Page 5 of Grumpy Puck

I wait until we’re out of the mascot’s earshot before I declare to Jack, “She’s off limits.”

He looks taken aback.“To date, or play pranks on?”

“Off limits.”I imbue the words with a promise of castration.“Spread the word.”

Jack clears his throat.“You know the team has a hazing ritual.Mascot or not, she’s on the team and is a newbie…”

“Fucking fuck.”Those assholes can be fast, too.My first day, those fuckers stole my clothes and left the mascot costume in their stead.I don’t know what the fuck they expected would happen, but I left the locker room naked and three of them ended up in the emergency room.

What the fuck are they going to do toher?

“Where are those fuckers?”I ask furiously, and when he says he doesn’t know, I go in search of the rest of the team.

I locate them outside the main entrance to the arena, so I tell them to fucking listen to the words I’m about to say very carefully, like their health depends on it.I then explain that no pranks are allowed when it comes to the new mascot.

“But everyone gets pranked on their first day,” whines Isaac, our so-called captain.

I grab him by the collar of his shirt and lift him off his feet.“Except her.Is that clear?”

“Actually, these idiots have already set their prank in motion,” says Dante, our goalie, who’s the most competent player and the closest thing to a friend I have on this fucking team.

Oh, and if our league allowed the goalie to be team captain, he’d be ours, and not the ass wipe that I’m currently holding.This guy can’t even spell the word “leader.”

Releasing Isaac, I turn to Dante.“Already?”

Dante runs his vampire-pale hand through his jet-black hair.“Everyone in the building is about to get a cell phone alert instructing them to evacuate.”

As if on cue, my phone dings, and the message is exactly what Dante said it would be: some bullshit about a gas leak.

My molars clench tight again.“I take it the girl is not getting this message?”

A bunch of them shake their heads.

My gaze zeroes in on Isaac.“And what happens next?”

“Nothing bad,” Isaac says, cringing.“As part of the emergency protocol, all the doors will automatically lock.But they’ll reopen tomorrow.”

I’m not sure how, but Isaac ends up dangling in my fist again.“She’s soaking wet from the pool fiasco, and you’re about to lock her in an air-conditioned building?”

“It wasn’t my idea,” Isaac says.

What a motherfucker.Disgusted, I let go of him and scan the guilty-looking mugs surrounding me.“Whose fucking idea was it then?”

“Jack’s,” they say in unison.

“What?”My fists clench as I spin to face Jack.“You were with me this whole time.”

Jack backs up, paling.“I came up with it before you said she was off limits.The janitor helped.I can call him to reset the system sooner, or?—”

“How long before the doors lock?”I snap.

“Five minutes.”

I turn toward the arena just as the first members of the staff exit.“You all had better pray I make it in time.”

Chapter3

Calliope

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