Lorien Legacies High School

by Anonymous-read

Exactly what it sounds like. My take on what the Lorien Legacies characters would be like if they were regular humans going through high school. Disclaimer: I don't own Lorien Legacies

12. Chapter 12

Hey guys, I'm back! Warning: long AN ahead.

I haven't updated this story in like decades, and you guys have no idea how sorry I am. Thank you all so much for being so patient with this even though I've been more terrible than usual. Not one person posted anything rude about my lack of writing even though you had every right to, and I am extremely grateful for that! For everyone that did comment wondering about if the story will continue; yes it will. I am not ending this story, nor do I plan on ending it anytime soon. I'll also assure you that when I do decide the end this story, I will let you all know far in advance.

No, nothing serious was keeping me from writing, but I appreciate your concern. As for the long time without an update, I have one word: School. I know it's a terrible excuse but between that and my never-ending assignments and homework, my writing time has seriously dwindled. I chose a few advanced courses this year and I've been putting most of my time into that instead of updating this. I usually get most of writing done at close to twelve in the night. Like I'm doing right now. Again, you're all so awesome for not getting mad at my stupid updating speed, which I'll admit, needs a ton of work. I've written and rewritten so many parts of this chapter over and over again, and I'm still not completely happy with the outcome. You guys rightfully deserved something though so here it is!

I honestly think the amount of hockey in these last few chapters are getting to me too. I'm so excited to write about something other than hockey in the coming chapters. There's also not that much fluff or anything in these chapters either so I'll definitely have to catch up on that.

Reviews:

Claire (Sept. 2): Thank you for the great review and your continued support, I'm really happy you liked the chapter! I'm loving the enthusiasm and I really hope your phone is okay :)

Rotting Hood (Sept. 2): Hi, first of all, thanks for the review! After I read your review I went back and looked at the chapter and you are completely right, I can't believe I never noticed it! I tried to improve my synonym usage in this chapter and I hope it's better. Thank you so much for the tip, I love constructive criticism so if there is anything else you think I can improve on, please put it in the reviews! Again, thanks so much and I glad you liked the chapter :)

Guest (Sept. 16): Hey, to answer your question, Riley is just a character I made up to replace the number five in the original Lorien Legacies series since I couldn't really find a place for him in the story. I hope that answers your question :) Thank you for the review and if you have any other questions, I will gladly answer them if you leave them in the reviews!

Guest (Oct. 28): Hi! Thank you for the super long review (which I seriously love reading)! I'm glad you're enjoying the series and the characters and I'll do all that I can to have the sentiment stay the same! To answer your questions: 1. I don't know how many more chapters there will be exactly, all I know is that it will not be ending anytime soon. As long as you guys enjoy reading it, I'll be here to write it :) 2. No, I wasn't planning on killing anymore of the garde's parents, I think there's already enough of their parents dead at this point. If you're wondering, the reason I killed off a lot of parents is because in the book, each character is who they are because of what they've lost, and I wanted to keep those character traits. Thanks again for the great review and I hope you continue to enjoy the story :)

ILorienLegacies (Oct.): Hey, thank you for the beautiful review! No, there is nothing serious that's keeping me from writing, but thanks for the concern, it means a lot :) All I have that's keeping me busy is school, but I already explained that so I won't repeat myself. Your review was so kind despite the wait and I'm so grateful for that, thank you so much!

Thank you sincerely to everyone else that left a review or read the chapter, y'all are seriously the best readers ever, no joke. I am eternally grateful for everyone's patience and reviews, so I cannot say thank you enough really :)

Alright, I've gone on for too long. Anyway, read on and I hope you enjoy it!

(P.S: Since it's the last game in the tournament, I'll give you all a fair warning about the sheer amount of hockey description in this chapter, mostly in the last bit. I wrote that in there for the people who want to know exactly what's going on, but if you don't really care for that stuff (I don't blame you) I would recommend that you read the beginning and end of each paragraph so you have some idea of what is going on. The good news is that this is the last chapter of the tournament so there will be a long break from hockey after this, which I'm happy for. Writing about hockey so much is getting tiring and I think we all deserve a change of topic.)

Maren

I stare drowsily at the cereal box across from me, trying desperately to keep my eyes open instead of falling asleep right here at the kitchen table. Though the idea does sound tempting. I prop my elbow up on the table and rest my head in my hand, focusing again on the cereal box when I feel my eyes start to drift shut. Cheerios. That's what I'm eating. Plain, old, tasteless, boring loops of... whatever cheerios are made out of. I could have picked something else more interesting, but no, here it is. I guess the choice of breakfast food suits me. I mean, I'm not exactly a colourful person. But why would I pick this particular cereal over any of the others?

Why not? says a voice in my head, and I almost let out an angry sigh when I find that it sounds like John. You know what? No. I officially refuse to engage in any type of thinking that may involve that specific teenage boy, at least until after the game tonight. It's a big game and I can't have stupid middle school-like thoughts clouding my focus. I stare at the cereal box and will my mind to be clear. Just focus on the game, nothing else.

It's not like I should even be thinking about anything else either. There's nothing to think about because whatever happened at the grocery store and whatever didn't happen at the grocery store meant nothing. It couldn't have, or at least I won't let it, or I won't acknowledge it. Yeah, the last one sounds about right. But do I want it mean something? I don't know, maybe? Whatever happened to not thinking about it?

"You look angry." I turn my stare away from the box to see mom leaning against the counter, a cup of coffee in her hand. It's only now that I realize I've been staring ahead of me with malice, not even bothering to touch the bowl of Cheerios in front of me which has now turned into a mess of soggy loops barely managing to stay afloat. I never even heard mom come into the kitchen. "Something on your mind?" She takes a sip out of her mug and eyes me with a hint of caution.

"Absolutely nothing." I answer curtly. Mom raises her eyebrows in a cautious expression.

"Right." She replies slowly. I give her a short nod and lift my spoon out of my bowl, where the soggy loops Cheerios slip off the utensil and land back in the milk with a very unappetizing plunk.

"I don't think I want to eat this anymore." I mumble.

"I don't blame you." Mom grimaces at what's left of my breakfast before glancing at the clock on the stove. "Well, I better be going." She pours the rest of her coffee down the sink.

"You know, you could always take it with you." I suggest. She shakes her head.

"Too much effort." She places her mug in the dish washer before making her way over to the door. "Oh and by the way, I'm coming to your game tonight so you better win." She says jokingly while attempting to slide on a pair of shoes while standing on one foot. I bite back a laugh as she looses her balance and just manages to catch herself, shaking her head. She shoots me a hard look. "Don't say a word." She warns.

I shrug like I saw nothing. "About what?"

She shoots me a thumbs up. "You're a good daughter, Maren." She manages to get both of her shoes on without falling on the floor and grabs her keys, heading out with a quick goodbye before leaving me alone to contemplate the fate of my painfully overexerted cereal. It doesn't take long for me to conclude that it belongs in the garbage, and I'm off trudging back into my room in no time at all.

I get dressed and gradually increase the speed at which I participate in life until it's at a normal level instead of the slow zombie-like walk I've been sporting all morning. By the time my tired body has completed my morningly tasks, someone honks a car horn outside the house. A look to the clock tells me it's exactly one minute after I was supposed to be out. I make my way to the door with an eye roll and throw my school bag over my shoulder before heading out, locking the door after I leave.

Riley's burgundy van waits outside and when she sees that I've made an appearance, she jokingly motions for me to hurry up, laughing when I flip her off. The van door is a little hard to slide open, due to it's heftiness and the fact that it probably doesn't slide as smoothly as it once did.

"I swear, that door gets heavier every time I open it." I grumble when I get in, sinking into the cloth seat after I roughly throw my school bag in the other. I yank the door shut with another slight struggle.

"Or you just get weaker." Riley retorts, immediately jumping to the defence of her terribly outdated family van. She sharply presses on the gas to jerk the vehicle to the edge of the driveway before sending us onto the road with another rough surge of movement. I don't respond to her comment and just send a hard look at her in the mirror, successfully getting my point across.

"You don't seem like you're in the best mood." Marina comments, and I notice the smile on her face. Even though Marina is neither a morning person or a person who despises the early hours of the day (like myself), usually even she doesn't look as happy as she does right now.

"Yeah, well you look too happy." I retort.

"You've noticed too?" Riley agrees, now driving the car out of the subdivision and onto the main road. "I was going to mention it but I figured you would do it anyway." She shrugs. I nod.

"And you were right. So, what's on the go?" I direct the question towards Marina, still leaning back in the seat. I see her roll her eyes in the side mirror.

"Can't I just be happy?" She defends with a nonchalant shrug, but by the way she's beaming I can tell she's excited about something.

"At seven fifty-three in the morning? No, you can't just be happy." I say.

