AN: I've been getting really creative lately, and I have energy to burn. No, I am no longer depressed. And no I am not bipolar. Thank you very much. It was just a really crappy day. And thanks so much to my reviewers for last chapter! I love your ideas. Maybe I'll work on them, but like I told punkteacher, I dunno whether I have the patience to sit through 66 chapters of this. Though it would be kinda fun...
Chapter Dedication: This one, I think, should go to the Adam-Ro shippers, who have yet to see some satisfactory romance, have you? Sorry about that. It's kind of out of my hands now, and entirely reliant upon the characters themselves; aren't they cute?. Oh, and Emily, I'm sorry. They made the decision on their own. It wasn't my fault!
"Clearing the Garbage"
"I realize that he wants to beat the Varsity," Carrie said gently to her prone, exhausted roommate. "But does he have to kill you all in the process? Skating through downtown Minneapolis? Three hour practices, twice a day?" Maurae mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'our choice' and went back to staring at the ceiling. Carrie rolled her eyes heavenward, and hid a smile. Even this utter exhaustion was worth it just to feel that things were back to normal on the floor.
Regular explosions of sound from Charlie and Adam's room was considered standard. Four-thirty am wake-up calls were a norm no one complained about. Nightly study sessions until curfew were expected. It was good to have her life back in order, Maurae thought. But it would be so much nicer to be able to sleep while she was still young enough to enjoy it. Grinning tiredly, she added silently, But what else could I expect from the life I myself insisted on?
She blinked when someone banged on the door. Carrie got up to answer it, seeing as Maurae showed no indication of moving from her current position. She stepped back to allow Derek to enter the room. The boy immediately saw the catatonic hockey girl and blinked before smirking. "Tired?"
"She hasn't moved in the last five minutes and her only words to me since she assumed that position weren't intelligible," Carrie said matter-of-factly. "She actually isn't quite interesting to watch. If she weren't breathing, I'd think she was dead. She doesn't even blink all that often." The two theater students continued on this vein for a few more minutes, hoping to elicit a reaction, but Maurae refused to rise to the bait. I refuse to abandon the only comfortable, silent moment I'm likely to experience for the next three months, she told herself. Then she smothered a grin. Okay, maybe not silent, but comfortable anyway. She had practice in a half hour anyway, so she was going to enjoy this few minutes of stillness.
Sure enough, five minutes later, someone else knocked, though much more subdued than Derek's vigorous pounding. Carrie also opened that, but by then, Maurae was sitting up and reaching for her shoes. Adam leaned on the door, his own hockey bag slung over his shoulder. Derek and Carrie noticed the striking similarities in the two exhausted teens then. Both had dark circles under their eyes and seemed thinner than was normal, bt both wore identical, goofy grins, and seemed happy. Happier than either had been in a long time.
"Ready?" Adam asked as Maurae slipped her feet into her shoes.
"Yup," the other girl said cheerfully. She bounced up as if she'd been sleeping ten hours a night and getting five meals a day, not like a girl who'd moments ago looked as if she was death warmed over. And Carrie smiled slyly, elbowing Derek, who frowned and started digging in his pockets. As the door clicked closed, he found his wallet and started counting bills into Carrie's hand.
"So..."
"How do you think he's going to mix us up today?" Maurae asked, cheerfully oblivious to her exhaustion. She knew that Adam's presence served her as well as a shot of caffeine, not that she minded. She planned on telling him what she'd decided, after the game. She didn't want either of them getting distracted.
Speaking of distracted, he snatched her arm right before she could run face-first into the glass doors leading outside to dorm building. "Something on your mind, Ro?"
"Always," she replied instantly. "Just preoccupied..and tired."
"Only two more days, and then we can actually relax for more than five minutes," he said, stretching his arms. "I just hope he doesn't want us to go skating into the city again, like we did yesterday. I swear, we skated twenty miles!"
"Probably more. My leg muscles are still shaking," she joked. They shared a grin and then lapsed into a comfortable silence as they crossed the campus. Maurae revelled both in how good it felt to have him back, and in the knowledge that, win or lose, on Friday, she was going to kiss Adam. The very thought made her blush madly.
"Something wrong?" he asked, catching it immediately. Of course he'd caught it, he'd been watching her instead of the sidewalk anyway. She shook her head, but wouldn't meet his eyes. The small grin tugging at her lips relaxed him. It couldn't be bad if she was grinning abou it. He sighed happily. He'd made up his mind the night before, after helping her with her geometry homework. They'd been sitting close enough that he could have done it then, but he wanted to wait until after the game on Friday. Because win or lose, he was going to kiss Maurae.
