Chapter 1
For as long as she could remember, Beth had been a sportsperson. Since she was little, she was placed in every and any sport by her parents in their desperate attempt for her to burn some of the energy she always radiated with. From swimming and ballet lessons to football and ice hockey, she had participated in almost every sport known to man throughout her childhood.
Her athleticness, sharpness and seemingly endless amount of energy easily transferred onto every discipline she practiced. However, no sport had ever compared to ice hockey, which Beth enjoyed the most. She loved sliding on the ring, the intensity of the game, the way strategies would play out, the team work, the sharpness and preciseness in passing, maneuvering and hitting the puck. Admittedly, she also liked being the best, which she was.
Beth committed to ice hockey when she was eight, sure that it was the sport she wanted to play for the rest of her life. Her natural talent had made her outstanding from day one, accolades and goals piling on top of each other in an endless-growing mountain. Quickly, she became the sensation of the local hockey team in her small town in the north of England. When she was twelve, she was offered a full-ride scholarship to one of England's most prestigious international private schools because of her hockey. For Beth, going to Arsenal Academy had been a hard decision. She wasn't rich like the kids who went there, or anything close to it. Thanks to her parents' hard work, she didn't have anything missing, but her mother had to take on extra jobs to pay for all of her hockey equipment, and her father pulled extra shifts at work whenever he could. Beth was proud of her parents' hard work and for the things they had achieved for their family, but she was insecure that her tomboy-like ways wouldn't be enough for the school.
Beth hated wearing skirts, fake politeness, using proper cutlery, fine language, sitting properly on a chair, among other things. Most notably, she was scared of leaving her friends and family behind, of leaving the only place she had ever known. For her parents, it had been a very easy decision to make, Beth was going to the academy and there would be no discussion. They were thrilled to make the move down south so that Beth could play the sport she loved and was so good at more professionally, and ultimately have a shot at being a professional ice hockey player later in life. Not to mention the school's academic offer was exceptional. Beth felt very lucky to have parents that believed in her so much, even in the times where she lost belief in herself.
Now, going into her year 11, Beth had grown accustomed to the private school dynamics, and found herself relatively comfortable at the academy. She had formed very close relationships with some of the other girls in the ice hockey team, especially Steph, an Australian in her same class, Leah, a native North Londoner, and Jen and Kim, two Scots who were in the year above her.
This year was the most important year in her ice hockey career. Beth had to be sharper than ever. It was the year that scouts would start attending games, paying close attention to each of the players and recruiting them for teams in the Women's National Ice Hockey League or for the English National Team. Ian, her coach, didn't have doubt in his mind that Beth would be recruited, but Beth wasn't so sure. Yes, she was the school's record goal scorer and the most stand-out player on the team, but the rest of the girls were really good, too. Kim and Keira were outstanding attackers, and Steph, Leah and Jen incredible defenders. Mary was a great goalkeeper, too, so why would scouts pay attention to her when all of the rest of her teammates were so good?
And then there was Miedema, the Dutch prodigy breaking records left and right. Beth hated it, but the Dutch girl really got in her head. She was an outstanding player, the top goal scorer in the School Union League, and at 17, she already played in the Netherlands Youth Ice Hockey Team. She had a finishing technique to die for, and an agility that was enviable. Her cockiness, aloofness and apparent indifference to her accolades made Beth's blood boil, because how could she be so disinterested in being the best? Most infuriatingly, she went to Chelsea Academy, Arsenal's most rigorous rivals.
The season had just started, and they had already played 3 games. Chelsea and Arsenal stood at a tie, with 6 points each. Although not for much longer, Beth thought to herself. Arsenal Academy would face Chelsea next Friday, and one of the teams winning streak would come to an end, and Beth ferociously hoped it would be Chelsea’s.
Currently, it was lunch break, and she was taking her tray over to their usual table in the cafeteria. It was cliche, but the ice hockey team usually sat together. Sometimes other girls would join, and other times, some of the girls would leave to join other tables. But you could always count on Leah, Steph, Beth, Keira, Jen and Kim being there.
Beth barely had time to put her tray down before Steph brought up Miedema.
“Did you guys see her performance last night? She was unreal,” Steph exclaimed.
Just like that, Beth's appetite was gone. She was starving and had been looking forward to digging into her meal, especially since lunch came after maths, which she wasn't the best at and made her burn more energy than a hockey game. But suddenly, the food didn't look as appetizing.
“Yeah, she absolutely terminated West Ham yesterday. What was it that she scored, seven goals?” Leah asked.
“Eight,” Steph corrected mid-bite. “Impressive, really.”
“Can we stop talking about her?” Beth exclaimed, a little too loudly and a little too defensively.
“Ooo, is someone getting riled up?” Steph asked amusingly.
“No.” Beth said pointedly. “I just don't think there's a point focusing on her when we can focus on ourselves and our performance against them next week.”
“Mhmm,” Leah murmured. “She has a point.”
“Okay!” Steph exclaimed. “No more Miedema and no more Chelsea.”
“Thank you,” Beth sighed in relief. She quickly stuffed some veg in her mouth, trying to act normal.
“Anyways, Villa is definitely coming in last this season, did you guys see their games? What happened to them?” asked Jen.
Now Leah was the one to speak up: “Can we not talk about them either?” she said with an eye roll.
It had only been a couple of months since Leah broke up with her girlfriend Jordan, Villa's star striker, and it was still a sore subject. Not that Beth could blame her, really, as she was still getting over the emotional heartbreak of breaking up with her own girlfriend, Daan in the summer after finishing her year 10. After Daan graduated, she decided a secondary school romance wasn't appropriate for her anymore, and rather abruptly broke Beth's heart.
“Gosh, is there a team we can actually talk about?” Keira exclaimed while taking a bite of her mash.
“No,” Beth and Leah said simultaneously. Everyone at the table laughed.
Kim, ever the saint, steered the conversation elsewhere, talking about the upcoming year 11 and 12 trip to a nature reserve, and the girls joked about how some of the girls in their class would not be able to handle camping for 5 days.
“How are we even supposed to go to the bathroom?” Leah asked.
“Leah! Don't be gross for god's sake, we’re eating here,” Keira exclaimed.
Beth laughed loudly. “Trust me, you don't want to know. I went camping with my family once and Ben ate something that made his stomach upset, you've no idea-”
“Okay! Stop! I don't want to hear the rest of that, please” Steph cried.
Just like that, the conversation at the table settled into light and funny themes. For the first time in days, Beth was able to put the game and one certain Vivianne Miedema aside and let go of the tension that seemed to be permanently settling in her neck and shoulders these days.
Next week will be a long one.