She shrugs again, but she looks far from bored. "Well I just am."

"Joseph took you out on a date didn't he?" I sigh.

"Maybe." She replies. Her cheeks redden a bit but she doesn't seem to care, her face has probably gone numb from grinning by now anyway, so I doubt she'd feel the heat. She looks into the side mirror, where she knows I'm watching her reaction, and raises her eyebrows at my arched one.

"Okay...?" Riley finally asks. Usually she's content with letting me ask the questions, but she must want to know as bad as me.

"Okay what?" Marina asks.

I scoff. "Okay, so what happened?"

"Well, he picked me up and we went to a restaurant, then we took a walk on the beach, we kissed, he drove me back-"

Her sentence stops short as we're both thrown into the side of the car as Riley yanks the wheel to the right, then just as hard to the left, getting us back on the road. She clears her throat. "Pothole." She mutters. "Also, what the hell did you just say?" The last part comes out a bit louder.

"Well I was about to say that he drove me back..." Marina starts, before she catches the glares we're giving her. She laughs at our urgency and I can't blame her. It's not every day that her two friends turn into typical teenage girls begging for a good love story.

"Yes, he kissed me on the beach." She admits, blushing again but beaming along with it. Riley cheers and holds up a hand for a high five, which Marina reluctantly agrees to participate in. I can't stop my eyebrows from shooting up in surprise. That was not along the lines of stuff I thought I would hear this morning. Still, I cheer along with Riley, though my version is a tad less enthusiastic even though I'm just as excited for her.

"That's so cliche but I'm actually happy for you." I say, smiling.

"Me too." Marina replies.

"So are you guys like, dating now?" I continue. This seems to momentarily stump her, her smile tones down and her eyebrows pinch together slightly.

"I guess so?" She answers, apparently unsure of the status she holds with a guy she made out with. I'm about to point out that the answer should probably be obvious, but I stop myself when a grin takes over her face again. She's happy right now, maybe unsettlingly so but whatever. The point is I don't want to ruin it, so I keep my mouth shut.

We arrive at the school without any further surprises, which I'm thankful for since I wasn't in a great mood today anyway, and I'm almost sure that anymore news would not help the matter. I stop at my locker to get my books and Marina and Riley hang around since we got here early enough.

"You know, you're in a worse mood than usual this morning." Marina observes as I grab my gym bag from my locker. I raise my eyebrows at her and close the door, making sure to do it quietly, lest I prove her point.

"Agreed." Riley says nodding. I transfer my stern look to her, which she doesn't seem intimidated by in the least. "What slight inconvenience occurred and upset you?" I roll my eyes, pushing my shoulder off the locker so I can stand upright.

"Nothing." I reply flatly, deciding to give them some vague semblance of an answer. The truth is that I'm stressing about the game tonight more than I'd like to admit, and that's what's probably throwing me off. I wouldn't tell anyone that though.

"Yes, I can see how that would cause..." Marina waves a hand over my sour expression. "This." She finishes sarcastically. Riley laughs, not really concerned with the reasoning for my mood since I'm not known to be the most cheerful person anyway. I'm glad that neither of theme seem too interested in my attitude. Honestly, they know me well enough that they're probably more than aware of my reasoning for my attitude, but they refrain from saying anything about it, which I'm grateful for.

We start to make our way down the hallway when I'm suddenly blinded by a ray of sunlight shining directly through a window we're walking past. I put a hand up to cover my eyes walk for another couple of paces until I realize Marina has stopped.

"It's a nice day today." She comments, not seeming to care about the blinding sun as she looks out the window. Riley looks out too, but her eyes are almost shut in an effort to battle the light.

"Cool, can we go now?" I reply. Marina rolls her eyes.

"We should eat outside." She suggests, ignoring me. Riley screws up her face in disapproval and I just shake my head. She sees our reactions and shrugs. "What? Are you guys hermits or something? We're probably not going to get another nice day like this for a while. We should go out." She defends lightly.

I sigh. Eating outside never works out, there's wind and the blinding sun and flies everywhere. It's just not a fun time. Though it's pretty warm, and if she wants to deal with that while she's eating, who am I deny her of the struggle?

"I don't really care honestly." I shrug. Marina looks at Riley who gives a reluctant grunt of approval, apparently not excited by the idea of going outside either but not wanting to burst our friend's bubble.

"I'm glad you're both so overjoyed." Marina says flatly. "It'll be fine I promise."

-page break-

"No. I'm not sitting there."

Riley's voice rings out behind Marina and I as we stand by our picnic table of choice. We both turn around to see her standing a few feet away, shaking her head with a rare expression of stubbornness on her face. I roll my eyes.

"Just sit down." I say, putting my lunch bag on the table and dropping down on the bench shortly after.

"No way! There's spider webs all over that thing." She insists. I twist in my seat to look at her and sigh.

"Where?"

"Like... everywhere." She gestures at the entirety of the table, laughing a little through her words, though she's far from amused, it's a nervous thing. She's scared to death of spiders, and basically any bug in existence. I know it's a common fear but I still find it kind of stupid, especially considering where we live. I'm not sure spiders can even bite you in this country, much less take your life.

"You're going to have to be more specific." Marina cuts in patiently, now sitting on the side opposite to me and starting to unpack her lunch.

"Fine. Right there." Riley walks a little closer and points to the lower part of the table. I lean back to take a look at it.

"There's no spider in it, it's just a web."

She laughs again, though her eyes are wide. "It could come back, there's still a perfectly good home for it."

"Trust me, whatever it does to you isn't going to be worse than that eye." I say, pointing to the bruised eye she's still sporting. She laughs sarcastically.

"And I wonder whose fault that is?"

"Just sit down."

Riley sighs and stares at the spot cautiously for a second before destroying the web with the toe of her shoe. She sits down next to me after inspecting the rest of the table for another few seconds, apparently deeming it clear of anymore threats.

"Actually, I think there was a spider in the web." I say. Her jaw clenches and she bites out a guarded chuckle.

"You better be freaking joking, Maren." She mutters. I laugh at her but she ignores me, which is probably for the best.

I turn my attention to my other friend who hasn't seemed to notice the exchange that just went on. Instead, her eyes dart back and forth from her food to the rest of the area.

"Looking for something?" Riley asks.

"More like someone." I put in. Marina blushes, confirming my statement. "I figured loverboy may be joining us." I continue.

Marina laughs and briefly closes her eyes with an exasperated sigh. "Please refrain from saying anything like that again ever." She smiles tightly at me and I return the expression mockingly. The smile fades though as I remember that Joseph usually eats lunch with John and Stanley. So if Joseph is eating here, does that mean...?

"Ladies, it's been too long!"

I glare at Marina as Stanley's voice cuts through the otherwise calm atmosphere, shattering all hope of a peaceful lunch in its wake. Marina gives me a 'what?' look. I growl low in my throat but turn my glare to the table, knowing that she isn't at fault for the situation.

"Hey!" Joseph sits down next to Marina on the other side of the table and waves to us all with a bright grin.

I almost wave back but it stops as I feel a strong thud go through the table. I look to my left to see that Stanley has taken a seat next to Riley, who looks much less than excited to be serving as a buffer between the two of us. John walks around my side of the table with a kind smile, and looking like he might sit next to me. That is, until he sees my glare. His face forms a cautious expression and he takes a seat next to Joseph. I can't decide if I'm glad or disappointed about it. I take out a sandwich from my bag and take a bite to distract myself from the aura of arrogance that's seated one person away.

"So, how is everyone doing today?" Stanley asks the table, picking up his slice of pizza that is undoubtedly better than my lunch. His question is met with a chorus of noises from our table, all supposed to depict some type of mood. I don't know how Stanley heard the absence of my voice in the mess of sounds, but he turns his head to me anyway, making me automatically glare. "I didn't hear you answer, Maren."

"That's because I didn't." I reply. He feigns disappointment.

"But I want to know how your day is going too."

"It's worse now."

"That sucks. Want a cookie?" He leans his elbow on the table and Holds a chocolate chip cookie between his fingers, smirking at me around Riley, who looks a mix of amused and uncomfortable. "It's really good, made it myself." He continues, seemingly unaffected by my icy stare.

"No you didn't."

He furrows his brows like he's confused, but it's all for show. "Now, why would you say that, sweetheart?"

My jaw clenches so hard at the nickname I fear I may break a few teeth. "Because baking requires a certain level of comprehension, and it's obvious that you need work in that department."

He scoffs. Apparently it doesn't take much to strip him of his calm facade. "I assure you, my comprehension levels are up to standards." He retorts.

"I'm not surprised, seeming how low your standards must be."

