Sticks and Skates [Wayhaught]

Prove Yourself

The rest of the preseason simultaneously dragged on and flew by for Nicole. It only seemed that practices were getting harder, which was to be expected with the first game rapidly approaching, but once team activities were over for the day, she found that they flew by. The team itself had started to warm up to her, as they built chemistry and Nicole found herself more and more comfortable on the ice with these girls. She clicked especially well with her linemates, Powers and Finning, and Nedley seemed to have taken notice, if his nods when they made plays in practice were any indication. In fact, the only person who still seemed to be openly chilly to her was Shae, though she maybe should've expected that.

Working at the rink proved to be a welcome addition to her schedule, as she found herself passing the time while also finding peace in the sanctuary of the rink. The Earp sisters were welcoming, even if Wynonna was a little reckless and a lot rough around the edges, and she swore Robin was one of the nicest guys she'd ever met. She found herself annoyed by Champ's presence, but attributed it to his overall immaturity and douche-ness. (It definitely wasn't her definite not crush on Waverly Earp. Even if she did, hypothetically, have a crush on the girl, Waverly had a boyfriend, and Nicole Haught was a woman of morals, thank you very much, and would never interfere).

Now, two days before the big game, Nicole found herself walking into the arena for media day. The far side of the lobby was set up with photo backgrounds and all sorts of lighting apparatuses. Nedley had given them the day off from full practice, on the stipulation that they get a team run and meal in, giving them enough time to get to the rink for photos and any press interviews that may be thrown their way.

In the locker room was their game day uniforms for photos, all pressed and fresh in the home baby blues. Nicole had followed the CWHL for as long as she could remember, and remembered the old Vancouver Blue Devils uniforms, and how she had never quite liked the dark navy and royal blue combination; but now with the relocation and new ownership, a new rebranding made the uniforms absolutely gorgeous. It also helped that blue really was her color.

As Nicole started to dress for picture day along with the rest of the team, she found a note in her stall. It was scrawled out on a post-it note, but Nicole could tell it was from Wynonna.

Happy picture day Haught Shot, hope your stupid mug doesn't break the camera.

She smiled at the note and put it in her locker for safe keeping. She hadn't quite been able to call the older Earp sister a friend, but she had grown fond of the woman over the past few weeks, and had grown used to the nicknames and the teasing.

When it was finally time for them to get on with photos, Nicole couldn't help but note how much this was not like picture day at school. Even at UofA, there was not this much fanfare around taking pictures. Because this was so much more than that.

There was a board posted in the lobby of assignments and scheduled things that each of the players on the team had to do. Some of them had more than others, the vets and the higher popularity prospects had interviews lined up with the various local and national sports outlets; everyone had the basics though: personal headshots, a few action shots with projected linemates, and the team photo.

Nicole found her name on the list, almost shocked to see that she'd had an interview lined up. She figured that those were reserved for people like Shae or Jenna, or literally anyone more interesting than her. Nonetheless, once team pictures were done, she was supposed to meet with a Jeremy Chetri from the Purgatory Gazette.

Before she knew it, she heard her name being called, and she stepped into the bright lighting. They were instructing her how to stand, how to smile, face the camera, and a few poses and short videos to use for goals and pregame introductions. (She did as she was told, but really all she could think about was how hot these damn lights were).