Sunny slowly got out of bed because his aching body wouldn't allow him to move faster than a snail. His legs hurt the most after all the skating he did yesterday. Even though Coach B said they were going to take it easy on the first day he had them skating until their legs fell off. He kept on telling them to never give up and give 110% whenever they touched the ice.

Sunny tried to do what he told him and he hated every second of it. He was exhausted after the first minute of the skating drill. It almost felt like his recital practices with Mari, but barely bearable because no one blasted him for any little mistakes he might've made. It was the one bright spot from the whole practice.

Coach B was tough, but he also cared about his players. He made sure no one was over-exerting themselves and they were all hydrated. His teammates were nice too, especially the little friend group he was brought into. They either encouraged him to keep going or reminded him to take care of himself and not go overboard.

They were all supportive, especially Alec. There was one time during practice when Mikhael slipped on the ice and Alec was the first one to help him up. He even gave Mikhael some advice on how to maintain his balance. With each passing day, Sunny could see why Alec was last year's team captain.

Sunny slowly brought his arms to his eyes to clean out the gunk that formed during the night. As he did he could feel his arms fighting him to keep them down. It was only by sheer will he was able to put them up. It was the passing portion of practice that caused his arms to fight every movement.

Coach Ivanov led that part. Even though he didn't talk much he was the more intimidating coach. He hammered home how important it was to put enough power behind each pass so an opposing player couldn't steal the puck but not too much so your teammate could easily handle it while moving. That was the most difficult part of the whole drill.

They alternated between passer, receiver, and defender. Sunny wasn't too good at any of those roles. He couldn't intercept passes like Rudy, he couldn't pass like Alec, and he couldn't receive passes like Victor. The only one he was adequate at was receiving and that's being generous.

When he received a pass he was either too far ahead of it or behind it. When he was in the right spot the puck would bounce off of his stick and he had to chase after it before the defender could steal it. The only time he could ever receive a pass cleanly was when it came from Alec. Sunny didn't know why but Alec always put the right amount of touch on his passes that it was impossible for him to not receive it cleanly.

This made Sunny realize Alec was the best player on the team. He was talented and considerate to all of his teammates. He made Sunny want to be a better player.

"SUNNY, LET'S GO!"

Sunny jumped a little, startled by his father's booming voice. Most days, his mom leaves for work while he's asleep, and Mari would already be in high school when their mom leaves early for work, leaving his father to wake him up and get him ready for school. He must have been taking a while because his dad sounded angry. Sunny got out of bed and got ready for school with no reason to stall.

He then walked to the kitchen to find his father who had his arms crossed and an impatient look on his face.

"It took you long enough. You better not have stayed up late last night because if you overslept and missed the bus this morning I wasn't going to drive you to school," his dad told him. He adjusted the tie around his neck and grabbed his car keys off the kitchen counter. "Your mom put your lunch in the fridge. I'm going to work and when I get back later I better hear you playing your violin. Mari has been complaining about your playing and I won't let you ruin the recital for her."

Before Sunny could respond his dad was out the door. He sighed as he watched his dad pull out of the driveway through the window. He didn't know why his dad disliked him so much whenever a big event that involved Mari was happening. In fact, it's always been like this since he could remember.

When it's Mari's birthday his dad thinks he'll find a way to ruin it or when she used to play softball he thought he would mess her up in some way. Mari is his perfect child and anything bad that happens to her must be his fault. He remembers when Mari injured her knee and his dad blamed him, even though he was helping Basil with his plants when it happened. He said she was so concerned about where he was that she couldn't dodge the pitch that ended her softball career.

The worst part about it was he believed it.

He was too ashamed of himself to visit her when she was in the hospital. His mom and friends tried to get him to go, but he couldn't no matter what they said. When she returned home he was basically her servant, waiting on her hand and foot. He did that not because he wanted to, he would've done it anyway because he loved his sister, but because he felt he owed it to her after ruining her sports career.

He only stopped after Mari begged him to. She was grateful for his help, but she was concerned about him. She asked why he was doing so much to help her, but he never told her why. He thought it would be best not to remind her of what he caused.

Sunny shook his head. He didn't want to think about his bad memories so early in the morning. He had stuff to do and so little time to do it.

Sunny poured some cereal into a sandwich bag and grabbed his lunch from the fridge. He then picked up his bookbag before racing out the door. There was someplace he needed to be before the bus arrived.

It didn't take long to get to where he needed to go and wasn't hard to find. The peeling paint and holes in the roof were easy signs for him to look out for. It also helped that his girlfriend was walking out the front door of her house.

