Disregard the Lies

Sadie picked up the newspaper and read the headline announcing that there was a huge inside story of the Detroit Red Wings’ new Ice Girls, and her stomach dropped. She quickly walked back into her apartment, shutting the door behind her and sat down at her table. She flipped through the paper until she found the correct section, and there on the front was a giant picture of her and the other Ice Girls that had been taken at the beginning of the season. She skimmed through the monstrous story, different passages catching her attention.

The road events were only there to objectify the girls. While there, they were placed in a surrounding in which men often times got a little too friendly with the girls. The girls had to take it in stride, however, and were told not to complain about any person there. If a girl had a problem with someone, she was ordered not to make a scene, and instead she was to move away from the person.

From the beginning, it was obvious that some of the girls were only there to sleep with the players. In fact, some of the girls ‘claimed’ players that they wanted to sleep with, and the other girls knew that they were not allowed to go near that player.

And, then there were those girls that wanted more than a one night stand with a player. One girl in particular had a relationship with one of the players the entire season. She states she kept it a secret from everyone so that she would not kicked off the squad.

Sadie threw the paper across the room, not being able to read any more of it. She couldn’t believe that Lydia had done this to her. Nothing in the article was what Sadie had written herself. There was nothing about all the good times that she had had with the other girls or how it was a learning experience for her. Instead, it was just bits and pieces of things she had told Lydia when she had been frustrated. It was all her bad times. Lydia had taken some of those things and written the article herself.

Sadie walked over to the paper, picking it up and checking out the author of the article. Story by Lydia Scottsdale. Sadie immediately ripped the paper in half, not wanting to ever have to read it again. She could feel the tears sting her eyes, as she knew that none of the girls on the squad were going to forgive her. Not that she cared about most of them. Sadie only wanted Kyra to forgive her, anyone else forgiving her was just icing on the cake.

Sadie glanced at her watch, trying to figure out how many hours until she had to see all the girls. The Red Wings had a home game tonight, and Sadie was not looking forward to it. She could only imagine how the girls were going to treat her now. She knew none of them were going to look at who the story was by, but instead would just assume she had written the entire thing herself.

Sadie sighed, putting her head on her arm that was lying on the table. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to just not show up tonight, but she knew that Maria wouldn’t allow that, especially since she signed a contract.

Not knowing what else to do to pass the time until she had to go to the arena, she went back to her bedroom, trying to sleep to get away from her problems. Before she knew it, it was time to head to Joe Louis Arena. She slowly got out of bed, grabbing her keys off of the table and making her way out of her apartment.

Sadie took the long way to the arena, hoping to postpone seeing anyone. Her mind had been running wild, imagining how the girls were going to treat her. In one scenario, they had taken all of her clothes and made her go out on the ice completely naked. In another one, they made an announcement to everyone in the arena about what she had done.

Sadie shook her head, knowing how ridiculous she was being, but she couldn’t stop her mind from racing. Before she knew it, she was pulling into the parking lot, dreading getting out of the car. She glanced at the clock and knew she couldn’t procrastinate any longer. She opened the door, stepping out of the car and locking it on her way inside.

She made it to the locker room, and as soon as she stepped inside, she could feel everyone’s eyes on her, and she heard their mutterings. She closed her eyes tightly before opening them again and walking over to her locker. Kyra was standing next to it, looking inside her own locker. “Hey, Kyra,” Sadie said, hoping that Kyra had changed her mind about her in the last couple of days.

Kyra simply slammed her locker shut, spinning around and walking away from Sadie. Sadie sat down on the bench in front of her, slowly taking off her shoes. She slipped her Ice Girls outfit on and grabbed her skates as she headed towards the door, getting ready to go to her normal spot next to the Red Wings’ bench.

“Girls,” she heard Maria call out, and Sadie spun around to see what she was going to say. “I have a few announcements I need to discuss with you,” she said, and Sadie and the other girls made their way closer to Maria, forming a makeshift circle around her.

“What is it, Maria?” Ivy asked.

“Well, first of all, I’ve decided to change up your places,” she announced, and Sadie quickly turned her head to look at her, unable to believe what she had just said. Sadie had been suffering with Amber all season, and now Maria was going to change it all up? She wanted to give the petite woman a hug, but she knew that would be unprofessional and inappropriate.

“We’re changing places?” Amber cried. “But I like where I am!” she whined.

“Well, there’s only a few more home games left, and I wanted to change things up a bit,” Maria told her.

Amber turned to Macy, who was standing next to her, and Sadie could tell she was complaining about the whole situation.

“Okay, here we go,” Maria began. Sadie tuned out until she heard her name being called. “And, finally, we have Sadie, Kyra, and Esmerelda next to the home team’s bench,” she finished.

“That’s not fair!” Amber called out. “Sadie doesn’t move!”

Maria looked down at her clipboard before looking back up at Amber. “That’s correct. Now, let’s go, ladies!” she said, clapping her hands together and pushing them out the door.

Sadie turned to look at Kyra, happy that they were together. She thought that this might be the time where they could hash everything out. “Kyra,” she called.

“I seriously think Maria hates me,” Kyra muttered, walking faster to try to get away from Sadie, even though that was pointless since they were going to the same place.

Sadie tried multiple times to try to talk to Sadie and Esmerelda, but after the tenth time, she finally gave up. The fans were starting to file into the arena, and Sadie knew she needed to focus on her job. She watched as the team came out onto the ice, and she saw Jonathan look up in her direction. She shot him a smile, but he simply turned his head, skating towards the net. Sadie turned around, dejectedly, trying to keep her upbeat exterior for the fans.

As the buzzer rang to notify everyone that it was the end of the pregame skate, Sadie watched as the team skated off the ice. Henrik glanced up at her, giving her a smile, which she immediately returned. She didn’t know why Henrik was still being her friend, but she was incredibly grateful for it. It was practically the only thing keeping her sane when everyone else in her life had turned against her.

Kyra walked over to Sadie, and Sadie was hopeful that Kyra was finally going to talk to her. “Are you sleeping with Hank now?” Kyra questioned.

Sadie spun around to look at her. “What?” she asked, confused about what Kyra was talking about. “Of course not!” she exclaimed.

“God, do you just jump from one hockey player to another?” Kyra asked, ignoring what Sadie had just told her. “You claim that you’re all into Jonathan, that you love him. But, as soon as he leaves you, you’re all over his teammate!” she exclaimed.

Sadie’s eyes went wide from Kyra’s statement. She wasn’t all over Hank. She had merely smiled at him. “I am not with Hank,” Sadie said, her voice coming out louder than she had intended to, causing Esmerelda to come over there and listen to their conversation. “Hank is my friend, and there is nothing going on between us.”

“Yeah, and how many times did you use that line on all of the other girls when you were dating Jonathan?” Kyra questioned.

“I am not dating Hank,” Sadie repeated.

“Fine, then you’re sleeping with him, whatever!” Kyra exclaimed. “I just don’t get how you can do this to Jonathan.”

“I am not with Hank!” Sadie yelled, causing everyone around her to turn around and stare at her.

Suddenly, Maria came running over, separating the girls. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it needs to end right now,” she said forcefully. “Kyra, I want you to go to the other side of the arena,” she ordered.

“But,” Kyra began to protest.

“Now!” Maria exclaimed, and Kyra began walking to the other side. “Sadie, I don’t know what just happened and I don’t want to know. But, it will not happen again, okay?” Maria questioned.

“Yes,” Sadie said quietly, and Maria walked off. Sadie turned around towards Esmerelda, but she simply turned her back to her. So, Sadie stood by herself, counting down the minutes until the game was over.