Playing Rough
Tryouts
"As far as everyone here is going to know, I'm your twin brother Charley." Charley hisses to her twin brother Noah as they enter the hockey rink where tryouts for their high school hockey team were being held.
"Charley, let's get real here, how long can you keep everyone fooled that you're a boy." Noah rationalizes. Charley sends him a glare.
"Tais-toi, Noah. Je ne veux pas faire affaire avec vous en ce moment.*" Noah knew to back off. Whenever Charley was starting to get super pissed off she'd start speaking in French. He let the subject drop. Charley had insisted they get there early so she could be in all her padding and have her helmet on to hide her face before any of the other guys got to the rink.
It was freshman year. Charley and Noah were both attending a high school in Quebec. Hockey was a pretty big sport in Canada and Charley and Noah had been brought up playing it. They had a little pond in their backyard that they turned into a rink during the winter. Their father, Bryan Evans, was a former player of the Montreal Canadians.
Six years ago, when Noah and Charley were eight, their father passed away from a hockey injury. They were playing the Boston Bruins and a player, Charley had forgotten which, tried to flick the puck over their father's head to get it passed him. It ended up hitting their father in the face, specifically the nose, which drove the bone up into his skull, hitting his brain and killing him instantly.
Charley remembered every detail about his death; she was there. Sometimes she still had dreams about it. It was like it had been in slow motion. The puck hitting him in the face, the blood, her father crumbling onto ice and laying lifeless. A trainer came out with a stretcher and brought him back into the locker room. Charley, Noah and their mom Anne were sitting on the glass.
A little while after, a security guard came and brought them down to the locker room where the trainer told them their father was dead. They held a short memorial after the game, announcing the death of Bryan Evans. Charley and her family were invited out onto the ice where they stood on a worn red carpet that had been rolled out onto the ice so they didn't slip.
Charley remembered looking up at the jumbotron and seeing pictures of her father flash across. All the fans had their hats off and their heads bowed. It wasn't until they exited the ice that Charley realized she had been crying.
After that, Anne tried to stop both of the children from playing hockey. Noah was able to convince her to let him play hockey but Anne insisted signing Charley up for figure skating. Everyday at five o'clock at night, Anne would drop Charley and Noah off at the local rink. It was a large building and held three separate ice rinks. The first one was used for Charley's figure skating team, the second for Noah's youth hockey team and the third was usually open skate or an older group of boys was there.
Being the smart eight year old Charley was, she began ditching skating practice and joining Noah's hockey practice instead. She'd stash all her pads in his bag so their mom wouldn't notice and Noah was just fine helping her. He loved playing hockey with her.
Being brought up by and NHL star and playing pick up games with a very competitive brother and his friends made her a very rough player, rougher than was allowed in girls games. She spent so much time suspended from games and in the penalty box that eventually the coaches kicked her off the team.
And that was where she was today. She finally decided she would try out for the boys hockey team. That way she could check as much as she wanted.
She quickly slips on her pads and helmet and ties her skates. She picks up her stick and skates out onto the ice. Noah soon follows. She passes him a stray puck and he takes a hard shot at the net, hitting it perfectly into the top right corner.
Twenty minutes later, thirty other boys are surrounding them on the ice. She flashes Noah a nervous smile but he gives her a reassuring look.
"Morning boys, I'm Coach Walsh." he went on, boasting about their amazing hockey program then got us lined up to do some drills and shooting and other skill sets.
There was about fifteen minutes left in the tryout session and Coach Walsh decided to have a little fun. He would call out two random names, they'd start at center ice, he'd throw a puck out, they'd battle for it and try to go to goal while the other person was defending. Noah had already done his against this kid, Kyle Williams. He'd won the puck but missed the goal. So far everyone had. That goalie was fucking amazing. There was time for one more set.
"Charley Evans and Jonathan Toews." Charley looks over at the boy. He has a good six inches on her and has a pretty intimidating serious face.
"Poor kid," someone whispered, referring to Charley. "Jon's the best player on this team and way bigger than him. The Evans kid is going to get crushed. Jon's a senior too."
Jonathan and Charley lined up on center ice. Coach hurls a puck down onto the ice and blows his whistle. The puck slides off to the left corner and rests against the boards. Jonathan and Charley take over after it. Jonathan beats her to it, but she gives him a hard check into the boards and he looses his footing and tumbles over onto the ice. Charley picks up the puck and skates around the back of the net.
By now Jonathan has recovered and is trailing just inches behind Charley and he looks pissed. She makes a hard turn around the goal, fakes a right shot, pulls it back in once the goalie goes down for a save, leaving the left side clear open and Charley gives it a small tap into the net.
The whole rink is silent for a moment as everyone processes what happened. Then it breaks out into cheers and cat calls. Charley glances over at her brother and sees he's smiling.