He opens his mouth to respond but is cut off with a hand interrupting our staring contest. "Alright, we get forty minutes for lunch, lets not ruin it." John says. He moves his hand but Stanley and I keep our eyes on each other, matching glares on our faces as a silent message of hatred passes between the two of us. We both slowly look away after a few seconds, Stanley picking up his pizza and me picking up my sandwich.

"That sandwich looks disgusting, by the way." Stanley mutters, biting into his pizza.

"You look disgusting." Is my petty retort as I start in on my sandwich. I hope he's really uncomfortable in that suit.

Silence washes over the table for a second, only to be interrupted moments later by a laugh from Joseph. Figures. I haven't known him long but it seems that he can't go a minute without making some kind of joke or cheerful comment. Marina probably thinks it's pretty cute, but I can't help but turn my hard look to him now, though my closed mouth is full of food so it probably doesn't look too intimidating. I already know the rivalry is petty, I don't need to be reminded. Joseph either doesn't see my glare, or is undeterred, because he keeps smiling as he points between Stanley and I.

"You guys should have a sitcom or something. Just the two of you." He takes a bite of something vegetarian looking while a few laughs respond to his comment. The list naturally includes Marina. I roll my eyes but catch Stanley smirking a little, his confidence level unfortunately replenished.

"You know, there's pretty good money in that business. Maybe you should consider, Maren." John says across the table, a teasing grin on his face. For some reason I can't find it in me to glare at him.

"There's not enough money in the world to make me do that." I counter.

"Oh, you wish you had enough money to do this, sweetheart." Stanley smirks and gestures to his body, which is extremely toned no doubt.

"I didn't know you had taken up prostitution as a career, Stanley." Riley chuckles, nudging him a little. His eyebrows shoot up and everyone laughs at his surprise and realization of what he said.

"I didn't mean it like that- I mean..." Stanley's protest breaks into a chuckle and he shakes his head. "Whatever, you gotta do what you gotta do." He plays along, rolling his eyes fondly at the reaction he's caused. I'm shocked to find myself smiling too, though my amusement is definitely a step down from everyone else's.

"Um anyway, aside from the topic of... that, may I ask a question?" John raises his hand slightly with a charming smile.

"You just did." Stanley replies.

John sighs and shakes his head, but otherwise ignores his friend. "Why are we eating outside?"

Riley and I both send a pointed look to Marina and she rolls her eyes. "Because it's a nice day, and people eat outside on nice days."

Disapproval runs through the table, ranging from halfhearted shrugs to mumbled disagreements. Joseph smiles comfortingly at Marina and puts an arm around her, immediately putting a a small smile on her face, accompanied with a slight blush too. Okay, this will take some getting used to.

"I think it was a good idea." He defends. "We might not get another day like this so we might as well make the most of it." He grins and shrugs, the carefree aura radiating from him easily. I can't help but admit that they're a good match for each other, since she's worrying all the time. Maybe they'll balance each other out.

"And we're having fun aren't we?" Joseph continues. He looks around the table searching for signs of approval, but his eyes widen when he gets to me. I arch an eyebrow at him while he shifts around on his seat, his arm that was around Marina now returned to his side.

"What?" I ask.

He clears his throat. "Uh, don't freak out but you have a wasp on your sleeve." He tells me cautiously, pointing at my right arm.

I look down, the yellow and black drawing my eyes to the bug that I never even noticed had chosen to pitch on me. Joseph looks at me like I might explode and Riley shifts away from me, her eyes wide. I roll my eyes and brush it off my sleeve with my other hand.

"What? No! Now it's gonna be mad!" Joseph exclaims leaning back as he tries to keep track of the insect. It flys around for a couple of seconds before landing by Marina, who doesn't give it a second glance. He stares at her, aghast. "It's right there! You should- holy shit I'm out!" Joseph leaps up and nearly trips on the bench, feverishly escaping the table as the hornet pitches on whatever he was eating. Joseph stands a few feet away watching it like a hawk.

"Are you okay?" Marina laughs. Joseph shakes his head stiffly and Marina reaches over and shakes his food container a little so the bug flies off.

"Look, you're saved." Stanley says sarcastically.

The wasp flies over to start inspecting our side of the table, making fast progress. Riley wastes no time before jumping up when the hornet starts bobbing around her food. Her shoe actually gets hooked on the bench in her haste and for a second I think she'll go down, but she manages to catch herself and successfully makes her escape. Riley isn't scared of much else so I don't judge her too harshly for this. I still think it's stupid though. The rest of us look between the two as they share the same wide-eyed expression.

"I'm friends with wimps." Stanley comments, continuing with his lunch calmly. "You know, I don't get why you guys are scared. It's smaller than you so how much damage can it really do?" He reasons around the food in his mouth.

"Really? You know what else is smaller than you?" Riley challenges. Marina and I look at each other and roll our eyes, having heard this argument before.

"A gun." We sigh in unison. Riley nods while a smile of understanding spreads across Joseph's face. Stanley doesn't look so impressed.

"That's a terrible analogy." He shakes his head.

"That is a great analogy." Riley defends

Joseph nods enthusiastically. "I agree."

"You would." John chuckles. "Look, it won't hurt you if you don't hurt it." He reasons, sounding very persuading. Joseph shakes his head immediately, still eyeing he table.

"No way, I got stung before and I promise you that I was nothing but kind to that wasp."

"But did you panic?" Marina interjects.

"Well... a little?"

She rolls her eyes. "There you go."

Joseph scoffs jokingly. "Well excuse me if I'm wary of a flying predator that has a needle for an ass!" He throws his hands in air in what is supposed to be annoyance, but he's smiling so he's not quite pulling the act off.

"Okay then, if you're not gonna come back for you, come back for your girlfriend, who you left to fend for herself by the way." Stanley raises his eyebrows at him disapprovingly and Joseph sends a sheepish smile at Marina.

I watch as the hornet, apparently now bored after making its rounds across the table, flies around me and out of sight. "It's gone so you can come back any time now." I inform them. Riley seems a little suspicious but comes back anyway after a quick scan over the table, Joseph coming back shortly after.

"Now, can we please get back to the point of you leaving your girlfriend in a dangerous situation?" Stanley backtracks, pointing at Joseph.

"Yeah, aren't you supposed to protect me?" Marina teases him. Joseph laughs guiltily.

"Well, you seemed to be doing just fine by yourself and I was scared so..." Joseph trails off with a shrug.

"That's it?" John challenges.

"I could have gotten stung!"

"She could have gotten stung!" Stanley defends, gesturing violently toward Marina. She laughs uncomfortably at all the attention but looks pointedly at Joseph anyway, as a joke of course. I stifle a laugh as Joseph's expression resembles that of a deer in headlights as he looks around at everyone ganging up on him.

The short time we have left for lunch is occupied by tormenting Joseph some more, which turns out to be surprisingly easy as he goes along with everything we throw at him, even attempting a formal apology to Marina for "the wrongs he's done". It goes quickly and soon we're all packing up after hearing the warning bell go. Marina rushes off to go to biology and Joseph trails closely behind, giving us all a warm goodbye before taking his leave.

Since I have chemistry next, I don't rush, and neither does John. He ambles over to where I'm packing up what's left of my lunch as Stanley starts talking to Riley about math or something. I give him a brief smile and nod as he approaches and he returns it with a little more enthusiasm as we both start to walk back into the school.

"Sorry for crashing your lunch by the way." He says, hands in the pockets of his jeans. He wears a slightly shy smile, and I assume that he was probably cautious of coming over here in the first place.

"Don't worry about it." I reply. "And it actually wasn't too bad." I add, not wanting him to feel bad about anything.

He sends me a cheeky grin, his attitude shifting from sheepish to relaxed in a surprisingly short amount of time. "It wasn't too bad, huh? Admit it, Maren, you immensely enjoyed my charming company."

"How can I immensely enjoy your company when you barely talked?"

"I barely talked? I seem to recall that you said no more than three sentences." He shoots back. Then his smile lessens. "Well except for when you were talking to Stanley, which you seemed to enjoy." He laughs through his words but I can sense an under-tone of something else.

I send him a glare, making my distance at his comment known. "Right." I huff sarcastically. John smiles a little at my answer.

"Joseph was right, it is entertaining."

"Glad you were amused." I say dryly. "But I'm sure the novelty will wear off." John nods.

"Oh, definitely. But for now I'm going to embrace it while it's not annoying."

"You're very optimistic."

He shrugs. "I feel like at least one of us has to be the optimist in this relationship, and since you're obviously not going to take up the role..." he trails off, gesturing to himself.

"So we have a relationship now?" I question lightly. John chuckles and reaches up a hand to scratch the back of his neck.

"Hey, you're the one that said we were friends. Remember?"

I roll my eyes. "Well, seeming it was just yesterday, yes I think I can recall something about it."

