╮welcome to the team╰
"i can't believe we have a sponsor!" sloane laughed softly as connie dragged her into hans's shop. she glanced around the shop as she followed the line of teammates and briefly smiled at hans when he caught her eye.
"me either! and from a fancy law firm too!" connie said, pulling her toward a small rack of jerseys as the team split off to look around the store.
"wonder what colors our jerseys we'll be," sloane mentioned as she pushed the jerseys back by color to see the next set.
"nothing ugly i hope," connie said, scrunching her nose as she examined a jersey before half hazardously shoving it back on the rack.
"careful! i'm the one that has to fix that!" sloane said and jokingly hit connie's arm. she grabbed the hanger to pull it from the rack, fixed the jersey, and carefully placed it in its spot.
✩
sloane watched goldberg struggle to pull a pair of goalie pads up his legs. she snickered loudly when he slipped and fell backward. she approached him and attempted to hide her laughter as he continued to struggle pulling up the leg pads. she bit at her bottom lip when he briefly glared at her and returned to his struggle.
"do you need help?" sloane asked him. she grabbed at the rack next to her as she doubled over in laughter after watching goldberg fall to his back.
"shut up, sloane. get away from me," he said, swatting at her with one hand as he used the other to push himself into a sitting position. she stumbled away, laughing loudly as she did so.
✩
sloane and charlie slowly looked at each stick on the rack as they moved down it. charlie stopped at the middle of the display and pulled out a stick with black tape wrapped around the handle. two more sticks fell out with it, causing the rest of the hockey sticks to fall to the ground. sloane jumped away from them, holding her hands out to salvage what she could of the display.
"sorry, sorry, sorry," charlie apologized as he lurched forward to catch what he could of the sticks and crouched until he'd hit the floor. he quickly stood up, crossed his arms, and glanced around the store.
"um," sloane hummed and turned in a small circle as she distractedly pulled at the ends of her denim jacket. she sighed through her nose, shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly, and squatted down to pick up the hockey sticks.
✩
sloane leaned her elbow against a tall rack and leaned her hip against it as two girls began to walk past her. she pressed her lips together to fight a smile as they jerked to a stop after jesse, terry, averman, and karp lunged at each other. she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and jutted her hip in the opposite direction of the display as the four boys fell straight down.
"these are the people i'm spending my most formative years with," sloane said and bit the inside of her lip as she stared at the four. "i wonder if hans has any water," she thought aloud, pushing herself off the display and shoving her hands in her pockets before walking toward the register.
✩
"what time were you guys thinking about hanging out? because after hockey, i've got karate until five-thirty," sloane explained to guy as she leaned against the short display he was examining.
"five thirty, but i can just tell my mom you're coming late," guy answered, moving things to the side to peak at the products placed near the back of the shelf.
"okay, i'll be there," she said and correctly rearranged the things guy had moved.
"who is that kid?" bombay asked after tapping guy's back. sloane looked up from the shelf and leaned backward to look over guy's shoulder. she ran her tongue across her bottom lip, fighting a smile as she watched fulton reed pull a hockey stick from the display by the door and hand it to charlie.
"that's fulton reed. he's in one of my classes," guy responded as he turned around to face bombay.
"how come he isn't on the team?" bombay asked, glancing between the two in front of him.
"he only plays football," jesse cut in as he slipped in beside sloane.
"some prep school gave him a big scholarship. they don't want him getting hurt to where he can't play so they won't let him do anything else," sloane added with a small shrug.
"fulton reed's been in love with sloane ever since they were lab partners and she asked him to join the team. it's why he's at all of our hockey games," jesse teased, laughing softly as she rolled her eyes jokingly.
"maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. doesn't matter to me," sloane said, moving nonchalantly from one foot to the other as she slid her hands into her jacket to press them against her hips.
"yeah, we're not sure sloane really likes anyone," jesse commented as he returned his gaze to bombay.
"shut up, jesse, i do too like some people," sloane said, jokingly pushing his shoulder.
