Chapter Three! Whoo Hoo!

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Chapter Three: Hockey Tryouts

James's POV

"Here you go," Mom said as she laid a chicken and green bean casserole on the table.

My mouth watered slightly. "It looks delicious."

She smiled at me. "Thank you. I tried out a new recipe. I hope it's okay."

"I'm sure it'll be amazing," I assured her as Shane and I began to dish up.

"So," she sat down at the table with us. "How was your first day?"

I shrugged as I took a bite. "Pretty good, actually. We met some of the guys on the hockey team. They're all in my grade, but – "

"They seem really cool," Shane broke in. "They even talked to me. I mean, obviously it's because I'm James's brother, but – "

"It's not," I insisted. "You're awesome, and they're good guys, so they see it."

"Still, those ice skaters are a piece of work. I passed by Katie Knight right before lunch, and I heard her cussing you out to her friends."

"She hates me."

Mom eyed me as she spooned some of the casserole onto her own plate. "Who's Katie Knight?"

"She's Kendall Knight's twin sister – he's one of the guys on the hockey team. She's a figure skater. There's some kind of war between the hockey players and the figure skaters, and she seems to hate the hockey players with a passion, even more than any of the hockey players hate the figure skaters."

"She especially hates James," Shane put in, "if the way she was spewing cusswords to describe you was any indication."

"My goodness, what did you do to her?" Mom cried, gaping at me.

"Nothing! Look, we got paired together in chem., and she practically threw a fit, so I put her in her place. And then we had a slight altercation in English. Oh, and we have PE and lunch together."

"Four periods together?" Mom raised her eyebrows.

I nodded.

"Is she pretty?"

"Mo-om!"

"Well? Is she?"

"She's gorgeous. But her personality is all ugly. I wouldn't go out with her if you paid me."

"Which is why you were staring at her butt when she was walking across the cafeteria," Shane snickered.

"Shut up! I was not!" I cried as heat rose into my cheeks.

Mom continued to look at me, eyebrows raising even more. "James? Sweetie? Do we need to have The Talk?"

My eyes widened. "No!"

"Are you sure? Because if you're having thoughts or problems – "

I groaned. Great. She was going into her self-help-book-for-mothers-of-teenage-boys mode. I know it well. "No! Ohmigosh! No! Just because I might have been looking at her, um – "

"Assets," Shane piped up helpfully.

" – doesn't mean you need to worry! She hates me, and I hate her! You have nothing to worry about!"

"Are you sure? Because, you know, you can talk to me about anything. Thoughts, feelings, wet dreams – "

"Oh my God, please stop…"

"It's all perfectly normal for a teenager, boy and girl alike. Your hormones are going crazy at this point in your life, and it's completely normal to be curious and to want to act on these feelings."

I held my glass against my face to cool my burning skin.

"So, if you have any questions, or if you just want to talk, you can always come to me. And if you feel you may want to take the next step with this girl – "

"What part of we hate each other are you not getting?"

" – I'll even go with you to buy condoms. After all, I keep you both nicely supplied with lube."

"Oh my gosh…"

"Just know that I'll support your decision on the matter of sex no matter what."

Shane grinned widely. "Should I leave so that you two can discuss his wet dreams and feelings about Katie's butt?"

"No! God, no!" I cried, nearly dropping my glass.

"The discussion is open to you as well, Shane," Mom said to him. "I know that you're situation is a little bit different than his, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about it."

"Nope, I'm good. I'd rather just let you two talk things out."

"I'd rather just finish eating," I said loudly, "and forget this conversation ever happened."

Mom pouted. "I just want to make sure both of my boys are taken care of. After all, it wasn't like your father's actually around anymore, not that he ever was."

It was true. When I was 12, my mom had gone out and bought me one of those books about puberty, since my dad was in Paris, with his latest girlfriend. Mom had told me, and encouraged me, to ask her about anything I had questions about. We'd ended up sitting down one very awkward evening, to have one of the longest, most embarrassing conversations of my entire life. That conversation quite possibly trumped this one. No, actually, it did. Very little tops having to discuss masturbating, erections, and wet dreams with your mother.

Luckily, Shane didn't really get knee-deep into puberty until he was nearly 14, and by that time I was old hat at everything, so I was able to talk to him about the issues at hand, and answer all his queries. That night was the first time I was ever thankful that my dad wasn't around. He would have gone ballistic at some of the things Shane had had to ask me about.

I still blush and shudder like crazy whenever that conversation with my mom comes to mind, though.

