Chapter 1

"Eastview Tigers!" The familiar shouts echoed throughout the locker room as the hockey team broke their huddle and began to run out of the locker room into the ice rink. James Diamond wiped his forehead, leaning against the white wall; the stuffy humidity of their high school locker room always made sure he was sweating before he even got on the rink. He watched the flashes of red and white uniforms moving past him and listened to the sounds of yelling and felt slaps on the back.

It was the first game of the season, and James knew it was going to be a good one. His heart beat loudly and his blood was filled with adrenaline. He turned towards the boy standing next to him, grinning.

Kendall Knight was their new varsity captain this year, despite only being a junior. Kendall was so good he had already gotten multiple offers from schools in the area to play for them after he graduated. He was Eastview High's pride and joy, and James's best friend.

"James! You ready?" Kendall asked, grinning back even wider. The blonde's sweaty hair was also sticking to his forehead, but somehow, he looked more energized and alive than James had seen him the whole day. Hockey was everything to Kendall- well, other than his family and friends. Kendall was the kind of guy all the girls swooned over, but who wasn't interested in dating anyone because "the only women I need in my life are my mom and sister." James always badgered Kendall about this, because who wouldn't want to date a cute girl?

Apparently not Kendall.

"You bet I am!" James grinned back. "We finally have a good captain this year." He added, smirking.

Kendall shook his head. "A captain is only as good as his team, James. And we have a great team this season. I think we can go far."

James almost wanted to roll his eyes at Kendall's unsurprising show of modesty, but instead just nodded in agreement. Last year they made it to regionals but lost in the second game. Their goal this year was to make it to state and hopefully win it all. With Kendall and their team, James was confident it could be done. This was their year.

Kendall gave James a pat on the back. "Have you seen Carlos? Gotta make sure that kid puts on his helmet."

James chuckled. Their youngest friend was clumsy beyond belief and very prone to accidents. Kendall always made sure he strapped Carlos's helmet on personally, or else the boy would somehow end up with a concussion in the middle of a game. "I think he's outside with Logan. I'm sure he'll make sure Carlos gets his helmet on." Logan was even more cautious than Kendall when it came to safety. He was the smart and responsible one of the group, and they always joked he was their group mom.

Kendall walked away to look for Carlos anyways, leaving James to finish putting on his equipment. He strapped on his skates, pads, neck guard, helmet, and mouth guard. He grabbed his stick and walked out into the ice rink.

As always, the cool breeze wafting from the rink was a welcome relief from the hot locker room, and James breathed in deeply. He smiled at the familiar sounds of skates hitting ice and the familiar shouts and voices of his team.

He stepped onto the shining slab of ice, enjoying the feeling of his skates gliding effortlessly through the solid floor. He joined Kendall, Logan, and Carlos for stretches. Afterwards, they took turns shooting and warming up for the game. The away team wasn't set to arrive for another 20 minutes, so they had plenty of time to warm up. Parents, children, and students were scattered around in the bleachers, all excited for the first game of the season. James spotted Kendall's mom and younger sister Katie, Logan's mom, and both of Carlos's parents.

The first game of the season was an important one. More people showed up than for any other game other than the final game before regionals or state. But it wasn't important enough for either of James' parents to show up. His mom and dad were always busy with work. He looked away and tried not to let it upset him.

It had been like this for years. It shouldn't have bothered him anymore.

He shook his head at himself, willing his feet to skate faster around the rink. James hadn't gotten any offers from schools yet like Kendall had, but he considered himself pretty good. He usually started as left wing (of course, Kendall started center). Logan was usually defense, and Carlos was their main goalkeeper.

"Hi Jamie!" James jumped a little at the loud voice. Carlos had somehow appeared from nowhere (as he usually did) and was right in James's face (as he usually was). "You wanna practice some shots with me?"

James took a step back and pouted. "Carlos, I told you not to call me that!" He whined. Carlos knew he hated that nickname (it was a girl's name, for crying out loud!)- but he also knew he was the only person who could get away with saying it.

Carlos giggled and dodged James's feeble attempt at a shove. "Sorry James!" He grinned at him. "But pleeease? Can you?" He begged, his brown eyes wide.

James grabbed his stick and skated out into the middle of the rink. Carlos let out a whoop and skated excitedly over to the goal. James shook his head affectionately at the boy. Carlos had so much energy he could power the whole of Minnesota. And he had such a bright smile it could light up the same area. James's couldn't say no to Carlos; none of them could. And anyways, shooting always got his mind off things.

James shot the puck at Carlos until the away team showed up. Carlos blocked about 75% of the shots, which, considering James was one of the strongest players on their team and he was just straight shooting, was pretty good.