"oh, yeah? who?" jesse asked as he returned the lighthearted shove.
"well, guy's alright and there's the off day that i appreciate you a little more than usual," she asked, glancing at goldberg when she noticed him behind jesse. "but i gotta say, goldberg's my guy," she said and winked at him when he looked up. she laughed softly and rubbed at her mouth when he tried and failed to wink back at her.
"anyway, i heard it was colleges. he's already been accepted to four of 'em," guy emphasized, swiftly changing the subject as he stared up at bombay.
"he is pretty good. me and connie have been to every football game so far this year," sloane said, glancing at the door as fulton quietly slipped out.
"yeah, but i heard he's gotta repeat the sixth grade," goldberg added as he leaned between jesse and bombay.
"shut up. no, he does not," sloane sighed and rolled her eyes as she waved her arm at him.
"awe, shut up!" jesse said, lightly tapping his shoulder as he, sloane, guy, and goldberg walked away from bombay.
✩
"you are coming to guy's tonight, aren't you?" connie asked sloane as they entered the rink.
"after karate. i'll have to stop by my apartment and take a shower first though," sloane answered, adjusting her bag on her shoulder as they approached the glass. "i always feel sweaty and nasty after karate," she further explained while watching people skate around the ice.
"you could always shower at guy's," connie suggested and readjusted her bag.
"dude, check 'em out, man!" goldberg said as they slowed to a stop, pointing out tammy and tommy duncan skating around the rink.
"holy cow!" peter exclaimed, watching tammy turn pirouettes. "they're pretty good skaters!" he added and Sloane craned her neck to see them.
"anybody know who they are?" bombay asked as he glanced between his team and the duncan siblings.
"that's tommy duncan. he's in my science class," terry responded as his gaze shifted admiringly toward tammy. "and that's his sister tammy," he added with a small smile.
"think they'd want to play with us?" bombay asked curiously.
"oh, yeah!" the team chorused excitedly.
"sure, why not?" sloane asked with a tiny lift of her shoulders.
"go get dressed. i'll do the negotiating," bombay said and continued to watch the duncan sibling as the rest of the team raced to the bathroom.
"aren't tammy and tommy in our science class?" sloane asked. she let her hockey bag slide down her arm and watched it fall with a quiet thud in front of a short bench.
"yeah. they sit near the front of the class," connie answered as they shrugged off their jackets and dropped them on their hockey bag.
"can't believe we're about to have a superstar figure skater and her little brother on our hockey team," sloane said, snickering softly as they quickly change.
✩
"just think of it as figure skating with a stick," bombay told tammy while pulling a yellow jersey with purple sleeves over her head and handing her a hockey stick. "you're going to love it, tammy."
sloane slowly skated toward bombay and stopped slightly behind him and tammy. she opened her mouth and made to slip between them when tommy slowed to a stop on the other side of bombay and tammy. she clamped her mouth shut and sighed through her nose as bombay's focus shifted solely to tommy.
"hey, that-a-boy tommy!" he said while patting his back. "looking good, looking tough. give me five, show me you're alive!"
"look," sloane said, coming around bombay's right side after he high-fived tommy. "i've got karate immediately after this, so we need to get this show on the road as soon as possible," she continued as she linked her elbow with bombay's and led him away from the duncan siblings to start practice.
"you play karate?" bombay asked, staring at the girl inquisitively.
"you don't play karate. you take karate. but, yeah, my mom owns the dojo near mickey's diner. i've got my black belt in taekwondo, i just got my green belt in karate last weekend, and i started taking judo not very long ago," sloane explained as she dropped her arm.
"wow. so you're pretty good, huh?" he asked as he shoved his hands in his jacket pocket.
"i guess. i don't think i've lost in a match in a year and a half. my mom made me take lessons as soon as i was old enough to take them and i just never stopped," she said while tugging at the bottom of her jersey. "my sister hated it though so mom finally let her quit a couple years ago. i like it. it's something else to do," she rambled with a small shrug.
