A/N: In this story, James is gay and all his friends already know and accept him just the way he is. I didn't feel like writing a chapter where he has to come out of the closet, so he already is.
Ok enough babbling...on with the story! Enjoy!
"All right class, make sure you read chapters 5 and 6 of The Scarlet Letter over the weekend," Mr. Brown said as he wrote the assignment on the white board, "and I want you to summarize what you read in no less than 700 words."
The class audibly groaned to let the English teacher know they were going to dread it. Mr. Brown picked up his desk chair and thrust it in the classes' direction, as if taming a lion. "Back, back, you animals."
Naomi Mitchell sat in her seat, giggling at the silliness of her teacher. She loved English. It was her favorite class of the day. One she actually understood. That probably had something to do with her liking it. But like every other student in the classroom she just wanted to go home.
She tapped her pencil on the desk, glancing at the clock every few seconds, trying to will the final bell to ring with her mind.
Even though she liked English 3, none of her friends were in this class with her. So she never really talked to anyone, even though she wasn't shy. She was just happy with her circle of friends. She had her twin sister, Anna, who was her best friend and confidant through thick and thin. Then there was her older brother, Logan, who was so smart you just wanted knock him a good one for it. Then there were his friends; James, Carlos, and Kendall, who were just as much her best friends as his. Naomi loved those guys. They'd grown up together in their small town in Minnesota.
When the bell finally rang, Naomi jumped up from her seat and ran out of the room to meet up with Anna, who was usually waiting for her by her locker.
"Whoa, where's the fire?" Anna asked as Naomi came charging towards her.
"I'm just really ready to go home," Naomi responded trying to regain control of her breathing.
Anna crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. I'm sure that's all."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Naomi asked placing her hands on her hips.
"You know you just want to see Kendall."
"What? What on earth gave you that idea?" She whisper yelled at her older sister.
Anna rolled her eyes. "Please, I'm not blind. You like him, don't you?" She asked elbowing her sister in the side.
Naomi crossed her arms with insecurity, not meeting Anna's eyes. "So what if I do? He'll never like me back. I see the way he looks at Rebecca Conners from homeroom."
Anna placed her hands on her sister's shoulders, shaking her gently. "Girl, don't sell yourself short. You are so much better for him than Rebecca."
"You think?"
"No. I don't think. I know," Anna spoke confidently, her arms falling back to her sides.
As Naomi smiled at her sister's encouraging words, James sauntered up to them. "Hey, girls. Whatcha talking 'bout?"
"Oh, nothing but my undying love for you, James," Naomi replied sarcastically.
James ran his hand through his neatly styled hair. "Oh. Well, I am irresistible."
Naomi and Anna were both laughing when Kendall, Carlos, and Logan came running towards their little group. Naomi's stomach couldn't help the flips that just the sight of Kendall was causing within her.
"Hey guys," Carlos said trying to catch his breath, "Who's up for a little three on three hockey game at the rink this afternoon?"
"Oh, I'm game." Anna was always the more athletic of the Mitchell siblings, so anything involving sports, she was in to.
Even though Naomi was almost nearly as smart as her brother, Logan, she, unlike him, liked to put off her schoolwork for as long as possible, so she was willing to participate. "Me too. And how about losers buy the winners hot chocolate?"
"We can't decide stakes until we have teams picked out, Nomes." Logan rolled his eyes, as if that was obvious.
"Why not?" Naomi questioned, eyeing her brother.
Kendall, being the leader of the group, jumped in to offer his assistance, "Ok, how 'bout me, Anna, and Logan against James, Carlos, and Naomi?" He questioned no one in particular.
"Sounds good to me," James said running his lucky comb through his hair.
Carlos threw James a look, "Dude, are you seriously fixing your hair right now? We're about to go play hockey. You're gonna get helmet hair anyway."
"Hey I gotta look good on my way over there. Someone important could see me." He stated in a 'duh' tone of voice.
Everyone simultaneously rolled their eyes at the 'face' of the group.
"Alright, we got teams and a bet set. Are we going or what?" Kendall asked throwing his arms in the air.
Carlos patted the helmet he always wore on head twice before shouting, "Let's do this!"
The six friends headed out into the brisk Minnesota air, and made their way to ice rink, laughing about nothing in particular the entire time.
~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~
After lacing up their hockey skates and grabbing their sticks, the two teams of three made their way onto the ice. This was the rink where Naomi had met all her friends, but the memory that sticks out the most was when she met Kendall...
Flashback – 9 years ago
Naomi walked into the hockey rink with her sister and brother, grasping tightly to her mother's hand. "Sweetheart," she said, sinking down to her daughter's level, "go sit down on the bench over there, while Logan puts on his skates. I am going to go get Anna some. Stay with your brother, understand?"
Naomi nodded her vigorously, "Yes, mommy."
"That's my girl." She kissed her daughters forehead, and walked towards the rental counter.
Naomi, watching all the other kids gliding on the ice with smiles on their faces, sat down beside Logan as he laced up his skates. "I wanna skate, Logie." She whined, just like any other 6 year old would.
Anna was joining the county's peewee hockey team today, and Logan was already on the team. Naomi was beginning to feel kind of left out. "You have to ask Mommy, not me. Besides, don't you think you will just fall down, like you always do?" Logan remarked, smartly.
"I do not always fall down!" Naomi retorted.
Logan rolled his eyes at his younger sister. "You have more boo boos than me and Anna have together."
Naomi didn't say anything back, knowing he was right, but she couldn't help but want to skate anyway. Even though it was risky for the accident-prone little girl.
