Waking up this morning was hard. All I wanted to do was sleep in but I knew if I did, I would mess up my schedule. So as hard as it was, I pushed myself out of bed and walked into the living room. Just has I was about to start making something for breakfast there was a few hard thuds at the door. I let it go for a few moments but when the pounding on the door happened for a second time, I turned toward the front door. Cassie's door opened and she looked startled as she poked her head out.
"Who is that?" She asked putting a lot of weight on her cane. I shrugged my shoulders and waked to the front door and pulled it open a little bit. Standing outside is a tired looking Rebecca holding a binder in her hands.
"Dude let me in." Rebecca said and pushed past me into our dorm room.
"What is it?" I asked and shut the door behind her and watched as Rebecca made herself at home on our couch.
"Have you look at the play book yet?" Rebecca asked and held up the binder.
"Rebecca it's barely 9am, no I haven't looked at the play book yet." I said and pushed my hair off my face.
"There are over 100 plays in here. We need to memorize this shit before we start playing games. I say since today is an off day, we start now." Rebecca said and started flipping through the book.
"I can't handle you right now, I'm making breakfast do you want something?" I asked Rebecca and walked into the kitchen.
"Sure I'll have whatever you're having." Rebecca said and went back to flipping pages.
"I was really asking Cassie, but sure. Cassie, do you want anything?" I asked my roommate as she was still watching Rebecca.
"Uhm no I'm okay for now thanks." Cassie said and rubbed her eyes before walking back into her room and shutting the door.
As I started making some eggs, Rebecca started telling me about some different plays. I was barely paying attention though. My brain hasn't turned on yet, probably won't until I put some coffee in my body. When I cook I try to stay focused on the task at hand otherwise things usually start to burn. After the breakfast burritos were done, I made myself a cup of coffee before I brought the two plates over to the coffee table. I went to grab my own playbook and the coffee before I sat down next to Rebecca. We took our time going through the playbook as we ate breakfast.
About an hour into our study session I had enough of looking at words and pictures on the page. I put the book down on the table and went in search of my cellphone. It was still on my nightstand from last night. I picked it up and saw I had a few texts from Travis. Just as I was about to read them he starting calling me.
"Mac Truck come let me in! I'm downstairs and the RA won't let me up even though I asked so, so nicely. I have coffee." Travis didn't even let me speak before he started.
"Fine, give me a minute." I said and hung up before he could say anything else. I grabbed my shoes and told Rebecca I would be right back before walking downstairs to find Travis standing in front of the RA office holding a coffee tray with three coffees on it.
"He's with me." I said and held the door open for him.
Travis ran over to the door and we walked to the elevator to the third floor and back to my room. I pushed my dorm room door open and found Rebecca in the same spot I left her in.
"Holy shit, this place is so nice." Travis said and closed the door behind him.
"Yea I'm happy about it." I said and took the coffee he handed me.
"I got one for your roommate too. Wasn't sure how she takes it so I just got it black." Travis said and handed me another coffee cup.
"Thanks, I'll go give it to her if you want to take a spot on the couch." I said and started walking towards Cassies' door.
I knocked on her door and didn't hear anything. Carefully I listened for another few second and when I didn't hear anything I opened her door. Cassie's room was still dark so I slowly made my way into her room and left the cup of coffee on the nightstand before making my way back out. Both Rebecca and Travis were hunched over a binder and as I took a seat next to Travis.
"I'm making a rule right now, nobody knocks on our door until after 12 got it." I said and nudged both of them when they didn't answer me.
"Agreed, come one we need to study. Rebecca said.
We spent another hour looking over our play book, making notes of my favorites and ways to improve some of the plays. Travis let us comb through his play book and we saw that a lot of our plays were the same. They had some good plays that we didn't have and visa-versa. I made notes of them and thought to maybe try and run them at our next practice.
When we decided to take a break at looking through the plays I brought out my sticks and handed them each one and we started to pass a ball back and forth. We did a good job at making little noise and we turned it into a game, too see who could be the quietest the longest. I thought we did a pretty good job at it. Just as we were winding down I hit the ball too hard and it sailed into the bathroom wall with a loud thump.
Just as I caught the ball on the rebound Cassie's door opened and she didn't look that happy. None of us said anything and let her walk out of her room. She was holding the cup of coffee in her hand and walked into the living room.
"She even looks like Chad." Travis mumbled as Cassie poured the coffee into a mug and stuck it into the microwave.
"I hope she doesn't act like him." Rebecca said under her breath.
"Is this going to be a regular morning occurrence?" Cassie asked with the mug of warm coffee in her hand now.
"No, they now know not to come over until after noon. I'm sorry if the thud woke you up, we were really trying to be quiet." I said sheepishly, hoping I didn't just piss her off.
"I know, I woke up like a half hour ago and couldn't fall back asleep. I only really heard the last thud. What have you guys been up too?" Cassie asked and lowered herself into the arm chair.
"Play book studying. This is Rebecca Martin, she plays on the team with me and my best friend, Travis Reed, who also plays with your bother." I said introducing the other two in the room.
