Determination

MARCH’S POV
 
The rain was coming down super hard by the time I was leaving the arena. I pulled the hood of my UCLA sweatshirt, but the sweatshirt is cloth and all the moisture soaked through down to my hair.
 
Marc Andre, Kris, Pascal and I all were waiting under a small over hang in the back of the Kings arena for the rain to let up at least a little bit so we could make a run for it to Marc Andre’s car.
 
“Ugh it’s not going to stop!” Kris said, “Let’s just go!”
 
“Okay.” Pascal agreed. “On three?”
 
“One, two, three GO!” The four of us tore through the storm and I yelled, “Flower where the hell did you park?”
 
Marc Andre looked at the three of us, a guilty but still smiling look on his face, “Ha! Hmm, that’s actually a really good question March.”
 
Kris looked at him and said, “You’re kidding me, right?”
 
“Um, no.”
 
I looked at how big the parking lot is, and how many cars are still in the vast lot. I was already basically soaked and I sighed. My jeans are uncomfortable and I’ve been standing in the rain for thirty seconds. I looked at the sky and rain drops fell into my eyes and my sweatshirt hood fell back. “It’s not supposed to come down like this is Los Angeles though!”
 
Pascal agreed and then said, “Okay, we have to find Flower’s car right now or we’re all going to swept away in a flash flood.”
 
“There are no flash floods in Los Angeles.” Marc Andre pointed out and I giggled.
 
Kris pointed at a dark blue Mercedes Benz. “Flower, is that the car you rented?”
 
Marc squinted at the car and said skeptically, “No… It’s Sidney’s car.”
 
Pascal asked, “Well what the hell is Sidney’s car doing back here? He didn’t even DRIVE here did he? I thought he went with you, March and James.” He said to Marc Andre.
 
“He did…”
 
Why is Sidney’s car here? He was in the same car I came in, Marc Andre’s. “Wait, that doesn’t even make sense. We only have so many cars rented out. Flower has a car, Sidney has a car, Tanner has a car, Jordan has a car, Evgeni has a car, Kuni has a car, Tyler has a car and I’m pretty sure Brandon had a car. Why did Sidney even come with us then? They need every person who rented a car to be driving their own car. And Sidney’s car wasn’t here when I came in, and I came in later than all of you. This, this doesn’t make sense. Remember I came with you, Sid, and James. Then I left to go pick up and a sandwich from the subway just across the street because I hadn’t eaten and then I came back here…”
 
All the boys were quiet, thinking about what I said. Marc Andre’s voice was quiet when he said, “March Wilson, are you 100% sure that this car wasn’t here when you got there earlier?”
 
I nodded. “I’m totally sure. Because I don’t know if people will recognize me here-”
 
Kris interrupted me, “March, you would be recognized in Russia if you went over there. Even if Kings fans aren’t really true hockey fans you’re a huge news story. Just like that kid who had like 138 baskets or something during a basketball game. Did you hear about that?” I nodded and Kris continued, “Yeah, and you’re not a big basket ball fan are you?”
 
“I’m not a basket ball fan in the least Kris.”
 
He nodded and said, “See? Case and point.”
 
I nodded, “Okay. Well anyway I wasn’t in the mood to be mobbed like I am sometimes in Pittsburgh so I just came in here so I could sneak in without anybody seeing me. Then I went into the car to grab my sweatshirt and came right through this line of cars and I even noticed there was an empty parking spot right up close to the arena and I considered getting your keys to move your car up but I decided not to. But that also means that your car is just down this way a little bit further.”
 
Pascal was looking in the car. “This is the strangest thing, do you think that someone stole his car or something? And it’s obviously Sid’s car, he has his little penguin thing on the hood, see? It’s Sidney’s rental car that was driven here during the game by someone other than Sidney!”
 
“I can barely wrap my head around this.” Marc Andre confessed. “Let’s just get our story straight in less words. Okay. We all came here and searched around for a parking spot for about ten minutes. We all went inside. Fifteen minutes later March left to go get some food. She came back through the back entrance noticing that there was an empty parking spot. We come back here after the game to get going and suddenly his car is here. Okay. This story makes almost no sense at all.”
 
I shivered and walked so I was leaning against Marc Andre’s tall and lanky figure. He looked down at me and said, “Well I’m cold and wet, March is cold and wet, the two of you goons look cold and wet so I say it’s time to go back to the hotel. And my car which will be down this way.”
 