He chuckles again as we get to the doors and he reaches from behind me to haul one open, letting me go through. Once we're back in the school he wastes no time before catching up to me again.

"Well there's no need to be rude about it." He chides jokingly. "We are friends after all."

"Careful or I might rethink that."

"Uh, that's not fair."

"A lot of things in life aren't fair, John."

"And this is why I'm the optimist."

I let out a short laugh as I reach my locker and start in on my combination. John's formerly stoic expression turns into a grin as he leans on the locker next to mine, making his eyes light up. God, they're so freaking blue.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I ask as I restart my combination after failing it for some unknown reason.

"Yeah, Bio." He answers. My eyebrows shoot up as he just continues to calmly stand there.

"Isn't bio kind of important? And by 'kind of important' I mean that you probably shouldn't be showing up late?"

John's eyes widen a little and he looks at a clock behind him as my locker door finally swings open.

"Yeah probably." He looks behind him again as though he's unsure, but he starts backing down hallways after I give him a warning look. "I'll see you at the game?" He asks.

"What do you think?" I reply. He smiles sheepishly and gives me a quick salute before breaking into a light jog down the hallway.

I grab my chemistry book out of my locker with malice and close the door, though my mood has improved despite my unfortunate subject. If lunch is like this every day from here on out, I guess it's something I could live with.

Marina

I barely even notice the wave of frigid air hitting me as I walk into the hockey rink due to the outside temperature being just about the same. Even though it's only 5:30 in the evening, I can already see the darkening sky, and with it comes the leaching of warmth from the air. This is only the beginning though. It's now just after the start of October, which basically means it'll only get colder from here. I don't mind it, winter is my favourite season anyway.

I feel something hit my thigh and Maren curtly apologizes as she adjust the strap of her hockey bag, which apparently just went rouge. I can see that she's feeling the pressure of tonight by her set jaw and stern gaze, the tell-tale sign that she's blocking everything else out to focus. It's a common thing with her and it usually works, though I do feel bad for her. Being the team captain must be a lot of pressure, even for someone like Maren, who doesn't stress out about much. I watch as her and Riley split off towards the change rooms just as a thought occurs to me.

"Wait, Maren?" I call. She stops her progress just as she was about to go through the door that leads to the hallway, and spins around to look at me. Riley narrowly avoids being knocked down by Maren's hockey bag, which swung around from the force of her turn. She raises her eyebrows at me.

"You said that Katarina was coming tonight right? Is she going to be in the parents section?" I ask. A small smirk replaces Maren's stoic expression for a second. I would usually feel good about lessening her stress but I know by the look on her face that her short-lived relaxation will be at my expense.

"Don't worry, you don't need to sit with her. I explained everything to her when I got home. You can go watch the game with your love." She drawls. I roll my eyes at her name for Joseph, but heat rises to my face anyway. How long is it going to take before I get used to this?

"Uh, okay. Is she sure though, because I have no problem-"

"It's more than okay, Mar. She was proud." Maren interrupts, already backing through the door. Still unsure of what to do, I look at Riley for support. All I get from her is a very unhelpful shrug as she follows Maren.

"Well, good luck." I call before the doors close all the way.

"Not gonna need it!" Maren responds confidently.

Riley sends me an amused eye roll at our friend's cockiness. "Thank you, Mar!" She calls right before the door closes. I still just stand there, unsure of what to do. I've always sat with Katarina, and I know Joseph wouldn't mind, he'd probably even sit with us-

"Go sit with your boyfriend, Mar!" Maren's voice, muffled by the closed door, rings through the entire main area, loud. I feel my cheeks grow warm again as several people turn their heads to look at me after the attention Maren has drawn. I send her a hard look through the glass in the door, which she merely smirks at, now almost out of sight. I quickly make my way to the stands before anymore attention can be drawn to me.

The first person my eyes find when I search the crowd is Joseph, though he waves wildly to me anyway as though I'm not staring directly at him. I chuckle and wave back before ascending the steps. He's in the usual spot, by a rail above the top row of seats. As I'm going up the stairs my eyes also land on Katarina, and guilt almost makes me stop as I see her sitting alone. But then she turns her head and grins when she sees me, giving me a thumbs up and gesturing for me to hurry up the steps. I smile back, thankful that she gave me a sign that she was okay with it.

"Hey." Joseph greets, beaming as I get to the top of the stairs. He immediately slides over to offer me the spot between him and John, just like every other time I've come. I give a brief greeting to Stanley and John before squeezing into the spot.

"Hey." I repeat. He puts an warm arm around me and presses a quick kiss to the top of my head. My smile is more enthusiastic than I'd like to admit when he keeps his arm around my shoulders.

"Cold?" He asks. I laugh a little.

"If either one of us was going to be cold, it would be you." I point out. He shoots me a handsome grin and uses his free hand to adjust the unneeded wool hat on his head, his curls only visible where they're poking out on back and sides.

"I don't want to catch a cold." He defends.

"Don't worry about it, the hat is a nice touch." I tease.

"The hat is a necessary touch. I don't get how you're not cold." He shakes his head and I shrug. I'd be okay anyway, but his arm around my shoulders sure isn't hurting matters. "Is Ella coming tonight?" He asks.

"No, she has a sleepover at one of her friends houses." I reply. Joseph looks a little disappointed but nods. "If it's any consolation, it was a really tough decision for her. I think you made a good impression on her."

He lets out a relived sigh and I realize that he was disappointed because he though she didn't like him. "Thank god, now there's only one more person to win over." He says, referring to my mother.

"Don't hold your breath on that one." I chuckle.

"Hey, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I'm determined."

"Well at least you've got that going for you."

"Hey, my determination worked on you." He defends.

I laugh a little. "Well I would hope you're not going to charm my mother the same way you charmed me." I say. He nods seriously.

"Of course not, that would be slightly weird."

"Only a little."

He rubs his hand lightly up and down my shoulder and I'm suddenly reminded of the question Maren asked me this morning. I take a quick glance at Joseph, which he fortunately fails to notice. No, this is stupid, I shouldn't even ask him what we are. Like you don't just kiss someone and label it as not dating right?

"Something on your mind?" Joseph's voice comes through my thoughts and I realize he's been watching me as I engaged in my silent argument. He takes his arm off my shoulder so he can look at me better. There's no hint of amusement on his face though, just his familiar gaze, which I've come to trust more than I probably should given the fact that I've only known him for just over a month. I swallow my embarrassment and chance a look in his eyes.

"What are- no, that's not right, wait..." I struggle, feeling stupid. I shake my head and force the sentence out. "As of now, we are dating. Right?" I look away as his features take on a slightly confused expression and I focus on the floor instead, or the ice, or whatever else there is to focus on.

"Well... I kind of just assumed that we were." He says slowly. Of course he did, that's what I should have done. "But I guess it's really my fault that you're not sure. I should have asked formally. What was I thinking?" He shakes his head in disapproval of himself and I panic a little.

"No, it's fine! Don't worry I just- I was being stupid." I say quickly, but again he shakes his head.

"No, you're right." He appears to think for a second, then nods determinedly. "Alright, here it is..."

"Joseph-"

"Marina of the sea! Queen of the deep, and the holder of my heart..." he places a hand over his chest dramatically, completely turned to face me now, though I still lean on the rail while his performance continues. I try to look exasperated but I can help a smile from escaping. "Sea girl, will you please do me the honour of officially being my girlfriend?"

Joseph looks at me expectantly and feigns nervousness. I roll my eyes with a small, exasperated laugh. "That was completely unnecessary."

He grins, undeterred. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

He does a little cheer and throws his fist in the air in celebration which I shake my head at, amused all the same. That is until he leans over the rail and cups his hands around his mouth. "She said yes!" He yells. Several people look back in confusion and I close my eyes as I feel heat rush to my face. I'm pretty sure the ease at which I blush is unhealthy.

"Well look who finally grew a pair." Stanley shoots Joseph his signature smirk and easily leans across John and I to give Joseph a hearty pat on the back. John immediately shoves him back to his spot, and shakes his head, to which Stanley just gives a shrug of mock innocence.

The buzzer sounds and Stanley immediately snaps his focus onto the ice, which Joseph seems pleased about now that he doesn't have to come up with a defence. The cheering from our school is deafening as our hockey team piles onto the ice, starting their warm-ups. Mogadore skates out shortly after and their side is just as ecstatic as they start to skate around their side of the ice. All except for one player. I'm not surprised to see "Dun Ra" on the back of her jersey. I'm also not surprised to see her making a straight path for Maren, who's in the process of distributing a collection of pucks around randomly. Thankfully, Riley sees her coming before Maren does and intercepts her quickly. Phiri tries to skate past but Riley quickly blocks her with her stick, though it's not very forceful so I seem to think the Phiri could slip past if she really wanted to. They exchange a few words before Phiri nods and peacefully goes back to her side of the ice, seemingly satisfied. That's it. No fight. No nothing.