"It's nice to meet you both, thanks for the coffee." Cassie said and took a sip.
"Any time, I wasn't sure how you would take it so I just went with black." Travis said with a smile.
"Black is fine, I usually just put a bit of sugar in it." Cassie said.
"Are you guys going to go opening night for the football team?" Rebecca asked.
"Is it a thing for us to go?" I asked.
"Being a D1 school yea, most of the student body goes to the games. The team also gets a block of tickets, if you want to go you just need to text Toni about it and she'll put the tickets aside." Rebecca said.
"When is it?" I asked.
"Friday night. We have an afternoon practice on Saturday because coach knows that we are most likely going to the game." Rebecca said.
"You want to go?" I turned and asked Cassie.
"Sure why not." Cassie said.
"I'll text Toni about the tickets, I'm going to hit the gym in a few if you want to join." Rebecca said and gave me back my stick.
"Sure I'll meet you there." I said and watched as Rebecca waved and left the dorm.
"Is she the new me?" Travis asked and then I remembered he was still in the room.
"We worked really well together on the ice Travi. Whenever we were on a line together we had the magic like you and I had." I said and relaxed into the couch.
"And that's fine on the ice, but off you're still my best friend." Travis said and nudged me.
"I know" I said and nudged him back.
"Oh get this, my roommate Elliot is in a band and they had an opening for a guitarist and singer. I played a little for him and I'm in the band. They have a jig lined up next week Thursday. You'll come cheer me on right." Travis said.
"Of course, any band is better than your last one. What's the name of this one?" I asked.
"We will never talk about that again. This one isn't that bad but it's not that great. The bands' name is Dad Without a Child." Travis said.
"Oh that's not bad at all, it's a big step up from your last band." I said.
"What was your last band called?" Cassie asked from the arm chair.
"Sleeveless in Seattle, but that was fine for him because his wardrobe is mostly cut off t-shirts." I answered.
"Aren't you guys from Boston?" Cassie asked.
"Now you see why it was bad." I said through a laugh as Travis pouted.
Cassie laughed at Travis' expense but promised she would come see his first show with me. Travis didn't stay for much longer as he needed to get ready to go to practice. After he was gone, I took a deeper look at my hockey and school schedule. All of our games are on the weekends. During the week we had two team practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning and then one day during the week we had to lift on our own in the gym. The schedule wasn't bad and I was going to be able to get into a routine quickly. My school schedule was pretty simple as well. Five classes, calculus, English 101, principles of microeconomics, ethics in business and introduction to psychology. Microeconomics, English and ethics in business are on Mondays and Wednesdays while calculus and intro to psych are on Tuesdays and Thursdays before practice.
With my schedule down I can sort of get an idea of when I could give lessons at the rink. I left my schedules on the coffee table and went into my room to grab my school supplies. I might as well label everything now to get it out of the way. I pulled out fresh notebooks and folders and used a sharpie to label which books are for which class. After it was done I put everything away and stuck my schedules to the fridge.
"So you have any plans for today?" I asked and pulled my phone out to check the time.
"Not really, I got my stuff together while you were at practice yesterday. Now we are just waiting for the first day of classes which is tomorrow." Cassie said.
"Very true, I'm thinking of going over to the rink to get a skate session in, possibly shoot around some pucks if you want to come." I said and ran a hand through my hair.
"As long as I don't have to get on the ice then sure." Cassie said.
"One of these days I'll get you on it. But go get dressed in something warm and we can go." I said and got up off the couch to get ready.
I met Cassie a few minutes later and it looked like she was ready to dive into three feet of snow. I just laughed and grabbed my sticks. Most of my gear is still at the rink in my locker so I'll just get ready there. Cassie grabbed a beanie and we were out the door. It was mid-afternoon and I knew that the men's arena had public skate. With a little smooth talking I should be able to skate on our ice.
Even though the ice rink isn't far from our dorm Cassie insisted on driving us there. It only took a few minutes. The parking lot wasn't that busy at all and that made me happy. We walked in together and I gave my application to the guy at the desk. He didn't even let me go back to the locker room before he pulled the manager of the rink out of his office to introduce us. I was barely able to get a few words in before the manager Shane was giving me the job. He is going to put me on the schedule as an extra hand and if can work the shift, I was welcome to it, if not, then at least there would still be coverage. Shane said he will have the first schedule done and ready for me when I was done on the ice.
With his blessing, Cassie and I made our way towards the locker room. I used my key to get us inside and it took me a few minutes to change into my skates. I was also able to find a bucket of pucks not far from the ice. Cassie grabbed my sticks for me while I took the bucket and made my way to the ice.
"I'm going to skate a few laps to warm up and then you can pitch me some pucks if that's okay with you." I said and put the bucket down on the bench.
"I feel like I should have a whistle. Go, get out there." Cassie said and pushed me towards the ice. I just laughed and watched her get comfortable on the bench before I hopped over the boards. The ice was done really well. As I sprinted around the ice for a few laps, I felt like crying. This still felt like a dream to me that I was actually here, playing the sport I love that was almost taken away from me two short years ago. I sat in my feeling for a few more laps and tried not to cry as I slowed down and made my way over to the bench. I took a few moments to stretch and then popped up in front of Cassie.
