"How are you feeling about the calculus test tomorrow?" My best friend, Genevieve, asks me as I am scrolling on my phone.

"Eh," I reply back, staring at a picture of Marcus with his arm around another girl. Marcus and I are strictly casual but I still get bothered when I see him posting with other girls. I knew going into our friends with benefits relationship that he was the biggest player on the football team. I feel like a part of me believes that he'll change for me, but I should know that won't happen.

"What do you mean 'eh'? It's our first quiz and we can't fail it. You fail the quiz, and then your grade starts out with an F. What are you even looking at?" Genevieve sighs as she moves over to look at my phone. "Oh Marcus posting with a new girl. What's new? I keep telling you to dump him."

"You can't dump someone you're not dating."

"Exactly. You guys aren't dating. You knew exactly who he was when you got involved with him."

"Who even is this girl anyways?"

"Oh that's Olivia Vegas. She's also a junior and the captain of the basketball team. Remember everyone was talking about her our freshman year?"

"Oh yeah. Anyways I'm prettier than her. Plus she has brown hair and Marcus has always been into blondes," I say trying to make myself feel better. Genevieve just rolls her eyes and goes back to her calculus notes.

"You should focus on the things you can control like your calculus grade. If your grades slip you know Coach is going to kill you."

"I'll be ready by the morning. Marcus texted me and I'm going to his place. Don't wait up," I say as I grab my keys. Marcus and I have had an on and off relationship since I was a freshman and he was a sophomore. I don't know why a part of me is attracted to Marcus, I think I like the thrill of being with someone who is emotionally unavailable.

"Fine," Genevieve says as I head out the door.

As I'm driving I can't help but let my mind wander to earlier today in my calculus class. Zora. Of course everyone was talking about her, she's stunning with her blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. I'd be lying if I didn't say that having a freshman on the hockey team intimidated me. She will be okay as long as she plays well and stays out of my way of being team captain. A part of me wants to be nice and befriend her since she is new, but also a part of me wants her to stay as far away from me as possible so she doesn't get in my way.

"Hey," Marcus says as he opens the door.

"Hey," I say with a smile. He holds the door open for me and I walk inside. I notice his roommates aren't home. "I saw that picture with you and Olivia."

"Oh?" He says raising a brow. "We're just friends."

"Oh, just like we're 'just friends'"

"You know I don't date."

"I know," I say, more harshly than I had expected. Marcus takes a seat on the couch and pats the seat next to him.

"Here let's watch a movie. I'll put on your favorite." I am flattered and actually surprised that he remembers my favorite movie, however both him and I know I came for sex and not a movie. I walk to the couch, sit my bag down, and climb onto his lap with my back facing the TV.

"You and I both know what I came here for," I say in a whisper as I lean down to get close to his face.

"Oh yeah?" He says as he puts his right hand in my hair and pulls me closer for a kiss.

He pulls my shirt over my head to reveal the black lace bra I had put on for him.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you look?" He mumbles as he places kisses on my covered breasts.

"Mmhm," I say in response as I put my hands in his hair.

"Dude. You have a room," Caleb, one of his roommates says as he walks into the living room. I jump up and grab my shirt to cover myself.

"I didn't think you were home," Marcus replies.

"Well I am. Mark took my car because his is in the shop."

"I'm going to go," I say awkwardly. "I have hockey practice anyways."

"I'll walk you out," Marcus says after I put my shirt back on. "I'm sorry I didn't think he was home."

"It's okay I didn't think he was home either. Are you going to the party tonight?"

"Yes. You?"

"Yes. I'll see you there?"

"Yes," Marcus says as he kisses me and closes my car door once I am inside. Once I see Marcus go inside his apartment I groan and cover my face with my hands. That was so embarrassing. I start my car and drive to campus to get to the rink early.

I grab my hockey bag out of my trunk and head inside. I'm scrolling on my phone when I hear skates sliding across the ice and pucks hitting the net. I peek in and see Zora hitting pucks into the net. I wonder what she's doing here so early. I walk to a bench to put my skates on and sit my bag down. I decided not to put my hockey gear on yet since we have an hour until practice starts.

"Hey," Zora says as she skates to the bench I'm sitting at.

"Hey," I say as I lace my skates without looking up. "I didn't expect you to be here so early."

