Evan Morrow's team had a weird name.
"The Don't Bother's?" Jesse asked. "We're the Don't Bother's?"
Peter scoffed as he said, "Man, what brain-dead jerk came up with that name?"
Alex looked offended as she answered, "As a matter of fact, I did. But I didn't have a choice. It was the first thing I could think of."
Peter and Jesse let out scoffs.
"Hey. You don't wanna be Don't Bother's?" She asked. "You'd rather be Ducks? Some stupid animal?"
"Better then some stupid phrase." I shot back.
I heard a snort come from behind me, and I looked and saw another person standing there.
"Anyway, I'm Coach A." Alex said, before I could figure out who it was. "Just call me Alex. Today we are going to start with a really cool passing exercise."
We all grabbed our skates, but Alex stopped us.
"No not that kind. Today we won't be touching the ice. But we will be breaking the ice."
"That was a terrible joke." Jesse told her.
"What does that mean?" Evan whispered.
As she continued talking, I zoned out until I heard Evan's voice.
"So no skating at all. Our first game is Saturday."
We all sat in a circle, and I sat between Peter and Jesse. She started talking about a "Trust Puck". Sam went first.
"I'm Sam. Uh, outside, I like skateboarding and I act kind of crazy but inside, I have no spleen. It burst when I crashed into a stop sign. I am a mess in there."
I was trying to chock down my laughs and I could tell Jesse was doing the same.
"Hi, I'm Maya. I have this talent were I can zero in someone's weakness and like, destroy them. Like I might tell you your puffy vest is very 2017 and every time I saw you I'd say things from 2017 just to get in your head. Like, Lego Batman Movie. Or Fidget Spinners."
"Wait, this is one of my favorite vests. Its got a lot of pockets." Alex defended.
"I guess pockets were big in 2017." Maya shot back.
Evan was trying to get us to the rink but Alex made him sit down.
"I'm Lauren. Outside I'm a female warrior. People say I dress weird. Inside, I used to have a crippling fear of death. But then I realized everybody. Popular kids, freaks, we all have this vast nothingness waiting for us. In a strange way it gives me a sense of peace."
I scooted closer to my brother, who wrapped his arm around me.
"Peter, she scares me." I whispered.
Peter nodded in agreement, and we both scooted closer to Jesse.
"Koob? Koob? His eyes are open but I don't think he's with us. Koob."
Koob's eyes finally snapped to Alex, and he took the puck and began talking.
"Outside I'm a gamer and spend a lot of time in front of a screen. Inside, I think we all might just be a series of one's and zero's and living in a digital elucidation. "
"Hello my name is Evan. On the outside I love Hockey and on the inside I love Hockey. So really looking forward to playing actual Hockey."
"Uh, hey guys I'm Logan. God has blessed me with a solid head of lettuce. And I love dogs. On the inside me and my dad just moved in with my aunt. Because my parents are getting a divorce. Mom cheated on him. I also love cats."
Everyone gave the kid, Logan, wide eyed looks. Nick took the puck next, but I was just barely listening. Logan must have felt my stare, because he turned his head to look at me. I gave him a smile, and he gave me a charming one back.
"...on the inside I look like Logan. Maybe a little taller."
I let out a snort, and caught Evan's eye, who thought it was funny as well.
"I'm Peter. On the outside, I am calm and collected and don't do much. And on the inside, I'm screaming."
The was all he said before passing me the puck.
"Uh, I'm Lily." I said, catching Evan's eye, and he smiled widely at me. "On the outside, I am everyone's favorite. Especially my Dad's." Peter let out a scoff. "And I'm the inside, I have a dream to be a pro-hockey player."
I passed the puck to Jesse, who sat up a bit.
"I'm Jesse Hall the second." Jesse said. "On the outside I am a hockey player. A good one, too. And in the inside, I'm moving in with my cousin, Logan and his Dad and my Aunt, because my Dad's, uh, taking a break from me. And my mom doesn't care about me. And I like the beach."
I looked at Jesse with wide eyes. We hadn't gotten to that part in his life, but apparently he had no problem sharing it.
"Very good you guys." Alex said, after a moment of silence. "That was amazing. I think we are finally ready," Evan stood up excited. "For trust falls."
"I'll be right back." Evan mumbled.
"Ev?" Alex asked.
"I'll go see what's wrong with him." I said, following him.
"Evan." I said, causing both the guy I saw earlier and Evan to look up. "Are you okay?"
He nodded. "I'm fine, Lily."
"Come on, then." I said. "We can at least try your moms things. I know it's different, and we're not used to it, like, at all, but it'll be fun!"
Evan sighed, but followed after me anyway.
