Chapter Text
Brett scanned the roster posted to the door of the locker room. He was searching to see if he had been picked for his school's Division 3 hockey team. Farther to the left was a roster for the D2 team; he was confident he hadn't been picked for that.
He was getting increasingly worried he had not been picked for D3 either. His name was nowhere to be found. Brett was not one to blow anyone away with his hockey skills, but he was a hard worker and was in shape. This was the Saguaro College club hockey team; if he couldn’t make this team as a sophomore, he might as well hang up his skates.
He was startled by someone behind him clapping him on the back.
“Dumbass. Your name is right there.” Jerry said, pointing at a spot near the bottom of the roster.
So it was, Brett thought. He had avoided needing to tell his father that he did not make the team.
“Did you make it?” Brett asked Jerry.
“Yeah. I was hoping to make D2 this year, but I’ll take it.”
Brett laughed. “You fucking serious? C’mon man. You're stuck at second line defense with me and you thought you had a shot at D2?”
“Fuck off.” Jerry said. “You can’t skate for shit.”
“Sure, at least I don’t think I’m going anywhere. Do we have a team meeting right now? I’m fuckin’ wiped.”
“Yeah.” Jerry said. “Locker room five.”
“Fuck.” Brett had worked himself to death in the final tryout. That tended to happen when skating took significantly more effort than your peers. “We better head over.”
They turned around and began navigating the small crowd of hockey players piled up behind them. Some were leaning on the cinder block walls while others peeked over their friend’s shoulders, all to catch a glimpse of the roster. Some of them still had their skates on, adding danger as they shuffled past the crowd.
“Did you see the chicks name on the roster?” Jerry asked, pointing with his thumb behind him. “Dora or some shit?”
Brett shook his head. “I didn’t. That's crazy, man.” He said, surprised. “I haven’t played with a girl on the team since middle school.” It had been one thing to play with a girl when he was twelve, but on a college team? He hoped she liked him; his hockey friend group was lacking in women. Seeing as it was his only friend group, that meant he was lacking as well. Brett hadn’t gotten to just hang out with a girl in a while, which he hadn’t realized was bothering him until now.
“Me neither. I didn’t see her on the ice. Maybe she’s the new goalie?”
Brett rolled his eyes. “Can’t be any worse than Mickey.”
“No kidding.”
They had just rounded the corner into the hallway with the smaller locker rooms when Brett remembered something.
“Was Dylan’s name on there?” He asked Jerry.
Jerry thought for a moment, “Nah. I didn’t see it. I thought he said he was coming back.”
“Me too.” Brett slumped a bit. Dylan is a great guy. Painfully shy and hard to talk to, but funny and kind when you get to know him. They had been playing together since freshman year of high school, and were friends even before that. He was also a great hockey player. The forwards were going to feel his absence.
They stopped at the green door leading into locker room 5. Brett grabbed the handle and pushed, but the door didn’t budge. He’d forgotten how often this one got stuck. He lowered his shoulder and knocked it open, almost falling over.
“Hey Brett! Hell of an entrance!” Coach Burke yelled, ruffling Brett’s hair. A significant feat, considering the good five inches Brett had on him. “Great to see you back!”
“Good to see you too, coach.” Brett said, smiling.
“Seems like you stayed in better shape than a lot of the guys. You could stand to put on some more muscle, though!”
“Guess so.” Brett said. He wasn’t sure how else to respond.
“All in due time. The meeting should be starting soon. Hey Jerry, you shithead!” Coach Burke moved on from Brett. Coach Burke was good to Brett, and a decent head coach. The same could not be said for Coach Ryan, who worked with the defense. Brett had not seen him yet, and hoped that he’d been scared off by the terrible state of the defense last year.
Looking around the room, Brett saw her. The mystery girl was sitting in the right corner of the locker room, on the bench that rested up against three of the four walls. She wore light blue leggings along with a tight pink tank top. Her blonde hair was slick with sweat and pulled into a ponytail. She was talking to a guy who Brett had never seen before; most likely a freshman. Brett looked away, not wanting to be caught staring. He couldn’t deny that she was good-looking; not what he had expected.
He sat on the same bench a little ways from the woman. He couldn’t help himself but take another look. She noticed him this time and smiled one of the prettiest smiles Brett had ever seen at him. As he smiled back, he was hit with realization.
“Dylan?” Brett said out loud.