Super sorry I haven't updated in months but I had lots of school stuff and I had to fix this one thing in the chapter for it to make sense, yet it still might not. Sorry again.

R&R!

Ch. 5- The Past and a Barrel of Monkeys

Craig and I continued are conversation as we walked over to the baggage claim.

"So what will you be doing?" he asked, obviously interested.

"I'm not 100 sure, but I think I'm supposed to make up exercise and eating plans for the boys. My specialty is specifying nutrients in foods and matching them up with other foods to make the ultimate beneficial meal." I said, a little proud of myself.

"Wow, that's something. You and Doc will get along fine. He's the team doctor, really nice. He was from Latvia until he moved here. So where are you from?" he asked curiously.

"Reykjavik, Iceland."

"You came here all the way from ICELAND!"

"Yeah." I said picking up my bags.

"Did you leave today?" He asked, still astounded that I was from Iceland.

"Yes, I left at 5:00 P.M., got to Boston at 12:00 eastern-time, and got here."

"You must be exhausted," he said sympathetically, "when we get to the rink, you can crash on the couch in the lobby. I'll make sure no one disturbs you." He offered kindly.

"Thanks for the offer, but I can't do that. A) Because I am naturally hyper and nervous in new situations, making it impossible to sleep. And B) I loaded up on caffeine back in Boston. I found a really good coffee shop, Back Bay Beanery, or something like that.

"Alright, Herb told me to bring you to his office when we get there anyways. Let's go to the car."

We chatted all the way there. Once on the road, Craig brought up an interesting conversation.

"So Anika," I cut him off.

"Anya, just call me Anya."

"Okay, Anya, so are you a native of Iceland or something else?" he finished lamely.

"I was born in a town called Keflavik. It's about 50 km from Reykjavik. My mom, Patty's sister, and my brother Halden still live there." I said, just mentioning them made me feel homesick.

"Where's your dad?" He asked. By the look on my face he could tell it was a sore subject.
"I'm sorry if I brought up a bad subject. Really, I'm sorry. I was just curious is all." He said quickly and apologetically.

"Don't be sorry, you didn't know. My dad died when I was sixteen. That's why I was here the last time. My mom was so lost, so we went and stayed with Aunt Patty and Uncle Herb."

"I'm so sorry…" he mumbled shamefully.

"It's okay." I said to convince him and myself. As I continued, I felt hot tears threaten to fall.

"It's just that we were really close. He was the one who taught me how to skate. He loved any sport involving skating with such enthusiasm that my mom called it his first love." I laughed at the memory.

"Because of him, I decided to be a figure skater. I was really good, too. He was on his way to see my qualifying round for the '74 Olympic team. He was really busy with work but I begged and begged for him to come and watch." As I explained what happened, my mind was reliving each thing as I talked about them. "He was driving to the arena to see the competition when a drunk driver crashed into him, head-on." The tears were falling freely now. "I remember how my mother's face looked when they told her. At the time, I was down on the ice looking up into the stands. I had just finished my performance and was looking at my mom and my brother, expecting to see my dad with them. All I saw was a police officer and my mom crying and yelling at the officer. I was so worried that my family was in trouble with something or someone had done something illegal. I had gotten enough points to be on the team. When I went to tell my mom, she was standing in front of me and I could just tell something was wrong, it was one of those faces. Well anyways, my mom told me that my dad had been killed by a drunk driver on his way here. I didn't accept the position and I refused to eat for days. My brother finally convinced me that I wasn't the reason my dad was dead and I shouldn't blame myself. So instead, I blamed skating. I haven't skated since the competition." I finished my story and wiped me eyes. Craig didn't say anything for a few minutes and finally said:

"Wow. Herb never said anything about that. Actually, he didn't tell us anything about you. I'm really sorry that happened to you."

"It's okay. I've gotten over it. I've moved on." I said, trying to stop the conversation as quick as possible. Thankfully, Craig got the point.

"So, are you going to miss being in Iceland?" he asked casually.

