Author's Note: Thanks for all the support in the reviews and keep them coming because I like reading them.


Sunny finished lacing his skates before grabbing his stick. After a slightly stressful day of playing catch-up in school, he was happy to have a little reprieve before doing another round of catch-up with his hockey lessons. The others were already out on the ice but allowed him to relax after Aubrey told them about his stressful day. After taking a few more deep breaths, Sunny headed for the ice.

He saw Alec and Rudy taking a few practice shots against JJ, but he didn't join them. He first skated over to Aubrey for their pre-training talk.

"Are you feeling ok? I'm sure they'll understand if you're still sick," Aubrey said, and Sunny nodded. She and his mom were worried about him exerting himself after getting sick two days ago, but he convinced them he was fine. He also promised to stop for the day if he started feeling unwell.

"If you're sure, join the others and do some practice shots before Mr. Blanchet shows up."

Sunny nodded again and skated over to the pile of pucks. He took some and readied himself, but he watched JJ work before he took one shot. He was buzzing around the net and catching and blocking almost every shot from Rudy and Alec. It was impressive how engrossed he was in not allowing a puck past him.

Seeing JJ was focused on Rudy and Alec, Sunny quickly grabbed a puck and readied his shot. He blasted the puck, and it looked like it was going to fly in, but JJ caught it in his glove.

"You have to wake up pretty early if you're gonna try to sneak one past me," JJ said while raising his gloved hand. Alec skated over and patted Sunny on the shoulder.

"Good try, but JJ has a sixth sense for flying pucks."

"Yeah, and you aren't the first person to try and sneak one past him. I think everyone on the team tried it last year," Rudy added.

Alec then bumped Sunny's arm and jolted his head to the faceoff circle in the center of the rink.

"Let's get a head start on zone entries before Coach B shows up."

The two skated to the center of the rink with a couple of pucks. Sunny stopped at the face-off dot but Alec kept skating. Sunny was going to follow him but he stopped him.

"We're gonna practice some breakaways as we're doing your zone entry. I'm gonna pass you a puck from the goal line and you're gonna go try and score," Alec told him. He reached the goal line and dumped a pile of pucks onto the ice. "Rudy will try to stop you so enter the zone with speed. If he cuts you off then you need to do four dekes to make it past him. Also, make sure the puck crosses the blue line first or it's offsides."

Alec then instructed him to start at the blue line so he had momentum when entering the zone. Sunny looked ahead and saw Rudy skating around the faceoff dot to his left.

"Go when you're ready," he heard Alec yell behind him.

Sunny took a deep breath and started skating forward. He heard the puck skimming up behind him and it hit his stick. He almost lost possession of it but he quickly regained it. He dashed forward and managed to avoid Rudy and was able to take a shot that JJ easily stopped.

"Nice, Sunny! All you need to do is maintain puck possession when receiving a pass, but other than that you were great!" Alec praised him. He allowed the praise to fill him with joy as he got back into position.

He started skating and once again almost lost possession of the puck. He crossed the blue line when he had it under control but Rudy had a good jump and was on him in seconds. Sunny tried to deke past him but Rudy poked the puck away before he made his first move.

"Good try, but not good enough," Rudy told him as they both got ready.

Sunny skated and was able to receive Alec's pass cleanly. He crossed the blue line and saw Rudy was about to cut him off. Thinking quickly, Sunny stopped and pushed to his left, catching Rudy slightly off guard but he stayed on him. Sunny moved to his right and Rudy was there, to his left, Rudy was still there.

Sunny turned around to keep the puck out of Rudy's reach. He used his hands to keep the puck away from Rudy's stick. He looked up and saw Alec racing down the rink with a look in his eyes. Sunny read him perfectly because once Alec crossed the blue line he passed him the puck and he took it to the net and lifted it past JJ.

Alec celebrated by pumping his fist in the air before pointing at Sunny.

"Great vision! Great pass! You're the cause behind all of this!" Alec proclaimed as he playfully punched Sunny's arm before bumping his head against Sunny's. Sunny didn't know what he did, but he assumed it was good and he was going to relish in the praise he was receiving.

They all heard someone clapping and saw Omar skating onto the ice with a bright smile on his face.

"I saw what happened. Good pass, Sunny, and good finish, Alec. You did great too, Rudy."

"I wouldn't say that, coach. If I was great then that wouldn't have happened," Rudy said and Omar gave him a supportive pat on the back.

"You can't win them all. Don't beat yourself up over it," he told him and Rudy lightly nodded before skating away. Omar then took a spot at the center of the ice before quickly looking around the rink. "We were supposed to have someone join us today, but I guess they aren't here yet."

After Omar said that everyone heard a woman pleading with someone. Her voice was getting louder until they saw her dragging a big hockey bag and a reluctant boy to the rink. Sunny instantly recognized them as Mrs. Baker and Mikhael.

"Sorry we're late. Someone was being stubborn," Mrs. Baker apologized.

