Never Back Down

My name is Emma, and I'm a 17 year old NHL player.

Emma Blake was wide awake dreading the next day. She hated school with a passion. The staring faces, the exceedingly difficult academics, and teachers who were constantly in her face about paying attention and staying awake. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed with a pen and paper. Creating stories was her strength. Being social was her greatest weakness. She liked to talk, but no one cared enough to listen to her,except her best friend. She glanced over at the alarm clock and squinted at the small, dim numbers on the screen.

Six o'four. Great, I haven't slept all night. Guess I'll have to grab some shut-eye at the pep-rally today.

She could hear her mother's footsteps thumping up the stairs. Emma rolled her eyes.

Emma, time to get up and get ready for school! Yeah Mom, I know. We go through this every morning.

Claire opened to the door and in a singsong voice, set the tone for the morning.

"Emma, time to get up and get ready for school!"

She returned to her spot in the kitchen hoping her daughter would get up in time to catch the bus. Emma forced herself out of bed and threw on a pair of jeans and her Detroit Red Wings t-shirt. She adored the players and loved watching them play. She went over to her mirror and pulled her hair back in a ponytail before heading downstairs.

"Hey Mom, what's for breakfast?"

She liked healthier meals, though she did like her sweets on occasion. Claire, glad to see her up and ready, turned to her and smiled.

"Feta cheese omelet with honey raisin oatmeal."

Emma loved her mom's cooking. It was usually healthy and tasted great. She scarfed it down and ran for the bus.

"Morning Emma! How are you?"

Jamie, her best friend and a Red Wings fanatic, was always asking how she was.

"Exhausted to say the least. And so not looking forward to the pep rally today."

Jamie knew she didn't like the large crowds and loud music.

"Well I heard there was going to be a guest speaker at the pep rally today. They didn't say who it was though."

Emma rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat.

"Great, just what we need. Another financial seminar or health lecture. Oh goody."

The bus pulled into the school parking lot and opened the doors, letting the stream of teenagers seep out into the large high school building. As soon as her feet hit the school's tile floor, the bell rang for first period to begin.

Ugh not again! Why does this stupid bus always have to be late?

She ran to her first class and took her seat at the back. She loved history, but she was too tired to care about anything right then. She put her head down on her desk and ended up dozing off.

About a half and hour later, she was shaken awake by Jamie.

"Come on Em! The pep rally is getting ready to start!"

She pulled Emma all the way to the gym and forced her to sit on the top row of the bleachers. She flinched as the music pulsed through her. She nearly dozed off again during the cheerleading antics and football recognition, until a middle aged man-in his thirties-wearing a red and white hockey uniform stepped up to speak. Emma's eyes grew wide as she recognized him.

Oh my gosh...t-that's Niklas...and he's here....at my school...

She nearly passed out but forced herself to calm down and draw her attention to him.

"Good morning everyone, I'm Niklas Kronwall, number 55 for the Detroit Red Wings hockey team. I'd like to know if anyone here would be interested in auditioning for our team tomorrow at the Joe Louis Arena."

The room grew silent...eerily silent.

This is your chance Emma.

She forced herself to stand up.

"I'd like to."

The whole school stared at her in shock. One of the senior boys laughed.

"She's a girl! She's not fit to be in the NHL!"

Emma stared at him, fury burning in her eyes.

"Why are you so sexist? It shouldn't matter my gender as long as I'm determined to make it work!"

The school retorted with oh she got you there! Emma forced herself to calm down before she got into a fight with him. Niklas helped her down the stairs of the bleachers to the rest of the team. The principal dismissed the rest of the school back to class. Niklas handed her a piece of paper for her mom to sign saying it was ok for her to try-out for the team.

"T-thank you Mr. Kronwall. This means the world to me!"

He shook his head smiling.

"No problem, and please, call me Niklas. No need to be formal here."

She thanked him again and went on with her day until the bus took her home. She ran off the bus and up the driveway where her mom was watering the flowers.

"Mom, Mom!"

Claire turned her head and raised her eyebrows at her happy, but frantic daughter.

"What are you on about, Emma?"

Emma happily showed her the form and begged her to fill it out.

"Mom please, this is like my dream come true!"

Claire looked it over and they both went in the house.

"I'll have to talk it over with your father first. But if he says it's alright, then it's fine with me."

Emma hugged her and ran up to her room waiting for her dad to come home. Ten minutes later she heard her dad's car pull into the driveway. She ran downstairs and hugged him as soon as he came in. He laughed and hugged her back, asking how her day was. She told him all about the pep rally and handed him the paper. He looked it over and him and Claire discussed it. Emma bounced on her feet trying to keep her patience in check when they turned to face her.

