give me the future and the stability Kane never could. He”s State U”s property now, Danica. Forget him.Every word felt like a stone crushing the breath ou

(Danica)The arena lights suddenly plunged into pitch blackness.The roaring crowd of thousands gasped collectively, the sudden silence stretching thin and heavy across the dark stadium. Beside me, Girlie”s grip on my wrist tightened, her fingers like bands of cold steel.Watch the ice, Danica, she whispered in the dark.A single, blinding spotlight snapped onto the away-team tunnel. The stadium speakers didn't play the standard Wolves intro music. Instead, a deep, bass-heavy thud rhythmically shook the concrete floor beneath my feet, sounding exactly like a war drum.The stadium announcer's voice cracked over the microphone, booming through the rafters with a sudden, breathless shock that didn't sound scripted at all."Ladies and gentlemen... representing the Vanguard Wolves... making a late addition to tonight's starting lineup..."The announcer paused, a frantic rustle of papers echoing through the speakers as if he couldn't believe the roster sheet that had just been shoved into h