Page 77 of Loving Ladybug: Part One
“Thanks. It’s my last year and I plan on bringing it.” Maybe I’d splurge and order a car, drop this all off at Clark’s, then go to work. Oooh, I could also have the car take me to work, stash it, then bring it all back after my shift.
Yeah. I’d do that.
“Good. There’s interest,” she added. “Did you ever follow up on those agents that were interested in you after the playoffs?”
“Yes, Coach. I’m working on getting one. Teams are interested?” Hope sparked inside me. While I hoped teams were watching me from afar,knowingthey were made a big difference.
She nodded. “One wanted to know if you’d grown.”
“The Tigres?” I tried to stuff as much as I could into one equipment bag.
“Yes, I didn’t realize Mexico City was watching you.” She studied me. But then she’d only been my coach for a year.
“I don’t think I’ll grow enough for them.” This wasn’t all going to fit in one bag, even if I took the skates out of the boxes. However, there were two bags.
“Show them wrong.” Coach Hirata was a beta and had played for the Scorpions and the Dinosaurs. She understood what challenges I faced.
“Yes, Coach.”
Make them look. Make them reconsider. Make them regret.
“I’m going to email you a practice plan for the rest of the season, so you can work on things we’ll be focusing on when pre-season officially starts,” she told me. “Also, I have some great news for you.”
“You do?” I zipped up the bag, my heart thundering in my ears. I already got a laptop and gear, what else was there?
“The alumni donor came through.” She beamed at me. “He and his pack were impressed and happy to cover everything. The money hit your student account today. I wanted to confirm it before I told you. I know you’ve been stressing out over this, so I’m happy we were able to get this resolved.”
Joy bubbled inside me, mixing with relief in an effervescent cocktail of happiness. “The donor came through? Really? Tuition is covered and I’m okay? Who is it?”
NYIT Hockey had a number of distinguished alumni.
“They wish to be anonymous, but you should write them a thank you note. Bring it to me next practice and I’ll make sure they get it,” she told me.
“Of course.” I’d be okay. Tuition was covered. I had a place to live. I had clothes, a laptop, and equipment. No more sobbing in my sleep, because I didn’t know what I was going to do.
“Also, he told a few others about you and the business office has had people calling to put money on your student account.So now you’ll have help with housing, living, and all that,” she added. “You live off campus, right? I think they disperse funds a couple weeks into the school year.”
“I do, thanks.” Other people were putting money into my account? How sweet. Tomorrow I’d check up on that. For all I knew, it was just a couple hundred bucks, but hey, even that would help a lot.
Awkwardly, I grabbed all my stuff, and ordered a ride to the rink. When I got there, I rushed to the employee locker room, put on my uniform, stashed my things, and went to clock in.
“Cutting it close, again.” Tony sat at his computer doing schedules.
“Sorry, Coach Hirata wanted to talk to me. The scholarship from the alumni came in. I’m set.” I’d checked my email on the drive over. Sure enough, I had a fancy little award letter, and confirmation that myentireoutstanding tuition had been paid in full.
“Great, because I don’t know how much longer I can allow you to work as many hours as you want,” Tony replied.
“Oh. People are complaining? I’ve tried to be willing to trade shifts when people ask, so no one gets mad.” I’d hoped to keep overworking until classes started.
“There are these things called labor laws.” His look went amused. “Also, I’m completely serious that you should work as little as possible this year. Focus on what’s truly important.”
“Let me crunch the numbers, but that might be doable.” I left the office and got back to work. I couldn’t wait to tell Clark.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Clark
“Take that, Anders.” I laughed, as Anders, Dimitri, Carlos, and I played Go-goKart in my living room. On my big TV, my little red go-kart slammed into his, making him spin off the track as I raced onward. The remains of our pizza and empty beer bottles sat on the coffee table.
