Valerie

2 - Thomas

"Do you want to get lunch before practice?" He asked me and I nodded in agreement, falling into step with my best friend.

---

"Coach says that you have a really good chance at becoming captain, you know." Marcus said, in between mouthfuls.

"Hm?" I mumbled, looking up from my phone that currently had google open with pictures of Camden Town on the screen.

"I said, Coach wants to make you captain." He repeated.

I stopped, mid-eat, "But I'm only a Freshman."

Marcus nodded at me.

"He knows, but you were so good in high school that he's already considering you. How great is that?"

"Great." I mumbled. Just another responsibility lugged onto me.

I loved ice hockey, I really did, but with me trying to earn my degree, English Lit, the situation with my brother and now being captain of the ice hockey's team, I was unsure of how I was going to manage. More and more responsibilities seemed to find their way to me and I wasn't sure that I liked it all that much.

"Also, before I forget..." Marcus trailed off.

"What did you do?" I sighed.

"Well, technically it's not not allowed so it isn't even that bad."

I gave him a look. "Just tell me what you did, Marcus."

"Okay, so she was like really pretty so I couldn't say no and she wants to do this for her friend so I said sure, they could use the rink for a bit while we're practicing." He finished.

"You loaned out the ice rink?!"

"...yeah." He sighed defeatedly.

"You know that the ice rink is for ice hockey players only."

"You don't understand how pretty she was, man. I couldn't say no. She had these cute little freckles and she had glossy brown hair!"

I sighed, defeatedly. My best friend was an idiot.

"Look, okay, it's only for half an hour, towards the end of practice. She said that they just wanted to have a little fun, that's all." He said, shrugging.

"Did it ever occur to you that they could be some crazy fangirls coming to watch us?!" I pointed out, frustrated.

"I wouldn't mind her watching me." He grumbled, taking a bit out of his sandwich. "And considering it's just going to be us two practicing with Simon, I didn't think that it was that big of a deal."

Marcus, Simon and I had booked the rink to get some extra practice in before we officially started on the team. We were the only Freshman on the team so we needed the head start. The only problem was, I did not like Simon. Honestly, the only person I somewhat liked and was friends with, was Marcus. That was it.

Marcus and I have known each other for about 10 years. His family moved into the house next door to mine and after I kicked a ball over to his fence and he kicked it back, we became friends.

Marcus is the only guy I know that understands that I don't really like people. Maybe that's why we get along so well.

"Do you at least know their names?" I asked.

"I know hers, not her friend's."

"And?"

"Mable. Mable Fernbrier."

---

"Come on, Verner!" Jesus Christ, I hate people.

Currently, Simon, Marcus and I were on the rink, doing a couple of drills, trying to get some good practice in.

Simon was at this moment, yelling at me to... I don't even know, the guy is a douche.

Marcus gave me a look, clearly finding him annoying too and that was rare for him. I made a mental note to make sure that next time we practice, it would just be me and Marcus.

I was about to throw my hockey stick straight at Simon's blonde hair when I heard a knock on the glass of the rink.

I looked over to see two brunettes. One had freckles and glossy hair. Mable. My eyes slid over to the other, her eyes were already locked onto mine, her usual dislike alight in them. Valerie.

Maybe she was like me and hated people too.

Marcus skated over, "Mable. This must be your friend." They had now moved over to the door to the rink where they could properly talk and I found myself following.

"Thanks so much for this, Marcus, we won't be long, promise."

"Maybe we shouldn't do this. We don't want to interrupt your practice." Valerie said, giving me a wary glance.

"It's no trouble." Marcus said. I shot him a look that meant It kind of was. He pointedly ignored me but I know Valerie noticed.

"No, it's fine. I can see that Thomas doesn't want the intrusion." Valerie said with a smile. I could see Mable let out a small sigh.

"You know Thomas?" Marcus asked, looking at Valerie.

"Valerie and I sit next to each other in English Literature." I replied coolly.

"Valerie." Mable said, brows shooting up. "No one calls her Valerie, her name is Val." She said simply.

"Yeah, well it's Valerie to him." Valerie mumbled, barely audible.

Marcus gave me a look that said We'll talk about this later. I had no intentions of doing that.

While we were having our mini stand-off I could hear Valerie say, "Mable, I know what you're doing and it won't work."

"What?" She replied innocently, "It's not ballet, Val."

"No, it's not ballet. But it is quite similar and you know it." What? Ballet?

"I'm not doing anything, Val." Valerie looked sceptical. "And besides, you could use a little fun after the bad morning you've had."

What bad morning? At this comment, Valerie's eyes moved to me. I suddenly got a crazy burst of confidence and was about to ask her what her bad morning was when Simon skated over.

Great.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" He asked, looking the girls up and down. Slimeball.

"Mable and Valerie are going to use the rink for a bit." Marcus replied.

"Oh cool. If you need help, I can always teach you to skate." Simon said, winking at Valerie.

I decided then that I really hated Simon. Valerie seemed to agree because she looked repulsed.

"Does that usually work?" She deadpanned, following Mable onto the rink. "I think I'll manage." I found myself smiling at this but when she caught me, I quickly wiped the grin off of my face.

"Oh, come on, it will be fun." He said, unfazed.

"Simon, we're practicing, remember." I pointed out, grumpily.

"Thomas is right." She said. I liked the way she said my name. "And my type is brunettes." I looked at her. I didn't really have a type but I decided that I like brown hair too.

Mable laughed at this and Marcus' eyes drifted over to her. Jesus. They skated off. It took a while for Valerie to get the hang of it, but once she did, she moved with such grace that it left me a bit dumbstruck.

They both moved with such natural ease and when Mable stuck one leg in the air, laughing with Valerie, I remembered. Ballet. They were ballet dancers. Get a hold of yourself. I silently reprimanded.

"You're staring." I heard Marcus say from behind me.

"I'm not." I lied.

"I am." He said, looking at Mable.

---

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you liked Thomas' pov!

Word count: 1811