"Um..." John's eyebrows are furrowed in confusion as he continues to stare at the two girls going their separate ways. "What just happened?"

I shake my head, just as confused. "I'm not sure."

Joseph leans over. "Why are we confused?" He asks. Stanley groans before I can get a chance to open my mouth.

"You are helpless. Just stop asking questions." He mutters. Joseph just shrugs agreeably and nods, apparently deeming the statement accurate.

The game gets underway shortly after that, and the first period goes surprisingly peacefully. This is mostly due to the beautiful fact that Maren and Phiri seem to never be on the ice at the same time. With the two most anger-driven people in the game out of the picture there's hardly any reason for any fights, other than the natural rivalry. There are no points scored in the first period though, much like the first game, hopefully the result will be the same.

As the team is coming off the ice after first period for a break, I notice a bright flash out of the corner of my vision. It doesn't take me long to conclude that it's a camera, the person behind it being the one and only Sarah Hart. She's the yearbook photographer and school enthusiast/ sweetheart all rolled into one. She's extremely well-liked in the school, and for good reason. I've never heard a bad thing about the girl and every interaction I've had with her has been nothing but pleasant. She's so nice that I think even Maren would have a hard time coming up with a witty remark about her.

I keep my eyes on her as she looks down at her camera that's always hanging off her neck, presumably inspecting the photo she just took, which just happens to be about the twentieth one that was pointed this way since the game. Sarah tucks some of her perfect blond hair behind her ear before looking up from her camera, her gaze settling near me. Or rather, next to me, at John. He's leaning on the rail at the moment, and when his eyes dart Sarah's way, she takes another convenient look at her camera. I try to keep my staring to a minimum but it's pretty obvious what's going on, especially when she looks back up and waves to him, as though she's the one who caught him looking. I might be jealous of her strong flirting game if she wasn't such a good human being.

"I think that's the twentieth picture she's taken in this direction." I say to John. His eyebrows furrow and he glances down at her like he hasn't noticed.

"Really? Huh, weird." He shrugs and I can tell he doesn't get what I'm trying to say.

"I think she was taking pictures of you." I try after a silent debate on how far I should take this. John shakes his head immediately like the idea wouldn't even be possible, but I nod at him. It's not hard to believe, especially considering how attractive he is. Plus, he's the captain of the mist important team in out school, so that's also another factor.

His face turns a little red and I feel only a tad guilty for his embarrassment. He was probably going to find out one way or another. Again, he shakes his head, not quite convinced as he reaches up to rub the back of his neck. "I don't think-"

He's cut off by another flash and I raise my eyebrows at him. He catches the look and chuckles, his embarrassment thankfully short-lived. "Okay, I see your point." He admits. I nod and give him what I hope he takes as an apologetic smile. "So, what do I do about it?" He asks.

I take a second to answer. I wasn't really prepared to give advice. "Uh, whatever you want to do I guess. I just thought I'd inform you, that's all."

John smiles kindly. "Thanks, I don't think I'll do anything though. I don't feel good about someone who who has taken about twenty photos of me. It's a bit creepy."

I laugh. "Well she is the school photographer." I point out, then shrug. "I don't think she's gonna go make a shrine or anything."

John laughs. "You never know. Gotta be careful." He says wisely.

"Noted, I'll keep an eye out for any shrine-like tendencies then." I play along. He nods. Even though he's smiling I can't help but notice a troubled look in his eyes, which are a captivating blue.

"Good idea." Is all he says before adjusting his tie, as though it wasn't perfect in first place. I decide not to investigate further, figuring I've probably overstepped as it is.

I turn my attention to the zamboni on the ice, going around in slow circles and leaving a smooth surface in its wake.

"Why do they use hot water?" Joseph asks, noticing the steam coming out of where the water is pouring out.

"It freezes faster." I reply. Joseph thinks about this for a second but my answer only seems to make him more confused. "Don't ask why, because nobody knows." I cut in when I see his mouth open, probably to ask another question.

"Oh, good. I'm not stupid then."

"Meh." Stanley shrugs on the other side of John, shamelessly eavesdropping. "Debatable."

Joseph just laughs, unfazed and certainly not offended. I get the feeling that Stanley is the type of person that has to grow on you, though overall, he actually doesn't seem like too bad of a person. Definitely not the monster Maren made him out to be, though I'm sure she would disagree with that statement.

The break soon ends and period two gets started. The line-up includes both Maren and Phiri, the latter sticking to Maren like glue as she has been for the first few games. I can also see the referees keeping a closer eye on them, though nothing noteworthy happens other than a couple checks that look to be a little harder than necessary. I know Maren won't be so easily lured into a fight this game, she's too smart to get herself kicked out of the championship game for something as unsubstantial as a hard push. I do have to commend her on her patience though. After what happened last game and the first one, I want to punch the girl out, and that's a lot coming from me. I know Maren is having the same thoughts, but all I can do is hope she doesn't follow through.

I watch Phiri give Maren another rough shove into the boards again, which Maren seems to have a little difficulty shaking off, though I know it's from anger rather than hurt. Please, Maren. Don't punch her.

Riley

"I am going to punch her." Maren declares, roughly dropping down next to me on the change room bench. She pulls off her gloves with a little more force than necessary, only just coming in now after the buzzer went off a couple minutes ago to signify the end of the second period.

"Come on, we've talked about this." I chide.

Maren lets out a heavy sigh as she reaches up to unbuckle her helmet. "I know." She says, pulling the helmet off her head and depositing it on the floor by her feet. "No killing Dun Bitch until after the game."

Okay I'll admit, setting up a scheduled time for two anger-driven teenage girls to sort out their problems probably wasn't the best idea on my part. But it was the only thing I could come up with at the beginning of the game to stop Phiri from getting both her and Maren kicked out. I had to do something, and the good thing is that they're both on board.

"But, before the fighting starts, what will you do?" I ask, knowing full well she will just stay silent. "You're going to use your words. Right?" This the part of my plan that probably has a less than 1% success rate. I'm going to try to solve things the peaceful way. After that fails I will then happily let Maren beat Phiri to a pulp, not that I have any control over the situation anyway.

Maren gives a huffed agreement. "Yeah, I can think of a few words for her." She starts cracking her knuckles and I eye her cautiously.

"You should stop cracking your knuckles when you're making threats. It's scary."

She smirks. "That's the point."

"Well you'll also get arthritis."

She just shrugs. "I'm not worried."

"Are you ever?" I chuckle.

We both stop talking as our coach steps into the room, immediately going into some stuff about our game plan. It doesn't really apply to me but I listen anyway, even though it's the same plan we've had for every other game. She must recognize this as well because she keeps her explanation quick and easy.

"... so yeah, just work like hell out there. Also, winning would be ideal." Our coach finishes.

"And kick their asses." Maren supplies helpfully. A few laughs go around the room while our coach rolls her eyes in amusement.

"Inspirational words from your captain everybody." She announces flatly.

Maren jokingly does a small bow, well the best she can while she's sat down anyway, earning herself a smattering of joke applause from the group. As anyone could have guessed, Maren isn't the inspirational speech type of captain, she more like the 'be confident and everyone will follow your lead' type, which I don't believe is too hard for her. She's a really good captain, unsurprisingly considering she's great at pretty much everything regarding sports. It's like she has a gift or something.

We're back on the ice soon after that and Maren goes up against Mogadore's captain for the face-off. Maren isn't the only one to do face-offs for our team, but she's close to the best at it which is why she does it so much. When the ref drops the puck, all I see is a quick flurry of sticks until the puck gets shot behind the Mogadore girl, right into one of her waiting teammates. I would guess there's a lot of luck involved in the face-off too, but I'm not really in a position to be making any judgments about it since I just see it as a blur of movement. There's got to be some kind of technique behind it though, it only makes sense.

I snap out of my thoughts when I remember that Maren lost, which means Mogadore now has control of the puck, which they seem very insistent to get down here. They pass the puck until one of the players gets an opening and makes their way down, her team quick behind her while a couple of my teammates skate backwards to stay ahead of her. They skate until they're all the way down here and I know the madness will be on this side of the ice. Wonderful.

