Rules and Roses (Hockey)

5

   Alia had arrived at the arena two hours early. There were a few things on her checklist she wanted to get done, and since her last class ended at two thirty, she had plenty of time to finish before the team showed up.

   She got her duffle bag out of her car and headed inside. The locker room was messy, though she didn't expect anything different. There were janitors, but they only cleaned the sinks, floors, toilets, and showers. They weren't required to touch the players' things.

   She went into the showers to see all kinds of different shampoos and conditioners—along with a couple bottles of three-in-one. She rolled her eyes at the different brands.

   Moving along, she went to each player's locker. They were wide enough to fit all their gear in, and most kept them there until it was time to wash it. The metal doors were cold and they had slits in the top. She couldn't imagine the smell behind each of them.

   She opened her bag and pulled out a ziploc bag. In it, she had made multiple cut out pieces of paper the day before. She was dedicated to working with this team. She had written a skill every individual player needed to work on. She wrote their numbers and the ability on one side. She kept the other blank for when she taped them to the front of their lockers. If she had slid the little note through the slits, the boys would probably never see it.

   She stuck all the papers, with the blank side facing herself, to the corresponding lockers. They were personal, so she didn't want someone to feel ashamed if another read theirs. She wanted at least some privacy in it.

   Alia originally wanted to tape them to the inside, but with all the locks, she had no way of doing so. This was the best way. It would've taken longer if she handed all of the notes to the boys themselves.

   Content, she sighed and went to the ice. She still had almost an hour and a half before they would show up.

   She put in both of her earbuds and went to her favorite playlist. She slid on her skates. They felt good to be back on her feet. She hadn't skated since the previous year, and she missed it tremendously.

   She had done figure skating as a kid and preteen. She fell out of competing when she was fourteen, but every winter, she would do it for fun.

   It was finally time to start the annual trend, again. Every year she'd have to regain her balance on the first run. It didn't take long, though.

   She wobbled a little on the ice, staying next to the panels with her inside arm outstretched. She picked up speed after a few laps, and she knew she was good enough to let go of the wall.

   She started off small. She practiced her quick stops before trying anything else. Her legs moved in sync, remembering the feeling from years past. Big circles closed in and became smaller. She laughed in remembrance of her love for the sport. Her music was loud, and she drifted away in it.

   Because there was so much room on the ice, she could close her eyes for long periods of time and not be worried about running into anything.

   She attempted a few low jumps and landed them; her skates made many new marks. They looped around in multitudes of shapes, flowing vicariously into the ice.

   A few of the boys started trickling in, and soon almost all of the team was there. They stood, watching. None of them wanted to interrupt her or tell her the time. She seemed at peace with herself, and they respected it. They also saw the wire from her earbuds dangling along with her.

   She definitely wasn't a professional, but there was no denying how good she was. Her moves kept getting more difficult as she gained confidence in herself. She had more air time with each jump, her speed becoming faster, too.