"Charley Evans I think you just secured yourself on the varsity team." Coach Walsh calls out. Charley beams. Coach tells them what a great job they did and then dismisses them. Charley's about to skate off the ice when she's pulled back forcefully and shoved into the nearby boards.
"What the hell!" she yells. It's the Toews kid, and he looks pissed.
"What the fuck do you think you were doing out there?" he demands, glaring coldly at Charley. "Why the hell'd you show me up like that?"
"I was just playing my hardest. I want to make a team."
"You made me look like a fucking loser." Toews yells, giving Charley a hard shove into the boards.
"Not my fault I'm a better hockey player than you." Charley instantly regretted the words, fearing she might have gone too far. And she was right. Jonathan took a swing at her, knocking her sideways. She stumbled but regained her balance. She gave Jonathan a hard punch on the side of the helmet, knocking it off and sending it skittering across the ice.
"You little fucker." Jonathan yells, fisting Charley's jersey and shoving her hard against the boards. She threw another punch at him hitting him square in the side off the head. Their gloves and sticks were lying on the ice near them.
"Ne vous avisez pas de me parler de cette façon connard!**" Shit, Charley's French had started kicking in.
By now the rest of the player and Coach Walsh had realized what was going on. They player all watch intensely as their star senior player and a newbie freshman duel it out. Coach Walsh skates over as fast as he can and tries to pull Jonathan off of Charley, but Jonathan gets one more swing at Charley, knocking her helmet clear off.
Everyone gasps as her long brown hair falls to her shoulders and her feminine features become clear. Jonathan's eyes widen in realization that he got showed up by a freshman girl and almost lost a fight to her too. His face goes red from embarrassment and anger.
"Both of you, cut it out. We'll discuss it later, get off my ice." Coach yells.
"Coach she's a girl!" Jonathan yells.
"So what, she's already proved she can play better than you." Coach hisses, stepping off the ice and dragging Jonathan with him.
"Damn, you almost beat up Toews." a kid says, skating up to her. It was Kyle Williams, the one who had gone against her brother in the last drill.
"Wasn't really planning on it." Charley shrugs.
"It's all good, Toews is a cocky dick, needed to be brought down a level. Nice goal too. You're really good."
"Thanks. You guys are oddly chill for finding out I'm a girl."
"Well, you gained a lot of respect showing up and beating up our best player." Kyle says with a sideways smile.
"Charley, come on we should get going!" Noah yells. She says goodbye to Kyle before heading back into the locker room to find Noah.
~~~
French Translations:
*I don't want to deal with you right now.
**Don't you dare talk to me that way you asshole.
"Charley, let's get real here, how long can you keep everyone fooled that you're a boy." Noah rationalizes. Charley sends him a glare.
"Tais-toi, Noah. Je ne veux pas faire affaire avec vous en ce moment.*" Noah knew to back off. Whenever Charley was starting to get super pissed off she'd start speaking in French. He let the subject drop. Charley had insisted they get there early so she could be in all her padding and have her helmet on to hide her face before any of the other guys got to the rink.
It was freshman year. Charley and Noah were both attending a high school in Quebec. Hockey was a pretty big sport in Canada and Charley and Noah had been brought up playing it. They had a little pond in their backyard that they turned into a rink during the winter. Their father, Bryan Evans, was a former player of the Montreal Canadians.
Six years ago, when Noah and Charley were eight, their father passed away from a hockey injury. They were playing the Boston Bruins and a player, Charley had forgotten which, tried to flick the puck over their father's head to get it passed him. It ended up hitting their father in the face, specifically the nose, which drove the bone up into his skull, hitting his brain and killing him instantly.
Charley remembered every detail about his death; she was there. Sometimes she still had dreams about it. It was like it had been in slow motion. The puck hitting him in the face, the blood, her father crumbling onto ice and laying lifeless. A trainer came out with a stretcher and brought him back into the locker room. Charley, Noah and their mom Anne were sitting on the glass.
A little while after, a security guard came and brought them down to the locker room where the trainer told them their father was dead. They held a short memorial after the game, announcing the death of Bryan Evans. Charley and her family were invited out onto the ice where they stood on a worn red carpet that had been rolled out onto the ice so they didn't slip.
Charley remembered looking up at the jumbotron and seeing pictures of her father flash across. All the fans had their hats off and their heads bowed. It wasn't until they exited the ice that Charley realized she had been crying.
After that, Anne tried to stop both of the children from playing hockey. Noah was able to convince her to let him play hockey but Anne insisted signing Charley up for figure skating. Everyday at five o'clock at night, Anne would drop Charley and Noah off at the local rink. It was a large building and held three separate ice rinks. The first one was used for Charley's figure skating team, the second for Noah's youth hockey team and the third was usually open skate or an older group of boys was there.
Being the smart eight year old Charley was, she began ditching skating practice and joining Noah's hockey practice instead. She'd stash all her pads in his bag so their mom wouldn't notice and Noah was just fine helping her. He loved playing hockey with her.
