Tyler walked through the shiny metal doors decorated with the Hollywood Arts logo and felt an insane rush of joy as he did so. He was mere minutes away from getting back on the ice, and he couldn't wait. He felt the purple rubber floor under his skate blades and smiled to himself.

He was in a state of the art building made specifically for the Hollywood Arts team. The Pear Ice Palace, as it was called, was the newest big arena in Los Angeles, built entirely for Hollywood Arts by the Pear Store. It was massive, with huge underground complexes stretching for what seemed like miles. The complexes were for the teams and people affiliated with them, and not only did they have dressing rooms, equipment rooms, meeting rooms, lounges, and everything else a team could need, they came fully equipped with machines to dispense coffee, energy drinks, or anything else deemed helpful to an athlete.

The bass pounded from the state of the art speakers in the dressing room, and Tyler sat and thought about what his first lap of the ice would be like. It was a massive building, with enough space for 15,000 seats. Needless to say, there wouldn't be that many used, at least for now, but it was impressive all the same. The building had merchandise shops and cafes, box seats, and different prices for different levels of seating. It was a dream come true.

But it balanced itself out when he thought about the team's dismal reputation. The Pear Store had sponsored the team only because they didn't want to see the school's reputation be ruined. They were now the richest team in the league by a long shot, but they were fully expected to represent well.

Tyler thought back to the day he got the message. The General Manager of the Hollywood Arts team had traded for him because of his great hands and ability to score. He'd assured him that he'd be able to fit in at their school, but now Tyler had to play well or it would all disappear. He was worried, because the previous season the team had been worst in the league, only compiling ten wins of their seventy regular season games.

The thing about the Hollywood Arts hockey team was that they weren't like any other sports team in the school. They were an actual organization playing for a lot of money and working with a lot of fans. They had paid staff whose goal was to help the team win in any and every way possible. Whoever said hockey wouldn't make it in California was sadly mistaken.

Tyler was shaken back to reality by a horn that signalled the start of practice. He walked down the hallway behind his teammates, who were slowly filing out of the room. After navigating the maze of tunnels, he ended up at the ice and took a step onto it. It was dry, which made it better to skate on. He focused on his strides for a few moments before looking up, curiosity and the desire to get a better look at the impressive design of the building guiding him. He was astounded. Bright lights shone from all over the building, and the roof was so high that he could barely see it. There was a massive box that hung right above center ice, with television screens on each side to display the action in real time. The scoreboard was also located on the massive piece of machinery, and he stared up in awe. A Jumbotron. He'd never played under one of them before. He couldn't wait to get the season started.

This place wasn't so bad, he decided. The organization was great, school was fine, and he'd met Cat. His face darkened. He'd forgotten about Cat. She had seemed so sweet, but he must have misread her. Or had he? His mind began racing as he thought of all the things he could have done wrong. Should he have gone for it earlier? Should he have waited to introduce himself?

"Tyler, you alright, buddy?" called his coach, Sean.

"Yeah, fine." Tyler lied.

He glanced down at his brand new equipment and felt another rush of gratitude. His team had supplied him with what seemed to be an infinite supply of equipment and anything else that could be useful to a player such as himself. His stick was silver and red, custom-made for him by Infinity Sports. They'd let him choose his curve, length, and colors before they'd made him a stick. His last name, Johanssen, was printed all in capitals on the side of the stick along with his number, 8. He was dressed in a purple practice uniform, which had also been custom ordered.

All of this, and he still wasn't happy. He fired a puck at the boards and watched it send a shiver down the plexiglass. He'd thought Cat had liked him. He'd thought that he had a chance.

**********

Tyler stumbled to his locker in a stupor, failing to open it three times before finally getting the right combination and opening it. He dropped his bags into it and closed it. He turned around and jumped. Behind him was a small, familiar redhead in all her splendor. She looked up at him through sad eyes, and he found it was hard to stay upset with her. Besides, he hadn't said anything about liking her, so how was she supposed to know?

"Hi," she said softly, staring down blankly at her navy blue flats.

"What's up? I saw you having fun yesterday." Tyler replied casually, trying to hide his bitterness.

"Tyler, I swear I didn't mean to, he just kind of went for it!" she frantically tried to explain.

Was she actually trying to tell him that it wasn't her intention? That she still had her eye on somebody else? Maybe it was nothing, but a small spark of hope formed in him, and he flashed his first smile that day.

"It's alright," he told her, trying not to look at her glistening eyes for too long. "I get it. Stuff happens. But anyway, you probably want those tickets."

"Oh, sure!" she said, returning to her normal, cheery self. "I haven't asked Tori yet, but I'll talk to her at lunch. Speaking of lunch, are you sitting with us?"

"I suppose..." Tyler said, pulling out the tickets he'd obtained and handing them over. "I don't see why not."

"Yay! Meet me at my normal table!" Cat replied, bouncing away.

Tyler shook his head. The way her mood changed in the blink of an eye never failed to astound him. But then again, there must have been something to those mood swings, because he kept going back. He kept waiting for the next one. Because he cared. Deep down inside, he knew he was already falling for Cat, but he couldn't tell just how much of a wild ride was in store...