"y'know, i think this is the most i've heard you say at one time," he commented as he turned his head to look at sloane. "any other interesting facts i need to know while you're talking?"
"i'm a type one diabetic so that's something you need to watch out for as the adult overseeing us," sloane said and looked up at bombay.
"really?" bombay asked as his eyebrows drew together.
"have been since i was five. i got crappy genes from my mom. i'm constantly really thirsty and always really hot," she said while pulling at the joints of her fingers. "i have to take insulin twice a day and every time i eat," she continued, distractedly watching the duncan sibling pass her.
"anyway, good talk. glad we got to know each other," she said and patted bombay's arm as she skated toward connie, guy, and charlie.
✩
"back to the basics. skating," bombay said and lifted his whistle to blow it. at the sound of the shrill whistle, sloane skated forward and smoothly weaved her way through the line of orange cones he'd had sat out. "go, go! side to side. shhift your weight. get comfortable on your edges. good, that's good. keep your balance, karp. trust your edges."
"nice, sloane," bombay said, raising his hand for a high-five as she stopped in front of him. sloane slapped his hand and turned around to watch her teammates move through the cones. she pressed her fists against her hips and sucked in a slow breath through her teeth as charlie fell forwards and slid into the cones in front of him.
"that's okay, charlie," bombay encouraged as goldberg helped him to his feet.
✩
"soft hands," bombay said, lifting an egg from a carton sitting in a large crate. "you don't shoot the puck to your teammate, you sail it to 'em. karp, on your feet."
sloane and guy fought back quiet snickers as they watched karp nervously stand before cutting their eyes at each other. they slowly let out their snickers as bombay sat the egg at his feet. sloane shifted on her knees and took a deep breath through her nose as she began to feel hot.
"you send it," bombay explained, passing the puck to karp. sloane groaned quietly along with the rest of the team as the egg busted against the end of karp's hockey stick and hit his eye.
"you don't stop the pass," bombay continued and tapped his hockey stick against the ice once. "you accept it, cradle it," he explained and brought his stick back.
✩
"again," bombay said after watching averman bust his egg. "concentration, not strength."
"like the karate kid, right?" averman asked and lifted his hands. "wax on, wax off," he said as he moved them in circles in front of him.
"just shut up and try it, averman," connie snapped and sloane shifted her lips to the side at the way averman's face fell slowly.
"such a jerk," averman quietly said as he returned his attention to the egg at his feet.
"send it back, averman," bombay said and watched the egg slide across the ice. "good, averman. charlie," he said and passed the egg. charlie gently stopped the puck and looked up at bombay. "good, good. now sail it back," he said. charlie roughly hit the egg, causing it to break and the yolk to go flying at bombay. sloane laughed quietly as he wiped the yolk from his face.
✩
"good, peter, good," bombay said as he watched pairs pass eggs to. "good, cradle it. cradle it. soft hands, soft hands. here it comes, nice and easy!" he encouraged karp as he stopped behind him. karp gasped excitedly as the egg stopped against his stick without breaking.
"i did it. i did it!" karp exclaimed and skated away.
"all right," bombay said as he watch him skate away.
"uh, nice drill, coach. really, very cute," goldberg stated as he skated up to bombay, "but when are you going to work with me and goal?"
"goldberg, do you trust me?" bombay asked him.
✩
"my mother would not approve of this, coach," goldberg said after letting bombay tie his arms and legs to the goalpost. "she'd like me to live to be bad mitzvahed."
"this is your bar mitzvah, goldberg," bombay explained and tightened the ropes. "today, you will become a man."
"coach , i think you got the ceremonies mixed up. it's more like a circumcision." goldberg pleaded and pulled against the restraints as bombay walked away. "coach, will you come back here? what did i ever do to you, man?"
"district five, ready!" bombay said and the team got ready to shoot the pile of pucks sitting beside each of them.
"oh, man, i'm gonna die. i'm gonna die," goldberg panicked as he watched each of his teammates pick up a puck.
"aim," bombay said and they all got comfortable in their stances.
"nice knowing you, goldie," peter snickered.
