by Lucy Smoke
"That's it, sunshine, you got this. I have complete faith in you," Steph replied with a trusting smile.
I'm glad someone did.
“How’d you do with finding another Puck?” I asked as we opened the door to the social sciences building.
“No luck yet. The hockey players only ever approach me when they have no girls hanging off them. I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled to see if I can spot them with a girl so I can either give her a warning or ask for information. I’ll let you know as soon as I find someone.”
We arrived at the Winter Wonderland meeting room and found the whole committee waiting for us.
"How's everyone doing tonight?" I asked as I dropped my box onto the table. I got a chorus of goods and colds. I smiled back at all of them and gestured to Steph who gave a wave to the room. "This is Stephanie, she works on The Press with me as the Entertainment Columnist. Steph is going to do up an article on the Winter Wonderland, so if any of you have any details you would like in the article let her know."
One of the girls spoke up. "Usually Elizabeth handles that stuff."
"Well, Elizabeth isn't here, and I don't know the different stalls as well as you guys. And I already sold her on the idea of each of you talking about your own areas separately, kind of like managers selling their own sections. If you don't want to do it, I’m sure I could get Elizabeth to write something up, but I thought you guys might like to get something in print under your own names..." I trailed off, letting them make up their own minds.
Suddenly, they were all interested in speaking to Steph, each addressing her directly.
"Hold up, one at a time," I called out, raising my hands in the international sign for stop. "We need to go through some details, so each of you take a number and then head out to talk to Steph in the hallway. When you’re done, send someone out to replace you."
For the next hour, my whole world was miniature Christmas trees, snowflakes, posters, white glitter, handmade Christmas baubles, snowmen, and horse and carriage rides. Once we had gone through all of the details and each person had given me a list of items they were expecting to be delivered for their stalls, I made sure to shoot off an email to Elizabeth with an update while I waited for Steph to finish her last two interviews.
This was actually turning out to be more fun than I had previously thought. I could see the layout of the event and the general flow of the festival. Elizabeth had done a seriously great job at planning this whole thing out. The Winter Wonderland looked to be a really good festival; now, we just needed to make sure people came.
18
Justin
Tuesday 5th December – 20 days until Christmas
Training had been brutal today. Coach had decided to put us through cardio, making us do sprints in front and behind the nets for the majority of our session. When we’d been allowed off the ice it was only to be sent to the weight room for a session with the trainers.
My thighs twitched with all the lactic acid cooling in them as I sat on one of the bikes, pedaling to cool down. I had my earbuds in and was on my eighth mile when Grant Michaels got on the bike next to me. I popped my right bud out since I knew he was a chatter and didn't want to ignore him. He was a good guy, been around to our place for beers and video games a couple of times.
"Hey man, how you doing? Ready for finals?" Grant asked as he pressed the buttons to get his machine going.
"Yeah man, almost done now. Got two Gen Ed left and then finishing my year out on my Edu courses. If I don't get picked up by a scout by the end of the season, I want to make sure I get selected at elementary schools I’m interested in," I replied. "You?"
"Yeah, all right man, unlike you who will definitely get picked up by a scout, I have to fall back on a desk job after college. Glad I majored in general business courses, hoping to help the girlfriend set up her business when we both graduate." He set his machine to start on the highest speed setting.
"Oh yeah, how's that going? Enjoying being a Whip?” I asked, genuinely curious. I mean, I’d entered into the team as a Whip, thanks to Vanessa, and only recently gotten out of that situation. But now that I’d put a couple of numbers up on the Puck Board, I knew it wasn't really for me.
I hadn't really participated in the Puck Games all that much, only because I had recently discovered I preferred being in a relationship. Yeah, I’d joined in with Vinnie and Christian the other night, but that was different. It was both weird and a turn on to watch Vinnie with a girl as he had gotten an orgasm out of her. I'd enjoyed watching them, which was new to me, almost as much as participating, and then knowing Christian was going to join in after me, that he was going to go where I had already been, that had almost gotten me going again.
"Yeah man it's good, she's a good chick, super driven. She's sick at the moment, so I haven't seen her in a few days, doesn't want me catching it. I've been sending her flowers and get-well baskets. She loves that crap, and I love making her happy," he stated with a contented look on his face.
I missed that feeling, knowing I’d made someone’s day with just the smallest of gestures. But to be honest, that probably hadn’t happened for a few years, probably since before I’d left for college. I wanted to have that again, and I knew who I wanted it with. But she was sending me mixed signals. There were moments where I thought we were on the same wavelength, that she was as interested in me as I was in her, but then she would pull away without an explanation. Woman was totally confusing.
"You look like you’re thinking about something really hard over there. What's up? A girl?" Michaels threw out with a sly smile
I glanced around the room, not wanting anyone to hear our conversation. The only people who were close were Vinnie and Christian. Vinnie had already finished his cool down and sat on the bench playing with his phone, and Christian stretched out his back with a trainer. Close enough to hear, but obviously busy doing other things.