Aubrey smiled brightly and raced to hug him when she saw him.

"Hey, Sunny! What are you doing here so early?" She asked after she broke off from the hug. Sunny softly smiled and handed her the bag of cereal, which she graciously took.

"I-I j-just wanted to g-give you some b-breakfast and t-to ask if y-you could bring m-my h-hockey gear t-t-to school. I-I wanted to w-work on some things f-from y-yesterday."

Aubrey finished her breakfast and nodded.

"Sure. My mom is asleep on the couch and my dad already left for work so they won't notice a thing. Just give me a minute," Aubrey told him before walking into her home. True to her word, it only took her a minute before she was back outside with his gear. Her beaming smile faltered when she saw him frowning. "What's wrong?"

"I-I wish I could d-do more t-to h-help you. Y-You d-don't deserve to l-live like this," Sunny said. Aubrey sighed softly before grabbing his hand.

"You do enough as is, and my day is starting off great since you came to see me," she said as she kissed his cheek. "And it'll be even better if we walked to the bus stop together."

"I-I can d-do th-that," Sunny said.

The young couple kept their hands interlocked as they walked to the bus stop. It didn't matter what problems they had at home because as long as they had each other they knew everything would be fine.

Study hall, the best period of the day besides lunch. The time of day when you can do your homework or nap at school and not get in trouble. Some might say the best time to have study hall is the last period of the day, but Sunny believes that the best time to have it is after lunch. It allowed you to digest your food and extra time to finish your work if you chose to do it during lunch.

But the main reason Sunny loved having study hall after lunch was because the library was open. It's the perfect place for him to decompress in a quiet atmosphere and prepare for the rest of the day. There were also a lot of books for him to read to pass the time. His favorite genre is science fiction.

There was a series he was interested in but someone checked out the book he was currently reading so he had to scope out another book to keep him occupied until it was returned. Browsing through the aisles, Sunny almost bumped into someone. He was about to apologize but was met with a friendly pat on the back. He looked up and saw it was Alec in front of him.

"Hey, Sunny, it's a good thing I ran into you because I need some help. Do you know this library well?" Alec asked, and Sunny slowly nodded as he was unable to keep up with Alec's enthusiasm. "That's good because I'm looking for a certain type of book or books."

This caused Sunny to raise an eyebrow. He wondered what Alec was looking for if he asked him for help.

"Do you know if there are any books on sign language here? I want to learn a few words to make Wyatt feel more welcome," Alec said, leaving Sunny more speechless than he actually was.

He knew Alec was a good teammate, but to go out and try to learn a new way of communication just to make someone else feel comfortable was surprising to him. Sunny didn't think anyone on the team would actually try to learn and would just rely on writing something down or having Wyatt's sister translate for them. Sunny was going to do that because he didn't have the time to learn sign language with having to balance school, hockey, and recital practice.

Snapping back to reality, Sunny nodded and led Alec to an aisle in the library where he knew had some books that mentioned sign language. There weren't many but Alec did find one that taught you some basic words. Alec smiled and waved the book a little to show Sunny he found what he was looking for.

"Thanks, Sunny, now come on, let's read this together. It'll do us both some good," Alec said and Sunny paused.

"R-Really?" Sunny said softly and Alec nodded.

"You heard what Coach B said yesterday, we're a family now and this family supports each other," Alec told him. "I want Wyatt to feel part of the team and the more of us that know sign language the better. I'll get JJ and the others to join in and we can ask Wyatt's sister to help us with stuff that this book doesn't have."

"O-Ok," Sunny answered without thinking.

Alec smiled and led him to one of the empty tables to study. Sunny didn't know why he agreed to do this, but it might've had something to do with what Alec said about them being a family. He knows that a family is supposed to support each other no matter what. If he couldn't find the time to learn something that would help his family then he wouldn't be a good brother.

So for the rest of the period, Sunny and Alec read through as many pages as possible. They practiced as they read, not caring if the words they were practicing would make sense later. Sunny kept his hands under the table while Alec had his on full display for anyone to watch. They would've kept going but the bell stopped them from getting any further in the book.

Sunny got his stuff ready while Alec checked out the book. When he got back he gave Sunny a playful punch to the shoulder.

"Thanks for reading with me," he said and Sunny nodded.

As Alec was packing, Sunny was having a battle with the thoughts in his head. He wanted to ask Alec for help but he also didn't want to waste his time. He started to panic when Alec finished packing and began heading for the door. Without thinking Sunny blurted out what was in his head.

