Alternatively

Way To Go, Paul

He kicked his skate against the bench, the dull thud resounding in his ears. The spraying of ice and clattering of pucks ricocheting off sticks echoed high into the vaulted ceiling and he saw two teammates head butt each other, the crack of their helmets drawing a frown from the coach. The other team was doing a standard warm up while his barely flopped onto the ice, players still straggling in the box and stumbling out of the locker rooms.

He pulled the laces of his other skate tight, looping them quickly around the eyelets.

His mom and Paul were in the stands among other parents, as they always were, and he kinda wished they weren't. When it came to him getting time on the ice, his well intentioned step dad got a little...intense.

Someone sat on the bench next to him and he flashed a small smile of acknowledgement. "You ready to kick some ass?"

"Always," Annabeth replied, tightening one of her braids. "Kick ass, take names."

Percy shook his head, shifting his gear in order to properly check out his laces. His boots were always a little too big and his equipment was second hand, but he never minded. It wasn't even his idea to join the team; his mom had heard about the program and figured how could he not benefit from boosted self esteem?

And he never minded the practices after school or the team building exercises or the other kids who had been forced into their uniforms. He liked the ice and the feeling of soaring.

He was just terrible at the sport.

"Coming?"

He blinked up at the girl as she shoved her mouth guard in. "Yeah, just a sec."

She nodded and glided onto the ice to meet with Katie and Mark. At first glance, no one would expect someone like her to really need a self esteem program or one around mediocre hockey, for that matter. She was easily one of the best players on the team and looked more put together than everyone else. But if life had taught him anything, it was to never judge on first impressions.

"Get up, the game's about to start."

"I'm getting there," he grumbled, using his stick for balance as he stood. "It's so early."

Grover shrugged, tapping his clipboard against Percy's helmet. "There's a skating competition in this rink later, this was the only spot for a game."

"Still early as balls."

"Hey, buck up," the assistant coach grinned. "We have you playing a lot today!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"We believe in you."

He rolled his eyes, stepping onto the fairly fresh ice. Legally, he was supposed to say that, but he knew his step dad gave the coaches a hard time about Percy being benched so often. Really, it was as if he had never seen him play; he sucked at being a goalie, he was the worst defenseman, and he would rather die than be a center again. He was decent as a right wing, but it really depended who he was lined up with. Once, Connor had been the center while he played, and he got utterly destroyed.

"Circle up, let's go, let's go!"

The ever coordinated and graceful Mustangs made their way to where Coach D slouched against the wall, arriving in varying fashions. Some kids used the wall to stop themselves, loudly slamming into it with gusto, some tried to spray ice with their stops, and some just held onto the backs of another teammate's jersey and dragged their skates in a V.

"You only have two games left in your season, so make them count! And have fun, I guess."

A motivational man of epic proportions.