"We know," I assured her. "And we appreciate it. But believe me, nothing's going to be happening with Katie. We don't like each other in the least."

"But hatred is passion and passion is passion no matter how you title it, and it can be very easy to get caught up in the moment."

I sighed. "Sure, and if we get caught up in the moment, I'm sure I'll be able to think clearly enough to say, hang on, lemme grab a condom."

She frowned slightly. "Well, I hope you'll be able to. You're only 16. I won't forbid you not to have sex, because what're the chances you'll listen to me? But if you do decide to become sexually active, I want you to always have protection on hand, and to use it."

I sighed again. "Okay, okay."

"So, do I need to get you condoms?"

"Mom, I think after that talk, you need to grab me condoms. I just became paranoid," Shane told her.

"Me too," I put in.

"Good. Now, do we need to talk about STDs?"

Shane and I glanced at each other, and began shoveling food into our mouths so that we wouldn't be able to talk.

"I'll take that as a 'no'."

After that talk, I expected to be completely traumatized. Somehow, though, I managed to get through my usual nighttime routine without freaking out. It wasn't until I was brushing my teeth that I realized that tomorrow Shane and I had hockey tryouts. I wasn't worried about Shane. He was an amazing hockey player. I'll admit, I'm pretty damn good myself, but Shane has a lot more natural talent than I do. I'll always be able to stay up on the ice better, but he'll always be better at hockey than me.

I was really wishing I had gotten the chance to get out onto the ice to practice, even if it had just been for five minutes.

All I could do was take a deep breath and tell myself that there was nothing I could do about it now.

Eventually, I drifted off to sleep…

…And awoke panting and sweating five minutes before my alarm went up, with a certain part of me hard and aching.

Fuck. FuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK!

Katie had managed to creep her way into my dreams, and the result was this. Why my body had decided to wake me up before I could finish was beyond me, although I guess I should have been grateful that at least I wouldn't have to change my sheets before I left for school.

Mom did the laundry – for some reason, she never made Shane or me do it. She once said it's because it's something she enjoys it. It's brainless and relaxing, but then again, so is washing dishes, and yet she always tries to pass that chore off to one of us – so, as a result, she would know what had happened, and after last night, I didn't need her to try to have any more talks with me.

Gritting my teeth, I turned off my alarm, and staggered out of bed. I pulled on my bathrobe and slipped my feet into my slippers, made sure my bathrobe covered the offending part, and walked stiffly into the bathroom. I got into the shower, and sighed, closing my eyes.

Damn it, Katie.

Forty-five minutes later, I dashed down the stairs for a quick breakfast.

"Is Shane still in the shower?" Mom asked me as I began to make myself instant oatmeal.

From the way the pipes were gurgling, I would guess so.

"Sounds like it."

She eyed me. "You were in the shower for awhile."

"It took me awhile to wake up."

"You were in there five minutes earlier than usual."

"So?"

She just shook her head, and poured herself a second cup of coffee.

My poor mother. It can't be easy, raising two teenage boys all by herself.

By the time Shane came downstairs, I was halfway through my oatmeal.

"You used up most of the hot water," he grumbled to me.

"Sorry. It just took me forever to wake up."

"Turn on the cold water next time," he replied.

"It wouldn't have worked. It would have just made it worse."

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

"Did you try it?"

"No."

"Try it next time. It works wonders. I ought to know. I just had to take a cold shower."

"Sorry…"

"Uh huh. Sure."

"I am!"

"I'll be sure to mention that when I tell the hockey team what you and mom talked about last night."

"You were there!"

"In the way I tell it, I'll just be a poor, suffering innocent bystander. Oh, and you'll confess to wanting to bang Katie Knight's brains out."

"Shane!" Mom cried. "Not in front of the mother!"

"Sorry."

"Just eat breakfast," I snarled.

"So, you admit you want to?"

"No! I barely know her, and from every impression I've gotten from her, she's a bi – brat."

"Sure. Whatever you say."

I growled.

A half hour later, we walked into the high school.

I immediately spotted the guys. They waved to Shane and me, and we waved back.

As we headed towards our lockers, we passed the group of tight, cliquey figure skaters, with Katie in the very center. Her pretty brown eyes narrowed as I passed by her, and I couldn't resist raising my eyebrows and shooting a smirk at her.

Her fists clenched, her eyes narrowed even more, and my smirk widened.

What the hell was wrong with me? I didn't like pissing people (except for my dad) off. It wasn't in my nature. And going out of my way to purposefully aggravate someone, especially a pretty girl? What the fuck was my problem? Maybe she did have a good reason to dislike me.