So they walked on, each happily lost in their own thoughts, so eerily similar to the other's, and not knowing it. They were somewhere between sixth and last to arrive, and were almost finished suiting up by the time Orion came to fetch them. "We're going to take it easier than usual today, team," he said. "I don't want you exhausted and weak for the game. That's why I'm letting you sleep in tomorrow and Friday morning, and we're returning to two-hour practices this afternoon." He received a strangled cheer, half its usual volume, which demonstrated that he'd made the right decision. "Now, let's get out there and see what I've taught you so far."
Obediently, they filed out, assuming your positions. To the surprise of everyone, Maurae had retained her "default position" as front line center. Charlie had taken third, and Adam had taken his old standby of second. And even more surprising, it was working! Charlie and Adam and Maurae had somehow worked out their system. Orion was impressed with the three friends. He guessed that at this point, they didn't even need him to shout commands; they would most likely know when to replace each other.
To see if his theory was correct, he let the team loose, and focused on sitting back and watching them perform. At first, they seemed confused, but they they caught on and started playing almost perfectly. Orion stepped in and corrected a few things, and then stepped back again. Finally, he called a halt to the scrimmage and started them on a series of drills. These, too, they worked out and finished and started a new set. Practice ended, leaving everyone feeling full of contentment, and they hit the showers cheerfully, chatting. Then a few select went to the mess to collect dinner, while everyone else set up the study lounge for their nightly homework sessions.
"Is it just me, or are the teachers sadistic SOB's?" Charlie asked, running his fingers through his messy curls, frustrated. "Or did I just forget how much homeowrk they give?"
"No, they do seem to be piling it on this week," replied Connie absently. She was twisting the end of her braid as she stared at the German worksheet in front of her. "I think they're testing us, to see if what we pulled at the hearing was just a thing to let us play."
"Making us prove we're worth our grades," Guy clarified as he erased one of his answers on his own German worksheet and penciling in the correct answer. "And, of course, it had to be this week."
"Of course," they chorused. Then the room quieted as Goldberg, Averman, Fulton, and Julie returned with the food. Passing it around and eating seemed to take all of their focus, but a few people managed to achieve epiphanies during their meals, and more homework got done than was expected. Group study sessions had helped them all pass the grueling tutoring during the Games, and it was working relatively well now, though Maurae and Luis still refused to study their French work together, and no one but Averman was taking Russian, so he was on his own for that. But the rest of it was like a massive group effort.
For the third day in a row, they left the study lounge right at curfew, stumbling into their beds and falling into them, exhausted. Only at the last minute did Maurae remember to change her alarm for a seven-thirty wake-up instead of four-thirty. Then she curled up under her covers, hugging an overstuffed pillow to her stomach and smiled as she dropped off immediately. Sleeping in was GOOD!
When the alarm went off the next morning, Carrie blinked and glanced over at it. Hers wasn't blinking like it did when it was buzzing. Surprised, she remembered that she hadn't felt like setting it the night before, figuring she'd set it at four-thirty when Maurae's woke her up. Which is why she was slightly confused when her sleepy brain noticed that her clock read seven-thirty rather than the usual four-thirty.
She sat up and watched Maurae sleeping for a minute before smiling wickedly Picking up her pillow, she took careful aim and drew back.
"Do it and die. I was having a good dream." Then the brunette opened her eyes and grinned. "A very good dream." Then she sat up and stretched, sliding her legs over the side of the bed. "So, Miss Martin, how much did you win off Derek?"
"Huh?" the redhead blinked. "You knew...?" Seeing the slow smile spreading over her roommate's face, she groaned and chucked her pillow, realizing she'd been played.
"I do now, thanks. But I figured if the rest of the team had a variety of bets going, that my roommate, who loves to dabble in other people's love lives, would have one going as well. How much did you win?"
"About fifty bucks, in total. I won when you'd start speaking to him again, and when you'd start holding his hand. We've still got it going as to when you're going to kiss..." She trailed off, seeing the smug smile on Maurae's face. "You haven't already, have you?" She sounded disappointed.
"Sort of. I've kissed his cheek dozens of times since we met, and the one at his house startled me, so it wasn't even really a kiss."
"But you've got it planned, don't you?" Carrie teased.
