Testing the Water

I opened my eyes slowly, preparing myself for the bright of the morning sun shining through the window. Finally when my courage was built up enough to release the tension in my eyes, I was greeted by what I expected; a glowing sun brightening to the room to such an extent that it appeared to be the middle of the afternoon. I looked over at the sleeping Sidney, and pushed him out of the way slightly so I could get a look at the clock. It read 2:30pm. I jumped out of bed and hurriedly started grabbing pieces of clothing. “Sid!” A loud muffle of words was the response. “Sidney! Get your ass out of bed! You have half an hour to be at Mellon!”

He jolted up, “What?! Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” He rushed around the room, and I handed him some clothes that I found thrown wherever. Our room was not the cleanest place to say the least. A teenager and a hockey player...what really could you expect?

“I just woke up too!” I grabbed a shirt, sweater and pair of jeans, and ran out into the washroom to get ready.

Within ten minutes we were all ready and starting to head out the door.

“You guys better be decent!” I yelled, as the two of us stormed into the dressing room in an utter rush.
“Wow, you guys are a bit late.” Marc laughed. “What happened to being the first here?”
“Shut up Flower. We slept in.” Sid shot back.

As they continued to shoot remarks back at one another I made my way over to Max.

“Mad Max! How ya doing?” I sat down beside the gloomy looking guy.
“Horrible, really bad hangover.” He whined.
“Aw, Maxy! I told you to not drink so much!”
“I know, I know.” He sounded terrible.
“I’ll check on you after practice, kay? Don’t overwork yourself.” He nodded.

I got up from my seat next to the French Canadian and started out towards the door of the dressing room.
“Hey Nicki, hold up.” I turned around to see Tyler.
“Oh hey Ty,” He seemed to be in better spirits than earlier today.
“Come on, I’ll walk you to the stands.” We started walking forward, his strides twice as large as my own.
“I do know how to get there you know.” I laughed.
He sent me a playful look, “I got that smartass. But I needed to talk to you.”
“About...?”
“I just wanted to say I’m really sorry about how I acted earlier...It’s just stuff... I don’t want to go into though. Alright?”
I looked up at him confused, “Okay...”
“Just forget it kay?” His face contained an emotion I couldn’t decode whatsoever.
“Alright Ty.”We stopped walking as we got to the stairs to get up to the seats.
“See ya.” He sent a light smile back before walking back towards the dressing room.

I walked up to the last row of seats in the first level. In my confused state, I just sat back to think. My eyes were closed and my ears were ringing with music from my iPod blasting on full volume.

-In The Dressing Room, Sid’s POV-

“So dude, what’re you going to do?” I asked, completely unsure of the situation.
“Can’t you just talk to her? Try and find out how she feels?” He asked me.
I shook my head lightly, “She can be a tough person to break...I don’t really know.”
“Try Sid?”
“As much as I think this would be great, no. This is your issue, you solve it.” He nodded slightly, “But one piece of advice |I can give you is, don’t be slow to figure this all out. She could have someone else anyday...though I think it’s unlikely since she still seems a little stuck on the Schenn situation...”
“Thanks Sid.” I gave him a hit on the back and headed out towards the ice.

-Back To The Rink, Nicole’s POV-

My thoughts had drifted, and I was mindlessly watching the players running drills on the ice. I wasn’t even paying attention to who was who. My eyes canned the bright white surface but they quickly grew tired, and I closed them. Leaning back in the seat with my feet up on another I drifted off into a different world. A very short while later, I heard a loud whistle signalling the end of practice. Jumping up, I grabbed my bag and headed down to the dressing room. If I hurried, I might be able to get there before the boys.

As expected I did make it to the dressing room before the guys. I went over to Max’s stall and sat down. A few minutes later the guys came in, lead my Max Talbot himself.
“Maxy! Are you alright?” I looked at his extremely pale face and half-dead eyes.
“I feel really really horrible to be honest.” He let out a deep sigh and sat down taking off his jersey.
“Aw, Max!” I pulled him into a hug.
“As soon as I get home I’m crashing.” He mumbled.
“I think that’s a good idea...”He nodded slowly.
“Feel better Max, kay?”
“See you later Nicki.” I waved back to him.

“Ay, Sid! I’ll be out by the car kay?”
“Alright. I’ll make it quick.” He yelled across the room as I exited.

-Words can’t describe the uttermost confused feelings I have at the sight of you.
They’re just indescribable, and give me those butterflies I can’t avoid.-