"I didn't want to write my paper anymore or work on any homework really. So I came here. The rink has always been the place where I can clear my head."

"It's always been my place to clear my head too," I admit. I look at Zora and study her features. She really is pretty and I envy that about her too. Do I have men jumping at me in every direction? Yes. But do I think Zora is prettier than me? Absolutely. I can't quite tell if I want to be her or be with her. Stop it, I tell myself. She's your teammate and your potential competition.

"What are you running from?" Zora jokes. I just look at my skates and stand up.

"Let's see what you got, New Girl," I say, changing the subject and skating onto the ice with my stick. I hear her following behind me. I stand in front of her with my back facing the net. She drops the puck on the ground.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Ready?" She asks.

"Ready," I say. She starts to skate towards me with the puck. I'm ready to defend, determined to not let her beat me.

She skates fast with the puck and shoots the puck in the bottom right towards the net. I quickly stop the puck. You're going to have to do better than that, I think to myself.

"That was predictable. You don't want to be predictable. Go again," I say, sliding the puck back toward her. She catches the puck with her stick, skates from me and is back into position, ready.

"Ready," I say without her having to ask. She skates towards me again but at a different angle this time. I can already predict what she's going to do next. She swerves to the right but I'm already on the left side before she has a chance to quickly slide left. I slide too far over and she beautifully slides the puck in on the right side.

"Dammit," I mumble.

"You got too cocky," I hear a voice say. I look up and Zora turns around to see Coach Johnson. I feel my cheeks burn with anger and envy. Of course Coach was there for that.

"Surprised to see you both here early," He says once Zora and I don't reply to his first comment. "Welcome to the rink, Zora."

"Hi, Coach," Zora replies.

"Hey, Coach," I said afterwards.

Coach sets his things down on the bench and opens up his clipboard. "You guys still have thirty minutes before practice starts. Reya, why don't you show Zora around?"

"Sure," I say even more annoyed than I was before. "Let's go." I go to the bench to take my skates off as Zora follows.

We walk down the hallway to the locker rooms, both of us staying silent.

"Here are our lockers. Everyone has their own designated locker. No one has locker sixteen so you can have that one," I say as Zora nods along. "I'm assuming Coach has your gear or at least will be getting it. There's nothing else to really show you."

Zora nods and I turn around to open my locker and get my hockey gear. As I switch from my sweater to a compression undershirt I feel Zora's eyes on me and I can't help but smile. I hope you like what you see, I think to myself.

"Zora," Coach calls from outside the locker room. I turn around and see Zora quickly looking away.

"Yes?" Zora replies.

"I have a jersey for you, did you bring old hockey gear until your gear comes in?"

"Yes," Zora says as she walks out of the locker room to retrieve the jersey. I put my hockey pants and pads on next. Zora returns with the jersey. She removes her hoodie and puts on a black long sleeve shirt. I look up and see that her back is facing away from me. I look at her back and her shoulders. They're defined, so she definitely works out. Does she have any bad features? She turns back to me and grabs her hockey pants.

"Have you played hockey anywhere else?" I say breaking the silence.

Zora looks up at me as she pulls her hockey pants up. "Just high school. You?"

"Ah that's right, you're a freshman," I tease. "Other than high school, no. I'm a junior."

Zora nods and then grabs her jersey to slide it over her head. She grabs her stick and walks out of the locker room with me following closely behind. Is it bad that I think she looks hot in hockey gear?

"Ah the New Girl," Genevieve says as Zora walks out of the locker room. She raises her eyebrows when she sees me walk out after.

"Her name is Zora," Coach says.

"Hi, everyone," Zora says and everyone gives her a hello in return. Rachel skates over to talk to Zora but I can't hear what they're talking about. Zora laughs at something Rachel says and I can't help but notice that she looks cute when she laughs.

"Okay, everyone on the ice," Coach says and practice begins.

I play right defense man so I am in position with Genevieve on my left and Marissa as goaltender. Coach put Zora in the center forward position to try it out and Rue is to her left and Jade is on her right. Coach put six other players on the other side so it was more game-like. Zora and another girl from the other side do the face off and the puck is sliding on the ice with Zora gaining control first. She is fast. I will give her that. She is skating down the rink with Rue keeping up on her left and Jade falling behind on the right. Zora passes the puck to Rue and speeds up. Rue passes the puck back to Zora who then scores. Easy shot, I say to myself. She is very quick. I will give her that. Her passing skills aren't terrible either. Rue skates over to give Zora a high five and Jade makes her way over to tell Zora she did a good job.