I’m soaked. I can feel the water sloshing around in my sneakers, and my already skinny jeans gripped my figure and my sweatshirt seemed as wet as it could possibly get. My hair was no longer straightened; the down pour had taken good care of that. It was now a mess of disorganized corkscrew curls like I had just gotten out of the shower and now I just wanted to get a towel around me.
 
He whispered in my ear, “You can have first dibs on the bathroom if you want.”
 
I smiled and said, “Thanks.”
 
We got in his car and my seat was already saturated. It was a nice day in Los Angeles before the game and I had the windows down. I guess I hadn’t forgotten to put it up. I didn’t complain as we drove wordlessly back to the hotel. All I could hear was the pounding of raindrops on the car and the occasional crack of thunder. I saw lightning strike ever so often.
 
“Meet back in our room in fifteen minutes?” Marc Andre asked the other hockey players.
 
We all agreed and Marc and I disappeared back into our hotel room. I went into my room and let Marc Andre have the bathroom because he needed a shower anyway. I had three towels and a hair dryer in my room anyway.
 
I took off my clothes and dried myself off, putting on warm pajamas after and I turned on the TV to find a bunch of stupid sitcoms on. I wasn’t really paying attention, I’m still thinking about Sidney’s car. Why is it there? Who brought it there? When did it get there? Does Sidney know it’s there? Is it a stolen car? If so, who stole it? How did it get there? Did Sidney give someone his keys and have them drive to the game in it? Don’t we need every car to fit every team mate?
 
Marc Andre joined me, and I snuggled into his chest, too tired to be guilty. I yawned, “Are the others-”
 
Just as I said that, there was a knock at the door and then someone said, “Hey open this door! It’s just us!” That doesn’t sound like Kris or Pascal though.
 
“Who’s us?” Marc asked.
 
“It’s Pascal and Kris you dumbasses.” Okay, now that sounds like Pascal.
 
I got up and opened the door to see Kris standing there with a few board games, Pascal at his side.”
 
“Holy crap guys, are we really bored enough to play board games?”
 
Kris smiled, “I saw you and James playing Clue in the team ‘hospital place thingy.’ So I figure that you can handle it.”
 
“Okay, we’ll see about that. I’d rather watch one of these dumb sit coms on TV though.” I said chuckling.
 
The four of us sat down on the couch and just as I was about to suggest we play a game on the floor there was a deafening crash and a couple of screams and a right flash of white light. There was a quiet click and all of the lights went out. The best part was I was looking out the window at the time, and I saw Los Angeles California go from being a lit up place to a dark shadowy alley.
 
“Holy shit!” Flower yelped in surprise.
 
*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *
 
JAMES’S POV
 
There was a huge crash of thunder and a bunch of people shrieked as every single light in the place clicked off and we were transferred far too quickly from far too bright to far too dark, and from far too loud to so quiet my ears were ringing.
 
Crap, how the hell am I supposed to find a whole hockey team in this darkness, especially since they’re all hammered?
 
No way that will ever happen. “James! James Neal can you come over here for a second?” Someone yelled. I recognized Sidney’s drunk voice.

I stormed over and yelled, "Look I have to round up a whole team of drunk hockey players can you PLEASE just solve your own problem?"

Sidney sounded as drunk as hell but his eyes were sober and desperate. "Please James. You won't be able to fix it but-" He rambled on and on.

"Stop. If I can't fix it why do you need me so badly? Did I tell you I have to round up a whole team of hockey players that are even more hammered than you!"

Sidney gave it a thought and then asked me, "Have you ever done something really, really bad and then when you realize you did something so fucking wrong it's far too late to go back and try to fix it?"

I gave it a thought and told him the truth. "Uh I slept with somebody in Phoenix once when I was still going out with Maddison. But she dumped me anyway and not because she found out. Why? Sidney, what the hell did you do?"

MARCH'S POV

The four of us sat in a circle under flashlights we had borrowed from Matt Cooke's room. I've won once and Kris won the other three times. I yawned, "I'm tired."

Marc Andre nodded, "Ready to turn in boys?"

Duper and Kris nodded, "Good night March and Flowers I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Kris called.

"Good night guys." I said, closing the door behind them.

I went to my own bed, shivering. The air conditioning was blowing directly on me and the blankets weren't warm at all. Marc Andre came into my room and asked me, "Are you cold March? I noticed the vent over here near you."

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm freezing."

He offered, "Want some extra body heat?"

Too tired to remember I was dating Sidney in secret I nodded. He was so WARM! I fell asleep what felt like only seconds later.