Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
"Dude, what's going through your mind?"
Cam stared at Dallas, partially shocked by the sudden change in conversation. One minute he was being hounded by his old teammates, trying to answer the incessant stream of questions about his return to the team, and the next minute the table was empty except for a concerned Dallas looking at him from across the cafeteria table. Cam shifted his eyes around the crowded room, hoping for an easy escape from the conversation, but he knew it was inevitable.
"I want back on the team, Dallas." He nodded at the table next to them, which was occupied by the rest of the Ice Hounds, including a visibly annoyed Trent. "He thinks he finally has the chance to show me up, but it's not happening. Things have changed."
Dallas' dark brown eyes widened as Cam violently crushed the soda can that he had been drinking from. Unfazed by Dallas' reaction, Cam nonchalantly threw the can into the recycling bin behind their table, causing the bin to shake with the force of the throw. Dallas couldn't resist commenting, "Easy there Hulk. The can is not Trent's face."
Cam laughed darkly, "Too bad." His eyes met Dallas' gaze briefly before focusing on the table; he prepared himself to listen to Dallas' words in the withdrawn position.
Dallas sighed deeply, trying to mentally prepare himself for the right words to use on his troubled friend. It wasn't easy trying to make sense out of his jumbled though process, but he forced himself to try for Cam's sake. "Listen to me, man. Trent is the last thing you need to be worried about." He banged his fist on the table in an effort to get Cam to look at him. It didn't work, but Dallas continued anyway. "When you first joined this team, I was like the majority of the guys and wanted to be on top of the Degrassi food chain. With you, the best hockey player I have ever seen in my life, I knew this team would be unstoppable. But things really have changed."
Curiosity peeking at the captain's words, Cam lifted his head to look at Dallas.
"I finally see how much you have been struggling since the day you first came here. And I get it now, Cam. Your mind isn't in a good place. You need to take care of this." He pointed at his head without breaking his attention on Cam, "And less on competition, hockey, and the team. We want you to be okay, man."
"And I will be," Cam interrupted. Ignoring Mike's look of doubt, he defended his case. "I'm going to the doctors, I'm on medication, not too mention tons of therapy every week. Maybe getting back on the team will give me something to focus on beside treatment."
Dallas quickly fought back, "You need to be focusing your energy on getting your mind back to a place of control. Come on, you have been miserable for these past couple of months on the team; after what happened I know that you are not really convinced that going back to the Ice Hounds will solve your problems." He lifted his hands in surrender as he plead with the young, distraught boy who stared at him. "I want you to come back to hockey because you love it and not to prove something to a bitter teammate. Scouts will notice if you're miserable."
Cam's shoulders shook with laughter, "There it is. The old Dallas who wants to scouted."
Dallas clenched his teeth together, "I didn't mean it like that. I don't want to go through the hell that I did a couple of weeks ago when you." Stopping himself before he became too emotional, Dallas fell into a tense silence that Cam broke right away.
"Before I tried to kill myself. You can say it, Mike. I won't break." He scoffed, running his fingers through his hair, and snuck a glance at the solemn captain. "Just be on my side, Dallas. I need support on this. Please."
Mike rubbed his eyes quickly, silently hoping that no one noticed how close he was to showing tears. "You know I will, rookie." Dallas cleared his throat and nudged Cam's shoulder. "I want you to go easy in practice. The coaches will agree with me, so don't fight us on it, okay? Good luck telling your girl." He waved at Maya, who hesitatingly made her way to the table in fear of interrupting the conversation.
"Hey," she greeted meekly.
Cam turned to look at her, his expression softening. "Hey, how was the band meeting?"
Maya tried to suppress an eye roll as she thought about the incredibly unproductive WhisperHug meeting that Mo organized last minute. "It was uneventful. I should have practiced my cello, instead." She smiled at the two boys sheepishly as she scooted near Cam, placing her bag on the table and resting one hand on his shoulder. "So, how's lunch?" She snuck a glance at Dallas, trying to see if he had any good news regarding the plan to convince Cam to not rejoin the team right away, but judging by the obvious way he ignored her stare, the conversation didn't go as Maya had hoped it would. "That good, huh?" She replied weakly.
Dallas grimaced, shooting an apologetic look her way. "I'm going to head over to the guys. We're supposed to be deciding on the design for our new jackets. Rookie, when you're done come over and see what we have." He gave the two teenagers what he'd hoped was a reassuring smile, but it left his face the minute he turned around and walked over to the hockey team.
"New jackets," stated Maya as they both watched Dallas leave, "You already look so cute in your old one." She met his brown eyes and forced herself to smile. She managed to hold it for a couple of seconds before it disappeared completely. It was really hard to pretend to be okay with Cam's decision to go back to the team; she could only feel overwhelming disappointment at the thought. "You should go see the new design for the jackets. Since, you're going back to the team so soon."
He watched her for a moment from his seat before standing up from his chair, wrapping his arm around her waist, and pressing his lips against her temple. "You don't seem too excited for me," he whispered. "I know you and Dallas wanted to try to talk me out of it, but I'm going to play. See what happens." He tightened his hold on her waist when she released a strangled sigh.
