Page 78 of Until We Burn
Instead, I’m eyeing my hockey stick and visualizing Diana’s family getting smacked into the Vancouver Harbor one by one.
Reining my focus back is nearly close to impossible when everyone in the Griffins locker room can’t stop talking about Diana getting fired from the Howler.
“I guess they’re trying to save their ass after the whole shit show with Sasha Vellair,” Ryan says. He slips off his baseball cap, ruffling his fingers through his blond hair.
Josh takes a bite from his granola bar and talks around the wedge in his mouth. “My girl told me they’re probably going to replace her with Andrea Whitney.”
All eyes dart towards me. I ignore them while I tape my stick.
I have a feeling Andrea had a part to play in Diana getting fired. I heard she resentfully kept reporting for the Howler even after she lost the editor-in-chief vote to Diana because Andrea was convinced she would be able to prove that she could be better than her. Andrea was always obsessed with that. Being better, having better. I used to admire that until I realized how she used people and tossed them away like they never mattered.
But Andrea could punch out a thousand stories and still wouldn’t have kicked Diana out of the position without Jonathan and Sophia slandering Diana’s reputation.
My wrist jerks. The tape rips free from the roll.
Diana works so fucking hard on everything she puts her mind to. It’s unfair how she’s suffering the consequences for a mistake she didn’t make. I understand this feeling more than anyone and I hate that Diana is going through it, too. I was stupid enough to think this shit storm ended with me. But the people and the media will never quit. They tell all these lies for their own entertainment and they don’t even realize just how much they’re capable of fucking up people’s lives.
I reach for my phone again. Worry eats away at me when the texts I sent to Diana are still unread. I go online to see if there’s any updates about her, but all I see are tabloid headlines ripping into her, and old web pages detailing fun facts about Diana.
The door to the locker room creaks open as the boys file out for practice.
Jonas suddenly hollers out, “Aye, Wallace!Annyeonghaseyo!”
Wallace’s laugh echoes down the hallway. “Hey, you’re getting better!”
I glance up from my phone and see him walk into the change room in his DHU Griffins cap and tracksuit. Wallace perks up the second he sees Rowan, Luke, and I.
“Hey, guys! The ice is all ready for you.”
Luke clobbers him into a hug, nestling their cheeks together. “I love you, man.”
Wallace laughs and pats his back. “Only the best for you, bro.”
I wish more people in this world were like Wallace Park.
Rowan glances at the time and claps his hand against the wall. “Keep an eye on the time, alright? We got five minutes until practice starts.”
I go back to refreshing my conversation with Diana on DXMessenger. The texts load up again. My shoulders slump when they’re still marked as unread.
It’s fine. I’m seeing Diana after practice at Mellonbaum’s class. I can askher how she’s doing then.I shove my phone into my backpack. My skates dig into the floor as I get up to walk out of the locker room.
“Wait, wait—” Rowan claps his hand on my shoulder and pushes me back down.
“What’s up?”
“Before you go out there, I just want to make sure everything is okay up here?” He ruffles my hair, yet his gaze is hard and stern as he searches my face.
“I’ll be fine,” I brush off.
Luke cocks his head and crosses his arms with a suspicious arch of his brows. “You say that, but you look like you wanna kill someone.”
“Or somepeople,”Wallace adds.
“I mean, I do, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m fine.”
The boys exchange knowing looks. They’ve heard me rant about the Huangs one too many times to be fazed by anything I’m saying about them at this point.
Rowan shakes his head. “Kai, you can’t bludgeon Diana’s brother with your stick.”
