Determination

*A WEEK BEFORE THE FIRST NHL GAME OF THE SEASON*

"Hey March!" I heard a voice call and I stopped in the parking lot to wait for the quickly approaching Marc Andre Fleury.

"Oh hi Marc! What's up?"

He smiled, "Not much, you? Glad Coach gave us another week to finish off the 'summer'?" He put his hands up and made air quotes around the word summer. It IS October 3rd.

I nodded, remembering leaving New Jersey. Neighbors had even been in the streets watching me go. I had given my father a final hug before getting in my car and driving away from them, feeling a little guilty that I wasn't moving my family out here too, but not guilty enough to not do it. "Definitely! Where did you spend your time? I just took a last visit home. I think they all think I'm leaving forever and I'll never talk to any of them ever again."

Marc Andre smiled and replied, "That's nice. I actually went to Florida with my sister Marylène. It was warmer there. Was it warm in New Jersey?"

I shook my head. "No, no not really."

"Ready to go even colder?"

"Of course! But warm does mean playoffs."

"If you play on the Toronoto Maple Leafs, it means golfing." We both laughed at Marc Andre's jab at the Canadian team.

He looked at me, "Shorts? It's October March." He laughed at how funny that sounded.

"Marc Andre, OctoberMarch isn't a month! And yeah. I'm not sure why I wore shorts. It's not THAT cold!"

Marc Andre was dressed in a sweatshirt, jeans and those same black sneakers with the white rubber on the soles. "You cold?"

He shook his head, "No. So, do you have siblings?"

We started walking towards the arena again. I nodded, "Yeah and a lot of them. David is 7, James is 10, Kim is 13 and Rachel is 16. And then there's me, who turned 18 a few months back. You said you had a sister, Marylène was it?"

He nodded, "Do they all play hockey?"

I shook my head, "I'm actually the only one. James played for a year or so, but quit because he wanted to play basketball. He's tall though, and good too so it was probably the best mive he could have made, in the long run I mean."

Marc Andre nodded, "I see." He opened the door for me and we were met by Kris Letang.

"Hey Kris!" I gave him a hug.

"Hi! Ready for practice? Danny usually gets pretty riled up around now."

I nodded, "I'll take whatever he dishes out!"

We continued to talk as we made our way down to the locker room, where James joined the conversation. Once everyone was here, Coach Dan came in. "Alright boys and girl, we are going
To win this year."

I took my regular seat between Kris and Sidney, who seemed happy to see me.

"We are not going to lose to the Flyers, our first game exactly a week from now. Our hits will be good, our shots will be hard and we are going to win the fucking Stanley Cup and no fucking team will fucking stop us. Do you fucking hear me!"

"YES!"

"I said, do you fucking hear me?"

"YES!!!"

"Good!"

We all took the ice and skated around. "Hey March!" Sidney called.

I passed him the puck I had. "Hey Sid!"

He took the puck and fired it at Marc Andre who yelled, "Hey! I wasn't ready bitch!" He fired it right back to me.

"Thanks!" I saw Kris in the other zone talking to Staalsy. "Hey Kris! Think fast!" I slid the puck across the ice in his direction.

James intercepted it, and gave it off to Tyler, who gave it to Pascal.

"Alright, are we going to pass around, or actually train for the actual SEASON?" Coach Dan asked, and before anyone could answer, he said, "Alright get in groups of three, except for the goalies of course. You're going to be making the big saves. Did I mention the groups have to be by position?"

James skated over, "Wanna be part of my group?" He asked, making a "puppy dog face" or whatever you'd like to call it.

I nodded, "Sure and maybe-"

"Hey Malkin!" James called, "Wanna be in my group?"

I didn't hear Evgeni's response, but it sounded Russian and when James looked back to me he just said, "Hm, well Sid's cool too. Hey Sidney!"

He skated over and stopped abruptly, showering me in ice, and I giggled.

"Alright, now forwards, get together with a D man group!" Coach yelled.

I took it upon myself to call out to Tanger and his group of Paul Martin and Engelland.