"Not as much as I'll miss my family and friends. In fact, I'll probably miss my friends the most." I said guiltily.

"You'll miss them more, why?" he seemed very confused about what I said.

"Well, I live with two of my friends, Kiersten and Halle, and my other friends, Savea and Erika, live down the street."

"They really good friends?"

"…More like family to me. Halle acts like me surrogate mother and Kiersten is my annoying sister, we fight all the time! Erika is my best friend in the world. She is… such a people person and can make any situation funny. Savea is a drama queen, but she's gorgeous!"

"They sound like awesome friends!"

"They are, they really are." I said agreeing with him.

"Do you want to listen to some music?"

"Sure." We sat in silence the rest of the way. When we pulled up to the arena, Craig said:

"Well, we're here." He got out of the car and around the side to get my bags. I opened the door and looked at the arena. It was pretty big and a sign outside said that it was closed due to U.S.A. Olympic Ice Hockey Team Practice. I went to Craig and took my wheeling bag. As we entered the arena, I could here the sound of hockey pucks, sticks, and yelling. That's my Uncle Herb.

Craig broke my thoughts (which I was laughing to myself about). "You want to take a peek?"

I nodded my head as we headed down the hall to my uncle's office. We dropped my bags in there and we went up to the stands. When I looked out onto the ice I saw about 14 guys on ice and quite a few more on the benches. The ones on the ice were trying to pull off one of my uncle's wacky plays. They did their best, and I could tell they were excellent skaters. I watched the goalie to my left. There was something on his mask that I couldn't make out. I squinted and was surprised to see a shamrock sticker on either side of his eyes. I was confused for a moment, until it hit me: He was Irish! Wow, I must be more tired than I thought. I turned to Craig.

"Craig, I am feeling kind of tired. Is it alright if I go back to my uncle's office and take a quick nap?"

"Sure, I have to get back to practice, but I'll let him know you're here."

"Okay, thanks." I started down the bleachers. I was almost to the bottom when Craig said:

"If you wake up and Herb isn't back yet, come out and watch for awhile."

"Okay. Will do." I walked away and yawned deeply. I continued down the corridor and to the office. I spotted a small couch and lied down. I was out as soon as my eyes closed. When, I woke up, it was about 2:00. So much for catching up on my sleep. I looked around the room for my uncle as I got up. He must still be at practice. I was shivering from the change of temperature as I stretched. I reached into my little bag and pulled out my light blue 'BOSTON' sweatshirt I bought at Logan Airport. It was freezing in there and people were walking around in tank tops! I since Boston have hotter summers they like to turn their people into freezpops! I got the sweatshirt in a large so I could give it to Hall. Once it was on, I warmed up quickly and headed out the door. I looked down at myself and realized that the sweatshirt dwarfed me. Oh well, at least I'm warm. When I got to the bleachers I saw a forward dodge all the defense and scored. My uncle had said something but I was more focused on the guy's skating. He was strong yet graceful and easily one of the best forwards I had ever seen. I got to my seat just as I heard my uncle yelling:

"Johnson, that coast-to-coast may work here, but it won't against the teams we'll be playing." The player must have mumbled something to Herb and he called out:

"Next line up!" I watched as a new group of skaters took the ice. What caught my eye was one player stop another from going and took his place. Wonder what he's up to.

"This is a breakout play, gentlemen. So let's get rid of the puck early." My uncle said in his booming voice as he shot the puck to no one. The play was going well when I heard a sickening WHACK! I looked towards where the sound came from. There on the ice was a player hunched over and near him, another standing near him. It was apparent that he had checked the injured player, but what angered me was that the puck was down the rink. It was a cheap shot! Uncle Herb will not be happy about this. I heard the boys call out different things, some encouraging the bully and others berating him. Suddenly, the player on the ice got up and charged at the other. When they started fighting I rose to my feet and watched my uncle stop Craig from interfering. What is he DOING? This is completely uncalled for! The other boys finally pulled the fighters back.

