Valerie

16 - Val

"I'm sure he is, but I just don't want you to get your hopes up." I said, giving up and taking my coat from her hand. She beamed at the gesture.

"He isn't Lucas." She said confidently.

"Yeah, because Marcus doesn't claim to be the captain when he's actually a fucking sub." I laughed and then laughed even harder when Mable let out a giggle of her own.

---

When we arrived, I immediately noticed that everyone was in blue.

"Team colour?" Mable guessed.

"Must be." I stared at our clothing of choice. Neither of us was wearing blue.

We wove our way through and then showed our tickets that Marcus had paid for.

We were about to go through to the rink to find our seats when a familiar face made his way towards us.

Simon.

"Hey guys!" He said, far too excited to see us. He didn't look like he was properly dressed yet to go onto the rink.

"Oh, hi Simon." I said with a polite smile. "This is Mable." I add.

"Oh cool. I'm Simon. Soon to be captain of the ice hockey team." He said confidently.

"Congratulations?" Mable offered, giving me a subtle but confused look.

"Yeah, this game's gonna be the decider for Coach. I'll get it."

His cockiness was sickening but Mable and I just stayed there, smiling politely. "Good luck." I said, crossing my fingers behind my back. I was secretly wishing Thomas good luck and knew that he would get it. He's pretty much good at everything so it would make sense.

"Anyways, Marcus told me to give you guys these." He handed over two blue jerseys with the number '11' on them. "For support." He tacked on.

I glanced at Mable before taking the jerseys.

"What does this number mean?" Mable asked.

"It's Marcus' number." Simon said innocently.

This convinced Mable and she was soon slipping it over her head. When she saw that I had made no move to wear it, she said, "Go on. We need to get our seats."

I looked at Simon and he gave me an encouraging nod so I put it over my head.

"Thanks, Simon." I said, smiling.

"It's no problem. I have to get ready now but I'll see you out there."

"Sure." And then he was gone.

Mable and I then made our way into the rink, trying to get the best seats possible. To our dismay, all seats even remotely close to the rink were taken up so we made our way to a pair of seats a bit further back.

However, before we could sit down, a large man dressed in a black suit came to stand right before where we were sitting, looming over us.

He turned to Mable, "Are you Ms Fernbrier?" He asked in a deep voice.

"I am." Mable squeaked.

"This way please."

Mable turned to me in slight confusion and panic  then the man said, "You too." To me.

I pointed to myself in a silent question riddled with disbelief when he sighed, "Yes, you."

Without further encouragement, we promptly followed after him as he made his way to the front row. A pair of seats, smack bang in the middle with a perfect view of the rink was waiting for us.