"Dude, you okay?" Shane asked me once we reached his locker. "You look a little…strange."

"What? Oh, yeah, it's nothing. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Yeah, okay…See you in a few hours."

I continued down the hall to my locker, and opened it. Logan joined me a moment later.

"I passed by Shane on my way over here, and it looks like him and the kid I introduced him to yesterday are getting along nicely. Just thought you'd want to know, since he's your brother."

I nodded. "Thanks. That's good to know."

It was so ridiculous. It was like I was one person with my friends and family – a decent person – but when it came to Katie, I was a total jerk. It made no sense whatsoever. I didn't feel inclined to tick off any of the other figure skaters. Just her. But then again, she was the one who had treated me the worst. By comparison, Jo Taylor had been almost welcoming.

"So, ready for hockey tryouts?" Logan asked me, leaning against the locker next to mine.

"Um…I guess…"

"You'll be great."

"I hope so."

"Logan, can you move? I need to get to my locker."

Logan and I both looked around to find Katie standing there, looking even tinier than she had yesterday, due to the fact that she had traded her heels in for sneakers.

I almost blinked. That had sounded almost…polite.

Logan nodded. "Sorry, I forgot this was your locker."

Wait…Something was beginning to click…a thought was beginning to form…

…Katie had the locker next to mine! Shit! How had I not known that?!

"Of course," she said coolly as Logan moved away. "Not a problem."

I ran my tongue over my teeth as I watched her, keeping my face purposefully blank.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Katie snapped at me.

I rolled my eyes as I got what I needed from my locker. I didn't even bother coming up with a comeback. I was going to have to deal with her in three classes, and possibly during lunch. It just wasn't worth beginning an argument. Although…damn, it was tempting. A flashback from my dream hit me…

"James…" she moaned as I slammed her up against the wall, lips on her neck. "Please…"

"Please what?"

"You know what…"

"You okay?"

I was snapped back to reality by Logan, who was looking at me in concern.

"Yeah – yeah – I'm fine. Just…zoned out for a minute there."

"Okay…" he said, frowning a little.

Katie raised her eyebrows at me, but didn't say anything. I stared back at her coolly.

After several long, awkward seconds, Logan cleared his throat. "We should get to homeroom. You should too," he added to Katie.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Mitchell," she snapped, as she slung her messenger bag over her shoulder.

Logan tugged me forward, and I slammed my locker shut.

"See you at lunch," Logan said weakly to Katie.

"Uh huh," was her response.

Logan tugged me forward, and we headed to homeroom. Kendall was, once again, waiting for us.

"Your sister has the locker right next to James's…" Logan said to Kendall a little hesitantly.

"Ah. How nice."

I threw myself into my chair, chewing ferociously on my tongue.

"You okay?" Kendall asked me.

I nodded, trying to shake myself out of my sudden bad mood. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about later…"

"You'll be great," Kendall said firmly. "You and Shane both. You'll both be amazing."

"I hope so."

He nodded, and Logan gave me an encouraging smile as the teacher walked into the room.

Geometry was fairly uneventful. Camille and Jo barely glanced in Kendall's, Dak's, and my direction, although Kendall had to struggle to keep his eyes off of Jo.

Jo finally noticed him looking at her, and mouthed, "What?" at him. He blushed slightly, and dropped his gaze down to his notebook, shaking his head.

I met up with Carlos in PE, and we chatted amiably as we changed. Katie and Stephanie were already in the gym, in their own private corner, whispering to each other. Just like the day before, they eyed us, their eyes narrowed.

"You and Katie really should try to get along," Carlos told me as class started. "You two are chemistry partners. You can't argue during that class – you might lose focus and blow something up." About two seconds later, he was hit in the head with a dodge ball. "Ow!"

I looked around, and saw Stephanie grinning. "Whoops – my bad. I have bad aim."

Sure she did…

Katie snickered, and launched a ball at me over the net. Damn high school volleyball. When were we ever going to need it? Couldn't we at least run some laps?

I got a hold of the ball, sending it flying back at her. She stepped out of the way, letting one of the guys on her team get it for her.

The guy sent it back over the net, and Carlos launched it back at him.

A few minutes later, Katie got her hands on the ball again, and aimed it straight at my head. I managed to dodge it, but missed it by centimeters.

By the end of the class, Katie, Stephanie, Carlos, and I were all in a very bad mood, and ready to kill each other.