Sidney patted me on the shoulder. "That's more like it March! You're part of this team!"

Kris skated over and did the same thing Sidney did. "Thanks," I said, pretending to be annoyed.

Our group was up first. The goal of the drill is to, well, score a goal. The defense is one team and the forwards are the other team.

Sidney brought the puck up, and being a lefty, I stood on the left side, where Deryk was covering. Sidney snapped the puck to Nealer. I skated lower and James faked to me an gave the puck back to Sidney, who faked a shot, Deryk moving and he gave the puck to me, and I took my shot, an open lane. But Marc Andre's too good for me, and he deflected it with the left pad.

Coach Dan called us in and put the group of Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Kennedy and Chris Kunitz, plus their defensive team.

Sidney said to me, "You're really good, you know that right?"

I shrugged, "I don't mean to be self centered, but I know I'm pretty good. I made it here, didn't I? But I'm not good in comparison to someone like you. I don't even deserve to be compared to you Sid."

His hazel eyes were surprised. "I like your honesty, and the beginning part is 100% true. But we're going to be compared a lot you know. And to me it's the highest form of compliment."

I stared at him in awe. The captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Was telling me. I couldn't even string a thought together. I looked at my skates, and my cheeks flushed a very deep shade of red.

Marc Andre Fleury suddenly pushed his way beside me. "I get to take off for the next one! So March, what did I tell you? I'm unable to be scored on!"

Sidney said, "No one can score on you Flowers? Well I remember that Devils game, 9-1. Yeah no one can score on the great Marc Andre Fleury!"

I looked at Marc Andre, and I knew we were thinking the exact same thing. A hurt look formed on his face, and for a moment we were both speechless. I know I should have said something. I SHOULD NOT have let Sidney get away with that creul jab. I thought Marc Andre should have let him have it, but he just stuttered, "You know what? You're right Sid. You are right. I have to um, go."

When my friend stood up, little cold flecks of ice fell off his jersey and onto my face. I thanked the Lord when Coach called me out to center ice, avoiding an awkward situation between me and Sidney. How could you say something so mean to your friend? I didn't understand it.
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SIDNEY'S POV

I skated off the ice with March. Even all sweaty and gross, she was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. She has a pretty face, and gorgeous green eyes. I don't think I've ever wanted someone to love me more than March. But for now, I'm stuck in the friendzone. And I KNOW I'm not the only one on the team who feels that way.

I saw him skating off the ice, and I knew he was headed over to me and March. We had already had a small conversation, and I still can't believe how low her self esteem is sometimes. She doesn't think she's great. But we all know she's the next captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Marc Andre sat down next to her, and I can't even put into words how much that bothers me. His charming smile and fun personality. She's bound to end up falling in love with him!

I couldn't even concentrate on whatever he was saying to her. All I heard was "You just can't score a goal on me!" or something along those lines.

I regretted the words that came out of my mouth. I just didn't like the way he acted around March. I didn't want her to fall in love with him. But it looks like she just might

I honestly don't think I've ever regretted anything more than those words I said to my friend right after that.

I snorted, "No one can score on you Flowers? Well I remember that Devils game, 9-1. Yeah no one can score on the great Marc Andre Fleury!"

I heard them come out. They were creul and rude, and just flat out mean. Right after I spit those awful words out, I regretted them. March opened her mouth a little. Damn now she thought I was a creul bastard too. Shit! Taste your words next time Sidney!

But the hurt look that Marc Andre wore, I knew I had done some serious damage. His eyes were confused, and he opened his mouth to reveal those huge white teeth he has. His eyebrows were scrunched together, as if he was trying to comprehend what I had said to him. It was like kicking a puppy to say something like that to him. He already isn't nearly the most confident on the team, he was the last guy who needed to be told he wasn' good enough. I'm such an idiot! I just killed one of my friendships, and a much needed good relationship as well.

He said back, his eyes still troubled, ""You know what? You're right Sid. You are right. I have to um, go."

March and I both watched him walk into the tunnel, and March didn't get the chance to say anything to me, Coach Dan called her out to the ice.