"Mom! I don't want to be here! I want to hang out with my friends!" Mikhael whined.

"Quiet, Mikhael. Just give this a chance."

"But Mom!"

"No buts!" Mrs. Baker reprimanded her son who pouted in response. Omar skated over to the two with the friendliest smile he can muster.

"Hello, Olivia, you're right on time," Omar then looked over to Mikhael and crouched down to his level. "You must be Mikhael. I'm so glad you decided to join us."

"I didn't want to do this. My mom forced me."

"Mikhael!" Mrs. Baker snapped and Omar quickly intervened.

"It's fine. Let's get him suited up and give him a few minutes on the ice and I'm sure he'll change his tune," Omar then pointed behind the benches. "Locker rooms are back there. I'll send one of the boys back there to help him."

"Thank you so much," Mrs. Baker thanked the hockey coach and handed her son the bag. "I'll be back in an hour. You do whatever Mr. Blanchet says and I better not hear you caused any problems."

Mikhael tried to complain again but Mrs. Baker left before he could get a word out. Mikhael pouted again before he jumped when he felt Omar's hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't you go and get ready. Rudy will help you with anything you need and I'll be out here if you have any questions."

Mikhael appeared as if he wanted to argue but he bit his tongue. He sighed and made his way to the locker room with Rudy in tow. Omar then instructed the remaining boys to continue what they were doing.

Minutes passed and Sunny finished his eighth attempt on the zone entry drill. He wasn't able to score on JJ yet, but both Omar and Alec were telling him he was doing a great job. They told him he was entering the offensive zone the right way by going in with a lot of speed which made him feel good.

Rudy returned to the ice and Mikhael was following behind him. When he took to the ice it was easy to tell he didn't know how to skate. He moved around the ice slowly while trying to maintain his balance. Omar saw this and skated over to Sunny and pulled him aside.

"It looks like I'm going to have to teach him a lot of the basics if he's going to be ready for the tryouts this Friday. It's going to take a lot of my attention so I won't have any time to teach you anything," Omar told him, and before Sunny could mope Omar placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you know everything you need to know for the tryouts. I still want you to show up here every day to keep practicing."

Sunny nodded and cracked a small smile. Omar patted his back and started to skate over to Mikhael.

"You don't have to stay for today's practice. I'm sure your mom would be happy to hear you had a day off," Omar called out to Sunny.

Sunny nodded again and thanked everyone for their help before skating off to get changed.


"It's great that Mr. Blanchet is letting you go early, but I am confused why Mrs. Baker wants Mikhael to try out for hockey when he doesn't know how to skate," Aubrey said after Sunny exited the locker room. Sunny shrugged as she took his bag.

"She j-just w-wants him to d-do something to s-s-stay out of trouble."

"Right, I've seen him hanging around that Kim girl and her brother. I remember hearing about them stealing candy," Aubrey cringed when she saw Mikhael crash into the ice before she and Sunny started to leave. "But I feel sorry for him having to learn how to skate before learning any of the techniques."

"H-He'll be f-fine. I-It's n-not that hard to learn h-how to s-s-skate," Sunny told her as they left the center. Aubrey hummed as she pondered what he told her.

"Is it? I never learned how to skate so I wouldn't know," Aubrey said before smirking which made Sunny's face turn red. She then put an arm around him and pulled him close. "Maybe you could teach me."

Sunny felt steam coming off his face as Aubrey laughed. She loved to tease him whenever the opportunity presented itself, which happened a lot. Sunny never hated when she teased him because he loved it when she was happy and he loved her laugh.

But he also loved to mess with her too.

Sunny stopped and walked back to the center. Aubrey called out to him and tried telling him she was joking, but Sunny kept going. He walked to the skate rental desk and paid for a pair of white skates. He then handed the skates to Aubrey after he got them.

"Y-You s-said you w-wanted me to t-t-teach y-you," Sunny stammered. Aubrey had a light blush forming on her face as she took the skates from him.

"I-I was joking! You don't have to do this."

"B-But I want t-to."

Sunny could tell that his face was beat red but he saw Aubrey's face turning into a darker shade of pink. He was regretting this whole thing after he handed her the skates, but he still wanted to go through with it. He hoped that Aubrey would allow him to.

Aubrey looked at the skates and slowly nodded as the two went to the lockers.

After putting their stuff away the two headed to the big rink everybody skated on. Sunny got on the ice first while Aubrey stood by the door. She placed one foot on the ice and felt it slip under her.

"This was a bad idea. I can wait on the bleachers and watch you skate like I do during your practices."

Sunny shook his head and extended a hand out to her.

"I-I p-promise I won't l-let y-you f-fall."

Aubrey slowly grasped Sunny's hand and he gently pulled her onto the ice. She instantly fell onto Sunny when her skates touched the ice. Sunny instantly turned red and Aubrey quickly got off of him.

"S-S-Sorry!"

