Transformation Beginning: Day 3

Word Count: 18,006

Summary of Events:
Chalmers discovered Joseph, his coach from his BCHL years, was now an assistant coach with Swift Current, which surprised him and made him quite happy. Joseph watched as Chalmers got his first shift and successfully scored an amazing goal. Alizabeth and her friends sat down for lunch at school and her friend Hanalysa invited Cole over to their table to eat. Chalmers got annoyed with the head coach not putting him out onto the ice and so went out with the top line on his own and scored two goals in fifteen seconds before getting into an argument with the head coach about it.

Excerpt of the Day:
"Alizabeth took the bill and went back to the register where she punched in the total and took him the change and the receipt. He took them and stuffed them into his pants pocket roughly.
"Are you alright?" Alizabet asked, startling when she realized she'd said it aloud.
He snapped his head up to look at her, a stunned and slightly disturbed looking expression on his face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it out loud," Alizabeth apologized.
His shoulders relaxed and he kept his gaze on her, but then slowly turned it away until he was staring at the seat straight ahead of him. Alizabeth wanted to leave, but she couldn't move; she was completely rooted to the floor.
"No," he said. "I'm not alright."
"Oh," Alizabeth said. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," he replied. "I don't know whose fault it is, but I have a strong sense that it's probably mine."
Alizabeth wanted to ask more, but this time succeeded in keeping her tongue bound behind her teeth.
"I just get so mad," he said, still staring at the seat across from him. "People tick me off so easily; especially since December."
Alizabeth nodded, thinking maybe she should sit down, but noting that his feet were resting on the seat across.
"I don't see why people have to judge me so harshly," he said. "I mean, I know what I did wasn't very nice, but it doesn't affect what I do on the ice; and I know that teams like the guys who have good off-ice conduct too, but, honestly, that was my first blemish, and if people weren't so provocative I wouldn't be at risk to do something like that again."
"You're a hockey player?" Alizabeth asked.
He looked up at her. "Yeah," he replied. "You're one of the few– but I guess it's probably because you've heard the name and seen the face and not realized they belong together."
Alizabeth waited to see if he was going to volunteer his name, but he remained silent for awhile, having resumed his staring at the seat across from him.
"And the worst part is that my coach hates me," he said.
"Why?" Alizabeth asked.
"– if I know," he replied. "And it's the same with pretty much everybody in Swift Current, like, why does everybody hate me here? What did I do to any of them? It wasn't like they lost any beloved players as far as I know. Or do they think I'm going to go out on rampages until everyone's house has a hippy bus paint job? It wasn't like I went out on a rampage in Brandon either."
"People are weird like that sometimes," Alizabeth said.
"Don't I know it," he muttered.
Alizabeth watched as he took a portion of the whipped topping into his mouth; she was pretty sure the conversation was now over — being as she didn't dare ask another one of the hundreds of questions flying around inside her head."