Sarah Mitchell made her way back through the crowd of parents that were there to cheer for their children. She sat down on the bleachers beside Naomi, helping Anna get her skates on.
As Logan and Anna skated onto the ice, Sarah felt a tugging at the hem of her shirt. "Mommy..." she looked down to her youngest child.
"What is it, sweetheart?" She asked sitting back down on the bleachers, while pulling Naomi into her lap.
Naomi looked up at her mother with pleading, puppy-dog eyes, that only a six year old could pull off. "I wanna skate like Logan and Anna."
"Honey, the last time you tried to skate, you fell and hurt yourself. Are you sure you want to do that again?" She questioned her daughter skeptically.
"Please, Mommy?" Naomi stuck out her bottom lip in a pout, knowing her mom couldn't resist that face, when she made it.
Sarah gave in. I guess she won't learn if she doesn't try. "Alright, Naomi. I'll go get you some skates. Stay right here." She said sternly, pointing a finger at her, so that Naomi would know that she meant business.
Naomi just nodded her head as her mother walked away. She watched Anna and all the other boys skate around and chase after the little black circle on the ice. "Go Logan!" Naomi shouted, standing up on the bench.
Anna skated by at that moment with an offended look on her face. "What about me?"
"Go Anna!" Naomi responded as more of a question than a statement.
Anna rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks."
Naomi shrugged her shoulders and smiled at her sister sweetly. "Your welcome."
When Anna skated away, Naomi racked her eyes over the ice again. They stopped when she noticed one of the boys looking at her. She quickly looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed.
Sarah finally returned with two pairs of rental skates in her hands. A pair for her and a pair for Naomi. She grabbed Naomi's hand and led her to the rink that was designated for 'free skate', though there wasn't any other people out there because they were watching the hockey team. Sarah felt that was probably for the best, in case Naomi fell. She didn't need bigger people skating around Naomi, and accidentally skating over her fingers or something.
Naomi sat down as her mom put her skates on for her. Then watched as she laced her own skates.
Sarah held Naomi's hand as she led her onto the ice. Naomi held onto her mom's hand as tight as her little body would allow. But as she skated without wobbling, she gained some confidence. She began to loosen her grip on her mother, until she asked her to let go. She began to skate faster and faster. Sarah was telling her to 'slow down' and 'be careful', but Naomi wasn't registering her voice.
Naomi made her way around the corner of the rink, and when she looked up, she saw the boy that was staring at her earlier. He was watching her skate. She suddenly felt nervous with him staring at her, and she stopped paying attention to what she was doing. She began to wobble on her skates. She leaned the other way, in hopes of balancing herself, but it was no use. She lost all control of her skates, and with her arms flailing around in the air, she fell to the ice with an audible thud.
Sarah skated, quite rapidly, towards her daughter, who was trying to stand back up. "Are you okay, baby?" She asked, doing a thorough, but speedy, once-over of the little girl.
"Yea, I'm ok, Mommy." Naomi noticed that the boy was still standing there and had watched the whole event take place. She looked back towards her Mom, a slight blush creeping to her cheeks. She felt embarrassed that she couldn't even skate without falling down. What person who lived in Minnesota couldn't skate?
Naomi turned on her heels to follow her mother off the ice. The little boy that had been watching her, walked towards her, stopping Naomi when she stepped off the ice.
"Hey, are you okay? I saw you fall." He questioned, nothing but concern in his eyes.
Naomi smiled sweetly at the boy. "Yea, I'm okay. Thanks." Naomi made a move to walk past him, but he stopped her.
"Aren't you gonna try again?"
"Why should I? I'll probably just fall down again." Naomi stated with a frown on her face.
The boy grinned widely at Naomi. "Would you try again if I helped you?"
"Maybe." Naomi was trying, and failing, to hide her smile.
The boy grabbed Naomi's hand to lead her back to the ice. "C'mon. It's not hard. I promise I won't let go."
"Okay." Naomi followed him, but then stopped. "Wait. You never told me your name."
The boy turned and smiled down at Naomi. "My name's Kendall. What's yours?"
"Naomi." She followed Kendall onto the ice, and they skated around the rink, hand-in-hand. And just like Kendall promised, he never let go of Naomi's hand.
Present Day
James and Kendall were elected captains of the teams. The choice was mostly based on their skill, but their height also played a part in the decision process. Everyone voted unanimously that the first team to reach five points would be declared the winners.
James, knowing full well that Naomi had a thing for Kendall, decided it was in Naomi's best interest to have her face-off Kendall at the start of the game.
"Don't worry, Nomes. I'll go easy on you." Kendall said, throwing her a smile that melted her heart, not that she'd let him know that.
"Funny, I was gonna say the same thing to you, Kenny." Naomi replied sarcastically, using the nickname she had given him when she was seven.
When the puck was dropped, Naomi quickly gained control of the puck, feeding it James, who was to her right. She briefly stuck her tongue out at Kendall, and followed after James, passing the puck back and forth between the two of them.
As Naomi moved down the ice towards the goal, Anna came up behind her and stole the puck, moving it back in the opposite direction towards her team's goal. Anna passed the puck to Kendall who then proceeded to shoot it directly into the net.
Naomi jaw dropped. She couldn't believe they scored one on them so fast.
Kendall smiled his cocky smile, one the he picked up from playing hockey on the school team, who hadn't lost a game since playing Duluth East. "Well, I guess we know how the rest of the game is going to go."
"Yea, we'll see about that, big shot." Naomi murmured to herself as she lined up to receive the puck from James.