"oh, please, no!" goldberg pleaded as he squirmed against the ropes.
"fire!" bombay said and everyone began shooting pucks at a screaming goldberg.
"this doesn't hurt!" goldberg realized and his sobs quickly transitioned into laughs. "you wimps! give me your best shot. oh! come on. let's go! goldberg for the save! okay, what you got, huh? whoa! nice shot, man. i'm a dog, i'm a crazed dog! come on!"
"goldberg! goldberg! goldberg!" the team chanted as they tapped their hockey sticks against the ice in sync with their chant.
"i am goldberg, the goalie! grr!" goldberg growled as they continued tapping their sticks loudly.
✩
"good, good," bombay said as he watched his team skate through the lined cones again. "all right, you all. great! good hustle, way to go!" he said and began giving high-fives and patting helmed as teammates made it through the line.
"you guys hungry?" bombay asked loudly.
"yeah!" the team yelled.
"tired?" he asked.
"yeah!" they responded.
"you ache?" he asked and began back skating.
"yeah!" they repeated.
"you pumped up?" he asked.
"yeah!" they answered.
"good! that was a hell of a practice, guys. be proud of yourself!" he said as he pushed the entrance to the ice open.
"yeah!" they cheered and followed him out.
✩
"the movie was so not stupid, sloane! it's a cinematic masterpiece!" guy exclaimed as they led the team in skating through the mall of america.
"you're really going to tell me 'howard the duck' is a cinematic masterpiece? you're out of your mind, guy germaine. totally out of you're mind," sloane said with a joking eye roll. she glanced over her shoulder and watched for a moment as fulton reed struggled to remain upright as he skated after the team.
"yeah? and what exactly is a cinematic masterpiece for you?" he asked, lightly pushing her arm. she whipped her head back around and swatted at his hands.
"any 'star wars' movie, 'the breakfast club', 'back to the future', 'ferris buellers day off', 'the karate kid', literally almost any other movie," she said and pushed at his shoulder. she glanced back over her shoulder and let her lips fall open as bombay tried and failed to keep his attention on fulton.
"i'll, um, i'll catch up to you guys later," she told guy, connie, and charlie before peeling off. after making sure bombay wasn't staring in her direction, she speed up and grabbed fulton's arm.
"c'mon, let's get out of here," she said, turning him around and letting her hand slide into his.
"what about learning to skate? won't coach be mad?" fulton said, nervously looking over his shoulder.
"coach isn't teaching you anything. besides, roller skating is not the same as ice skating. you look miserable anyway," sloane answered with a small smile. she slowed slightly once they couldn't see their teammates and skated beside fulton with her hand still tucked in his. "so, where do you want to go?" she asked, squeezing his hand as he wobbled unsteadily.
"um," he said and glanced around the mall, continuing to shake uneasily.
"i'll take you to the pond we practice at, teach you how to skate, and then we can get something to eat," she said before slowly speeding up to lead him to the pond.
✩
"so what made you want to quit football for hockey?" sloane asked, crossing one leg over the other as she swirled her straw around the rim of her drink.
"dunno. always kind of liked hockey, i guess," fulton answered with a small shrug.
"you were really good at football. me and connie came all the games," she said, pressing her hands to her seat to shift.
"really ?" he asked, pink lightly dusting his cheeks.
"connie's really into football but i'm not. i mainly went to hang out with her. didn't hurt that i had a favorite player," she said, and ducked her head to laugh shyly along with fulton.
✩
"you really told him that? in all seriousness, those words really came out of your mouth?" connie asked, shifting to tuck her right leg under her left as she leaned against sloane's headboard.
"yeah," sloane said with a shrug. she giggled once before slapping a hand over her mouth and closing her eyes. "i mean why not? gotta get him somehow and i figured i'd say something," she added, biting at the inside of her bottom lip.
"gosh, you are so cool," connie said and pulled both knees to her chest. "so, are you guys, like, dating?"
"no, but we've got a date this saturday night," sloane said, clicking her tongue before laughing softly as she fell onto her side.