"Yeah, a girl," I replied, keeping my voice low just in case.
"Thought so, how'd you meet her?"
"She's my TutorAid, but really she's just helping me to study. You know how I like flash cards? She's just helping me out with those." I glanced up and made eye contact with Vinnie, who quickly looked back down at his phone.
"Sounds innocent enough, what's got you so twisted up?"
My machine dropped a gear but slowed down a setting. I grunted at the extra pressure on my thighs. "She's sending me mixed signals. We keep getting so close to each other, and just when I want to do something about it all, she steps back or breaks eye contact. I just don't know what's going on, or what she wants. Jesus, I sound like a chick," I muttered back at him, looking away because I was too embarrassed to look him in the eyes. My eyes narrowed as I saw that Christian had moved a little closer, his back to me as he listened to the trainer talk.
"Nah man, you just sound like you are crushing on this girl." Michaels smirked at me. "I had a similar thing with my girl at the start. Davidson asked me to help her out with the opening season hockey thing. You remember that dinner we all had to go to? Yeah well, that's how we met. It took me a bit, but I figured out she was worried about me going pro with my hockey and leaving her behind if we got together. Once we got that sorted out, everything has been smooth sailing." He let out a grunt; his machine having dialed down a setting too.
I looked up at my settings, I had just under two miles to go. I glanced back up and saw that Vinnie had slid further down the bench, lying on his back with his head pointed in my direction and still looking at his phone, but he wasn't typing anything. A quick check on Christian showed the trainer was gone and he was doing some final stretches on his own in the open space to my left.
"Got any suggestions for me?" I asked, dropping my voice down a little more.
Ignoring the fact that I was clearly trying to keep our conversation quiet and away from the rest of our team since I didn't want anyone thinking Hayden was a Puck Potential, Michaels just answered in his regular volume. "Just ask her out on a
date. She'll either say yes or no, but at least you’ll know where you stand, and you don't have to worry about all the signals. Maybe she’ll even tell you why she’s hesitating."
Nodding that I understood, I glanced back over at my roommates. Vinnie had just disappeared around the corner to the showers, and Christian stood near his locker looking for something in his bag.
"Thanks man, I'll think about it," I replied as my machine beeped that I was done. I stepped off and headed towards my locker.
19
Hayden
Wednesday 6th December – 19 days until Christmas
My guys – err… I meant sources - had all been disturbingly quiet today. I'd skipped going into the ice rink this morning, like I did last Tuesday since I didn't want to run into any of them. I’d had a few texts from them before they'd headed into training this morning. But since then, pretty much nothing. I was a little nervous that they’d figured me out, but really what had I done wrong? Nothing. I was just a girl who had coincidentally met all of them. Not my fault that they all knew each other, right? And there was definitely no way that they could know about the article.
I stood at the door to my psych class trying to find the courage to walk in there and find out what the hell was up with Christian, when his deep voice rumbled right behind my ear and scared the absolute shit out of me.
"Well, are you going to go in or are we playing hooky today?"
I am sad to say, a tiny little, okay medium sized, scream came out of my mouth as I jumped, spun around and punched him in the face. Luckily for him, it was actually just on the jaw and he had flinched from my boisterous reaction and leaned back, with a little bit of shock on his face.
"Oh my god, I’m so sorry. You frightened me, and my dad always told me to swing first, ask questions later. Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" I rambled on as I reached forward to touch his cheek.
I looked up into his eyes after inspecting the non-existent damage I’d done to his face, only to find him looking down at me with humor in his eyes.
"I'm fine. You hit like a girl, by the way." His eyes twinkled with the effort to hold back his laughter.
"Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, I am a girl Mr." I popped out one hip and flicked my hair over my shoulder in a deliberately sassy manner. "And it's too bad you aren't even the tiniest bit hurt. I would’ve had to render medical aid and been at your beck and call until you were all healed. But, fortunately for me, you are fine." I finger quoted the word with a smirk at him.
"Well now, let’s not rush into prognoses here. Maybe you should take a closer look, I think one of my teeth might be loose." He reached up to inspect his own jaw, moving it from side to side.
"Nope, you already declared it." I laughed back at him.
He sighed dramatically and dropped his hand. "It was worth a shot."
I smiled indulgently back at him over my shoulder as I headed towards the door. "It was."
"And I did notice," Christian stated.
"Did notice what?" I asked as I navigated my way up the stairs to our now usual spot.
"That you’re a girl."
I whirled around to look at him, almost tripping over the step I was on.
"One whose ass looks especially good in skinny jeans," he added as he walked past me.
I just stood there, mouth gaping open for a second, while my brain processed his words. I fought the urge to look over my shoulder at my own ass to confirm his words and forced myself to walk down the aisle towards him, my cheeks a flaming red.