"We think it would be good for you to get involved in something like that. But, are you sure you're ready to face the risks associated with it?"

Emma had thought about all that for at least a year, so she knew she was ready.

"Yes, I know all of that and I'm sure I'm ready."

They nodded and sighed the paper, promising to take her up to the arena to turn it in and audition that Saturday. She thanked them and put it in her backpack, not wanting to forget it. She helped with dinner, cleaned up and headed off to bed, falling asleep in a few short minutes.

The next day, she blinked awake a realized something wasn't quite right. It was already five past eight and the bus had already left. Emma threw on her clothes, and went out to the kitchen. No one was there. She peered out the front window and realized the car wasn't there.

Where did they go?

She tried to reason with herself that there was nothing wrong, until the phone rang. She answered it franticly.

"Dad, where are you and why didn't Mom wake me up for school today?"

She heard pain in his voice as he spoke.

"Sweetheart, your mother had a heart attack this morning and I had to rush her to the hospital..."

He couldn't get another word out before she spoke.

"Oh my gosh is she ok?"

She could already tell the answer was negative when she heard his voice break.

"N-no, she, she didn't make it. I'm so sorry."

Emma threw the phone and ran out the door. She didn't know how he'd react but she didn't care. She had just lost her mother, her protector. Her dad wouldn't be able to take care of her on his own. He had no job and now they were broke. She ran up the steps of the Joe Louis Arena and sat on the very top step, hot, angry tears streaming down her face as she sobbed.

"Why did you do this to her? Why?"

Not that she expected an answer. She didn't even really know who she was yelling at. She just felt angry and depressed. Emma sat on the step for an hour, crying and yelling at the air. She was so caught up in trying to make herself feel better, she didn't notice Niklas until he lay a hand on her shoulder. She jerked back, frightened at the touch until she realized who it was. She jumped up and tried to wipe away the tears when he stopped her.

"No need to hide your emotions from me. May I ask what's wrong?"

Not knowing what else to do, she threw her arms around him and sobbed harder.

"M-my mom p-passed away this m-morning from a h-heart a-attack."

He pulled her into a hug, and looked up as his two best friends got out of their cars and ran up the stairs to them. Emma continued to cry as they reached the top. Henrik looked at Niklas concerned.

"What's wrong with her?"

Niklas shook his head.

"I'll explain later."

He took her inside as the others followed. Emma slumped onto one of the benches in the locker room, fighting back more tears that stung her eyes. Niklas explained to his friends what had happened. Gustav looked over at her and smiled.

"Hey, Emma. You're a tough girl. I know it's hard, Niklas knows that, but you can get past this."

Emma remembered Niklas talking about his dad passing away when he was 11. He was the best defenseman in the league, at least in her opinion. If he could overcome losing his dad at such a young age, she could overcome losing her mom. It would take time, but she knew she couldn't cry over it forever.

"Niklas, Henrik, may I try out for the team today? I have the form....at home."

Henrik waved it off.

"Don't worry about that. I knew you'd get it signed, it's just something we have to do in schools. Now get out there and show me what you've got."

Emma grinned and put on a pair of skates. Once out on the ice, she felt free and happy. Niklas handed her a stick and threw a few pucks out on the ice.

"Go for it!"

Emma executed every turn, shot, and stop perfectly. She felt powerful for the first time in forever it seemed. Heart pounding and hands shaking, she made her way to where Henrik, her hopefully soon-to-be captain was.

"D-did I make it?"

Henrik patted her on the head and laughed.

"Coach will make the final decision, but I'll say you're in!"

Niklas turned around and muttered laughing,

"Well speak of the devil."

Henrik turned around as well and waved him over.

"Hey Coach, I've got you a new player!"

Mike Babcock walked over to them and glanced over at Emma, who was practicing her shots.

"Her?"

Henrik nodded, grinning.

"She's really good and can execute everything nearly perfect."

Mike thought about it for a moment.

"Alright Zetterburg, I'll trust you on this one."

Henrik waved Emma over to tell her the good news.

"Emma, welcome to the Detroit Red Wings."

She screamed and hugged him tightly. She shook her new coach's hand and high-fived Niklas and Gustav.

"This means so much to me, thank you! Especially after....this morning."

She raced back to the locker room, tears rolling down her cheeks again. Niklas went after her. He knew how she felt, and he hoped he could make her feel better.

"Hey, Emma. I know you're having a hard time with this, but take a breath and try to focus on the good things. That's what I did when I lost my dad."