"Well, how about it boys? Look like hockey to you?" my uncle called out in his demanding voice, "Looks ore like a couple of monkeys trying to hump a football, I dunno. How about you Craig?" Craig looked just as confused as I did about what could possibly be my insane uncle's attempt to make a joke.

"Yeah." He answered, unsure of what he was supposed to say.

"You wanna settle old scores you're on the wrong team! We move forward starting right now! We start becoming a team RIGHT NOW!" Herb yelled and slammed his stick off the ice. "Skating, passing, flow and creativity; that is what this team is all about gentlemen. Not old rivalries. So why don't we start with some introductions? You know, get to know one another a little bit. Who you are, where you're from, you know. Go ahead!" Herb nodded at the player with a very bloody nose.

"Rob McClanahan, St. Paul Minnesota." he said.

"Who do you play for?" Uncle Herb asked him.

"For you here at the U." Rob said. My uncle nodded.

"Jack?" Herb prompted.

"Jack O'Callahan, Charlestown Mass. Boston University." 'Mr. Tough-guy' said.

"Over Here." Herb pointed to a bystander with a mustache.

"I'm Ralph Cox. I'm from wherever is not going to get me hit." Cox said with a smile. I couldn't help but laugh at this. I knew that hockey players from Boston and Minnesota didn't get along very well. All of the players laughed at this, and even my stony-faced uncle looked amused. My uncle let them laugh and started practice back up. I saw a short man with a bow tie help 'Robbie McClanahan' off the ice and into a different room. I assumed that this was the Doc that Craig mentioned. After a few minutes of watching the practice, I saw Craig looking at me. I waved to him and he waved back. After another 45 minutes, Uncle Herb ended practice. Before he let the boys of the ice, he called them over and told them something I couldn't hear. Once he let them off, I walked back to my uncle's office. I sat and waited for him, thinking about what happened during practice. So, 'Mr. Tough-guy's name is Jack O'Callahan. Well, Mr. O'Callahan, if you keep beating up my team, we're going to have a little issue. Just then, the door opened up and Uncle Herb came in.

"Anya, hi. Welcome to Minnesota…again." He moved to shake my hand.

"It's great to see you again, Uncle Herb!" I dismissed the handshake and gave him a bear hug. He returned it with just as much strength.

"So, how was your flight?"

"Oh, it was okay. I napped all the way here. Craig is really nice. We got along great." I said enthusiastically.

"Were you in here this whole time?"

"No, I took a quick rest, and then watched the rest of practice. I saw the incident between Boston and Minnesota." I said jokingly

"Yep, we had a small problem, but I think it will be alright from now on…So, you want to meet the team? I told them to wait in lobby so I could introduce you."

"Okay, sure, let me just brush my hair quickly." I said not wanting to make a bad first impression.

"Yep, the bathroom is just down the hall. And do you think it would be possible for you to hang out with the guys for an hour or two while I'm in meetings?"

"As long as it's okay with them, I'm all for it!"

"Great, just knock on the door when you're ready to go." I opened the door and walked down the hall until I found the ladies' room. I walked in and started in on my hair. I decided to put it up in a half pony-tail with my bangs hanging in front of one of my eyes. I held it back with a clip and practiced my introductions.

"Hi, I'm Anika Marek, but you can call me Anya… I'm Anya, it's nice to meet you…Hello, I'm Anya Marek and I'll be your personal trainer and nutritionist. Yes, I like that." I turned back to the door, walked to my uncle's door and knocked. A few seconds later, he came out, straightening his tie. He nodded and smiled a bit and we headed down the hallway, until we could hear a bunch of voices in the next room. Uncle Herb motioned for me to stay still while he addressed the team. He turned the corner and the boys shut up quickly.

"Alright boys, thanks for waiting."

"Coach, we've got no where to go." Someone said and everyone laughed.

"Ha, ha, very funny Rizzo, just like your slap shot!" I cracked up laughing but noticed that no one was laughing. They just stood there in shock. What the heck is wrong with these people…? (AN: He has to have some personality…somewhere down there!)

