Puck’er Up
By: Valerie Burke
Blake never understood how siblings could be so different from one another. Take her and her sisters for example. They might have the same tan skin, brown hair and brown eyes, but that was about as far as similarities went.
Alexandra was the oldest. She loved gossiping, being the best at everything, and tormenting her younger sisters. Victoria was the middle child and enjoyed dancing, sparkly objects, and also tormenting her younger sister. Victoria was only a year younger than Alexandra while Blake was five years younger making her 15.
Perhaps it was an age gap that led to their differences. Perhaps it was societal expectations. Perhaps it was generational trauma. Either way, while Alexandra and Victoria continued their perfect pink lives, as Blake called it, she was at the ice rink, not figure skating, but smashing boys against the wall in a game of hockey. Well, practice anyway.
This is how it had been for as long as Blake could remember. Her dad died when she was little so while her sisters remembered him, she didn’t. Maybe that was another reason they had differing views. But Blake’s mother was kind, gracious, and tough on the girls. She raised them to be strong and to be able to take care of themselves and each other. And they did, even if it came with a heaping side of teasing.
Their days growing up had been pretty consistent. The girls went to school while their mom went to her first job, and while the girls were at extracurriculars, their mom was
at her second job. Alexandra and Victoria went to community college to stay and help, but also because neither of them could get full rides and didn’t want to take out loans. So, their days were still pretty consistent. Until…
“Girls, I have an announcement to make,” their mother said, placing the pot of rice on the table and sitting down. “It’s about my job. I’ve been given the opportunity to make more money-”
They all said congratulations in some variation.
“Thank you, but there’s a downside. I’d have to be away for 6 months.”
“Months?” Blake shouted. “But you’ll miss everything.”
“Quiet,” Alexandra glared at Blake, “Mom needs to take this job. We’re barely holding on.”
“But we’re together.”
“So?” Victoria chimed in. “We need the money. We don’t have time to work with all the classes we’re taking to graduate early. Mom needs to take the job.”
“I’m sorry, Blake,” her mom said. Dinner continued in silence. *
“I know you’ll miss me, darling-” her mom started as
she sat with Blake drinking a cup of milk.
“It’s not just that. They’ll terrorize me without you here, and this is my first year on the team. You’re going to miss all my games.” Her mom was the only one who had ever supported her dream until she found Coach Henry.
“I know, but your sister’s are right. We need this money.”
“I know.” Because really, she did, she just hated it.
Her mother left a week later. *
Her first day of practice was rough. All of these boys had gym memberships and had been training on a real team for years. She was seriously behind and feeling particularly weak. Alexandra had been late to pick her up from school, and made it clear that it was the fastest she could get to her after finishing her own classes, which meant Blake would always be late to practice.
“Hey, I heard the first team we’re playing has not one, but two girls on it,” some kid said as they continued to practice passing the puck.
“Oh, so it’ll be an easy win,” his partner said and everyone laughed.
I guess it was a good thing I wasn’t here for off the ice sprints, she thought, can’t wear my helmet for that. While
most of them were no longer wearing face masks, Blake was and the combination of her helmet and mask made her pretty gender neutral.
“Can it, you two.” That was Richard, the captain speaking. She had seen him around the rink before, but this was her first time interacting with him, well being close to him while he spoke. “If we had a girl on our team, it would be because she earned that spot, just like all of you, just like those two girls earned theirs.”
“Newsflash captain, there’s a reason we don’t.” But they didn’t argue more. Here’s the thing, Blake had planned to tell the team today, and had asked Coach Henry to let her do it, but when she showed up late she figured it was best to wait until the end. Now she had a different idea. After practice was over she waited until they were all in the locker room before sneaking into the women’s one. Afterwards, she found Coach Henry.
“I don’t think I want to tell them.”
“Well, too bad.” Coach was a no nonsense kind of guy.
“Please, Coach. If they knew they would treat me differently. At best, they ignore me and I lose crucial teamwork time and then ice time. At worst, they harass me.”
“Then you’d report them.”
“Then they’d hate me and ignore me so back to square one. Please.”
“And how do you think you’re going to hide it?”
“There’s a lot of us anyway for me to slip out without noticing. I already explained that I have to do off ice training afterwards because of my sister, and on the ice I’ll just deepen my voice a little and go by my last name. If I don’t draw attention, they’ll never notice.”
He thought it over for a second and Blake wished so hard for his answer to be-
“Fine.”
“Thank you!” *
Her plan worked. For the first month of practice she was able to sneak around without anyone suspecting. They did find out her first name was Blake, but luckily it’s a pretty unisex name. The only downside to her plan was how little she had gotten to know her teammates. One day, Richard had asked her to stay after so they could get to know each other better. As captain he was nosier than the rest of them.
“Blake!” he had shouted. “I know why you can’t make warmups and Coach assured me that you’re putting in the work.”
“I am, really,” she had responded, worried that her captain was disappointed.
“I know.” He smiled. “I see it during practice. What I
wanted to talk to you about was finding another time that worked to at least let me get to know you better.”
He really is a good captain, she thought. She had agreed to stay after, but naturally left before he had even left the locker room.
It was finally the week of their first game and how Blake wished her mom was there.
“Hey, Blake, want to call mom with us tonight?” Alexandra asked.
“What? No! One of you is supposed to drive me to the game. Are you not coming?”
“No,” Victoria said as she entered the room, “and we can’t drive you. We have to call mom, I can’t believe you’re not.”
“But I told you both about this a month ago, and reminded you last week. And I do call her, just not with you two. You’re the reason she left.”
“Whatever,” they said.
