tw(s) — the chain™️ (bc y'all are fucking feral), i will avoid actually writing hockey and cheer as much as humanly possible, drugs n alcohol, gwen is a jealous whore who does jealous whore things
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The first varsity game is only a week after the first respective practices, and Gwen is more worried than she's ever been about a hockey game.
Not only does she have to keep an eye on her cheerleaders (make sure they're in all the right places, saying the right cheers, and aren't going to freeze) and her boys (as captain and goalie, they're both liable to getting absolutely killed), but her little brother is going to be out there, too. And, sure, she understands hockey to an extent. She understands that people get hurt in a sport where it's completely legal to hurl each other around on a surface as solid as ice. It's just the circumstances that make her anxious. Adam is younger and scrawnier than any of the boys who will be out there tonight, and he's a magnet for danger when it comes to this. In every major game he's played in the past few years, he's been put in the hospital.
There's no way she can protect him when he's out there.
The locker room is buzzing with energy. Gwen paints one of the freshman's faces with glitter, trying to keep herself busy as she listens to the excited chatter that bounces off the walls. The girl, a redhead named Riley, expressed interest in the glitter only after watching Gwen do her own, so now the two of them sit on the benches and Gwen holds Riley's chin with a gentle yet firm grip.
She's one of the more tolerable freshmen.
Gwen probably wouldn't have done it otherwise.
"Are you excited for the game?" She tilts her head to the side. The glitter isn't exactly an intricate thing like eyeliner, but the girl's skin is very fair and she doesn't want her to look stupid.
Riley shrugs. "I don't know. I guess."
"You guess?"
"I'm worried. What if, like, I look stupid?"
"So what? Everyone's looked stupid at least once in their lives." It's Gwen's turn to shrug. "You're a cheerleader. Nobody'll care."
"I care. I care a lot."
"Maybe that's the problem. Maybe you should care a little less about what other people think and a little bit more about what you do."
