I'm so sorry guys! I've been taking forever to put up new chapters, I know. I have no excuse. Maybe some more soon? I don't know.
"Step it up boys!" Hunter yelled. She glided along the edge of the rink, messing with the one glove that she still held. "You can't expect to get anywhere skating like that, let alone win the Olympics! It's not that difficult!"
Hunter had been helping Herb coach in the last week before the Norwegian game. They had had a lot of practices and he saw no reason for her not to get a little coaching practice. Herb had not anticipated the personality Hunter had when she was coaching. She would never let up, bugging the boys just to the point where they would listen. Herb was quite impressed with her skills. Even he was a little scared of her.
The boys were doing Herbies and Hunter was obviously getting frustrated. "No!" she screamed, throwing her gloves to the ground. Herb and Craig laughed but cowered slightly. "Damn it! Stop what you're doing and get back to the God damned line." At the beginning of her coaching, the team would have just laughed at her but they knew now she was serious.
Teeth grinding, she skated up to the line with them. She looked over at the coaches and Craig fumbled with the whistle slightly before blowing it again. The team took off, Hunter well in the lead. She skated with enough power and anger to take down the rink.
"It isn't really fair," Craig whispered to Herb. "I mean, come on, these boys have been practicing for at least an hour. All Hunter's been doing was screaming at them."
Herb smiled. He knew the care and devotion Hunter had for the sport and for the boys. "You can't tell me you've ever seen any of our boys skate as hard as she does, even at the tryouts. She's a special breed."
"I'll trust you on that one."
"You should. I've known her longer than most."
Craig chuckled and went back to watching the team. Hunter had finally called it quits and was leaning against the wall, squirting a water bottle at Cox. The boys were dispersed around the rink, some sitting and some standing, mostly talking or messing around. Hunter threw what was left of the water bottle at Cox and tore off around the rink, skating with the precision and confidence that only a seasoned player had. She glided through the groups, slowing down to laugh at Rammer, who had slipped trying to show off. She took off again, Rammer chasing only one lap before giving up.
She was skating hard, a sweat breaking out on her forehead. Jimmy Craig stood in the goal, brows furrowing at Hunter's quick approach. He thought she would veer off, maybe crash into Coxy, who was on the wall just to the left of him. He threw his hands in front of his face, blocking the unexpected snow the covered him from her stop. Hunter only grinned at him, motioning that practice was officially over. All the boys got up and went into the locker room, pushing and shoving each other.
Hunter skated over to Herb, a strange look on her face. "Hey Herb, could I see you in your office in a few? I need to get out of my skates and change and all, but I do need to talk to you."
Herb looked concerned, but tried to smile. "Sure. I'll go ahead and wait for you."
After about 10 minutes, Hunter appeared in Herb's doorway, her cheeks still slightly flushed from practice and her hair slightly askew. Otherwise, she had recovered from the practice. The smile that normally graced her lips was not present, but replaced by a shy look.
"So," she simply said, turning away from Herb. Her finger lazily ran across the doorframe, her eyes avoiding his gaze.
"What's the matter Hunter? I know you well enough. You aren't acting like yourself."
"I just wanted to come tell you," she paused, blinking back appearing tears, "that I'm not coming to Norway with you all."
Herb stared at her in disbelief. "You aren't going? You have got to be kidding me Hunter. Why the hell not?"
"I can't go Herb. I just can't."
"You're lying. There's more of a reason to it, isn't there?"
"No."
"Hunter…"
"I just can't go. There's no way."
Herb looked at her intensely. She wasn't budging and that wasn't going to work for him.
"Hunter Marie Patton, you tell me right now why you aren't going to Norway, or so help me, I will throw you off this team quicker than you'd realize."
Hunter cowered slightly. She hadn't intended for this threat. All she wanted to do was tell him that they'd be sans assistant coach number 2 for Norway. At least…that's what she kept telling herself.
She muttered something barely audible, covered slightly by the inconvenient yelling in the locker room.
"QUIET DOWN BOYS!" Herb yelled, looking at the door. Suddenly, it was quiet. "Now, what did you say Hunter?"
"I…can't afford the tickets."
"The league is paying for them. I have no idea what you're talking about."
"No, Herb. The league is paying for your tickets. As I am not a technical employee, I go on my own steam."
Herb's mind paced, thinking about the rules. Seems he forgot about that little bit.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I'm sure we can find you a seat on the plane…"
"You don't get it Herb," Hunter interrupted. "I can't go. I can't fly there, I sure as hell can't stay there and I won't be able to get home. Plain and simple. Sorry Herb. I've got to go."
Hunter turned and left, her shoulders hunched slightly. Herb could hear the boys trying to talk to her in the hall. Her own silence spoke louder than any of the boys yelling.
----
It was strange not having Hunter hollering at the boys at practice the next day. Sadly for the boys, Herb decided to make up for it by screaming his own head off. The end of practice took much too long.
"Hey, Rizzo, those meatballs you made yesterday?" Silk yelled from the bench in front of his locker.
"Yeah, what about 'em?"
"If you ever want to get laid, you know, for the first time, make those for her."
Rizzo's mouth dropped open and he threw a roll of tape at Silk's head. He ducked out of the way just in time but, sadly, Bah did not.
"Come on Rizzo! Watch where you're hurling stuff!" Bah complained, throwing his hands up.
"He throws like a girl, its no big deal Bah," Buzz snickered, appearing from the showers.
"Seriously guys! Is it 'Be evil to Rizzo' day already?" He grinned and headed back to the showers himself.
Verchota got up to follow him. "That's tomorrow, I believe. National holiday. We should get strippers to celebrate!"
"Verchota, Rizzo, get back in here. I need to talk to you boys."
Herb's intimidating figure stood in the doorway, shadowing Craig behind him. "Congratulations boys. You made it this far. We leave for Norway in 3 days. That's this Thursday for those of you who can't count. Yes, I'm talking to you Silk." A couple of the boys chuckled and Silk shook his head. "You know I expect all of you to be on your best behavior. You're mostly mature, so hopefully I won't have to go through that speech. Just wanted to let you guys know that Hunter isn't going to make it to Norway with us."
All the guys looked at Herb in shock. Their favorite hard-ass coach wasn't coming? How was that possible?
"That's all," Herb said simply and left. He had unknowingly done the same thing to his players that Hunter had done to him.