[719 words, ready for grading]

note: Another addition to the series following someone that I've pretty much spoiled as being my eventual recreate by covering them a lot. I like storylines okay? For what it's worth, I don't want to introduce too too many characters since characterization isn't my best strength, so if they're named they probably matter to the storyline.


Sophie Bordeleau's thoughts were only on the ice as she walked out of the dressing room in preparation for the first after-school practice of the new season. She'd only been on the team for a year and was expecting to have bigger responsibilities as she blossomed into one of their best forwards, but was excited to have great chemistry with her returning teammates. Only a couple of girls had graduated from the team after the previous season, and they were looking pretty solid this time around. All she noticed as she stepped onto the ice was the sound of freshly sharpened blades hitting the rink and the spray of snow as she went through her first turn, the skates feeling like an extension of her feet. Getting back to hockey felt natural and right, as Sophie took a puck on her stick and started handling it. The reverie was broken by the sharp blast of a whistle, the sign of Coach Philips calling everyone to centre ice. Practice was how Sophie remembered it from the previous year. The drills were intense, but she'd been training hard over the summer and while her lungs were burning for air by the end of it, she'd been able to keep up. In between sets, she watched her teammates, particularly the first-year players. They were tired from the drills, but Sophie knew the position that they had been in from her own experience the previous year, wanting to play hard and impress the coach and her teammates. As she stepped off the ice, she was nevertheless looking forward to going home and getting some rest. She would have never noticed the girl in the stands, pretending to read a book and hiding her face.

The next day started with a bit of an unexpected turn. Getting to school early as she always did, Sophie's coach caught up to her. "Could I see you in my office, please?" Stepping inside and closing the door, the coach went on. "You've probably noticed that we have several younger players on the team, and they could use someone to learn from. You've been with us before, and I've seen how hard you train. We could use some of that hustle to help lead us, so I wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to be one of our alternate captains this season. I'll announce it to the team at our next practice, so don't be too loud about it, but I wanted to check with you first." Sophie maintained her usual poker face, but secretly she was screaming with excitement. Her coach trusted her enough to lead the team. She'd be one step closer to being noticed and making it to the SHL! "Thank you Coach! I'd be happy to accept your offer." The two shook hands, and Sophie left the office to go back to her locker. Lost in thought, she didn't notice the girl coming from another hallway, and she was jolted out of her daydream as the pair went down. As she got her bearings, the other girl looked at her, got up, and quickly stammered out an apology before disappearing into another hallway. Neither of them seemed to be hurt, so it just seemed to be an awkward accident. Sophie had seen the girl before as they had both been at the high school the previous year, but they didn't have any friends in common and had never talked. Still, the encounter had seemed very awkward, almost like she'd been embarrassed at the incident. Sophie shrugged and went off to class.

~~~

Jamie rounded the corner with her thoughts in overdrive. Stupid! she thought. First she'd watched her crush's practice from afar, and now she'd accidentally bowled her over in the hallways. Though the two had never actually spoken, Jamie had been instantly attracted when she was talked into going to a school hockey game in her first year and had noticed the skilled hockey player. Once she was confident she was safely out of sight, she pulled out her phone and texted her best friend, Ari:

J: I just messed all this up.
A: what did you do this time Jamie
J: I accidentally knocked her over, this is so embarrassing
A: that would definitely do it, did you at least get to talk to her?
J: Only to apologize and then run away! This will be super awkward
A: that is a very Jamie move. i still believe in you though!
J: I'm going to go crawl into a hole now

~~~

Sophie sat in her room that evening, thinking about what had happened outside the office. A Patriotes game was on, but she wasn't paying much attention. She was still confused about the actions of the mysterious girl. While Sophie was out as gay, she didn't consider herself to be particularly scary or attractive. Did this girl have a crush on her or something? Wanting to know more, she opened up her phone to her social media app to find a friend request from someone named Jamie, whose profile mentioned that she was at the same school. Sophie's finger hovered over the screen before finally pressing the button. A few minutes later, a single text message came through the app's DMs.

"Hello?"