"Could you help me with my receiving?" Alec stopped in his tracks and Sunny panicked. His face turned beet red and began to hyperventilate when Alec turned to look at him.

"Sure, I can help you, and I know what your problem is," Alec said as he began to mimic holding a hockey stick. "You know how in baseball the fielders hold their gloves in front of them when they're fielding a pop fly? Well, in hockey, when you're receiving a pass you need to be able to see your stick in the corner of your eye and then bring it back to suppress the puck's momentum. I'll show you after school but I'll need to get my gear from home."

"Th-Thank you."

"Don't mention it, and thanks again for helping me find this book," Alec said before leaving.

Sunny was going to leave but quickly went to check out another book about sign language. If he was going to be a good teammate then he should follow Alec's example, even if he was busy with other stuff.

"So Alec is gonna meet us here?" Aubrey asked. She and Sunny were already at the practice rink waiting for Alec to arrive. Sunny was skating in his gear playing with a puck he found by one of the benches. Aubrey was also skating and she had gotten better since the last time.

"Th-That's what h-he said,'' Sunny answered. He practiced his stick handling as he skated over to the net. He shot it into the net and he heard Aubrey applauding behind him.

"You've gotten really good at that, Sunny."

"Th-Thanks," Sunny said as he scooped the puck out of the net. If he was being honest, he didn't think he'd gotten any better than he did when he started. The only reason why he looked so good was because there were no defenders or goalies to stop him.

Aubrey skated over to the bench and grabbed one of the sticks before waving at Sunny.

"Since he might not show up for a while, why don't I help you practice?" Aubrey suggested.

"S-Sure, but w-wait a s-second," Sunny took off his helmet and handed it to Aubrey who looked at him weirdly. "I-I don't want y-you t-to get h-hurt."

"But what about you?"

"I-I'll b-be fine," Sunny said before skating into position. He then played with the puck until Aubrey put on the helmet and got ready. He slowly passed her the puck and she handled it with ease.

"If you say so," Aubrey said before passing the puck back to him. She didn't put too much strength into it, allowing Sunny to receive it with no issue.

They continued passing the puck back and forth for the next couple of minutes with Aubrey putting more strength into her passes each time she got the puck. Sunny took the opportunity to practice what Alec had shown him earlier. He hadn't lost a puck yet, but he would feel a lot better about his ability if he was practicing with someone on his team. He then had an idea when he got the puck back.

"A-Aubrey, c-could you pass the p-puck w-with a-all your strength?" He asked and she gave him a puzzled look.

"Are you sure?" Aubrey asked and he nodded.

Sunny passed her the puck and she gave him one last look that asked if he wanted her to do it. Sunny didn't waver and she shrugged. She whined back her stick and blasted the puck. It rocketed at Sunny and his eyes bulged out of his head when he saw the puck leave the ice.

He saw the puck flying toward his face at high speed. He couldn't move because he was frozen in place by fear. The puck smacked into his mouth and he fell like a pile of bricks onto the ice.

"SUNNY!" Aubrey screamed and raced over to him

His mouth hurt like hell as the copper taste of blood filled his mouth. He also felt something rattle around as the taste of blood became unbearable. He spat out the blood and whatever was moving in his mouth.

"Sunny, I'm so sorry! Are you feeling ok? Of course you aren't, I hit you in the face!" Aubrey was panicking as Sunny continued to spit out more blood. He heard Aubrey hyperventilating and he stuck up a hand to calm her down.

"I-I'm f-fine," he said weirdly and she gasped. Sunny also paused and moved his tongue over his teeth and his eyes bulged out of his head when he felt four of his upper front teeth missing. He covered his mouth as Aubrey began to tear up.

"I-I'm sorry, Sunny," Aubrey said and Sunny hunched over on his knees and threw up.

They then heard someone coming over to the rink.

"Sorry, I'm late. It took a while to find—Oh my gosh, what happened!?"

Aubrey looked up and saw Alec racing onto the ice.

"He got hit in the mouth by a puck," Aubrey answered. Alec put a hand on Sunny's back and Sunny continued to spit out more blood.

"Hey, buddy, can you look at me for a second?" Alec asked and Sunny looked at him with tears in his eyes and blood and a small bit of vomit on his chin. Sunny then opened his mouth a little to show Alec his missing teeth. He seethed at the sight before standing up.

"Where are you going?" Aubrey asked.

"I'm gonna get my dad. We need to get him to the hospital or a dentist."

Alec raced off the ice as Aubrey continued to comfort Sunny. All he could do was spit up blood and wonder how his mother or Mari would react.

