Page 57 of The Home Grown
86 comments.
And none of them are talking about the clip. They’re all asking the same thing: if anyone knows why something got deleted on the forum. Comment after comment, people are speculating about what was said—but it’s the one posted just twenty minutes ago that makes my stomach drop.
‘Forget that … have you seen what’s on there now?’
I load up the fan forum in record time, immediately seeing what they were referring to; a new forum post.
Bettsy the playboy.
My blood thumps a little harder as I notice the username ‘IlovetoPuck29’.
Subject: Bettsy the Playboy
I just wanted 2 come on here 2 WARN every1 about Michael Betts (no. 6!!!) again bc this man is such a walking red flag.
The guy thinks a home cooked meal is plain pasta and a side of ketchup … I mean… no thx mate. And what made the whole thing worse? He’s obsessed with himself. Thinks he’s Gods gift to women. He spent the whole nite watching hockey highlights of himself.
What makes this even more tragic is his attachment issues. He said that he cant commit bcuz he’s ‘married to the game’ and he’s too busy focusing on his abs to put any time into having a gf. But … get this… he took my friend out a week later 2 make me jealous and she even said he denied going out wiv me before.
STAY AWAY!!! The only player he is, is an actual player not a hockey player.
I roll my eyes. And I’m not sure if it’s because of the dream or the fact that I’m delirious from exhaustion, but a swellof emotion builds inside me and before I can think through the consequences, I’m clicking the‘create an account’button intending to have my say.
Turns out, all I need is an email address, a screen name and to answer the question ‘who is the current captain’ which is a straightforward thing to find out thanks to our old friend, Google.
I draft a reply to the original poster, demanding concrete evidence and begging the general populous of the forum to consider the post at length for what it is—a pile of crap. And, for good measure, I add a hashtag: ‘#justiceforBettsy’.
I stare at my draft for several minutes, wondering if I should post it or if I should keep myself out of the drama, but the seconds tick away and the compulsion I have to get involved only grows.
I count to three.
And then I hit ‘post’.
BETTSY
Ever hadone of those rare moments where everything goes your way? Yeah, me neither, because I’m usually a magnet for crap and drama. Though imagine my delight on Monday morning—still recovering from a booze-heavy Saturday—when I learned Langer was sick, delaying defensive sessions until Wednesday.
Honestly, I could kiss the guy. Something I never thought I’d be saying. But I only allow myself a second to dwell on that, because deep down, I’m still bubbling with rage about the fact he’s texting Ellie.
Ellie.
“How are your nerves?” Danny says, as we suit up.
I push my anger aside as I switch to focus mode.
“Alright, yeah,” I say. My tone has an air of confidence which it has no business having.
I’m positive I can manage whatever today throws at me, especially after Coach gave me a rundown of what to expect yesterday.
Luckily, the shower I took before stopping by the rink had washed away enough of the hangover to grant me a free pass from a lecture he would have, no doubt, given me. And when I arrived at the hotel, far later than I would have liked, I collapsed into bed and passed out until my alarm went off at six this morning, feeling considerably fresher.
But as I look at Danny, his face a pale shade of grey, I conclude that he’s not feeling all that fresh.
He looks like he’s about to puke into his lid as he sits down next to me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume he’d eaten the same thing as Langer.
I search my mind for something to say to make things better.
Danny and I are the same age, and we’ve both been waiting for this opportunity for as long as we can remember. For a period, we both played on the U18 team, but there was a lot of competition for positions at the next level. Ultimately, we both know this is likely going to be our only chance to bag a permanent spot on the adult roster.