"Anyways," I heard my 'funny' uncle continue, "I'd like to introduce to you, your personal trainer, nutritionist, and most importantly, my niece…for those of you who don't understand that it means she's off limits… my niece from Iceland, Anika Marek." I walked around the corner and stood next to my uncle. The room was oddly silent for a moment. Then, a curly, dark-haired guy with a crooked nose came up to me and offered his hand. I took it and he said with a warm smile:

"Hi, I'm Mike Eruzione, but you can call me Rizzo."

"It's nice to meet you, you can call me Anya."

"It was nice to meet you too, Anya." Rizzo went back to his seat and shoved the guy next to him out of his chair and up towards me. A guy with a great smile and black hair came up to me and followed Rizzo's example. I looked closer at him and recognized his face, and height, from a long time ago.

"Buzz Schneider."

"Nice too meet you" I said, smiling back. So it was the famous Buzzy Schneider. Guess he didn't remember me. Once he sat down, a tall, reddish-haired man with a mustache came up and said:

"Ralph Cox, or Coxie." sticking out his hand.

"From wherever's not going to get you hit?" I asked him jokingly, taking his hand. He blushed and nodded, then returned to his seat. Next up was a very, very tall guy with dirty-blonde hair.

"John Harrington, but everyone calls me 'Bah'." He offered his hand.

I took it and inquired, "Why Bah?"

"Long story." He said, and a couple of guys chuckled. As our introductions continued, I met Ken Morrow, Les Auge, Neal Broten, Dave Delich, Jack Hughes, Mark Wells, Bob Suter, Mark Pavelich, Phil Verchota, Eric Strobel, Mike Ramsey, Ross (I didn't remember his first name), Billy Baker, Horsch (didn't remember his first name either), Dave Christian, Steve Christoff, and Steve Janazak (a goalie, I think). Finally, there were just a few players left. A fairly tall guy with raven black hair and ice blue eyes walked up to me.

"Jimmy Craig." He stuck his hand out. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Jimmy." I said sweetly. As he walked away, a short, blonde came up to me, who also had blue eyes.

"My name's Mark, Mark Johnson." My eyes widened as I recalled he was the really good player.

"Oh, so you're 'Coast to Coast Johnson'. Well, it's very nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you also, Anya." He blushed, knowing I saw him get in trouble. He turned and I was approached by a handsome guy with cute brown hair.

"Dave Silk…and if you really wanted to you could call me Silky. That's my nickname."

"Um, okay…well, it's nice to meet you." I said, slightly confused and embarrassed. He turned around and a tall, dark-haired, handsome guy came up to me and went to shake my hand.

"Hi, I'm Rob Mc…" I cut him off.

"Let me guess, Rob McClanahan, right? I saw you and Jack try to rip each other's heads off. Normally, I don't befriend fighters," he looked ashamed and embarrassed, "but I'll make an exception if you promise never to do that again in my presence."

"I'm sorry, I promise I'll never fight in front of you again." He said dejectedly.

"Well, then. I'm Anya, and it's nice to meet you Robbie." I said very sure of my self. I had made feel uncomfortable, and I liked when I did that because normally I was uncomfortable around guys. I was finally at the last person. I wonder who this could be, I thought knowing fully who was the last person was. A kind of tall guy with wavy blonde hair and slate grey eyes walked up. Overall, he was definitely one of the hottest on the team and had a bad boy disposition about him, which he lived up to already. He stuck his hand out and I folded my arms.

"So you must be the infamous Jack O'Callahan, huh?" I asked sweetly.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" he shot back.

"Absolutely nothing. Is it supposed to mean anything to me?" I heard the choruses of 'yeah Anya' and 'that's a good question O.C.' I had him baffled. I put on my 'angel' act while meeting the others and changed back in time to be the pain in the ass that I naturally am.