Being brought up by and NHL star and playing pick up games with a very competitive brother and his friends made her a very rough player, rougher than was allowed in girls games. She spent so much time suspended from games and in the penalty box that eventually the coaches kicked her off the team.
And that was where she was today. She finally decided she would try out for the boys hockey team. That way she could check as much as she wanted.
She quickly slips on her pads and helmet and ties her skates. She picks up her stick and skates out onto the ice. Noah soon follows. She passes him a stray puck and he takes a hard shot at the net, hitting it perfectly into the top right corner.
Twenty minutes later, thirty other boys are surrounding them on the ice. She flashes Noah a nervous smile but he gives her a reassuring look.
"Morning boys, I'm Coach Walsh." he went on, boasting about their amazing hockey program then got us lined up to do some drills and shooting and other skill sets.
There was about fifteen minutes left in the tryout session and Coach Walsh decided to have a little fun. He would call out two random names, they'd start at center ice, he'd throw a puck out, they'd battle for it and try to go to goal while the other person was defending. Noah had already done his against this kid, Kyle Williams. He'd won the puck but missed the goal. So far everyone had. That goalie was fucking amazing. There was time for one more set.
"Charley Evans and Jonathan Toews." Charley looks over at the boy. He has a good six inches on her and has a pretty intimidating serious face.
"Poor kid," someone whispered, referring to Charley. "Jon's the best player on this team and way bigger than him. The Evans kid is going to get crushed. Jon's a senior too."
Jonathan and Charley lined up on center ice. Coach hurls a puck down onto the ice and blows his whistle. The puck slides off to the left corner and rests against the boards. Jonathan and Charley take over after it. Jonathan beats her to it, but she gives him a hard check into the boards and he looses his footing and tumbles over onto the ice. Charley picks up the puck and skates around the back of the net.
By now Jonathan has recovered and is trailing just inches behind Charley and he looks pissed. She makes a hard turn around the goal, fakes a right shot, pulls it back in once the goalie goes down for a save, leaving the left side clear open and Charley gives it a small tap into the net.
The whole rink is silent for a moment as everyone processes what happened. Then it breaks out into cheers and cat calls. Charley glances over at her brother and sees he's smiling.
"Charley Evans I think you just secured yourself on the varsity team." Coach Walsh calls out. Charley beams. Coach tells them what a great job they did and then dismisses them. Charley's about to skate off the ice when she's pulled back forcefully and shoved into the nearby boards.
"What the hell!" she yells. It's the Toews kid, and he looks pissed.
"What the fuck do you think you were doing out there?" he demands, glaring coldly at Charley. "Why the hell'd you show me up like that?"
"I was just playing my hardest. I want to make a team."
"You made me look like a fucking loser." Toews yells, giving Charley a hard shove into the boards.
"Not my fault I'm a better hockey player than you." Charley instantly regretted the words, fearing she might have gone too far. And she was right. Jonathan took a swing at her, knocking her sideways. She stumbled but regained her balance. She gave Jonathan a hard punch on the side of the helmet, knocking it off and sending it skittering across the ice.
"You little fucker." Jonathan yells, fisting Charley's jersey and shoving her hard against the boards. She threw another punch at him hitting him square in the side off the head. Their gloves and sticks were lying on the ice near them.
"Ne vous avisez pas de me parler de cette façon connard!**" Shit, Charley's French had started kicking in.
By now the rest of the player and Coach Walsh had realized what was going on. They player all watch intensely as their star senior player and a newbie freshman duel it out. Coach Walsh skates over as fast as he can and tries to pull Jonathan off of Charley, but Jonathan gets one more swing at Charley, knocking her helmet clear off.
Everyone gasps as her long brown hair falls to her shoulders and her feminine features become clear. Jonathan's eyes widen in realization that he got showed up by a freshman girl and almost lost a fight to her too. His face goes red from embarrassment and anger.
"Both of you, cut it out. We'll discuss it later, get off my ice." Coach yells.
"Coach she's a girl!" Jonathan yells.
"So what, she's already proved she can play better than you." Coach hisses, stepping off the ice and dragging Jonathan with him.
"Damn, you almost beat up Toews." a kid says, skating up to her. It was Kyle Williams, the one who had gone against her brother in the last drill.
"Wasn't really planning on it." Charley shrugs.
"It's all good, Toews is a cocky dick, needed to be brought down a level. Nice goal too. You're really good."
"Thanks. You guys are oddly chill for finding out I'm a girl."
"Well, you gained a lot of respect showing up and beating up our best player." Kyle says with a sideways smile.
"Charley, come on we should get going!" Noah yells. She says goodbye to Kyle before heading back into the locker room to find Noah.
~~~
French Translations:
*I don't want to deal with you right now.
**Don't you dare talk to me that way you asshole.
omg make a sequal, please !!! love this story !
4/4/16