I get ready. Crouch, glove up, stick down, legs apart. I don't look at the players, only the puck, where it goes back and forth, and my eyes go with it. It's hard because of the activity around it, and now there's a Mogadore girl in front of me too, ready for a rebound if she gets the chance. I look around her, see someone's stick lift up, then the puck flying towards me. Reflexes cause my leg to shoot down and the puck bounces off the pad with a quick thump. I'm up again in less then a second, back in the crouched position. I can't find the puck for a second until my peripheral vision picks up a flash of movement on the ice on the other side of the net. Before I have a chance to think about how it could have gotten over there, I'm already kneeling on my right leg and pushing off with my left, sliding over in time to deflect the puck and popping up again right after as it ricochets away. The puck is passed to the other side of the ice again so I use the same slide to get back over, but I don't have time to get up before my eyes spot the puck. This time I see what happens before it flies. The girl winds up and I know this shot will be close to eye level. I try to predict where the puck will end up before she lets the shot go, because when a slap shot is flying, you don't see it until it lands. I have my glove up just as she lets the shot fly, and I know I succeeded when my whole arm jerks back from the force of the shot a half-second later. Damn, it was a hard one too. I can tell by the way it stings a little due to the lack of padding in the catcher.

I hear a whistle blow and the crowds cheering floods my senses, like the sound of the whistle enabled me to hear again. They've probably been cheering obnoxiously loud the entire time, but I'm only noticing them now. Breathing hard, I get off my knees and hand the puck to the ref when he comes over. A couple of my teammates make their way over to exchange a few words starting with a "good job" or something along those lines. I tip my helmet up so the mask stays on top of my head and reach back to grab my water bottle off the net. I turn around and see Maren approaching as I take a drink. I raise my eyebrows at her in from of a greeting. She nods back.

"Smooth." Is all she says as she skates past. Though she doesn't leave before reaching up and knocking my mask down so it hits the drink out of my hand. I can hear laughter from the crowd, even a little from the Mogadore side, but I'm not embarrassed.

"Really?" I call. She turns around skates backwards with gracefulness only Marina could match, a smirk on her face.

"You did good, R." She shouts back, shooting me a thumbs up before heading to the face-off that's starting up.

Maren wins this one and the team wastes no time before skating up the ice with the puck, all the way over to Mogadore's net. A girl I know as Sophia Goulding tries a shot but it's deflected. Emily Blake takes the puck and goes around the back of the net with it, only to be met by a Mogadore girl on the other side. Being all the way over on this side of the ice, I strain to see what's happening around the cluster of light orange and black jerseys and only catch glimpses of the puck being passed around. I'm not really caught up on what's happening until I see one of our players skate in front of the net, completely open. I'm not surprised to see number 6 on the back of her jersey. Mogadore should have learned by now to keep a better eye on Maren. She winds up for a slap shot and when the puck comes her way, she lets it fly. I actually feel sorry for the goalie because the force Maren puts behind that kind of shot is no joke. I know because my body has often been on the other side of her shots in practice and sometimes the wind gets knocked out me and I have to breath for a couple seconds before I can continue. I don't see where the puck goes in the net but when the buzzer goes off and Maren throws up her hands, I know she must've landed it.

I grin and smack my stick off the ice since I can't clap. The sound is barely even audible over our schools cheers and Mogadore's booing. The girls that were out for the play all collide in a way that looks painful, but I know they don't care, this could be the winning goal for the game after all. They skate back and the lineup goes in the box for a break, another group of five coming out again.

After what's about another eight minutes of back and fourth, one girl on our team gets a penalty. I don't know what it's for since I was watching the puck when it happened, but she gets sent to the penalty box for two minutes so it was only something minor. But that means Mogadore now has one more player than us, which also means they'll most likely be down here for those two minutes.

The play starts and the puck is immediately brought down to this end, just like I thought. They try a few shots but they're sloppy and I deflect them without a second thought. The puck is being passed around when I notice one player in black going around the back of the net, everyone too preoccupied to notice her, including the refs. I only watch her for a quick second before I divert my focus again to the puck and try to put her out of my mind. The Mogadore girl skates back into the action a few seconds afterwards and I'm immediately suspicious when I see it's Phiri. I can't dwell on it though because now a Mogadore girl is bringing the puck around the other side of the net. A girl from my team chases her to the back of the net and the two fight for control of the puck while I wait at the edge of the net in case the girl tries to make a break for the goal. People from each team come over and it's a mess of black and orange while multiple people fight for the puck at the same time.

I'm still on the position when the buzzer sounds, signalling a goal was scored. What? I didn't even see it go in. I straighten up and snap my head around to see Mogadore celebrating and the girl on my team, Grace, looking just as confused as me. I spin around and sure enough, the puck is inside the net, right in the back. I see Maren climb over the box and make her way over.

"What happened?" She asks, but she doesn't look at me. Her eyes search the net instead.

"No clue." I shake my head and start to question my qualifications as a goalie for a second.

"Wait a second..." Maren leans down for second before suddenly standing straight again, dangerous anger in her eyes.

"Wha-"

"Do you see that?" She growls, deathly quiet. I'm about to ask what she wants me to look at when she goes around to the outside of the net and pokes her stick under. There's a space under the net and by the looks of it, someone lifted it up on purpose.

I sigh. "Phiri."

Maren nods and yells out to ref. As soon as he looks over, she pushes up on the stick handle and uses it as leverage to lift that side of the net. She drops her stick, causing the net to land roughly while she gestures angrily at her display.

"Maren, you might want to calm down a bit." I warn as the referee makes his way over. I wish I hadn't said anything when her eyes flash to me, the look so intimidating that I might be scared if I didn't know her for as long I do.

"Calm down?" She laughs humourlessly. "She did this and they could win now, do you get that?" She doesn't have a great temper, but I don't judge her for it.

"Yes, I get it, Maren." I reply, my voice surprisingly calm despite the irritation bubbling in me, both at her condescending tone and at the situation. "I'm not happy about it either, but I don't think yelling at ref is going to win you any brownie points." I remind her, my tone even. Getting angry will only fuel her temper more, and I'm not the type of person to yell either.

Maren huffs but I can tell I've gotten through to her when she backs up to make room for the referee as she explains the situation. The ref looks thoughtful as he listens, and I know the result would be much different if he was being yelled at. Maren has a quick temper, but when it comes down to it, she's far too smart to lose this fight because she lost control.

The ref asks me for my report after he's done talking to Maren and I tell him what happened. He nods and moves to get Mogadore's version of the events.

"Sorry." Maren says gruffly when he leaves. I assume she's talking about how she got angry with me and I shrug.

"Don't worry about it." I reply, even though she doesn't really have anything to be sorry for. "Thanks for not punching her yet." Maren knows that I'm referring to Phiri without me having to say.

"It's been hard."

"I don't doubt it."

We both stand at the net and keep an eye on the referees as they circulate to talk to coaches, then station themselves at centre ice to discuss. This lasts for a couple of minutes until they finally part ways and the head ref puts up his hands for silence as the other two skate away. The crowd goes mostly silent except for a small current of murmurs that nobody could hope to stop. The crowd erupts in noise again after his announcement that the goal counted. Our school boos and Mogadore's cheers, both sides equally loud. This happens sometimes, a ref makes a call based on what he saw and what he's hearing, and I'm willing to bet Mogadore had a very different version of events to tell him.

I hear Maren pretty much growl beside me. "Fuck this shit." She mutters, pushing off to skate toward where the referee is retreating to a face-off circle. I sigh and grab her by the arm.

"It's not changing now, Maren. Plus, I think coach is already giving him a mouthful." I point to where coach Murphy is leaned over the side of the box, trying desperately and angrily to get the ref's attention, though he doesn't look too interested in talking to her.

"Fine." Maren concedes, still looking over. Our coach, apparently given up on her attempts to yell the ref into submission, calls the whole team to the box, to discuss strategy I'm guessing. Maren shakes her head as if she has to physically convince herself to go over to the box instead of approaching the refs to plead our case in a not-so-nice fashion.

The whole team skates over to the box, even me, who the plan doesn't apply to since my job is always the same. That's why I like being a goalie I think. I've always had a thing with patterns and simplicity, it's why I like math and anything else that's logical. I have literally one job as a goalie, and that's to keep the puck out of the net. Pretty simple agenda to follow compared to the tasks Maren or any other player has, which can range from shooting at the net to deciding when to pass the puck. I would much rather my position to any of the others.

When the short timeout is over, Maren trails behind me on my way to the net. "I need you to do something." She tells me.

I shrug. "Sure, what is it?"

"Alright, when we get under a minute left to this period, Mogadore might get ballsy and take in their goalie so they can put out an extra player." She explains as we reach the net. I lean on the net a little and face her, motioning for her to go on, though I don't really know what she's asking yet. "You know, so they can get another goal." She adds.

"Yes, I know how hockey works." I chuckle. Maren gives me a small eye roll.

"Whatever. Anyway, you might not get the chance but if you do, just shoot the puck towards their side." She says casually. I raise my eyebrows in disbelief.

"Shoot? As is the puck?" I ask. Sure I've passed the puck to one of our players before but that was only when this side of the ice was relatively empty. I've never actually shot anything any distance before.

