Chances Taken

We already had two of our six away games, losing to the Hurricanes with the final score being four to one; we managed to win our first game against the Maple Leafs, winning in a shootout with the final score of five to six. Max, Jordan, James and I shot, all making it and was happy when Marc managed to catch the shot against the Leaf, or we would have had to go another round. I was excited to see my cousin, Amber, she had moved to Toronto a few months ago, finally leaving Vancouver. I hadn’t seen her since the Christmas party in Dallas, I was happy that she was able to come to the game, worried that her figure skating practice might be scheduled at the same time. When we were to come back in a few days, we had a free afternoon and Amber, Mike and I were going to go for lunch.

“Let’s get some of the guys and go for some food,” I said and Mike nodded his head and I sent a group text to everyone, just saying: Food?

That got everyone’s attention and soon twenty players were in the hallway. I looked around and saw who was there, someone asked where Neal was and I noticed he wasn’t there. I was trying to be nice, not getting as mad easily when something happens on the ice.

“Did you not ask him?” Mike asked and I shook my head.

“I don’t have his number, I’ll ask,” I said and he nodded his head, “What room?”

“At the end of the hall,” Kris said, “He’s next to Tyler and I.”

“I’ll meet you guys down there,” I said and the guys nodded their heads and I headed down towards the end of the hallway, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door. Niskanen opened the door; the guys had given him the nickname of Nisky, or Frisky Nisky.

“Hey,” he said and I gave him an awkward smile, “What’s up?”

“Some of us are going out for food,” I said and he nodded his head, “Do you two want to come?”

“Uh, sure,” he said looked into the room, “Nealer’s in the bathroom, I think he’s just finishing up on a shower.”

“All right, I’ll wait to tell him,” I said and Matt nodded his head, “The guys are waiting in the lobby, we’re gunna walk around and find a place.”

“All right, I’ll head down,” he said and I nodded my head and leaned against the wall, hearing Neal moving around in the bathroom. Matt left and I sighed, leaning my head against the wall.

The bathroom door opened, “What’s goin’ on, Nisky?” I heard and looked towards the door, my eyes widened and I blushed and looked away, “What the hell?!”

“Put some fuckin’ clothes on!” I said, not looking at him, seeing him in only a towel.

The bathroom door slammed closed and I leaned forward, taking a deep breath and holding my face. I walked over towards the window and looked out towards the city. After a few minutes the door opened again and Neal walked out in some jeans, but was shirtless.

“Sorry,” I muttered, looking back towards the window.

“Mind explaining what you’re doing in here? Where’s Nisky?” he asked annoyed and I looked towards him and watched him put on a plain black t-shirt.

“I asked the guys if they wanted food, we’re going out to dinner, I didn’t have your number,” I said and he walked over towards me, “So here I am asking if you want to go?” I asked, trying to sound nice, but was starting to get annoyed.

“I’ll pass,” he said and I sighed.

“Fine,” I said and headed for the door, was about to open it but stopped and looked back towards Neal, “Look,” I looked down and then looked at him, “James, you’re new,” I said and he looked at me, “You’re our teammate now,” I bit my lip and rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet, “So,” I sighed, “So whatever happened when you were on the Stars is in the past,” I said and he looked at me, “So can we stop this fuckin’ awkward tension and be teammates?”

“Why do you care?” he asked and I looked at him annoyed.

“Because we’re on the same team, we’re supposed to care,” I said and glared at him, “I’m trying to be nice here, I’m not picking a fight!”

“Not like you’ve never picked a fight with me before,” he said and I growled and clenched my fists.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re the one who always tripped, checked or boarded me!” I snapped and he can over to me and I stood my ground when he thought he was going to chase me off.

“Because you’re not supposed to even be here!” he said and I looked at him wide eyed and then clenched my fist tighter and then swung, landing a punch on his face.

“Don’t you EVER tell me that I’m not supposed to be here!” I growled and then shoved him back and he landed on the bed, “I’ve worked my ass off to be here, to be here in the NHL! Don’t ever fuckin’ tell me that I deserve what I have,” he looked at my furious eyes not saying a word, “I don’t give a damn if you fuckin’ starve to death, sorry for actually trying to be nice!” I left the room and slammed the door on the way out. I stomped down the hallway and towards the elevator, heading for the lobby. I tried to compose myself, stop myself from shaking in anger, stop myself from not letting out a tear or two. The door opened and I took a deep breath, I walked into the lobby and saw the team.

