Page 16 of Hockey 101

I give up trying to be positive and scowl back at him. It’s not like I asked for this job. I can help you become a better editor, period. If you would prefer to work with Travis, why don’t you talk to Bryce? I’d be happy to switch back.

Travis won’t though, I already talked to him. Look, Andy, nothing personal, but I’m not really interested in working under a woman. Especially when I’m more qualified to do her job than she is.

Good thing you’re not a woman in the workplace then, because we’ve suffered through this exact treatment for years. Also, whenever someone says nothing personal, it’s almost always followed by a personal insult. I relax my clenched jaw, which is starting to ache.

Aloud, all I say is, That’s unfortunate.

No shit. Anyway, I’m out. Maybe I’ll apply for the editor position once you flame out.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I tell Joey’s departing back.

My bravado lasts only until I’m outside the building. The size of this challenge appears unsurmountable. At minimum, I’m going to have to learn a massive amount of information about hockey, then attend games and write plausibly about them. And now there’s nobody at the Messenger to help me.

But if I quit, I won’t have any current writing and editing samples to submit with my internship applications.

Panic rises in me, and I feel like I can’t breathe. I collapse onto a bench and rest my head between my knees.

Slow your breathing, Andy. Things will be okay. You’re calm. Your centre is still and solid. Breathe in fully and exhale fully, completely emptying your lungs.

I breathe deeply, in and out, until my panic eases. When I can sit up, I allow myself a couple of minutes to regain my composure. As I’m staring blankly ahead, I hear a familiar dry chuckle. Bryce emerges from the building and he’s not alone. Heidi Carter, a sophomore reporter at the Messenger, is beaming adoringly up at him.

My anxiety morphs into anger. Having found someone new to listen to his polished anecdotes and curated opinions, Bryce is trying to get rid of me. He wants me to flail and quit, so he doesn’t have to see me anymore. Constructive dismissal is how I would phrase it for my human resources complaint; that is, if a college newspaper even had an HR department, which of course we don’t.

The unfairness of the situation really hits me in this moment. Bryce was the one who broke up with me! Then, when he discovered that the grass wasn’t actually greener in the dating pasture, he begged me to get back together. I sanely refused, of course. And now that he’s found someone new, he wants to shove me out of a position I earned. It’s not like I’m haunting him, like a heartbroken ghost, or flaunting my new boyfriends—what new boyfriends?

Well, screw him. I’m not backing down. I need the newspaper experience, so I’m going to become a great sports editor. Okay—at least an adequate one. I mean, if Travis Hanson can do the job, how hard can it be? I pull out my notebook and start writing.

Get a book on the basics of hockey.

Canvass my friends to see who knows hockey.

Meet up with Travis to find out more about the sports editor’s responsibilities.

Meet with Monarch’s athletic director to find out what sports we have here.

Read last year’s Messenger sports coverage.

I pull up the men’s hockey team schedule and realize that they have an exhibition game this Saturday. Which makes sense, since hockey players are total exhibitionists. Hmm—do I have to cover a game if it’s not a real game? I message the question to Travis. He answers immediately: They’re all real games, Andy.

Fine. I finish up my list.

Cover the hockey game this Saturday.

Succeed and show Bryce that his stupid plan has completely failed.

6

ROOKIE BLUES

JACK

SO GLAD WE’RE finally getting back on the ice, I tell Mats as we make our way to the arena. We’ve been doing dry land training, since college hockey has rules limiting practices and games. It feels like I’ve been waiting forever to skate again.

Those rules are put in place so we have time to study, Mats explains. It’s not like junior hockey anymore.

I nod. The schedule at Monarch is actually pretty sweet. There are so many Division III teams in the Minnesota/Wisconsin area that all our road games are close by . We only have a couple of overnight trips all season. Honestly, it’s even easier than our junior hockey schedule, which took us all over British Columbia.

And our first game is this weekend, even if it’s only exhibition, I say. I hope I get to play a lot.

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