"Harsh, but that's alright. I've dealt with worse," he said as he tried to appear tough and unbothered by my forwardness. I smiled to myself, already got him eating out of the palm of my hand.

"Oh really, I would've thought any girl you've ever met would pity you. My mistake," the guys laughed again as Jack's face hardened into a scowl.

"What's that supposed to mean, cupcake? Think you're tougher than me? That's almost laughable!" That asshole actually was dumb enough to

"Fine, bring it on! You, me, wall sit." I walked past him to the wall. I looked back at him asking 'Something wrong?' with my eyes. He walked over and stood next to me. The other boys gathered around. Craig got a stopwatch and the boys started their bets while Jack and I stared each other down.

"I'm putting 10 bucks on O.C." I heard Dave Silk say.

"Well I'll balance you off with 10 bucks on Anya." Mac bet.

"One beer on Anya! Any takers?" Bah shouted.

"Yeah, but I'll put 3 on O.C." Phil Verchota yelled back. Jack looked at me smugly at mention of this. Craig interrupted them and closed the betting. Jack and I got into our positions and Craig set the timer at zero. Then, right as we were about to start, Mike Ramsey said:

"Wait a second; she's got to be at least 20 pounds lighter than him. That's unfair."

"Fine, Anya don't get angry at me for asking this, but how much do you weigh?" Craig asked politely.

"I weigh 125 lbs."

"Jack?" Craig asked.

"160." He responded.

"I'll go get the discs." Mac said. He came back with three discs, each weighing 15 lbs., equaling 45 pounds. He handed me the discs and I adjust my weight.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Craig asked. Jack and I both nodded and he said:

"On your mark, get set, go!" He started the timer. They boys started cheering and booing both of us, but the general consensus was cheering for Jack. Five minutes passed by, then ten. I, of course forgot to mention to Jack and the other boys that I had to do these everyday for 20 minutes for 12 years. Granted I hadn't skated in a while, but that didn't mean I didn't continue on with my routine. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jack starting to wobble. I decided to see how well he could hold up if I taunted him.

"So, Jack, how you holding up? Getting tired yet?" I asked sweetly.

"Wonderful, cupcake. How's it going over there in Fort Iceland." He asked just as tartly.

"Just wonderful. I'm bored. When I do this at home I at least am able to watch the television."

"Oh, so you have done this before?" He asked sarcastically, but I knew he was probing me to see how much of a chance he had against me.

"Yep," I said setting him up for the kill, "…20 minutes, everyday, for 12 years."

"Did your daddy ever realize he was raising a candidate for the psychiatric ward?" he asked tauntingly.

"Don't bring my dad into this." I said bluntly, trying not to let the emotions inside escape.

"Oh, sore spot, huh?" he taunted.

"Not as sore as your crotch will be if you don't drop it now!" I could feel my anger and hatred towards Jack rage in my veins.

"Oh, isn't that a little harsh? Well, I would be angry too if my dad cheated on my mom." He and I both knew he was getting to me.

"My FATHER DID NOT CHEAT on my MOTHER! If you're just trying to get a rise out of me, PICK A DIFFERENT SUBJECT!"

"No, no, this is doing fine. So what's your father done that's made this such a sore subject?" he taunted. I gave up; I needed to get out of this room so I could go cry my eyes out. But, I didn't want to loose, so I did the next best thing: I picked up all 45 lbs. of the discs, and threw them in his lap. As he crumbled, I got up brushed myself off. I turned to look at Jack. He was sitting on the floor looking up at me with fury and satisfaction in his eyes.

"He died." My voice cracked as I said it and I ran out of the room with tears streaming down my face. I ran to the closest door which turned out to be the girls' bathroom. I turned around and locked the door. As I left the room, I heard Craig calling behind me. I didn't stop and just ran into the bathroom. He was at the door, asking me to come out, but I just ignored him and continued crying.

(Third Person POV-Lobby)

The boys sat in silence for a minute while Craig chased Anya down the hall. Jack removed the weights and stood up, looking confused and guilty. Rizzo got up and started heading after Anya and Craig.

