Julies POV
I pulled the timetable out of my pocket, "Come on ladies, got Lunch then more hockey after. We had better go if were going to get any food." I shouted standing up and dusting any of the newly cut grass off my tracksuit before admiring it.
"Hey, who are you calling a lady?" Portman stood up and put his hands on his hips. We all looked at Banks who was lain on his back with headphones on and his sleeves rolled up. He was obviously trying to tan, but was singing along quietly with some song on his walkman. We all burst into simultaneous laughter, other than me and Banks. I rolled my head back to Portman and looked at him before gesturing to Banks.
"Come on Madonna." Charlie said kicking Adam lightly with the toe of his new sneakers. Together we set off to the canteen which lay the other side of the quad in the huge old brick building.
Charlottes POV
"Come on then. Lunch!" Scott said with a grin moving towards the exit of the dorms. "Both teams will be there, give you a chance to meet the others properly." He smiled.
"Both teams?" I asked worriedly, looking down at my tracksuit. "Give me five minutes. I said I'd see a couple of girls who live next door there." Scotts face dropped.
"Julie and Connie? There on the JV team…theyre probably still changing." He said slowly. I told him id go change and be back soon. He said that he would wait and sat on one of the comfy looking sofas downstairs.
I rushed up the stairs, sprayed on some deodorant, washed my face and quickly dug through my suitcases for some clothes. I settled on a pair of patterned leggings, my favorite army boots and a plain black oversized jumper, or sweatshirt as I gathered they said over here. The entire team laughed at me when I commented on the hugeness of the jumper that came with the team coloured tracksuit, no-one knew what I meant. I went thoroughly red and started the jog before them. Scott caught up with me, not so easily, and apologized for the team's behavior, then proceeded to name some of the words that are different over here. It was a sweet thing to do, I thought as I toweled off my slightly damp hair and pulled it into a side plait. I was back in the lounge within five minutes of leaving to change.
I was wearing no makeup at all and felt a little self conscious as I called Scott, he turned around and stood up I noticed that he had taken off his tracksuit top and tied it around his waist, revealing a grey t-shirt and a hint of the muscular figure common of serious goalies. I smiled as we moved towards the brick building. "You didn't have to wait for me you know. I could have probably found my way around, have the girls turned u yet?" I said with a smile towards him.
"No they haven't. Now what kind of team captain would that make me eh?" He smiled back. "Besides this campus is huge, you wouldn't have found your way around." He laughed this gorgeous laugh that reminded me of my friends back home. Despite the fact that I was with this lovely guy in an amazing school, my eyes wetted for the first time since leaving the airport. I blinked it away quickly and made a mental note to call dad later. Scott asked me about back home, and why I came. I told him that dad was offered a job out here. "Its over in Pittsburg, but this is the best school in the country for hockey and he came here for a few years when he was younger, so I've been sent here." I explained. He told me he lives a few hours away by car and boards at the school too.
I paused outside the entrance to the canteen. "What's the matter?" He asked with a smile.
"Nothing." I pasted on a smile and followed him into the huge dining hall. Around 40 students were spread around the dining hall, some in big groups (both the hockey teams) and a few foreign students who had come in early as was my excuse. A few of the diners were lined up at in one corner, choosing food from the dishes infront of them. We followed along, "The food is pretty good here" Scott informed me. "Just stay away from the pine nuts. They're not so friendly."
"Don't worry about that. I'm allergic to nuts anyway." I laughed, choosing a salad and a boxed sandwich from a fridge along with a bottle of water. Scott got a similar meal and we carried our trays back over to the table inhabited by the varsity team. As instructed the team pretended not to recognize me, Scott introduced me as a new girl from England who flew over from London this morning.
"You in our dorm then Charlotte?" One of the twins asked with a smile, he knew full well that I was, he carried up a few of my boxes for me earlier. I nodded and chatted along with them for a few minutes. They talked about hockey and the NHL, new players coming in for the next season and of course coaching changes.