"Yes, that's literally what I just said." She replies, seemingly nonchalant about this. I clear my throat.

"Okay, um, you know I've never actually like, done hockey before. Right?" I gesture to the net. "This is what I do. I don't shoot things."

Maren rolls her eyes yet again, probably because I look a bit alarmed. "I'm not asking you to do hockey." She says with a smirk of amusement. "I just want you to shoot it somewhere in that direction so we can have a chance of getting it down to their side, that's all. You don't have to get a goal or anything."

"Okay, so how am I going to do that while they're shooting at me?"

"That's why I said if you get the chance. It probably won't even be an option." She shrugs, looking out at the ice while I nod seriously.

"Yeah, it's a bit of a long shot." I say, forcing my tone to remain neutral. Maren nods, but her eyes dart to me after a second, a tired look replacing the calculating gaze she had worn a moment ago, though I can still see she's amused.

"Was that a pun?"

"Was it? I didn't even notice." I feel a smile tugging at one corner of my mouth even though I try to keep it down.

"Why do I even associate with you?" Maren shakes her head, not even bothering to hide the smile on her face, though she's definitely not as amused at my joke as I am.

"Probably for the free math tutoring." I suggest. Maren nods but the ref blows his whistle before she can say anything, signalling the continuation of the game. "Well, that's your cue." I tell her.

"Nah, I'm benched for now. Good luck though." She says, not seeming too happy about it, but I know our coach would want to save her energy for when the period is coming to a close.

"You too."

I see our players take position at centre ice, and feel suddenly anxious when I picture the puck coming down here. How will I know to shoot it? What would the opportunity even look like? I don't know, but I have at least a couple minutes to figure it out since Mogadore will likely wait until the last minute to play a risky move like that, if they even do it. Most teams would just keep their goalie on the ice, since they aren't down a point or anything, but Mogadore has been known to be overly arrogant in the past so I wouldn't put it past them.

A minute goes by and Maren comes out of the box, just as predicted. The best players need to be out for the last minutes, and that almost always includes the captain for every team. Of course this means that Phiri is out also, because as much as I hate to admit it, she's one of the better players on her team and more clever than she gets credit for. Though, the fact that Maren's arch nemesis is on the ice doesn't worry me near as much as the time left in the clock, which has now come down to two short minutes. The players make a few passes up at this end of the ice, but I don't have to do anything other than block a few easy shots, now frantic in the attempt to score before the quickly dwindling time runs out.

One minute left and the puck is on this end of the ice. Around my focus on the puck, I see Mogadore take in their goalie and another player takes the ice in her place, quickly making her way down here to join the rest of her team. One extra player might not seem like a lot, but when the teams are as even as we are, one player could mean the difference between a goal and overtime. And I know nobody favours the latter option.

I keep my eye on the puck as it goes around, now being passed more frequently due to one player always being open. The shots come more frequent too. They aren't calculated, difficult shots, more like rushed in any chance they get. Still, constantly moving from one side of the net to the other is tiring to say the least. Then I remember that the players on my team have to constantly skate up and down the length of the hockey rink, so I suck it up. There's not much more to endure anyway, thirty two seconds more to be exact. Then the game will go into overtime, and everyone will be tired and worn out and angry and it won't be good, but it's starting to look like a reality. With Mogadore having complete control of the puck, and the extra player on the ice, it's nearly impossible for our team to even get near their net, much less score a goal.

I keep watching the player with the puck until somebody skates in front of her for a moment, and when they move I see the puck is gone. My heart stops for a minute before my eyes begin their frantic scan across the ice. Then I see it, already on its way to the net on the side of the net I am unfortunately not on. It's definitely too late to try and slide over, and maybe too late to do anything. My reflexes kick in anyway, my arm shoving my stick in that direction before I even tell it to. This type of reaction is the least graceful part of goal tending, the scrambling, blindness, flailing, all in an attempt to stop something you didn't even know was coming. But somehow, it ends up working.

The puck bounces off he blade of my stick. It only takes me a second to recover, and I'm about to get back into position when I realize the puck is still there, almost right next to me. I remember what Maren told me and know this is what the opportunity looks like. I get to where the puck is and look up to see several girls from both teams rushing towards me.

I don't think, I just pull my stick back and fire it as hard as I can. I hardly expect it to even make it out of this end of the ice, I hardly expect it to make it far at all, but it does, and it's aimed right for the net. My stick isn't built for power, but that puck goes faster than the Mogadore girl chasing it. It crosses the centre line all the way to the other end of the rink. All the way to their net. With nobody there to defend it, the puck easily goes in, followed by the sound of the buzzer.

I just stand there for a moment, the roar of the crowd washing over me as I stare in disbelief. I stay that way until someone slams into me from the side, then the other side, and soon the entire lineup is surrounding me, everyone tight together in celebration. Pretty much all of my teammates are taller than me (even though I'm not even that short) so for a moment all I can see is the orange and white of our jerseys. It's not like this has never happened to me before, but usually it's at the end of the game, when the whole team is celebrating together. I guess we've pretty much won now anyway since a glance to the clock tells me that there's now only 23 seconds left.

This time there's no debate about the authenticity of the goal, and the next face-off gets underway shortly after our celebration. Mogadore's goalie is back on the ice for the last few seconds, but it's not necessary. After a 23 seconds of uneventfulness, the buzzer goes off and we win. Our players stream out of the box, throwing off their helmets and gloves before coming together in a huge, cheering mass of bodies, myself included.

After that calms down, I start towards the middle of the ice, talking to a couple of the other players as I attempt to avoid the multitude of helmets and gloves randomly strewn around the ice. I almost trip a few times, not being as nimble as as everyone else. It doesn't help matters when Maren comes up and bumps me with her shoulder, apparently expecting me to have to same balance as she does. I stumble a little but manage to stay upright, which is fortunate because she would most likely make fun of me for ages about it if I fell.

"So you can do hockey." She says like she didn't just almost knock me over. We go slowly and the other two girls drift ahead in their own conversation.

"Yeah, I've just been hiding my talent for twelve years." I reply flatly, though there's a smile on my face. Maren laughs and I redo my hair as we continue a lazy journey towards centre ice. Maren has the same idea and stops so she can put her into its usual ponytail. I wait for her, watching as each team starts lining up to do that hand shake thing to show we're all still friends, but we all know we'll still hate each other.

All of a sudden, I hear a series of sounds at once; a growl, a thump, and a grunt. It only takes me a second to realize the sounds came from behind me, where Maren was standing a minute ago, but a look behind me tells me she's no longer in the same place. Instead, she is now a few feet away, a vicious-looking Phiri latched onto her jersey and pulling her back upright from what I assume to be the result of a push. She's not just pulling her up though, she pulling Maren right into her fist. I recognize the move as the same one Maren used on Phiri last game, though it looks a lot better when your friend isn't the one getting her face beat in. Unfortunately, Maren was caught off guard and can't react quick enough to avoid the punch and it goes right into her face with nothing to lessen to impact. Maren shows no sign of pain as her face contorts in anger and she begins to fight back, but Phiri already has an edge in this fight after getting to Maren first. Before the fight can get too heated, I move forward and use all my force to rip Phiri off Maren, who's was latching onto her just as tightly.

"What the hell? I said after the freaking game." I struggle to refrain from snapping at her, which would be something that is very unlike me. Phiri rolls her eyes angrily and uses two hands to shove my chest, sending me backwards and almost making me trip over a stray helmet.

"This is after the game!" She spits out through her still-bruised face. With fire in her eyes, she starts coming towards me. Powerful anger fills me, the feeling so unusual that I'm almost startled for a second when I realize my hands have balled into fists.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." I say through clenched teeth. She smirks and shoves me again, leaving me stumbling back another several feet.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna-"

I don't think, I just let my arm shoot forward, my hand connecting with the side of Phiri's face, which looks a mixture of surprise and anger. She falls and satisfaction rushes through me before the realization kicks in.

Holy crap, I just punched someone.

And holy crap, punching someone hurts.

I would have expected the pain to be more like crunch. Instead I feel a snap. A cold, hard, stab of pain that starts at my thumb and shoots all the way up my wrist. If I swore I would have a few select words to say now as I pull my hand back and lean over, letting air out through my teeth as I cradle my right hand. I've seen Maren just shake out her hand after punching someone, but I don't think that would help me now. Is this how it's supposed to feel?

I hear laughing and turn to see Maren, bleeding from a cut on her cheekbone, but obviously not caring. "Where's your fucking words now, R?" She teases, skating over while a ref pucks Phiri off the ground. I feel a strange mix of disgust and pride at my actions. Maren looks like she's about to continue with her praise until she sees my state. "Holy shit, are you okay?"