"You ready for some pucks?" She asked and moved closer to boards.
"When you are, coach. Full ice so you can throw one for this side and then I'll come around the back of the net and you and throw another for me to either hit in stride or chase down for the other end and repeat." I said and grabbed one of the sticks I brought with us.
Just as I made sure the stick was good I heard a bang and looked up to see Cassie used her cane to hit the top of the boards.
"I don't have a whistle, that was your cue to go." Cassie said threw a puck onto the ice.
I just laughed and pushed off the boards to go chase after the first puck she threw. I only took a few strides before taking a hard slap shot at the net. The puck sailed through the air and hit the top left corner of the net as I skated around behind the net. Cassie threw another puck for me to chase down and I took it down towards the other end of the ice. For this shot I switched to my backhand and lifted it too much and we heard a hard thwack as it hit the glass behind the net. As I came around behind the net Cassie threw me a third puck. Once again, I went to my backhand and this time the shot went in.
Cassie and I continued this for a while before I was really gassed and I came to take a rest on the bench. I wanted to go for a few more rounds and I as I was just getting ready to get up and hit the ice when I heard a whistle from behind us. The sudden loud shrill made me jump and we both turned around and saw Coach Decker standing in the hallway that leads to the dressing room.
"Did you do this often at home?" He asked and walked the rest of the way towards us.
"Yea, the owners of the rink by my house thought of me like a daughter, so they let me have free rein of the place and I spent a lot of days running this drill myself on most days." I said.
"I liked the drill, so much so I might actually steal it for practice. Now how about you get on out of here. We have a night league that is coming in to play soon and we need to cut the ice for it." Coach Decker said.
"I could do it, seems only right that I shape it up after going to town for the last half hour." I said and stood.
"We got it McKenna, how about you just collect the pucks and get going." Coach said.
"If you're sure." I said not wanting to leave without cleaning up the mess I made.
"I am, I don't think we've met, I'm McKenna's hockey coach, Jonah Decker." Coach said and held out his hand to Cassie.
"Cassie Allegretti, McKenna's roommate." Cassie said.
"Nice to meet you Cassie, McKenna, get to picking up those pucks." Coach said and left us.
I jumped off the bench and got to collecting the pucks. As I went through the ice, I pitched them towards Cassie on the bench. It only took me a few shots to know how much speed to hit the pucks with so they landed perfectly in front of the bench door. Just as I was finishing up on the closer net, I saw Cassie slid of the bench and started putting the pucks into the bucket. Once I got the last of the pucks, I skated over and helped put the last of the pucks into the bucket. I took the bucket from Cassie and placed it on the bench behind her and hopped the boards.
"Can you give me a hand?" Cassie asked and moved backwards away from the ice. I didn't even say anything, I shook off my glove and took her outstretched hands and helped Cassie stand again. Once she was steady, I handed her the cane and made sure she was good before I walked back down the hall that leads to the locker room.
It didn't take me long to change out of my practice gear and I put everything back in my locker. Once everything was away, I put away the pucks and left with one of my sticks. Cassie and I left the locker room and I grabbed my schedule from the front desk as we were leaving and Cassie and I walked back to her truck. The drive back to the dorm was quiet as I looked over the schedule Shane gave me. The few shifts he put me down for were late evenings and as long as I had a good handle on my homework, I should be able to pick up most of these shifts. After we got back to the dorm, I left to shower off the sweat I worked up from skating.
After my shower I decided to retape my stick. I only took home my practice stick as I felt comfortable enough leaving my two game day sticks in the locker room. Cassie went into her room when I got out of the bathroom and hasn't come back out. I just played some music from my phone and took my time. When I was done I wanted to start getting something ready for dinner so I walked over to Cassie's door. I knocked on her door and didn't hear a response. I gave it a few seconds and then knocked again before opening the door.
When I opened the door I heard her own music playing and saw Cassie standing in front of a mirror. Her shirt is raised and the left side of her torso is scarred. When I was finally able to pull my eyes away from the scarring they found hers in the mirror and Cassie quickly pulled her shirt down to hide all the scarring.
"What are you doing? Get out!" Cassie said and turned towards me.
"I'm sorry, I knocked and you didn't answer" Cassie cut me off before I could even finish my sentence.
"Please get out!" Cassie said and limped over towards me at the door.
"I'm sorry" I said again.
Cassie put her hand on my chest and pushed me out of the doorframe and closed her door in my face. I didn't hear anything for a moment and then I heard a thud followed by a few curse words.
"Are you alright Cassie?" I asked concerned.
"Please leave me alone McKenna." Cassie yelled back sounding frustrated.
I just sighed and looked at her door one more time before walking away to the kitchen. What the hell just happened?
a/n: i feel like a lot was going on in this chapter and it was all over the place but i needed to set up some stuff for future chapters. So what do you think happened with Cassie at the end of this chapter?? Any guesses? song on the side for this chapter is Bruised and Scarred by Mayday Parade. Until next week guys.