Frozen in Ice

Chapter 5

Luke's POV

Max, Jessie and I were all working and we were all having a bit of a bitching session. We had already listened to Jessie complain about her sister and Max complain about his college coursework before I started.

Brynn was still convinced that because I play hockey that I must either have sex with a different girl every night or have some dumb girlfriend. I was very quickly getting sick of it but I couldn't move seats because there wasn't another one and Brynn just always seemed to add her opinion ever when I didn't ask for it.

"She sounds like a bit of a bitch," Max added.

I nodded and rested my head on the counter. I was exhausted from training because Coach had pushed us even harder given our first game is tomorrow. Training had included a lot of fast skating and I was feeling it now.

We didn't get to talk much more because I was needed as a couple of groups got seated in my area. I headed over to one of the tables and made sure to put a smile on my face as I spoke.

"I'm Luke and I'll be your server for the day. What drinks can I do for you today?" I asked.

They all ordered and I made sure to write it all down so that I could remember it all. I had got used to working as a waiter from my other jobs but I still couldn't remember orders that well. I had to write it down so that I don't get it wrong.

I didn't get much of chance to talk to Max and Jessie again until close to midnight when the restaurant was slowing down and it was pretty much empty. We had already wiped all the empty tables and cleared up everything that wasn't needed.

Max and Jessie were standing to understand my schedule. Max had a look at my phone calendar and collapsed onto the floor in a dramatic fashion.

"How do you do it?" he asked.

I just shrugged and Jessie had a look at it as well.

"How do you get your homework done?" she asked.

"I do it when I have time," I said.

My schedule looks hectic and that I don't have any free time but I manage it well and I'm used to it. I'm used to the rushing between places and the late nights and it doesn't really bother me anymore. The last group of people finally left and it meant that we could finish cleaning up and shut the restaurant.

"I'll see you guys later," I said.

I pulled my jacket around me as I walked home. I opened the apartment and found Mom asleep at the table. She had pieces of paper all over the table and I knew that it meant that she had been doing a lot of extra work.

I gently shook her awake so that she could go back to sleep in a more comfortable place. She groaned as she woke and stretched out.

"What are you doing home?" she asked.

"It's past one in the morning. You had fallen asleep at the table. You are working too hard," I told her.

"I just need to get this done," she protested.

"Mom, I pretty much haven't seen you since we moved here. You are over-working yourself."

She didn't say anything else and I just shrugged.

"I'm going to bed," I said.

Mom didn't say anything else and I headed into my room. Mom had a tendency to overwork herself and I could never seem to stop her from doing it. Sometimes I have to stop her but it didn't always work. I headed to bed and drifted off to sleep easily after the day that I had had and training.

I headed to school the next day and I was excited for our game. We had to travel but it wasn't a long bus trip so we would only miss a bit of school. Mom was gone before I got up so I didn't get to talk to her anymore.

I could feel Brynn glaring at me for most of the lesson but I completely ignored it. I didn't need to deal with her complaining at the moment. The rest of the day was pretty boring and not long later we were bonding the bus.

I had homework to do and so I started on the bus. Justin slid into the seat next to me.

"Ready for your first game?" he asked.

I nodded and returned the work that I was doing. He just rolled his eyes at me and started to read over my shoulder at my homework.

"Can't you just do it later?" he asked.

"I don't have time to do it later," I said quickly and continued to work.

He didn't say anything else and turned around to talk to someone else. I would have preferred to talk to everyone else but if I don't get this done now then there is no other time for me to do it. I've got work, the Peewee game and rec training over the next two days.

We got off the bus and everyone went silent and started to focus on the game. There are the people that like to talk before a game and there are people that prefer the silence and clearly there are a lot of people in this locker room prefer the silence.

Coach gave us a couple of last pieces of advice and I wasn't starting the game. I knew that Coach loves Mark and there was no way that I was going to get this place on the top line yet. I hadn't played on the first line so I was currently the centre for the second line.

I sat on the bench and following the game until Coach changed shift. I had a smile on my face as I jumped over the barrier and started to play. Currently I was on a line with James and Kris and we had clicked in practice.

We had only been on the ice for a minute when we got the puck into our offensive zone. I got a pass from James and the lane was open and I took the shot. The goalie wasn't close to grabbing and it hit the back of the net.

I raised my arms in celebration as my teammates engulfed me. We all skated towards the bench and Justin was smiling at me.

"You're on the ice for a minute and you score," he teased.

We won the game 3-1 and it made the locker room noisy afterwards. Coach had a couple of things to say after the game but mostly he let us celebrate. We boarded the bus in a good mood and everyone was talking on the way home.

There was talk of going out for food or something but a lot of people had to be home so it never eventuated to anything. I grabbed my stuff off the busy and started to walk home.

"I'll see you guys later," I called.

Everyone nodded and Justin trailed after me.

"Have fun for your first game?" he asked.

"Yeah, you guys are a good team," I said.

"You are a good player too," he added.

I shrugged and offered him a slight smile.

"What, you don't know it?" he asked.

I just shrugged again because I didn't really know what to say to that. I knew that I was an alright player but no one really told me that I was a good player. Since I moved around so much I never had time to make a solid line mates and it made it difficult.

Justin didn't say anything else and he got called away.

"I guess I'll see you later," I said.

He nodded and I headed home.

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The Wise One