AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Bar down!" Hannah screamed, and they all shot to their feet. The goal horn blared, and the players attacked the larger-than-life John Cohan with hockey hugs.
"That was one hell of a shot." Holly peered up at the replay on the big video monitor above the rink. "That had to be at least a hundred miles an hour."
Penn did a happy dance with Zoe, Nic, and Hannah while Bella snorted with laughter.
"I'm pretty familiar with hockey, but I have no idea what bar down means,” Holly said to Bella. “Do you know?"
"When the puck hits the crossbar then goes down into the net," she explained, taking her seat.
"For someone who claims not to like this sport, you sure know a lot about it."
"That's because I spent my life in rinks. I did homework at Brandon's games and practices. It's not that I don't like hockey. I'm just kind of over it. I'm happy for my brother, but hockey is always last on my list of things to do," Bella admitted. "It disappoints my family that I'm not into it, though."
Bella stared out across the ice as John Cohan skated past the bench, tapping gloves with his teammates. "My dad especially."
"It has to be tough living in Brandon's shadow," Holly sympathized.
Bella forced a smile, then took a sip of her drink. "Sometimes. My life revolved around Brandon's schedule for a long time, especially as a kid. I'm never going to be a star at anything. Not like he is. I'm okay with that. The hardest part is being known as Brandon Lear's little sister and not just Bella, you know? But I'm not going to sit around and whine about it too much. I'm very privileged, and life is good."
"That's a great attitude to have," Holly told her.
"Bella has a great attitude?" Nic leaned forward in her seat and grinned. "Since when?"
"Since always," Bella declared. "You should be nicer to me, Nic. My dad told me that you're going to ask me to babysit Luke soon. I'm a good friend to have in a pinch."
"You know I'm just teasing you," Nic said with a wink.
Bella stuck her tongue out, and Nic snorted. "Maybe Luke should babysit you instead."
The last two minutes of the period ticked by, and when the buzzer sounded, the players headed off down the tunnel to the locker room.
"Seventeen minutes until intermission is over," Hannah said. "Who is going to get snacks with me?"
"I thought we could just order them from here?" Nic asked.
Hannah made a face. "Yeah, but I have to pee."
"I'll go with you," Zoe offered.
"What about you, Holly?" Penn asked. "I think I'll get something, too."
"Sure, let's go."
Holly followed Penn out of the row, but when she tried to climb the steep concrete steps to the concourse, she couldn't lift her legs.
"No," she gasped.
Not this again. Not now.
"Hol?" Penn turned around. Her pretty face was a picture of concern. "What's wrong?"
"Um, I kind of... tweaked my leg."
Holly backed up into the row again to let people pass, and Penn followed. "How? Are you in pain?"
"No, I'm fine," she said quickly. "But I shouldn't chance all those stairs right now. I don't want to make it worse."
Penn frowned. "Of course. Are you sure you're okay?"