Sunny didn't respond, he was speechless from embarrassment. He absent-mindedly started skating, dragging Aubrey behind him. Even though he couldn't see her he could tell she was having trouble keeping her balance. He slowed down, allowing Aubrey to slide next to him.

"Y-You need t-to use the i-inside of your b-blades."

Sunny showed her what he was talking about and she followed his example. He started skating again, still holding Aubrey's hand. She still moved slowly, but she was having a much better time keeping her balance.

They did a couple of laps around the rink and with each lap Aubrey got better. Her smile became brighter and her laugh got louder. They were coming up to a turn and Sunny let go of Aubrey's hand. He watched her make the turn and skate with no problem.

She turned and looked at Sunny with a bright smile.

"I did it!"

Sunny nodded and he skated to her and she met him halfway. The two hugged each other and when they pulled apart their faces met. Sunny's face was burning while Aubrey had a faint blush on her face. She closed her eyes and leaned her face forward and Sunny slowly did the same. Their lips were inches apart when Sunny heard his name being called out.

He opened his eyes and he saw his mom walking over to the rink. Sunny instantly broke away from Aubrey and met his mom by the rink's entrance.

"M-Mom what are y-you doing h-here?"

"I told you I was going to pick you up so we could go buy your equipment," she reminded her son. Aubrey skated next to Sunny and his mom noticed how red both of their faces were. "Did I interrupt something?"

"NO! Let's go now!" Sunny exclaimed, racing to the lockers with Aubrey in tow. His mom chuckled as she watched him race away from her.


Sunny entered the offensive zone and was immediately covered by Mikhael. He quickly stopped before turning his back on Mikhael. Mikhael tried to poke the puck away but Sunny quickly moved to his left then two his right. Right as Mikhael followed him, Sunny spun to his left and skated past Mikhael, and headed straight for the goal.

Rudy was quick to get on top of him before he got any closer to the net. Sunny tried to do to him what he did to Mikhael, but Rudy easily read him. Sunny scanned the rink and saw Alec open so he passed him the puck. Rudy backed off of him and went to cover Alec which allowed him to skate behind the net.

Sunny remained stationary behind the net and watched Alec work. He was able to fool Rudy but Mikhael got in front of him before he could skate to the net. Since he was slowed down, Rudy was able to recover and go behind Alec and tried to lift his stick, but Alec managed to keep his stick on the ice and possession of the puck. Seeing his teammate in trouble, Sunny skated open to the left of the net and waited.

Alec saw him open and he passed him the puck. Sunny raised his stick and blasted the puck when it reached him for a one-timer. Sunny watched the puck fly in the air and to its target. He thought it was going to go in but JJ managed to swat it out of the air with his glove.

Sunny was stunned, but Alec's voice quickly broke him out of his trance for him to see the puck was still in play. Sunny raced for it, but Rudy got to it first and shot it down the ice and into the other net. There was a loud whistle as Rudy skated over to celebrate with Mikhael as Alec skated to him to comfort him.

"It was a great shot. JJ is just too good."

Sunny nodded as the two skated over to Rudy, Mikhael, and JJ. Omar walked onto the ice, clapping with a huge smile on his face.

"That was a great sequence! Rudy, good job on suffocating your man, and Alec, nice job at finding the open man. JJ, great save!" Omar then turned to Mikhael and Sunny with an even brighter smile than before. "And you two, you've both come so far since you first began. I am so proud of you."

Sunny smiled softly while Mikhael accepted the compliment in stride. He wasn't as enthusiastic as the others when it came to the sport, but he wasn't going to quit. Mainly Omar and Rudy decided that he would be a defenceman to make up for the short time they had and to make up for his lack of skating talent. Mikhael didn't care about what position he played, but he did care about one thing.

"Yeah, whatever, but are you sure girls would be all over me if I make the team?" Mikhael asked. Omar was taken aback, unsure how to respond, but luckily Rudy stepped up.

"Yeah they will! You'll need the secret service to keep them away," Rudy answered in his best playboy impression. Everyone could tell he was joking except for Mikhael who believed every word he said.

"Well, anyway, tryouts are tomorrow so I want you all to have a good night's rest and a filling breakfast and lunch. I don't want to waste any more of your time so go and change and good luck tomorrow," Omar told them. They all then skated off the ice, but before Sunny could make his way to the locker room, Omar placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sunny, before you go I want to tell you something."

Omar then led Sunny back onto the ice and over to one of the goals. He then passed him a puck and took one for himself.

"When you first started, I told you there were four components to every shot. Do you remember?"

Sunny nodded and started listing them.

"T-Technique, p-power, a-accuracy, and a r-reason to sh-shoot."

"Good, but I never told you what that reason is. Whenever you shoot I want you to shoot to score," Omar then shot his puck and it was caught in the back of the net. "Let me see your shot."

Sunny took his puck, shot it, and watched it fly into the net. Omar then ruffled his hair and patted his back.

"You're ready."