Emma closed her eyes, imagining all the good times they had together. She pulled herself together as much as she could and stood up.

"Thank you, Niklas. I really do appreciate all of you. Do you mind if I stay here a while?"

He shook his head and went out to his friends to give her some time alone. She pulled out her phone and listened to her voice-mail. It was from her dad.

"Emma, I've called the authorities and they're coming to the house to take you to an adoption center. I love you very much, but I want you to be able to live a happy life."

She hung up the phone and ran out of the locker room looking terrified. She didn't realize what she was doing until she felt Henrik's arms around her.

"Careful now! You don't have your skates on, you shouldn't be on the ice Emma."

She slapped her hand on her forehead and blushed.

"I'm so sorry, Henrik! My dad left me a voice-mail telling me I....."

She grabbed a stick and hit a puck right in front of her, hitting the boards and sliding into the goal. Fuming, she screamed.

"He said I have to go to a damn adoption center!"

She struggled from his arms and stormed back to the locker room, sliding on the ice. Gustav grabbed her hands to keep her from becoming violent. He listened to her story, becoming upset.

"Yo, Kronwall get in here!"

Niklas ran in with a slightly confused expression on his face.

"Yeah?"

Gustav explained it to him, leaving him speechless. But not for long.

"Emma, I don't know how you'd feel about it, but I can take you in. I'm sure my girlfriend, Katrina wouldn't mind either."

Emma was shocked. Did her favorite player and role model just ask her to move in with them?

"Y-yes I will! Oh my gosh thank you so much!"

She hugged him tightly and ran home to pack her clothes. Not long after, the police pulled in her driveway.

'No, I can't be taken by them!'

She was about to panic when she saw Niklas pull up in her driveway. After a short talk with the police, they left and he helped her into his car. Driving her to her new home, he looked in the mirror and smiled. Emma had her nose pressed on the window, looking out of it excitedly. As he pulled into his driveway, he saw Katrina and their seven month old son, Douglass. He put the car in park and helped Emma out. She didn't know what exactly she was supposed to do, so she followed him inside.

"Welcome home, Emma. This is my girlfriend, Katrina and this is Douglass."

She shyly waved and stared at the ground. Katrina smiled and let out a light laugh.

"So I hear you play hockey with my boyfriend now, is that correct?"

Emma looked up from the floor, a huge smile forming across her face.

"Yes, ma'am. He's great!"

"Please call me Kat. And he is, isn't he?"

She winked causing him to blush which only made them laugh harder. Kat showed her to her room and Emma stayed until dinner. They all had a nice chat before cleaning up and going to bed.

Emma pushed his hand away from her shoulder. She didn't want to get up yet, so she pulled the pillow up over her head.

"Emma come on get up, we have practice today and a game tonight!"

She yawned and stumbled out of bed, hair going in every direction. Niklas chuckled and tried to push it down.

"Morning sleeping beauty."

She rolled her eyes and went over to the mirror.

"Oh hush, Kronwall. I'm sure yours doesn't look much better when you first wake up."

She smirked and went in the bathroom to get dressed and ready for practice.

Once at the arena, she got to meet the entire team. She was very intimidated, but quickly got over that when they accepted her into their "family". They all went out on the ice and practiced with everything they had in them. Emma fought past them and scored several times. A few hours later, the game was on. Henrik and the opponent were facing off at the start of the third period. Emma had been labeled a defenseman, and she was ready. She chased after the loose puck and passed it to Erik who was waiting in the offensive zone. Erik was knocked into the boards as an opponent stole the puck. The refs called a penalty for cross-checking and they were awarded a power play. Emma cheered silently at the chance. She went after it and stole it just as it was about to go in their goal.

"I gotcha Howard!"

She laughed and drove it towards the opponent's goal. With five seconds to spare on the power play and ten seconds left in the game, she took a chance and with a powerful snap shot, scored the final goal. The speakers boomed with the announcers voice.

"The Red Wings have won the game 2-1!"

The team picked her up and she waved at the fans. After their celebration was over, they went to the locker room to get ready to go home. Mike went over to Emma to congratulate her.

"Well Blake, you've really proved yourself tonight. Congratulations."

She thanked him and was about to follow Niklas to meet the fans when she was stopped by Henry, the senior who made fun of her. She glared at him and smirked.

"I told you girls are just as good as boys!"

He looked at the ground.

"I would like to apologize for that. I didn't realize you were serious."

She shook her head and laughed.

"I accept your apology, but please, don't look down on us. We're capable of more than you think."

With that, she walked out with a smile on her face to greet her fans.

Never underestimate the power of a girl's determination. We're stronger than you think.