"They're just plain mean!" he griped to me as we showered. "I mean, Stephanie and Katie could have given us concussions! We'd never do that to them! Why are they so mean?"

"Because they're bitches?" I suggested as I dried off. "Because they're self-centered?"

"They shouldn't even be attacking you," he complained as we began to get dressed. "You're not on the hockey team yet. I mean, you will be, if everything goes right, but you're not yet. They shouldn't judge. It's just plain rude."

"I know," I said wearily. "I'm guessing they have a lot of power in the school?"

He nodded. "People are kind of scared of them. I mean, it's kind of funny, because they all look like you could snap them like a twig, but they can be mean. Especially Katie."

"Ah. That'd explain it."

"Yeah. When they're ruthless, you don't really care about their size. Katie's the smallest, and some people say she's evil."

"Is she?"

"Nah. She has her bitch moments, but she's not evil. She just isn't always that nice."

"I got that."

He nodded, as we reached the chemistry classroom. Kendall wasn't there yet, and neither was Katie, Stephanie, or Jo.

We headed over to Carlos' and Kendall's table, and Carlos began to set up.

A couple of minutes later, Kendall walked in and joined us. "Stetson's talking shit about the hockey team again," he told Carlos.

"Jett Stetson – the ice skater – hates us even more than Katie does," Carlos explained to me, before turning back to Kendall. "What is he saying now?"

"Just the usual. That we use steroids to improve our performance ability." Kendall looked at me. "This school has a zero tolerance policy for steroids. You get caught with them, you're out. If this gets back to Coach Kramer or one of the teachers, we'll all be hauled in for questioning. It's happened before."

I nodded. "That makes sense, but that really sucks, especially if it's just a stupid rumor."

"It does," Kendall agreed, taking his seat.

I caught a whiff of vanilla and strawberries, and I turned to see Katie and Stephanie walking into the classroom. They both threw us nasty looks, and walked to Stephanie's and Jo's table. Jo joined them a couple of minutes later.

Eventually, Ms. Straumner showed up, and Katie and I both headed to our table. Neither of us said anything.

We took our seats, and Ms. Straumner began the class. She gave us our instructions, with the warning, "And please, class, try not to blow anything up. These tables are expensive."

There was a smattering of laughter, and then we got to work. It was pretty simple, just mixing vinegar with baking soda to see what would happen. Nothing too exciting, since we'd all probably done it at some point in elementary school. But Ms. Straumner told us that it was just to get us used to doing labs and working with the equipment. Apparently she had been prepping everyone for labs, but the class hadn't actually done one yet.

Katie and I barely talked at all through class, except to ask for a piece of equipment, which almost never happened. The silence was icy, and it made me shiver a little bit.

Eventually the bell rang and Katie and I both jumped to our feet. We skidded around each other to get to our friends, glaring at each other the entire time.

The rest of the day went by pretty uneventfully. I did my best to focus on my schoolwork, and not to think about the hockey tryouts that would be happening in just a couple of hours.

Finally it was time to head to the rink for tryouts. Shane and I laced up our skates, and joined the slowly growing throng of teenage boys who were waiting for their name to be called.

Eventually, it was my turn. I skated onto the ice, hockey stick in hand, and began going through the routine they had set up. I went a round with the team, and then a second round. Finally, the coach blew his whistle. "Okay, Diamond, nice job. The other Diamond, you're up."

I skated off the ice and gave Shane the thumbs up. He grinned at me, and took my place, setting himself up as left defenseman.

I knew at once he was born for that position. He played it with ease, as if all his moves, all his tactics, were a part of his body. It was truly amazing. It hit me in that moment that that was truly where he belonged, out on the ice, defending the puck.

There was movement out of the corner of my eye, and I turned to see several ice skaters in the bleachers not too far from where I was. Katie was there, along with Camille Roberts, and one of the guys – Kyle, if I remember correctly. Camille and Kyle both looked at ease, but Katie had her arms crossed, and it looked as if she was chewing on her tongue.

I shook my head in disbelief. What was the point of coming to these tryouts if all you wanted to do was spit on the players?

And why was Camille and Kyle here?

My question was quickly answered when, as Shane got off the ice, Camille waved at Logan. "Hi, Logie! Looking good out there!"

It was hard to tell with his hockey helmet and mask, but I had the distinct feeling that Logan was blushing.

Ah. So Camille had dragged two of her friends along so that she could watch Logan. I guess Stephanie, Jo, and the other guy, Jett, must have been out on the other ice rink, practicing, otherwise they would have been here too.