Knowing there was no use in arguing, Blake scrambled, not knowing what to do. “Hi Coach Henry, I need a favor.”
At the game, Richard called her over. She was already
in gear, but he wasn’t. “Hey,” she said, trying to keep her voice monotone, but not so low that it sounded fake.
“Hey, excited for the game?”
“Yeah, it’s my first one.”
“You’re not starting for that reason, but you’ll get time on the ice. You’re a great player.”
“Oh,” she could feel her cheeks warming and was grateful for the face mask for two reasons now, “thanks.”
“I mean it.” He slapped her shoulder and walked past her into the boys locker room calling back, “I don’t know why you’re always ready so early.”
By the second period they were winning, but barely at 1-0. One of the girls on the other team had started, but the other hadn’t played yet. Their team had already gotten a penalty for slashing at none other than the girl. Typical boys.
Coach Henry had just finished giving the team a pep talk in the locker room. It was the first time Blake had been there. It reeked. “Blake, you’re replacing Josh this period.” Her stomach did a flip. This was it. Her big chance.
“You’ve got this, Blake,” Richard said, passing her on his way out.
Coach Henry held her back for a moment. “The refs know you’re a girl. So if you want to keep this a secret, you
have to avoid a penalty at all costs.”
She nodded her head and made her way to the ice. The whistle blew, the second period began and Blake was the happiest she had ever been. They won the game 3-1. The last two goals were both assists from her to Richard who scored.
“You two were amazing out there!” Coach Henry yelled as we celebrated in the locker room.
To the room Richard said, “This team relied on each other. That’s how we were able to win,” but to Blake he whispered, “Yeah, we were amazing.” She smiled at him and to herself for the rest of the night. “Hey, do you want to hang out after this. I know the guys are all going to be celebrating, but you seem to hate crowd functions.”
“Guilty.”
“So what do you like then? Besides hockey.”
She thought about it for a moment. “Well, I have a sewing machine at home. I like to upcycle some of my clothes.” They had it to mend their clothes which Blake was always stuck doing.
“Neat! My sister loves thrift shopping,” he said. Blake panicked realizing what she had said, but thankfully Richard didn’t seem to care about a boy who liked to sew unlike some of his teammates who probably would have.
“So?” he prodded.
She made a questioning gesture.
“So do you want to hang out after this?
“Oh, right. Sorry, I can’t.” As she said it, the boys huddled around them getting ready to lift their captain. Perfect opportunity for her to slip out.
This happened again and again. Her sister’s asked her to call their mom, actively avoiding Blake’s games. She said no, asked Coach Henry for a ride, and then the team won. She was getting better at her boy voice, with Richard trying to talk to her before and after every game. *
After their third win, Richard had had enough. He had passed to Blake who scored the winning goal, and couldn’t understand why he was so unwilling to celebrate the win. Plus, he wanted to be Blake’s friend. Blake was quiet, but when he did say something it was either funny, or putting someone in their place, or both. He seemed nice, and Richard wanted to get to know him better.
So he walked into the locker room, as was the routine, but instead of staying in there, he snuck back out to watch for Blake. As his teammates started leaving, he wondered where he could have gone, until he spotted a figure with their hockey bag heading out the door with Coach Henry. Richard threw his gear into his bag and raced to the parking lot. Luckily he knew what the coach’s car looked like and was able to follow it on the road. When they got to neighborhood roads he tried to keep his distance without losing
them and, eventually, Coach Henry pulled up to a house and the person in the front seat hopped out, grabbed the hockey bag and made their way to the front door. From where Richard sat in his car, that person kind of looked like…a girl.
When Coach Henry pulled away and was out of sight, Richard drove further down the road and parked his car. He sat there for a while, debating on whether or not he should bombard one of his teammates like this. On the one hand this could be seen as creepy. On the other hand, he really wanted to get to know Blake. So, he stepped out of the car and made his way to the door.
Ringing the bell, he waited anxiously as he heard two women screaming for someone to get the door.
Blake didn’t answer, at least that’s what he thought before he saw her eyes. “Blake?”
She stood there, frozen. “Richard?” Her voice was lighter, even edged with anxiety, but he recognized her as his teammate. “What are you doing here?”
“I was hoping to…” What was he to say? He didn’t know. He was just as caught off guard as she was.
“Who is it, Blake?” A woman yelled.
“My hockey captain,” she answered, her eyes never leaving his.
A woman who looked exactly like Blake, just slightly taller and in her twenties appeared in the doorway.
“I just came to congratulate Blake on scoring the winning goal. She played an amazing game. She’s been playing well all season,” Richard said.
Blake smiled at him and turned around and saw something softer in Alexandra’s eyes. A softness she hadn’t seen for years, not since their money problems.
“Maybe Victoria and I will catch a game when mom gets back,” she said and walked away without a second look at Richard. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
He could get her full story later and all of his questions answered. Right now he just wanted out of the doorway. “I have my car,” he said. “Do you want to go get some shakes or something?”
She hesitated for half a second, the initial panic at her secret being discovered wearing off. “Sure, I’d love to.” She stepped onto the porch and blushed as Richard held her hand and led her to the car.
She explained what she had done and why she had done it, and was thrilled at how understanding he was. When he dropped her off at home she was hopeful about her relationship with her sisters and even more hopeful about her relationship with Richard as he kissed her good night.
Thank you for reading “Puck’er Up.” This is a retelling of the Armenian Cinderella story set in contemporary times through the lens of hockey. In all my readings of “Cinderella” tales, I found that the Armenian one was much more romantic than the others. However, it was also much more gruesome. I wanted to see how the plot could be shifted into a contemporary setting without magic and without a monarchy. I hope you enjoyed reading!