"I plead the fifth," retorted Maurae wickedly. Then she tossed Carrie's pillow back onto the end of her friend's bed and stood. "I call dibs on the bathroom first." Then she stode into it and shut the door. Ten minutes later, she reemerged, hair brushed, teeth scrubbed, and face washed. "It's all yours," she said with a mocking bow. Then she went to the (slightly dented) wardrobe and flung the doors open, pulling out a jean skirt and a peasant top Julie had sent her for Christmas the year before. She bent and pulled out a pair of sandals from the bottom of the closet. It was still warm enough to wear sandals and skirts, she was happy to note. While Carrie showered and primped, Maurae dressed and started to braid her long hair. Only able to reach the middle of her back, she was left with quite a bit of unbraided brown hair, but she shrugged, tied it off and started gathering up her homework. By the time she was done, Carrie was done and dressed. The two girls grabbed their bags and keys and left the room for breakfast.
"So, how come you slept in today?"
"No morning practice today or tomorrow. Orion wants us rested up for the game. You coming?"
"And miss the biggest event of the year?"
"Homecoming is Saturday," Maurae replied. "Surely that's bigger than the game?"
"To this school, hell, to this whole friggin state, the game is more important. Who're you going with?"
"The rest of the team. We decided that we'd go together since most of us couldn't find dates." Maurae shrugged, though she was inwardly quite disappointed. She did love to dance... Carrie smiled.
"Me neither. I'm going with Derek, Cam, Terry and Sara, from the drama department."
"Cool. See you later."
"Later." Inside the mess, the two roommates parted and went to their respective groups of friends. Maurae smiled as she sat next to Fulton's hunched shoulders and experimentally poked him in the ribs. He shifted and an odd, muffled grunt came from under his arms, but he didn't otherwise react. Knowing her large friend was very ticklish, she poked him again, slightly higher than before. He laughed and his head shot up.
"Hey!"
"Dude," she said, imitating him fairly well. "We got three extra hours of sleep! What're you tired for?" He grinned and ruffled her hair, a gesture she hated, but a futile one with it all in a braid.
"I'm still tired, and so should you be."
"I am, but I'm not silly enough to let you know it. This way, you can all grumble and groan about how unnatural I am." Then she got up, leaving her bag, and trotted over to the food line, returning a few minutes later with her norm: Cinnamon Toast Crunch. She smiled when Adam and Charlie dropped into seats next to her, arguing about something. She poured milk over her cereal and smiled. "Whatcha talkin about?" she asked, rasing a spoon to her mouth. Chewing, she watched them blink at her, then at each toher. Then, amazingly, both flushed and looked away. Swallowing, she grinned. "Now I'm really curious. Come on, what's up?"
"Charlie and Averman have a bet going," Adam started. Maurae held up a hand.
"Say no more, please. I don't want the details. Except this: who wins if it happens after the game on Friday?" Charlie blinked stupidly while Adam looked down to hide his disappointment.
"Well...me, I think," Charlie said thoughtfully.
Then her words sank into Adam's mind completely, and his head jerked up. She hadn't said never, she'd said after! Then she shrugged, smiled, and turned her full attention on her cereal.
The day went well, and the whole team, while not exactly looking forward to practice that afternoon, were at least eager to get it over with. "All right, team. You've got this one practice before tomorrow's game to show me what you can really do. Usual scrimmage divisions. Let's do this." He leaned against the wall, next to green trashcan topped by a large cardboard box that everyone assumed was to be used for later in the practice.
He blew the whistle. And everything seemed to go downhill from there. Orion hadn't corrected them this much in one practice since they had met him. Everyone was starting to work on shortening fuses, and most were extremely relieved when he blew a short blast on his whistle an hour into practice.
"Yo, come on! Got over here!" he shouted venomously. "Take a knee!" Uneasy glances started darting between the team members, wondering what the hell they'd done wrong now. "You guys are not skating like Warriors!" That's when they started shooting glares at him. "You look like something else," he added, starting to pull the box open. Charlie and several others craned their necks to try and see the box's contents, with no luck. Orion stuck his hand inside. "You look like...Ducks." And as he said Ducks, he pulled his hand up, revealing the contents of the box at last: Ducks jerseys, matching those they had left on the ice weeks before. "Robertson!" Dwayne caught the jersey flying towards his head as the rest of them cheered and got to their feet, skating over to claim their own.
After a monstrous group hug and a long cheer, they set their new equipment aside and skated out to center ice. Skating in a tight circle, they raised their sticks in the air until they were so hopelessly tangled that Maurae couldn't really tell which one was hers up there.
It was one of the most joyous moments of the year, and she was going to enjoy it, whether she got her stick back or not.
AN: The ending is a little disappointing, I know. I didn't know how to end it, and my computer is being so flippin tempermental, that I thought I'd stop it there and write the game in the next chapter.
Love to all my readers!