Shane joined me, panting. "What're they doing here?" he asked me as he spotted the ice skaters.

"I think Camille's here for Logan."

I could see Shane smirk through his hockey mask. "Is that allowed?"

I smirked too. "Somehow, I don't think Camille cares. And I'm betting that Logan doesn't."

Shane snickered. "If the way he's falling all over himself is any indication, he definitely doesn't."

"Not in the least," I agreed.

I glanced over at Katie, and saw that she was glaring over at us. I lifted my helmet off my head so that she knew she had been caught. I mouthed to her, "Something I can do for you?"

She merely scowled and turned away.

I grinned and turned back around to find Shane raising his eyebrows at me. "But you don't like her."

"Why would I?"

"She's pretty."

"She's also a bitch. And there's plenty of girls who are prettier than her. Besides, she wears a ton of makeup," I pointed out. "She probably doesn't look like that when it's all off."

"Probably not," Shane agreed.

"But, I mean, she probably doesn't even need it," I griped. "I'm sure she looks beautiful without makeup. The makeup just makes her look superficial – which she is."

"Uh huh."

"I mean, look at the way she's dressed – wait – "

My eyes widened as I looked back at her. She was in her figure skating dress, and I could tell by her added height that she was also in ice skates.

"She's in red," Shane snickered. "You love red."

"Shut up. Anyway, she doesn't have any business here. This is hockey tryouts."

"Probably the other rink is filled up. Her friends are probably practicing and she got bored, so she decided to come with Camille. That's probably why Kyle – that's his name, right? – is here."

I nodded.

Finally, hockey tryouts ended, and Kendall came and stood in front of the audience. "Well, guys, I know you were expecting Jordan Talbot to be standing here. But, sadly, he was one of the guys who was kicked out, so…I took over for him as hockey captain. As for the tryouts, it was a tough decision. We had some really talented people try out. But we managed to make our decision. For center…we have James Diamond! For left defenseman…we have Shane Diamond!"

I let out a breath of relief, and beside me, Shane beamed.

"We did it," I said to him, feeling slightly breathless. I could barely believe it, even though I had hoped fervently that we would make it onto the team. This meant that we would not only be able to keep our friends, but we would also have the kind of support that you can only get by being on a team.

He nodded, grinning widely. However, his eyes widened as he looked past my shoulder. "Incoming ice skaters at six-o-clock."

I did a three step turnaround in my skates, and saw Katie, Camille, and Kyle coming towards us. I wondered vaguely what the chances were that they were coming over to make peace with us. Judging by the haughty glower on Katie's face, it was slim pickings.

Camille gave Shane and me a quick smile. "Nice job out there. I have no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, it looked brutal, and I was kind of scared for both of you, so I guess you two were doing something right."

I chuckled a little. It was the first words she had said to me, but unlike Jo and Katie's so-called welcomings, she sounded friendly and nice and I felt a rush of warmth and fondness for her.

"Thanks," I said. "We were trying."

She laughed, and then nodded over to where Logan was, talking to Carlos. "I'm gonna go see if Logan lets me near his crotch." She winked at us, and headed off, also balancing on ice skates.

Kyle roared with laughter. "She's so…She's…There just isn't words to describe her. Anyway, nice job out there," he said to us. "You guys looked amazing out there." He smiled slightly at me, and then turned to look at Shane.

Shane smiled back at him, and I wasn't sure, but in the florescent lighting, it looked like heat might be rising in his cheeks.

"Thanks," he said. "Um…thanks for saying that. It's nice to have support."

I nodded in agreement, and then looked at Katie.

"Congratulations," she said frostily. "You guys are officially hockey players. That means that you make my life harder. And that means that you guys are going to want to stay the hell out of my way."

And with those words, she shoved past us, heading for the door. She knew how to make a dramatic exit, I'll give her that.

Kyle laughed, sounding a little awkward. "Uh…yeah…sorry about her…She's Katie…Um…I should go. Oh, I'm Kyle, by the way," he added to us.

"Shane."

"James."

"Nice to meet you," he said with a quick nod as he hurried after Katie. "See you guys around!"

Shane looked at me. "Think Katie's going to make trouble for us?"

I nodded. "Oh yeah. You can count on it."

So, what'd you think? I know, I know, it was pretty obvious that James and Shane would make it onto the team, you guys could see that one coming from a mile away. But how was the rest of it? Did you like it? Was it okay? The review button and I want to hear what you guys think! :)