I nod my head a little as I stand up straighter, attempting to ignore the pain. Maren looks concerned so I put on a smile. "Woah, what happened to your face?" I joke, repeating the same thing she said when somebody kindly punched me. She doesn't laugh and I let my smile fade and press my lips together. "Tough crowd." I mutter.

"Let's see the hand." She demands, unconcerned with the blood now running down her cheek, like a hard punch to the face is just something she's used to shaking off.

I sigh a little and lift my arm. The movement jostles my hand a little and pain jabs through the area again, making me grit my teeth to stop a groan. She squints at my hand, where the base of my thumb is already swollen and beginning to bruise. It also looks like the knuckle is pushed in slightly more than it should be.

"You punched with your thumb on the inside, didn't you?" Maren says, more of an accusation than a question.

"Well, I don't know. I wasn't really focusing on it." I admit.

"Can you move it?"

I try but I can't even begin to move it before pain shoots all the way up my wrist. I take a sharp breath in. "Yeah, I don't think so." I mutter tightly.

Maren sighs. "You're supposed to punch with your thumb on the outside, like this." She holds up a fist to demonstrate. "If you punch with it on the inside then... well, I think it's broken." She concludes.

"Are you kidding me?" I ask, already knowing the answer. I groan when Maren shakes her head. "Do I have to go to the hospital?"

"That is where you usually go when you have a broken bone." She teases. I roll my eyes a little and shake my head at my own stupidity.

I see coach Murphy coming across the ice and it's only now I realize that almost the entire stadium is looking this way, waiting to see if it's serious or not. Just so they stop looking, I stick a thumbs up in the air even though the news is kind of a lie. The cheer from our school's side of the ice tells me they believe it, and they go back doing whatever they were doing before the action started.

I try and fail to lie to my coach about my hand being fine, and it turns out I'm going to have to miss a couple weeks of hockey practice, and I have to go get a cast put on it. She gives me some ice for it in the meantime. My injury isn't urgent enough that it prevents me from staying for the victory picture though, and our triumphant exit from the ice.

The guys hockey team is already waiting in the hallway when we go back to the change rooms and they pound their sticks on the ground as a form of applause. I'm talking with another girl from the team when I'm suddenly grabbed by my shoulder and pulled to the side. Being off balance from the skates, and trying to navigate around the bulky goalie equipment causes me to stumble right into somebody. It's a miracle my hand doesn't get squat or something.

"Did you go deaf or something? I called your name like twenty times!" Stanley shouts in my ear as he helps me stand upright again. He doesn't have his helmet on yet so I have no trouble seeing the teasing grin on his lips. I try to move backward but the current of people flooding the hallway is too dense, so I have stay almost leaning up against Stanley.

"It's a little hard to hear at the moment!" I yell back over the clattering of sticks, excited cheering, and stomping feet. Stanley nods and says something that looks like "right".

"So, how's the hand? It looked like it hurt bad!"

"My thumb is broken." I reply with a shrug. Stanley looks confused so I yell it louder and I know he hears it when when he cringes and makes a fist.

"You're supposed to punch with your thumb on the outside-"

"I know." I interrupt him, rolling my eyes a little. Does everyone know how to throw a punch but me? Stanley smirks.

"If you knew, then why is your thumb broken?" He teases. I make a sound that sits between a laugh and a sigh, at a more normal volume than the start of the conversation since most of the girls are now in the change room. This also means I can take a step back since the hallway is no longer flooded with people.

"I know now." I clarify.

"If it's any consolation, it was awesome."

"Tell that to my thumb." I joke. Stanley laughs.

"Is that your writing hand?"

"It's my writing hand."

"Ohh." He sucks in a breath through his teeth.

"Thanks for the encouragement." I chuckle, looking back towards the change room where I know it'll take me twice as long as usual to take my gear off. "Anyway, I got to go now."

"Oh yeah, don't let me keep you." He waves me off. "Oh and next time you go to punch somebody, remember what I told you. Knowledge is power you know." He taps his head with his index finger like he's said something meaningful. I roll my eyes a little as I reach the change room door, pushing it open with my back.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." I disappear into the change room, only noticing now that my hand has toned down to a strong throbbing.

Getting my gear off takes a shorter amount of time than I thought it would, of course with some of Maren's help to speed up the process, and soon we're walking up to the stands, the air conditioned area suddenly cold now that all the extra layers are gone. We go out to the van to drop off our bags before making our way back inside and heading up to the usual spot the stands, where Marina, Joseph, and now Katerina are waiting. Marina looks happy for us, but also a fair amount of concerned. I lean over to Maren as we're walking and try to make it look casual.

"Can you lie for me? I want to stay and watch the guys' game and Mar will make me leave if she knows."

"I mean, you probably should get to the hospital sooner rather than later." She replies, seeming like she's weighing the options. "But sure. She'll probably find out anyway though."

I nod and we stop talking once we get in earshot of the group. When we get close enough, Katerina puts her fist in the air in a little cheer before wrapping her arms around us both at the same time

"Look at that, the stars of the game!" She beams, her arm squeezing me with surprising strength. I laugh while Maren only lets out a slight huff of amusement. Katerina pulls back and immediately tuts when she sees Maren's split cheek. "You should really wipe the blood off your face, kid."

"Nah, it makes me look tough." Maren replies, though she wipes at her cheek anyway.

Marina snorts at that comment. "Trust me, you look scary enough without the blood." She laughs. We all nod.

"That's very true." Joseph says. Maren raises her eyebrows at him challengingly and he quickly turns his focus to me, holding up a hand for a high-five with an extremely enthusiastic grin. I slap his hand with a short cheer, well the best I can anyway since I'm holding the ice pack in my good hand. "Yeah, go team!" He cheers when Maren actually participates in the high-five too.

"Yeah, you guys did really good." Marina congratulates us with much less enthusiasm than her boyfriend, but it's at a normal level. "And did you hurt your hand?" Wow okay, jumping right to the worrying.

"It's not too bad." Maren cuts in, effortlessly lying. "Just gonna be a bit of a bruise." She shrugs uninterestedly.

"Is it fine?" Marina asks me this time, knowing she can get better read on me than Maren.

"Well, yeah. It's like... what she said." I shrug and point to Maren. I know by the exasperated expression on her face that I wasn't very convincing.

Marina shakes her head at my attempt to lie and holds out her hand. "Let me see."

"Come on, it's really not-"

She raises her eyebrows at me like, 'don't argue' and I sigh defeatedly. "You're going to make a really good mom someday." I say as I lift my arm slowly and remove the ice pack before showing it to her. Her mouth drops open at the dark bruise now taking over the base of my swollen thumb.

"A little bruise?" She scoffs, shaking her head.

"It's really not as bad as it- Frig, Mar!" My protests get cut off by Marina suddenly tugging my wrist toward her, the sudden movement causing a stab of pain to rush through the area. "Maybe lets not do that." I suggest through a pained chuckle.

"You need to get to the hospital. This is broken." She states.

"Yeah, we will, but I have an idea..." I propose, though she doesn't really look like she's in the mood to be making deals. I gently take my hand back and press the ice pack to it again. "I'd say my bone will probably hold on for at least another two hours-"

"No." She interrupts. "You are not staying for the game. You need a cast."

"Really, Mar? Come on."

"Do you want a deformed thumb? Because that's what will happen if you leave it."

"Seriously? My thumb isn't going to grow back together in two hours."

"Where are your keys?" She holds out her hand and I sigh and unclip them from the belt loop on my jeans, dropping me in her hand. She smiles triumphantly.

"I don't know why your so happy. You do realize you're going to be sitting in a waiting room for half the night, right?" I joke.

"It's not going to be half the night." She argues.

The statement is actually half true, depending on the severity of the people in the emergency room, you could be waiting for hours. I'm not confident that having a broken bone counts me as a particularly severe case among the others that could be there.

We leave and Marina drives my van to the hospital. When we walk into the emergency room, there are already about twenty people scattered over the benches, a couple of people are actually sleeping. Not really an inspiring sight. This will be a long night. Good thing it's Friday.

Alright, there it is. Like I said, I'm still not completely happy with it but I hope it was at least sufficient. I understand that this chapter was a bit uneventful in respect to the developing relationships and such, but don't worry, I plan to get right back into that next update! I don't know when the next update will come out but I'm hoping that it's under the three month mark.

Also, I didn't do the boys game in this chapter because it's already super long. You guys have two options to vote on:

1. If you want, I can add the guys game to this chapter later

2. I'll do a brief description of what happened in the next chapter

Let me know which one you want please! This story is for you guys so I'll do write what y'all want :)

Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it. Next update will focus more on the characters, I promise! Anyway, tell me what you thought of it in the reviews and thanks again for reading :)