"What happens," she began. The worst possible scenario entered her mind as she thought about Cam returning to hockey, causing her to shudder and pull away from him. "You should go," she changed the subject, suddenly not interested in talking about hockey. "Lunch is almost over. Zig and I were going to go over some new lyrics for a song, so I should go find him." Maya hadn't even realized that mentioning Zig would be a bad idea, especially considering how the fight between him and Cam was never resolved. She didn't even have time to regret the slip of words before Cam reacted.
"Zig, really? You're worried about hockey setting me off, but you think hanging out with Zig is totally fine?" Cam bit his lip angrily, letting the bitterness he felt towards Maya's old friend seep into his response as he slammed his chair underneath the table and blindly grabbed his backpack. "I hope you two have fun."
Maya clutched the hem of his jacket to stop him, "Zig is my friend, and he is in the band. You're the one who is busy jumping back into hockey so soon after leaving the hospital, and I'm the one who is wrong?" She stared at him, unable to believe how fast this day changed for the worst. She opened her mouth to continue explaining herself but his angry gaze stopped her. All she could do was tap her foot nervously on the ground, waiting for his reply.
He brushed his bangs out of his eyes, trying to calm down. The last thing he wanted to do was say something he would regret, but he couldn't help but feel betrayed and hurt that Maya easily forgave Zig. "I really don't want to talk about Zig," he admitted tiredly. "You already know why I'm not his biggest fan." He stared into her brown eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I should go. I need to go to therapy after lunch."
The achingly, sad expression in his eyes made Maya want to burst into tears. An apology unconsciously left her lips, "I'm sorry I mentioned Zig. I do understand, and I was just as angry as you were after what he said to you. I told him off." She tucked a piece of her curly, blonde hair behind her ear, "He regrets what he said to you. I just hope one day you can hear him out, because he didn't mean it." She grabbed one side of his jacket, stepping closer to kiss him on the cheek. "Anyway, I know you don't want to be talking about this, so I'll stop." She smiled weakly as she pulled away from him. "You should go see those designs. Pick an awesome one."
Without returning her smile, he reached for her hand and clutched it tightly in his own. The gesture was the only thing he could manage at the moment, since his mind was torn from dwelling on the uncomfortable conversation. "I'll text you later. I know you have to practice after school, right?"
Her brows furrowed at the lack of eye contact between them, but she tried to focus on the gentle way he held her hand. "Yeah, I only have a week until my audition, so I'll be needing all the practice I can get." She tugged his hand tenderly, hoping to get him to look at her. "I'll call you later. We can talk more." She waited for him to say something, but he just nodded timidly.
Disappointed by the silence, she decided it would be best to give him some space, but when she tried to back away, his grip on her hand didn't loosen, forcing her to remain in the same spot. "Are you going to head over there?"
To her surprise, Cam responded to her question by closing the distance between them and capturing her lips in a kiss. "Now, I will." he murmured. Maya covered her rapidly blushing cheeks as she watched him walk over to his teammates who, to her embarrassment, had witnessed everything.
She quickly turned around to avoid the stares of the hockey team, immediately heading over to the table where Tristan, Tori, and Zig were involved in an incredibly awkward silence. Noticing the relieved expressions on their faces, Maya couldn't help but wish that they could go back to being as close as they once were. "Hey, guys." She called out before sitting down.
"So," asked an impatient Tristan, "What happened?" He and Tori leant forward in anticipation. Like Maya, they were hoping Dallas could talk Cam out of not joining the team.
She sighed, wishing she had better news. "He's still on the team." Nervously glancing over at Zig, "We almost, kind of had a really bad fight." She raised her hands when Tori and Tristan began to ask questions. "Can we please just come up with an awesome song to make Mo happy. Tori and Tris, you can help too. Zig and I need to come up with something fast for his and Marisol's anniversary party." She gave Zig a desperate look, which he understood right away.
"Yeah," he agreed, "We can all write it together." He smiled nervously at Tori and Tristan who remained quiet for a moment before Tristan interrupted the silence.
"Can there be choreography?" He asked, raising his hand like he was in class.
Zig choked on the juice he was chugging, while Maya genuinely laughed for the first time that day. "Sure, Tris. You and Tori come up with choreography and Zig and I will work on words. "She gave the excited pair an amused look as they gave each other a high five. Before focusing her attention on Zig's opened notebook, Maya snuck a quick peek behind her to see what Cam was up to. The sight of him engrossed in animated conversation with his other teammates made her feel a little more comfortable. It was an oddly normal moment for him, which gave the impression that things could turn out okay, afterall. Catching the eye of a cruelly smirking Trent; however, quickly shot down her moment of optimism. Turning around, she pulled out a pen and began to furiously scribble onto the blank page, ignoring Zig's concerned look. When would any of this become easier?
A/N: So, trying to write after having your wisdom teeth removed is actually a lot harder than it seems. Go figure. Sorry for the wait! I hope everyone likes this update :)