"Nice going O.C." Jimmy Craig said.

"Hey, I'm sorry, how the hell was I supposed to know her dad died?" Jack retaliated

"You didn't need to know. She asked you not to bring it up." Jimmy said, angrily. "Jack, you have both your parents, you have no clue as to how it feels to loose one of them. And what's worse, you said her dad cheated on her mom. That can really piss a girl off. So, here's a suggestion, don't open your big mouth ever again!" Jimmy followed after Rizzo and so did a few of the guys. So many of the guys left that it was just O.C., Silky, and Phil. Jack sat down on the couch and sighed.

"Great! Now my friends and Herb's niece are mad at me. I didn't mean to hurt her feelings; I just wanted to throw her off so I could win."

"Relax, O.C. She'll forgive you just go and apologize." Silk offered.

"Yeah, right. That'll be the day that pigs fly. She'd probably pick the electric chair over talking to me." Jack said sarcastically.

"You were just being your idiot self. Tell her that and she'll forgive you easily." Verchota joked.

"Thanks, Philly, but I don't think it will work too well." Jack laughed at his comment.

"Let Rizzo talk to her. He'll defend you, but let her cool off for a while." Silk said.

"Yeah, thanks guys. I'll apologize when the guys come back." Jack thanked them.

(First Person POV-Bathroom)

I was leaning up against the door crying silently. I wasn't as upset as I was angry at Jack for making me vulnerable and saying my father cheated on mom. I knew he never did, it just got me so angry when Jack suggested it. I heard a quiet knock at the door.

"Anya, its Craig. I'm going to get your uncle. He's in meetings, so it might take me a few minutes. If you need anything Rizzo and Jimmy are here and willing to talk to you if you want." Craig said sympathetically. I heard a pair of footsteps walk away and someone come closer to the door.

"Hey, Anya, you in there still?" I heard Rizzo's muffled voice through the door.

"Yeah." I said blankly. I felt bad for being mean to Rizzo; he was such a nice guy. So wasn't Jim.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rizzo asked tentatively.

"Fine." I replied. I gave up. I couldn't sit in here forever and I felt that I could trust Rizzo and Jimmy. If they cared that much to follow me, I could be excepting and thankful. I wiped my eyes and unlocked the door. I opened the door, hiding behind it. Jimmy and Rizzo came in and I closed the door. Rizzo was the first to speak.

"I am so sorry that Jack was like that. He isn't like that all the time. Sure, he's competitive but he would never intentionally cause you pain. He didn't know…we didn't know."

"It's okay. It just brought back painful memories. I kind of figured he was competitive from practice. I wasn't mad at him for bringing up my dad as much as for what he said about him." I explained.

"He had no right to say what he did about your dad. He was just trying to taunt you, but that still doesn't give him the right to say that." Jimmy added.

"It just angered me that he would just say that to someone. Plus, I was still a little annoyed from watching him and Rob fight at practice."

"I know that this is no excuse for what he said and did, but I think O.C. was just used to us guys and thought he could pass a crude comment without it being noticed." Rizzo defended his friend. I understood that he wanted to show me that he thought the Jack was wrong to do what he did, but he didn't want to betray his best friend.

"I feel much better now. I just have these moments when I really wish my dad was still here."

"I know how you feel, Anya. My mom died recently and it's been really hard on the family. If you ever want to talk about it or just want to hang out, my door's always open." Jimmy told me.

"That goes for me too." Rizzo piped up. I smiled and gave them each a small hug as a thank you. I heard a gentle knock at the door and heard my uncle's voice.

"Anya, are you alright?" he actually sounded concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Jimmy, Rizzo, and I were just talking. We'll be right out." I said thank you to both boys and I exited the bathroom with my head held high and a small smile on my face. I decided that I was going to be straightforward with Jack about why I was angry with him and hopefully he would apologize. Maybe we could even be friends.

I'll update again really soon. Next chapter just needs to be reviewed. Thanks!