Izzy walked around the kitchen getting dinner ready. Her daughter, Mari, was sitting impatiently on the couch for Sunny to get home. Mari complained about how he was wasting time and Izzy told her to be patient. She suggested practicing on her own, but Mari said she already perfected her part and wanted to work on Sunny's.

Izzy didn't know when her daughter became a perfectionist, but she knew it wasn't healthy.

Speaking of her son, Sunny hadn't come home yet. She wasn't worried because she knew that if he didn't come home right away then he was with one of his friends. However, it was getting dark out and she hadn't gotten any calls from any of his friends' parents or guardians.

Luckily, the house phone rang and she picked it up.

"Hello, Suzuki residence," she opened with.

"Um, Mrs. Suzuki, something happened," she heard her son's friend, Aubrey, say.

"What happened?" Izzy said worriedly.

"I knocked out four of Sunny's upper teeth," Aubrey cried and Izzy gasped. "We're at the dentist and they're trying to fix it, but we couldn't find his teeth."

"Ok, ok, I'm on my way. I'll see how bad it is," Izzy said before hanging up.

Izzy rushed out of the kitchen and grabbed her coat. Mari gave her a puzzled look as she put on her shoes.

"Where are you going? Was that Sunny on the phone?" Mari asked and Izzy shook her head.

"No, but something happened at the church," she lied. She knew Sunny's injury had something to do with hockey and Sunny didn't want Mari to know about it. She also didn't want to worry her daughter.

She raced out the door and got into her car. She drove as fast as she legally could with the only thought of her son clouding her mind. She knew her son was going to get hurt in hockey, but she didn't think he would lose his teeth.

She made it to the dentist's office in record time and raced into the building. She saw Aubrey sitting on one of the chairs with her head down. She also saw a chubby bald man talking to the receptionist and one of the boys from the tryouts standing next to him.

"Hello, I was told my son was here," Izzy said, making her presence known. Aubrey kept her head down while the two at the desk looked at her.

"He's in the back getting checked out," the balding said.

"What happened?" Izzy asked.

"From what Aubrey told me, they were practicing and she accidentally launched a puck into his mouth. He wasn't wearing his helmet," the boy said.

Izzy sighed and walked over to Aubrey. She saw the young girl flinch when she got close. She didn't say anything but she did rub her back softly. Aubrey eased into her touch and cried.

Izzy allowed her to cry. She wasn't upset with her because she knew it was an accident. She just hoped Aubrey would believe it was too.

The dentist then walked in and Izzy was in his face instantly.

"Is my boy all right?!"

"I assume you're his mother," he said after backing up. Izzy calmed down and allowed him to read over his notes. "The good news is nothing's broken, so you don't have to worry about getting him surgery. But he is missing his two top Central Incisors and his two top Lateral Incisors. Since we don't have the knocked out teeth he's going to need a denture."

"Can I see him?" Izzy asked and the dentist nodded.

"You can, but he is a bit loopy from the gas we gave him."

Izzy was about to walk back but she tapped Aubrey on the back. The young girl looked at her with her red eyes and she stuck out her hand. Aubrey took it and the two followed the dentist.

They entered one of the many rooms to find Sunny sitting on the dentist's chair struggling to keep his head up. His eyes lit up and he smiled when he saw them, allowing Izzy to see the big gap where his teeth used to be.

"Heyy, how's it goooing?" Sunny said slowly. Izzy smiled and playfully rolled her eyes at his loopiness. She kneeled down to be at his eye level and comfortably rubbed his back.

"Hey, sweety, how are you feeling?" She asked and Sunny appeared as if he was thinking. He then stuck his tongue through the hole where his teeth used to be as if he was reminding himself that they were missing.

"I feeel fine, but I don't think I can eeat apples anymore. I won't bee able to bite intoo them," he said sadly and Izzy snickered. He was going to be fine, but she wondered if he still wanted to play hockey. She'll make sure to ask him when he's sober.

Izzy looked at Aubrey to see she was standing in the corner. She thought the young girl would be all over her boy the second she saw him. Sunny also looked over at her and quickly tugged on Izzy's sleeve.

"What is it, dear?" Izzy asked in a concerned voice. She was worried he wanted Aubrey to leave but the obvious blush on his face told another story.

"Don't telll herrr I said this, but she's verry pretty," Sunny said in a whispery voice, but everyone in the room heard him.

Aubrey brushed right past her and swallowed her son into a hug. She heard the young girl tearfully apologizing and Sunny confusedly patted her back. Izzy smiled and walked out of the room to let them have their alone time. She'll get everything sorted out and she'll let her son enjoy the moment.