The Winter of the Ice {MASS EDIT}

The Winter of the Ice

I was helping my mom with the dishes when we heard things being thrown down the stairs. My mom gave me a look and we rushed to the bottom of the stairs. My brother was throwing all of his hockey gear down the stairs.

"Kyle what is going on?"

"I give up on hockey!"

"Honey, tell me what's up!"

"I am not a good hockey player. I just can't do it. I don't know why you and dad put me in hockey! You should have seen me in practice. It's like it was my first time!"

I stood there looking at my brother. He loved hockey. The whole family knew it. He has never let anything get in his way. Kyle was a top prospect. The draft must be getting to him. He wanted to go to the Canadians. In Montreal all streets were empty and all televisions were on when the Canadians were playing. It was every boy's dream here in Montreal to be drafted by them. It was the middle of the NHL's season so we have no idea what team was going to get first pick. If Kyle isn't picked, we all know he will be devastated. There are many teams that are looking at him. My mom ran up the stairs to talk some sense into him. I turned around to go finish the dishes when our front door swung open.

"Dude I have no idea what happened!"

It was his voice. I sprinted over to the front room and flung my arms around Mason's neck. His arms found his usual spot around my waist. Mason and I have been best friends since we were born. Mason, Eric, Kyle, and I all grew up together. All of our families are super close. I developed feelings for Mason about two years ago. I just have never said anything. Eric gave a smirk before making his way over to the kitchen. He always gave me the same look everytime I hugged Mason.

"Hey Sid! How was your day?"

"I don't even know. Kyle is saying he is going to quit hockey."

"Kyle quit hockey? Nah!"

"He seemed pretty serious. He wants to quit because of one practice. He didn't do so well I guess."

Mason gave me a reassuring look and located my brother in his room. I heard his voice faintly down the stairs.

"C'mon you know quitting will definitely not get you anywhere. Grab your stuff. Let's go!"

Mason took Kyle to the frozen lake behind our house. I watched them gear up and start some drills.

Kyle and I are both eighteen. We are known as the Keys twins. Thanks to my dad we are very well known. He runs the most popular junior hockey league in the city. He runs the Montreal Mammoths. Ever since we were born our dad was lacing our feet up with skates and shoving sticks in our hands. I learned how to perfectly ice skate at a very young age. Both Kyle and I were in leagues all of our childhoods. I knew nothing else. My hockey career came to an abrupt end when I was sixteen. I had a horrific injury that cost me months of rehab. After that, I just wasn't motivated to play anymore. Kyle wanted to quit because we literally did everything together but we encouraged him to continue to play. He was going to be a star.

****

I woke up the next morning to the sound of a puck being passed across the ice. I opened one eye and peeked at my alarm clock. It just turned 7:30. I showered and threw on some yoga pants, a Canadians hoodie and my sparkly uggs. I pulled my chocolate brown hair into a messy bun and threw some mascara on my green eyes. I took a long look at myself in the mirror. I tried to picture myself with Mason. Hockey is what brought us together and hopefully it will keep us together.

As I was approaching the frozen pond, I couldn't help but stare at Mason. I started walking a little slower so I could take in his appearance. He was tall and muscular. He had the perfect black hockey flow and piercing blue eyes. He saw that I was approaching and he immediately stopped what he was doing and ran over to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me as if it were the last time he would ever see me. Over his shoulder I saw the look Kyle gave me. From his expression he knew something I didn't. Why did everyone always have this look on their face?