"Beautiful, Zora. Run it again," Coach says.

Two and a half hours later and the first practice of hell is over. I sit on the bench to untie my skates when Genevieve comes over to me.

"What are you doing after this?" She asks.

"Probably trying to learn calculus," I reply. She laughs. "Why what's up?"

"There's that party tonight at nine after the freshman gathering."

"Oh yeah, Marcus and I were talking about that. I'm still down to go."

"Good. Maybe we will both get lucky tonight," Genevieve jokes as she sits down next to me to take off her skates. Genevieve and I have been best friends since we were in elementary school. I trust that woman with my life. One thing about our friendship is that Genevieve and I will never fight about a guy because she's lesbian, so we have no problems in our friendship.

I head back to the locker room to take my gear off and see Zora already half undressed.

"Good job today," I say, trying to be nice. If I want a chance at being team captain I need to be nice.

"You too," Zora says, facing me. She smiles as she walks out of the locker room. I take my gear off and realize I stink and am in dire need of a shower.

I head out to my car and drive to my apartment.

Somehow Genevieve beat me home and she's standing in the kitchen with a bottle of water.

"What are you thinking about Zora?" She asks me.

"She's actually good and I hate to admit that. I hope she just stays out of my way of being team captain."

"I agree. I don't think Coach would make a freshmen team captain though."

"He seems very fond of her so we will see. I'm going to take a shower and get ready for the party."

I turn the shower on to make the water warm, and put my long hair into a hair clip. I washed my hair last night so all I will need to do tonight is just curl it.

I get into the shower and allow the water to run down my back as my mind wanders back to Zora. I want to know more about her. Why did she decide on Vermont? What are her parents like? What building does she live in? Has she made any friends?

All of these questions I'm allowing myself to think shouldn't matter but they do. A part of me is fascinated by her, maybe it's because Coach already deems her as his star player. That also makes me hate her.

She is good for the team, so I have to put my jealousy aside for that.

I get out of the shower, head back into my room and pick up my phone. I see a missed call from my mom, which is surprising because she has always been so absorbed in work that she's never cared about what I was doing.

"Hello?" I say as my mom picks up the phone.

"Hello Darling. I just wanted to call and see how things are going," my mom says. I try not to let myself get upset or irritated as this may be her trying to finally make an effort.

"Hey, Mom. Things are going okay. I had my first hockey practice today," I say as I walk to my closet to pick out an outfit for tonight.

"That's great. I wish you would have pursued tennis, but I hope the first practice went well." My mom has never been fond of the idea of me pursuing a hockey career. She is old fashioned and considers hockey to be a "mens only sport". She has never been supportive when it comes to hockey and has never been to a game of mine not even in high school. She always uses the "she's too busy with work" excuse which is at least a little true since she runs a fashion business but it still doesn't hurt any less.

As for my father, he cares too much about hockey. He played in college and went pro before retiring and having me. Now he is always on my case about performing well and keeping my grades up. I will say I am thankful at times for my father and his extra push when it comes to hockey, but the part that sucks is the yelling matches and harsh lectures when he thinks I didn't play well.

"Yeah it went well."

"Good. Well I have to go, but I love you sweetheart and remember to call me."

"I love you too," I say as my mom quickly hangs up. I sigh and put my phone down as I grab a black corset top and jeans to throw on. I curl my hair, put on some makeup and head back out to the living room.

"Ready?" Genevieve says from the couch.

"Ready," I say as I get up and grab my keys.

I park in an area we found along the street and already see people in the front yard. The party is at one of the frat houses that Marcus is a part of, so I know it's guaranteed he will be here. Genevieve and I get out of the car and are greeted by some of the members of the men's hockey team.

"Glad you guys could make it," Demetri, one of the hockey members, says.

"Thanks for having us," I respond as he leads Genevieve and I into the house.

We walk in and immediately spot Marcus taking a girl with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes upstairs and I already know who it is. Zora fucking Brown. No fucking way.