“Where’s Nealer?” Pascal asked and I walked past him.

“Not coming,” I said and headed for the door but then stopped and turned around, looking at Mike and Kris, “I’m suddenly not hungry, you guys go ahead.”

“Mags,” Mike said and I shook my head.

“You all right?” Kris asked and I looked at him.

“Just lost my appetite,” I said and headed for the elevator, “Have fun.”

I headed for my room and went to my bed; I laid down and looked out the window, looking at the night sky of Chicago. I felt my phone go off and saw Kane texting me, I opened it to see that he was telling me to go to some restaurant, that they had good food.

I’m not going out, suddenly not hungry.

I sent the text and shoved a pillow under my chest and leaned on my elbows, Kane texted me right back asking if I was feeling all right, if I was sick to turn down food. I gave a little smirked and rolled my eyes, ‘…Did everyone know that I love food?...’

Just not getting along with new teammate.

I replied and saw that Kris and Mike texted me saying that they’re at some pizza place at the end of the street and asking if I wanted any food and if I was all right.

I’m fine, thanks.

I replied to both of them and then got Kane’s response and it made me giggle, he was asking me who it was and how hard his team should hit him when we played.

We both know that I could handle myself in a fight.

I replied and smirked, debating on whether or not I should tell him that I had punched Neal across the face. My phone rapidly vibrated and I saw that Kane was calling me, I laughed when I saw his face appear on my iphone screen, because he took it to make it look like he was trapped in the phone.

“What do you want now?” I smirked.

“Who is it?” he asked and I sighed and rolled onto my back.

“It’s nobody, I can handle this,” I said and Kane scoffed.

“Obviously he said something to get under your skin if you’re giving up food, because come on, we both know you love food,” he said and I sighed.

“I hate when you’re right,” I said and he chuckled.

“When am I not right?” he asked and I rolled my eyes.

“Is that a trick question?”

“Shut up!” he laughed and I smirked, “So what did the nobody say?” I sighed and rubbed my face, looking up at the ceiling, “Mags?”

-Kane-
“Mags?” I asked again because she was quiet, “You there?”

“Yeah,” she said and I leaned against the headboard.

“What did he say?”

“Told me I didn’t belong in the NHL,” she said quietly and my eyes widened and I glared, I rubbed my face, angry at what she had told me.

Jon walked into the room with Sharp, he saw the angry look on my face and asked what was wrong, I held up my hand to tell him to wait, “Who is it, Mags?”

“Mags?” Jon asked and I nodded my head.

“Promise you won’t go after him at the game,” she said and I sighed.

“I can’t pro-“

“Please, Pattie,” she said and I sighed.

“You tell your brother what he said- Or Letang?” I asked and Maggie sighed.

“No, we were supposed to go to dinner, all of us, but, I lost my appetite,” she said and I bit my lip, “If it makes you feel better, I punched him.”

I chuckled a little, “Yeah, it does, but does it make you feel better?”

“At the time, yeah, but now, not so much.”

“Why?” I asked confused.

“I didn’t punch him hard enough,” she said and I laughed.

“Well Mags, whoever he is, he deserves to get punched a hundred more times for saying that to you because you’ve got multiple teams telling you that you’re amazing! Has he every been in the Olympics? On an All Star time?”

“No,” she said and I smiled.

“Then there you go, that should tell you that he’s a shit head who’s just jealous because you’re better than him,” I said and heard her giggled.

“Thanks Pattie.”

“Anytime, Mags,” I said and we said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone.

“What happened?” Jon asked and I looked at him.

“Who are the new players on Pittsburgh’s team?” I asked and Sharp looked it up on his phone.

“Niskanen and Neal. Why?”

“Positions?”

“Defense and left winger,” Sharp answered and I looked at the bed, “What’s goin’ on with Sparky?” he asked, calling her by her new nickname from my teammates.

“One of them, I think Neal, has been givin’ Mags a hard time, said she doesn’t deserve to be in the NHL,” I said and the guys.

“So how hard do we kick his ass?”