Soon, their team skated off the rink and watched the away team warm up for about 15 minutes. The away team's guys were huge, but James refused to let them intimidate him. Their team was ready to beat those guys; they'd been practicing and they were determined.

Then the whistle was blown and the starters lined up. Before James even knew it, the game had begun.

By half-time, the score was 5-2, and their team was leading. Kendall got the team together and gave a half-time speech. James had a feeling it was going to be a regular thing. Before he was captain, Kendall's speeches were limited to his friends' ears. But now, being captain, it gave him a good excuse to give speeches any time he wanted to.

"Let's go out there and finish them off, guys!" The team cheered and pumped their fists in the air. James let out a yell and patted some guys on the back. Joy and excitement flooded through his body.

"Dude, 35 looks pissed." James glanced over at Logan, who was staring worriedly at a player from the opposing team, his eyebrows furrowed together.

Number 35, a burly guy who looked the same height as James but 50 pounds heavier, did indeed look pissed. James remembered him as the guy he'd checked into the boards in the second quarter. He argued with the referee to call a penalty on James but was overruled. James had forgotten about the incident until now.

"He's just mad I didn't get a penalty." James mumbled. "You know how those guys are."

Logan bit his lip. "Just be careful, James. He looks really angry."

"Yes, mom." James shot back sarcastically. At seeing Logan's worried look directed at him, he sighed. "Logan, I'll be careful. I promise." Logan nodded and seemed to be satisfied at the answer.

When they got on the third quarter, everything was normal. But by the fourth quarter, the score was now 6-4 and the away team had the puck. If they scored, they would be dangerously close to possibly beating them.

They could not lose the first game of the season.

James bit into his mouth guard and focused all his attention into the game. He saw number 35 with the puck skating towards him.

Perhaps 35 was so angry it was affecting his play, because James stuck his stick out and in one second, the puck was in front of him. He started skating towards the goal, adrenaline rushing through his veins.

"James!" He heard a voice calling his name, but he didn't stop, couldn't stop, because why would he stop in the middle of the rink when he was so close to scoring a goal, to solidifying their win?

The pain was like a bright flash that lit up everything around him. He heard shouting, the whistle blowing, felt cold plastic on his face, felt blood in his mouth. Then he was on the ground, his eyes shut and his heart thumping loudly in his chest.

"James! James, can you hear me?" The voice was foggy and James struggled to locate where it was coming from. His head was pounding now too. He groaned and tried to open his eyes. The lights were too bright, though, so he could only open them a slit. His head pulsed and his body ached.

He felt something warm on his chin. He reached his hand up and saw traces of bright red on his fingers when he brought it back down. Blood.

"Yeah, the idiot checked him from behind." James heard a voice say. He could now pinpoint that the voice was Kendall's. He sounded pissed. There was nothing that made Kendall angrier than someone messing with his friends. "He knew they were done for anyways and wanted to get back at him."

James used what meager strength he had left to pull himself into a sitting position. He felt someone's hands on him, helping him up. "Let's get you off the ice, James." It was Logan. Logan wanted to be a doctor, and he was genius smart, so James knew he was in good hands. He heard the soft voices of the players around him, talking about something he couldn't hear.

James let himself be led off the rink and sat down onto a bench. He watched Logan look over him. He opened his mouth the speak but instead coughed and spit out more bright red substance.

"Wh-what's wrong?" He finally got out, his voice sounding strange and muffled. His mouth felt like it was out of place, like something was missing.

Logan's eyes flitted back to James's face, the same worried look on his face multiplied by ten now. "I think your tooth's cracked; you're bleeding a lot from your mouth. Hold on, let me get you some tissues." James heard the sound of his skates stepping away.

James sat at the bench, his head swimming and his mouth filling with the metallic taste of blood. Just a cracked tooth? He wasn't sure Logan knew or was telling the whole truth- a cracked tooth didn't hurt like this, did it?

When Logan returned, James felt even more groggy and disoriented than before. He felt tissues on his mouth, and someone carrying him onto what he could only assume was a stretcher. A stretcher- was he going to the hospital? He was so tired and in pain that he stopped trying to understand what was going on.

He let people poke and prod, lift and carry him wherever they pleased.

He hoped they'd won the game.

A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to this story! I've been working on it for several months now, and I'm excited for you all to read it. This takes place before the boys move to LA and start Big Time Rush, but their characters are still the same. It will mostly (if not all) be in James's POV, but the other boys will be in the story significantly too. I hope you guys enjoy, and please remember to review and let me know what you think!

- AS (Anonymous Skrtle)