I saw my in with the team and spoke up. "Pittsburgh have got a new head coach. He's good." I commented. A few of the team nodded in agreement and mentioned some players that should get more time this year. "Yeah, I'll pass that along." I said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" The other twin asked, pausing with some pasta on his fork and pointing it at me as he posed the question.
I grinned "Well Coach Taylor is my dad." The entire table went silent, "I've actually got some spare tickets to the game against Minnesota if anyone fancies tagging along next week." Sam sat with his fork in his open mouth.
"Seriously?" A few asked with grins.
"Yeah of course," I said with a smile, "any takers?"
One of the larger members of the team pointed his fork at me and looked around to the others, everyone fell quiet. "I approve." He said gesturing to me. The others cheered and I finally felt a little accepted by the group of huge scary guys.
Julies POV
"Where's Charlotte? I thought we were going to meet her for lunch?" Connie wondered as we walked the familiar halls, my new heels clacked against the cold marble floor. The echo felt alien. The school was usually so full of life.
"I don't know." I replied simply, looking down the corridor. I spotted a few of the team entering the canteen, tapped of Connie's shoulder and we jogged to catch up with them. I guess you couldn't really call it a canteen, I thought as I walked into the huge hall. With the polished hardwood floors and richly coloured walls, decorated with oil paintings of past head masters.
We walked with the boys to get food and sat ourselves down at our normal table, in the corner. Close to one of the gigantic windows that look out onto the perfectly manicured lawn of the quad. The boys began to dig into their burgers and fries, I had a plate of fries and Connie did too. During a pause in conversation I heard laughter from the Warrior's table.
Briefly looking over, I saw them all in their red tracksuits, eating and laughing together. I saw Scott and almost smiled for a second, forgetting that I hate him. Then, amongst the red and white, I saw the petite brunette in a black sweatshirt sitting next to Scott giggling along with some unknown joke. I sighed and turned to Connie. "Another one bites the dust, eh?" I said with a sad smile.
"I guess so. But she was supposed to meet us, that's a bit rude." Connie announced, Charlie looked over to us.
"Nah, I saw her coming down from her room, she waited for you guys there but didn't see you." He said with a frown, I instantly felt awful. I had forgotten that we said we'd meet her at the dorms. I looked at Connie, from her expression I saw that she felt the same.
"Shame the warriors got her. She was nice." Adam sighed.
"And by nice, you mean attractive and funny." Portman added with a laugh, Banks sheepishly nodded and I giggled.
A little later, I saw Charlotte leave their table. I stood up and announced that I was going to get a drink, making a casual beeline for the vending machine. Connie jogged to catch up with me. "I want to apologize for standing her up, I feel awful." She frowned.
The petite British girl bent over to collect a bottle of water from the vending machine. When she stood up, Connie and I stood beside her. "Charlotte?" I said, she smiled and said hi to us both. Her accent shocked me again, it always did, so fresh and weird. "I'm sorry that we stood you up at the dorms. We totally forgot that we were supposed to wait for you there." I apologized.
"No worries," She smiled again, "One of the varsity team saw me waiting and asked me to come eat with them so I did. I hope that's okay?" I nodded blindly. "They're a nice bunch of guys, not as funny as the ducks but a decent substitute." She laughed that silvery laugh again; it was so happy and carefree. She dumped a half eaten salad in the bin beside me. Connie looked at it. "You should come and sit with us?" She suggested, gesturing back to the red and white table of laughing boys.
I looked desperately at Connie, who understood and explained that we were eating with our team, and it would be rude to abandon them now. "Like I said, no worries. We can eat together tomorrow or something," she smiled, heading back to her table.
I looked at Connie as we walked back to the table, "she's so sweet." I commented, she agreed and we sat down. Connie looked at the fries infront of her; with a sigh she swept the blue and white paper carton into the bin next to the table. No-one noticed though.