In for the win

Chapter 6

ETHAN

Where the hell are my fucking skates? Practice started five minutes ago and I'm still not ready. Coach is going to absolutely kill me if I don't fucking search quicker. I swear I put them in the front pocket, like always. Oh there they are. My Bad. Why would I ever put them in the middle pocket. Not important Ethan. Move. Your. Ass. The team is already passing when I entered. I'm greeted by my teammates and coach, who weirdly isn't mad I'm late. "In position Crawford" is the only thing he says to me. Jeremiah is in the goal, in front of me, ready to block whatever shot I try to strike his direction. He wishes. I throw the puck on the ice, grab on my hockey stick harder, and skate rapidly in his direction, hitting the puck with all my strength. I watch as the puck crashes itself at the back of the net, echoing inside the arena. That's what I'm talking about. "Nice hit" I hear Coach shouting from the benches. You must think that we, all hockey players have a huge ego. Well, that's right. We hate losing, but even worse, we hate even more accepting the fact that we lost, so scoring a goal is an enormous boost, even better when your coach congratulates you for it. The rest of the training went by quickly, and in no time, we were in the showers, rinsing the sweat that was practically dripping from us. Training is always enduring, but we're used to it. Most of us have been used to it since we were kids. I can tell you coming back from a match across the country late at night when you're nine is something your remember. That's what I like about hockey. People think that hockey is a brutal, dangerous as fuck sport, but it really isn't. What nobody sees is that it's beautiful to watch. Each pass is prepared, precise, ready to go through the opponent's net. Each player is concentrated, ready to attack, and playing against a team of size is three times more interesting than playing against a rather mediocre one. I've been playing since I can remember. When I was four, my parents had taken me to a match, and I fell in love with the sport. When I came home later that night ,I had begged my father for hours to buy me a stick and a puck. I've always dreamt about being captain. Sure it's a hell of a lot of responsibilities, but most of all, it's a great experience. I can always count on my players, and they can always count on me.

—

I open the door to my room and let myself drop on my bed. I was thinking about taking a nap, but remembered that I still had a load to, concerning schoolwork and the homework Amara gave me for next time we saw each other. After five minutes of just lying there, I make up my mind to move my butt from the soft mattress, and head to the kitchen. I open the fridge and grab a half-eaten turkey sandwich. That'll do. I remake my way to my room, and blast Five seconds of summer in my headphones. When I look at the time after my study session, the clock shows 11:36PM. Gosh I had been productive. I go back down the stairs to head again to the kitchen, meeting TJ with a girl going up the stairs. Thank god our rooms weren't next to one another, because I absolutely refused to witness, or even hear TJ having sex with a girl again. One time had been enough. It was half a year ago, I was looking for a sweater TJ had borrowed from me. I stormed into his room looking for it, thinking he wasn't in it. I was wrong. He was there, and he wasn't alone. TJ and this girl named Belinda-I think at least-were both naked, on TJ's bed, and he was about to get down on her. I went out in horror, slamming the door behind me. When Belinda left, I was sitting on the sofa, so we met again, this time, wearing clothes. I was tempted to let a joke out, to try and make the atmosphere less awkward, but figured it wasn't that good of an idea. When I saw TJ, he couldn't care less about the incident, and walked straight back to his room, glass in hand. His room was on ground-floor, whilst mine was on the second. I had the biggest room, with a stunning suite and balcony, curtesy of being captain.

—

It was getting late so I decided to go to bed, but without being able to find sleep, I ended up, scrolling on my phone till 3AM. It wasn't that much of a problem, because class started at twelve tomorrow, so I wouldn't be lacking any sleep. I put on my alarm for 10:30AM and dozed off to sleep. I woke up the next morning freezing. My blanket had sneakily fallen on the ground making my awakening frigid. The whole team was sat down around the table by the time I came down. I grabbed a bowl, poured the Fruit Loops and covered them with milk. I bring my bowl to the table, sitting down between Vinnie and Hudson, joining in whatever conversation they were having. "Remember guys, Amara's coming over tonight so don't do anything stupid when she's there" I call out ,looking at TJ intensely to remind him that he is the one the warning is intended too. "Not fair" he whines, cereal falling out his mouth as he speaks. Vinnie tends to scare off people he doesn't know that come in the house, like some sort of guard dog. It's quite funny actually. He'd make a great terrier. If I wanted Amara to come over more often, I'd have to make sure TJ wasn't there traumatising her, asking her all sorts of deadly-awkward questionsr. I finish my bowl and grab my stuff. I check my phone, hoping to see that my teachers were absent and headed out the house. It was freezing outside and I instantly regretted not wearing a jacket. It had snowed during the night, so I had to wipe down the windshield from the heap of snow stacked on the top of my car. I loved snow. It reminded me of my childhood. When I was younger, my mom used to take me and my two sisters sledging, right next to our childhood house. We absolutely loved it, and sledging-time was always transformed in a huge snowball fight between me, Sloane and Imogen. They were my small sisters. Sloane is the youngest, she's sixteen, and Imogen is nineteen. We've always been close. Even living miles away from one another, we've always kept close contact, and tried to see each other the most we could. Imogen is studying Marine biology in Hawaii, and Sloane's in the navy. Even if we are extremely different, it does not prevent us from being the best friends in the world. Having exceedingly supportive parents also helped us create our bond. My parents were always saying that family is the most important thing on earth, and we had to do our best to honour it. "Family is the best gift ever given by life, so make sure you are grateful for it" they'd always say.

—

Class went pass extremely fast, and before I knew it, I was on the ice, fighting Noah over the puck. Practice went well, and coach was pleased, and so were we. Our next match was around the corner so we had to prepare, mentally and physically. We happily returned to the locker room to get changed. I was about to hop in the shower, when I remembered the agreement I had made with Amara two days before. I checked the time, 6:45PM. Shit! I was going to be late, if I didn't hurry up. I reluctantly sacrificed my post-practice shower, and walked out the arena. I sprayed perfume on myself, hoping it would stifle the smell of sweat, but it didn't. I couldn't possibly greet her smelling like a half-dying grizzly bear, I was going to have to take an express shower at the hut. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that it was winter, therefore the roads were completely covered in slippery ice, my car refused cooperating with. By the time I arrived I was back it was too late to hop in the shower, Amara was about to arrive.