Fast Break

twenty : rough practice

Practice again. They ran drills and control practice. Matthew wasn't having a good week nor was Christopher, both of their NHL teams weren't doing so good, neither was their team.

"Your team doing bad too?" Christopher skated up to him.
"Unfortunately." Matthew sighed.
"Come over to the Duck and Avalanche side." Christopher sang.
"Nah I'm gonna stick with the Devils and the Rangers my friend." Matthew laughed.
"We have Trevor Zegras and Cale Makar..." Christopher sang.
"We have Jack Huges." Matthew smiled.
"You got me there." Christopher laughed.

They kept chatting and practicing their moves together.

"Ready to take some hits Matt?" Elliot said.
"Fuck no, but I have a feeling you're gonna do it anyways." Matthew laughed.
"Damn right Grayson." Elliot laughed.
"As long as his strong ass doesn't hit me." Matthew gestured to Christopher. "You're like a wall." Matthew laughed.
"When have I ever hit you?" Christopher looked at him.
"You remember my first week here? You knocked me the fuck out, the ice numbed my pain." Matthew laughed.
"I do not remember that at all." Christopher laughed.
"Yeah right." Matthew scoffed.

They went to wasting time, taking turns hitting each other, goofing off. Elliot hit Matthew good, he laid him out on the ice. Matthew laid on the ice and let the cold soothe his now aching back. Christopher grabbed his skate and started dragging him around on the ice.

"Alright, bring it in!" Coach Briggs yelled.
"As you know we have a tough game coming up." Ms. Alastair said.
"We're going up against the undefeated Bucks." Ms. Penelope said.
"So we will be having practice tomorrow as well, everyone go home and rest up. Tomorrow we will work very hard so we can hopefully disrupt their winning streak." Coach Briggs said.
"See you tomorrow everyone!" Ms. Alastair closed.

The whole team rushed to the locker room to get changed and out of there as quick as possible. They knew tomorrow's practice was going to be rough. Matthew looked at them in confusion.

"Why is everyone in a hurry?" Matthew whispered to Elliot and Christopher.
"You have no clue how good the Bucks are, they're undefeated and we haven't played them yet this season." Elliot spilled.
"So?" Matthew asked.
"Trust us, if you wanna be well rested for tomorrow's practice you're going to wanna untie them skates faster." Christopher said breathlessly.
"It's that bad?" Matthew asked.
"Ms. Penelope is a beast when we're up to play undefeated teams." Elliot rushed.
"Grayson if you want to survive you'll get out of those pads right now." Christopher said quickly.
"Alright." Matthew hurried. "Is it really that bad?" He asked.
"It's like training for war." Elliot said.
"The last time we played an undefeated team we lost Adams." Christopher whispered.
"Adams?" Matthew questioned.
"He was our last goalie before Campbell. We honor Adams everyday." Elliot sighed.
"That's ridiculous." Matthew laughed.
"You'll see Matthew." Elliot said ominously.
"We warned you dude." Christopher scoffed.

The next day came faster than they'd hoped, their coaches ran them ragged. They were scrimmaging all day, working on their skating, and their goals. The whole team was practically falling out in the ice, even the goalies. Matthew was bent over with his hands on his knees, propping up his body. Elliot and Christopher were laying on the ice, smirking and laughing at Matthew's misery.

"I-fucking hate, you guys." Matthew said heavily breathing, yearning for some water.
"We warned you." Elliot breathed, practically becoming one with the ice.
"I'm so glad I don't have to drive home." Christopher was breathless.
"You guys just wanna come over and take a long nap?" Matthew asked, still panting.
"Yeah." Elliot sighed.
"That sounds lovely." Christopher managed to get out.

Matthew joined his friends and whole team in laying on the ice.

"Oh, this almost makes the pain better." Matthew breathed.
"Okay team. Good practice today." Coach Briggs yelled.
"You all look tired, go home and rest up. We have a game to win on Tuesday." Ms. Alastair said.

The boys groaned getting up, Elliot just stayed on the ice as Matthew and Christopher drug them to the locker room. The boys changed and Matthew called his mom letting her know that practice was over.

"Hey mom, you can come get us now." Matthew panted.
"Are you okay?" Krista asked.
"Yeah, just tough practice." Matthew sighed.
"Are Elliot and Christopher coming with us?" She asked.
"Yeah, we all need a lengthy nap." Matthew panted again.
"Alright. I'll be there soon." She laughed.
"Thank you." Matthew breathed.

The boys laid on the benches in the locker room until Matthew's mom arrived. They drug themselves and their bags to the car, all of them were half asleep the whole way home. They arrived at Matthew's home, practically falling out of the car they drug themselves in the house. They all collapsed on the couch and took the best nap of their lives, thankfully tomorrow was Sunday and they had no where to be. They woke up late that night, snuck out; they left Christopher's car there earlier. To get food together, they ate enough for an entire village. They returned, ate, and proceeded to fall back asleep. Today was going to be a core memory for them.

Matthew awoke to see Elliot passed out on the far side of the couch surrounded by blankets. Christopher was near him sound asleep, covered with blankets and hugging a pillow. Matthew smiled gazing at his friends, it didn't take him long to nuzzle back into his blanket and fall asleep.