Face-Off by Stacy Juba

Author:Stacy Juba
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: hockey, ice hockey, young adult sports fiction, young adult hockey novels, hockey books, juvenile hockey books, juvenile sports books, books for boys, sibling rivalry, sports fiction for teens, sports fiction for teen boys, high school sports books, YA books for boys, brother and sister YA, hockey books for kids, athletic YA fiction, kids hockey books, hockey book, hockey books for teens, hockey book boys, YA sports books, sports fiction for kids, YA sports fiction, sports fiction novels, hockey books kids, books on hockey, athletic kids fiction
Publisher: Thunder Horse Press
Published: 2013-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

That night on the way back to Bayview, Brad stared out the bus window, the darkness lit only by the wink of an occasional streetlight. The night was cold, and flakes of snow were dusting the window.

"You okay?" Trey asked from beside him.

Nodding, Brad shifted his gaze to the back of the torn, green vinyl seat in front of him.

"Brad, you've got to learn to play with him," Trey said. "I've seen you, you guys could be awesome together."

Brad shook his head. "I can't believe I got benched."

"You deserved it, man. You should have seen some of the shots you were taking."

"Thanks," Brad said.

"Look, you know what I mean. I'm not saying I was playing great tonight either, but at least I tried. You were playing like T.J. was on the other team. Then you got him so that he wasn't passing, because he knew that if he did, he'd never get the puck back again."

"So it's all my fault?" Brad asked.

"I'm your best friend. I'm just trying to make you take a look at what you're doing to yourself. And it's not even just to yourself. It's to the whole team."

"You should have heard the speech Reynolds gave us. He totally bawled us out. I can't afford any more games like this."

"Then don't. You don't have to like playing with him, Brad. You just have to play with him."

Sighing, Brad returned his gaze back out the window.

Once they arrived at Bayview High, Brad climbed down the bus steps, his stick in one hand and his duffel bag in the other. The air was crisp and the sky dark. "Brad, you getting a ride home with us?" Trey asked behind him. He, Steve, and Greg were driving home with T.J.

"With him? Get real," Brad replied, going over to Russ's car.

Twenty minutes later, when his friend pulled up in front of his house, Brad saw that T.J.'s car wasn't back yet. T.J. had probably stopped for pizza—with Brad's friends. He slammed the car door with more force than was really necessary.

When Brad entered the living room, he found his mother sitting on the couch, with the TV on, reading a novel. "Hi, honey," she said, looking up from her book. "How was the game?"

Brad shrugged.

"Did you win?"

Brad took off his letter jacket. "No, we lost, two-zero."

"Oh, that's too bad," Mrs. McKendrick said. "Well, it's only the first game. How'd you do?"

Brad sighed.

"Well, don't worry about it, you've got a whole season left," she said.

"I guess."

His mother glanced at him and then said, "You look tired. Why don't you go up to bed."

Nodding, Brad headed up the stairs. He met Chris going down the hallway to his room. "Hey, did you win?" Chris asked.

Brad opened the door to his bedroom. "No, we didn't win."

"Well, did you score?"

"Look, Chris, just leave me alone."

Chris stared at him. "Sorry," he said.

Stepping into his room, Brad set his duffel bag and stick on the floor, and then closed the door behind him. He wanted to be in bed, at least pretending to be asleep, before T.

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