The ice rink was packed.

Katie figured every Whitney Prep student was there, filling the stands, eager to cheer on what was left of their hockey squad. It wasn’t the state championship, which they’d had to forfeit because of all the turmoil. But the Briarcliff Bears, state champions by default, wanted to play the Soaring Eagles nonetheless, and the Eagles had accepted.

Everyone on campus was stoked. It was something fun and light after weeks that had seemed so dark and harsh.

“It’s just a friendly match, nothing at stake,” Mark had told Katie when she’d talked to him before he’d gone into the locker room to gear up.

But Katie knew it was way more than that.

This was Mark’s last game as a senior, his last game as captain, and he wanted to win. With Steve Getty gone to God knows where and Charlie a scratch while he recovered, the team wasn’t at full strength. But Mark had something to prove. If anyone could lead them to a win by guts alone, Katie was sure it was him.

It felt odd, at first, sitting in the stands without Tessa attached to her hip. But Katie knew Tessa was attending daily counseling sessions and trying to get her life back together after losing her scholarship and being expelled from Whitney. She was being held at a juvie detention center the next town over until the judge presiding over her case decided how to proceed. Katie had already gotten a letter from Tessa, apologizing for everything. She planned to write her back one of these days. Just not yet. Soon. When she knew better what to say.

“Hey, move the ugly hobo, would you?” Joelle Needham scowled down at her from the aisle. “You’re taking up two seats with that thing.”

Katie murmured, “Sorry,” before putting her bag between her feet.

“That’s better.” Joelle wiggled her curvy backside into the space beside Katie and shoved a bag of popcorn into her hands. “Eat up, Barton,” she said, before drawing out a compact and touching up her lip gloss. “You’re looking scary scrawny these days. I swear, you wouldn’t even have matching socks if I didn’t keep an eye on you.”

Katie suppressed a giggle. That Joelle had decided to shuck her posh friends and start hanging around her was downright funny.

She started stuffing her face with popcorn, then mumbled with her mouth full, “Are you happy now?”

Joelle gave her a sideways look and sighed. “I swear, you’re like a new puppy. Am I going to have to paper-train you?”

Katie almost choked on a kernel laughing.

She stopped goofing off when the lights went down and a spotlight appeared, shining on the open slot in the boards where the home team would come skating out.

The crowd began to roar as the announcer wailed, “Your Soaring Eagles starting lineup!”

Katie held her breath until she saw Mark appear, a huge smile on his face like she hadn’t seen in weeks.

“And introducing the captain, Mark Suuuuummers,” the announcer said, dragging out the name like he’d never stop.

Katie’s heart felt near to bursting. She couldn’t help it. She jumped to her feet, clapping and hooting, showering Joelle with popcorn.

“For God’s sake,” Joelle muttered, brushing the buttery stuff from her lap. “You’re not just a puppy, you’re a puppy on crack. I think being your friend is going to take some getting used to.”

But Katie was screaming “Gooo, Eagles!” so loudly she couldn’t hear much of anything except the sound of her own voice.

She realized something in that moment: it didn’t matter that this game didn’t count and Mark wouldn’t get the state championship MVP award to add to Whitney’s trophy case. Maybe it wasn’t the picture-perfect ending to their senior year that either of them had dreamed of. But considering what they’d been through, it wasn’t half bad. No, it wasn’t bad at all.