This time, once we both had all of our stuff out, there was no accidental knee bumping. Christian just went straight for the arm across the back of my chair. My heart was doing a happy dance, but my Inner Voice stood on the edge of the dance floor with a disapproving look on her face.
Erhm, okay, I need to start digging around, playtime is over.
"Your girlfriend wouldn't be too happy with you putting your arm around another girl like this," I quietly pointed out, attempting to have a very neutral tone.
"Hayden, is this your way of asking if I’m single?" he queried with an amused tone.
I refused to answer his question, just shot him a look out of the corner of my eye.
After a minute, he gave me what I was looking for. "I'm single. No girlfriend; I haven't had one for a few years."
"Ahh, so you're a player then?" I returned. "Have a girl you put your arm around in every class?"
"Nope, you are the only girl I’m putting my arm around." He started to withdraw his arm. "I can stop if it bothers you."
The idea of him not putting his arm around me made me feel a little broken on the inside.
"No," I whispered back. "It's fine. You can keep your arm there."
He seemed pleased with my answer, relaxing into his seat. For the rest of the class he alternately played with my hair or ran his fingers up and down my arm. At one point, he even reached across me and stole my red pen to underline one of his notes, just giving me a cheeky grin as he placed it back on my desk.
When the class was over, Christian continued to sit in his seat as I packed up my things.
"What are you doing now? Want to go and grab a coffee or something?" he asked.
"I can't," I replied as I slipped my notebook in my bag.
"Oh okay then, just thought I would ask." He took his arm away and started packing his own things up. My head snapped up as I heard the surprise and possible hurt lacing his words.
I reached for his forearm and placed my hand on it, giving him a squeeze to get his attention. "I have a TutorAid session in half an hour on the other side of campus. Any other day and I would have said yes." I smiled at him so that he would see that I was being genuine.
His shoulders seemed to relax after he searched my eyes, seeing the truth in them.
"Okay," he said with a nod, accepting my words.
We both got up and made our way down to the door. I gave him a wave as I turned and headed in the opposite direction as him.
Coffee with him would be good. I would be able to flirt a little harder and ask him questions about the hockey team and get more info for my article.
My Inner Voice rolled her eyes at that thought. Yeah you keep telling yourself that, princess.
20
Hayden
Wednesday 6th December – 19 days until Christmas
I arrived a few minutes early to my session with Justin. However, it was no surprise that he was already there. I dropped my bag onto the table and sat in my chair.
Frowning a little, I waited a few seconds to see if he would look up, and when he didn't, I leaned across the table and tapped his hand.
He looked up at me a little startled but smiled when he saw me. Justin reached up for his headphones and pulled them out; the heavy bass filtered out into our little space.
"Sorry, I was in the zone, and I just didn't hear you arrive."
"All good, I didn't think you would ignore me on purpose." Though the idea had stung for just a second there.
"Nope, never." Justin reached into his backpack and pulled out some pastel colored index cards, still wrapped in their shiny packaging.
"Oh, are we writing new cards today?" I asked, already reaching into my bag for my pens.
"Uh no, I think I have all the ones I need. These are for you." He smiled at me as he held them out.
I slowly reached for them; my eyes darted from his to the cards. He'd brought me my own cards? My hand closed around the offering, stunned at the thoughtful gesture. There was pale blue, pale pink, pale purple, and aqua. A smile spread across my face; the glow warmed me from the inside out.
I looked back up at him. "Thank you. This is one of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me." I reached over and squeezed his now empty hand with my other hand.
I got a little shiver of delight when he squeezed back and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles.
"You're welcome. I was getting a few things for myself and when I saw the aqua it remind
ed me of you, so I just grabbed them too." A slight tinge of pink graced his cheekbones.
"You’re a really sweet guy, Justin, thank you. Your girlfriend is a lucky lady." I felt guilty throwing in that last part there because, to be honest, I was having a really hard time reconciling Justin with a guy that would participate in the Puck Games or to two-time a girl. He was big and gruff on occasion, yeah, but deep down he was a sweetheart, a protector, not a player.
"Uh, no girlfriend. Been single for a couple of months," he replied, as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh, well her loss then." I smiled at him. "I can't wait to try out my cards. I wish I had brought one of my own textbooks with me so I could get started."
"Well bring one to our next session and we can get you up and running for at least one of your exams," he suggested.
"That sounds great. Okay, so what are we doing today?" I asked, ready to help him along.
"I thought we could try to increase my time on my first one hundred cards, then maybe add an additional ten every round after that?"
"You’re the expert at this method, so if that's what you want to do then let’s do it." I smiled warmly at him.
We went through the first hundred cards pretty quickly, knocking off a couple of minutes from our last session. An idea occurred to me.
"We should use the lap timing function this time around and see which questions are taking you the longest to answer. Then we can figure out if it's because the answer is long or because you’re stumbling," I suggested.