{}~{}~{}~{}
Evan Morrow came over after practice.
Alex has dropped all of us kids off, and we rushed inside, trying to get out of the cold.
"Mom, we're home!" I called.
"Dad, Lily brought a boy over!" Peter yelled.
I glared at him, and sighed when my Dad's head popped out from behind the wall. His eyes scanned Evan, and then he fully walked out.
"Morrow." Dad said. "It's nice to see you again."
"You too, sir."
Dad smiled a bit, and I rolled my eyes. I know Dad only liked Evan because he called him sir. No one else did, and I think Evan only called my Dad that because he was scared of him.
"So, what are you guys doing?" Dad asked, looking between the two of us.
I rolled my eyes. "We're just gonna hang out."
Dad nodded his head. "Right. Hang out."
The three of us stood there awkwardly. "Can we go now?"
"Yeah, but the door stays open three inches." Dad said.
I sighed, my cheeks turning red, but I nodded. "Yeah, Yeah, Okay. The door stays open."
We walked up stairs, and I did leave the door cracked. Even threw himself onto my bed, and sighed dramatically.
"Lily, tell me honestly," he said. "How did you think that practice went?"
I shifted from foot to foot. "Honestly?"
"Honestly."
"Well...it could have gone worse."
"Lily." He said, giving me a pointed look.
"It also could have been better." I admitted. "But you can't be too hard on your mom. This is her first time coaching."
"But she's seen us practice and she's watched Coach T coach." He complained.
I sat up. "Well...I wouldn't be too hard on her. She's learning."
Evan grumbled, "She needs to learn faster."
{}~{}~{}~{}
Evan Morrow was still annoyed with his mom's coaching.
I was standing between Jesse, and Peter, and I could see Evan growing more agitated by the minute.
"Welcome to practice!" Alex exclaimed, smiling the best she could. "We're here to have fun! Lets remember this is kids sports. The stakes could not be lower....whats wrong with Koob?"
I turned to looked behind me, and saw Koob laying on the ground.
"Is he sleeping?" Peter asked.
"Hey, bud, how you doing?" Evan called.
"Cold." Koob answered. "Wet. At least the ice numbs the pain."
"Why..." I started. "Why are you wet?"
I didn't get an answer for that.
Instead of pucks, Alex was having us use beach balls, which was fun for a little while, but after a while it got boring.
I don't want to talk down on Alex's coaching, but, maybe she should have used something that was the same weight as a puck.
I shot the peach ball, and it flew and it ended up hitting Evan in the face.
"Shoot!" I gasped. "Sorry! I'm sorry!"
"It's okay." He groaned, rubbing his face.
I gave him a half a smile, and skated up to Jesse.
{}~{}~{}~{}
Evan Morrow was done with his moms crap.
As bad as I felt for him, I thought that it was pretty funny to see his face flush red, and his brows furrow when he got angry.
All of us were at the pizza place, and I was sitting next to Evan, who was sitting his his face in his clenched hands.
"Guys. As your all aware, we have our very first game against the Cardinals Saturday. I've done my research and the Cardinals are extremely good. Very strong team." I nodded, and sighed, knowing I got more then a few injuries from them. "However, it does not matter if we win or lose. So that is why, I thought we would have our award ceremony tonight."
I tilted my head, and I heard Evan let out a small confused, "What?" He lifted his head up, and I saw his confused face.
"Wait, before our first game?"
"You got it." Alex agreed.
"But this is what teams do at the end of the season." Evan said.
"Well yes," Alex agreed. "but we are doing things a different way. We are doing things the "Don't Bothers" way. What happens out there on the ice does not define us. We are special and awesome no matter what. I would like to start with Nick. Nick I'd like to give you the award for most improved player since yesterday."
Nick smiled as he accepted the award. Everyone clapped, and Evan covered his face again. Nick started talking, and I heard Peter let out a sigh. Once he was finished, Alex passed out more awards.
"Logan, you get the award for best attitude." Logan smiled as he thanked her. "Sam you get the award for most likely to give me a heart attack." Sam smiled as Noah patted his back. "Maya the award for most likely to make me buy a new vest. Which I did. This is new. What do you think?"
"Um...." Maya said.
"Ouch." Alex said, handing her the trophy. "And Evan you get the award for the person who cares about playing hockey the most."
"Mom, can I talk to you?" Evan asked, his face red.
They walked a little ways away, and I rested my head on my hands, listening as Peter complained about how Alex had no idea what she was doing.
I sighed quietly, thinking the same thing.
{}~{}~{}~{}
Evan Morrow texted me late that night.
I peeked my head into Peter's room, and whispered, "Did you get the same message?"
He nodded, slipping his coat on. "Yeah. You ready?"
"Ready for what?"
Peter and I jumped. We both turned and saw Mom standing there. She had a smile on her face, and we both knew we were caught.
"Mom." I smiled.
"Lily Anne," Mom smiled back. "Peter Conrad."
We shared a look, ready to be scolded, when Mom said, "Whatever illegal activity you guys are doing, go out the back. Your fathers in the living room."
"What?" Peter dragged out. "Who said we were doing anything illegal?"
Mom scoffed, standing up straighter. "Your Uncle Charlie got the same look on his face when he planned stuff. Go. I'll tell your Dad that you ran to Marcel's house."
"Thanks mom!" I called as we hurried downstairs.
Peter and I made it to Evan's, and we all piled into her van. We made it to the Arena, and Alex walked up to get a closer look at the door. All of us kids were whispering, when we saw Alex hold up two fingers
"What does two fingers mean?" Sam demanded.
"Well in cop shows fist is stop, wave is go and I don't think two fingers is a thing." Jesse explained.
"No, you know what it is. Its a peace sign." Logan said.
I couldn't help but laugh a bit at what he said. When I looked over, I saw Evan roll his eyes, and shake his head.
"It could mean there are two guards we need to take out." Lauren suggested.
She pulled out her nun-chucks, making me scoot closer to Peter, and Evan quietly told her to put them away.
"Hey mom, what's the situation?" Evan asked.
"Two fingers. It means be quiet."
"I don't think that's a thing." Jesse told her.
Everyone agreed, and Alex sighed.
"Alright, there's a lady at the front desk we need to get past her."
"Her glasses are totally 2009." Maya said. "I could go in there and crush her to dust."
"Okay," Alex said, nodding slowly. "here is another idea that won't make someone feel like hell. Evan you go in and tell her you lost your helmet. Then once she goes to unlock the lost and found, Logan your going to go in next. You are going to charm her flip your hair you smile. Do what ever it takes. And then we go in and grab our stuff and Sam, and Jesse if there is any trouble you cause a distraction."
"Like act nuts." Sam said.
"Do what ever Sam does." Jesse added.
"We can do that." the two of them said in unison.
"Don't Bother's on three. But quiet."
"1, 2, 3, Don't Bother's." We whispered.
Evan walked in and we all watched him talk to the front desk lady. They walked over to the room as Alex signaled Logan to go. We watched as she ignored him before smiling at him. We all ran in but stopped when the lady went to turn around.
"Why don't you just talk me through it?" Logan asked.
She agreed as we quickly ran into the room.
"Lily!" Evan said, making me look at him. "Why are you smiling?"
I just shook my head, and followed everyone else into the room. I nearly dropped a helmet when I heard a loud crash.
"Sam what are you doing?" I demanded.
"We're supposed to that if anything goes wrong." Jesse reminded him.
As we were looking through stuff, I saw Evan find his lucky hockey stick.
"Hey," I said, smiling. "You finally found it."
"Yeah." He agreed. "I haven't see this in forever."
I gave him another smile, before Peter was harshly calling me over to come see stuff he had found.
{}~{}~{}~{}
Evan Morrow was our captain.
Alex handed us our jersey's, and mine said 'Germaine 00' on the back, and Peter's said, 'Germaine 28' on it. I looked at Evan, who's jersey had a 'c' on it. As we finished getting ready, Evan walked over to me, and asked, "Are you ready?"
I sighed, clutching my stick. "No. But I kind of have to be."
He laughed a bit, and took my hand as we walked out.
Logan took face off, and I took left wing. You could see Logan's nerves as he clenched his stick tightly.
The Cardinals got the puck, and they passed it to each other, and scored not even five seconds later.
We fought for the puck, and we were shoved down. Jesse got the puck, and as I skated up to him two Cardinals checked me into the wall causing me to groan. Jesse helped me up, and I groaned again when I heard the goal buzzer go off.
The Cardinals had the puck again and skated up to Koob.
"I am a wall." The Cardinals scored. "I am not a wall."
I buried my head in my hands and I said, "We need a new goalie."
I sighed as I watched Peter get slammed around. I went in for Logan, and finally, for the first time that game, Peter and I got to play together. We were able to score two goals, before Peter was flipped over someone's back, making him slide into the wall.
"Shit." He groaned.
I helped him up, and we skated back to the bench, the game ending.
"2 to 12." I mumbled, as Peter and I sat in the car. "We suck."
"You're not that bad." Dad assured us, looking through the rearview mirror. "You should have seen your Mom and I when we first played."
"Hey, I was a good player." She defended. "And maybe you would have been too, if you weren't staring at me all the time."
Dad shook his head, but I could tell he was smiling.