Babe's brain worked quick on the ice, and as she neared Henry's goal, she calculated just the shot she'd have to take. He was good at this, that's for sure, and he looked like he knew how to goalkeep. But two could play great, and she wasn't the daughter of one of the most famous pro players just to lose at tryouts, one on one. She feinted a shot to the right, figuring he'd call it for what it was, and still went for the left. She twisted last minute though, and the puck flew up, towards the top left hand corner of the goal, a move that she knew for a fact nobody ever tried because of how likely it was to miss.
Apaixonar: The act of falling in love.//OxO//Romance//CLOSED
She played dirty; He'd play dirty. He jumped up and blocked the puck with the side of his helmet, letting it fall down in front of the goal as he fell back slightly. He pushed it away with the stick chasing it now and counting on her speed to keep her from following him at first. He took advantage of his small lead, pushing himself as fast as he could across the ice and towards her goal, heading straight at it and knowing she couldn't get to it in time.
Anything goes. She repeated Hawk's words in her head as she followed. She let him get close, dangerously close, before throwing her stick, letting it slide across the ice and knock the puck away from him, all the way to the wall of the rink. She skated after it, using the momentary 'wtf' moment to her advantage and grabbed her stick as she did, hitting the puck and sending it flying across the ice, straight into his goal from all the way on their side.
He kept sliding as he tried to change his momentum, but he'd already missed his chance. She got the puck in, and there was nothing he could do. As soon as the puck was in range, he decided to do his best to really play dirty, and he charged the puck as soon as he could. He got close to her, getting into her space and blocking her stick with his own. As soon as he could, he slid down and hit the puck away from her with his foot, while blocking her stick with his own. He dodged up and away from her, pushing off from her to send her away from the puck and him towards it. Once he had it, he slammed it into her goal, aiming well and hitting it hard enough to send it sliding in.
((I think they're tied, or Henry won. I lost track))
"Whoo!" Babe shouted at she hit the glass, pumping her stick in the air. An alarm rang out, signaling the end of their match, and she skated up beside Henry, smacking his helmet with her stick in a show of congratulations. She pulled her helmet off, shaking out her hair as she tucked it under her arm, but her eyes widened as she spotted someone in the stands, and a string of curses flew from her mouth.
Henry looked up to the stands, turning back to Nova to shake hands. "You're good." He already knew the coach's reaction, and was pretty eager himself to start practicing with her. He turned again, following her gaze to a figure in the stands. Still watching her, he took off his helmet.
"Oh god, what is he doing here?" The person in the stands, a boy their age who looked like a genderbend of Babe, looked absolutely shocked. She waved halfheartedly at Henry, and skated towards the exit from the ice. Hawk looked like he wanted to intercept her, but after following her gaze, seemed to understand something.
Babe was absolutely freaking out as she pushed open the gate, stepping off the ice and making her way towards Rico. They began talking in harsh whispers, both of them gesturing wildly with their hands, a shared trait.
Henry pulled of his skates, moving over to the coach. "She's on the team, right?" He got a quick nod in response, then stuffed his skates into a duffel bag and placed his bag in his locker. Henry proceeded to head out to the last place he'd seen Nova, wondering if he should try to help.
"Babe, you know mom said-"
"Yeah, I know what she said." Babe cut her brother off, sitting down and removing her skates. "I was there, remember? I was the one in the hospital, and I was the one told I had to stop playing." She looked up at Rico, raising an eyebrow. He opened his mouth, trying and failing to come up with a response.
At that, Henry decided it was none of his business. He'd let Babe know when he saw her tomorrow, in class. Henry turned and walked as quietly as he could back through the halls to the parking lot, and went home. He had a huge pile of school to do, and wanted a decent amount of sleep that night.
Through some miracle, Babe managed to convince Rico to keep it a secret, promising that she'd be careful. When she'd asked him what he was doing there in the first place, his eyes had flickered towards one of the guys on the team, and they'd both muttered 'the heart wants what it wants' at the same time.
(Time skip to the next day?)
((Sure! When to? Lunch maybe?))
(Sounds good!)
Today, Henry decided to brave the lunch area and try to sit with his hockey team. They all hated the noise of the busy room, but they weren't supposed to eat in their lounge area. He pushed his way through the crowds of other hungry teens, heading for the old corner table the hockey team usually claimed for each other. He hadn't had time to talk to Nova yet, and he was hoping she'd come sit with the team.
Babe was sitting at a table right next to an older one in the corner, because Rico had said that one was claimed. Kai was fiddling with some new invention of his, and Zach and Adrain were intently discussing the business opportunities a new school brought, leaving her the only one to listen to Rico go on about the hockey player he had met yesterday. Kevin Tripson, more commonly known as Trip, was now her brother's big crush.
Henry sat down hard, laying down his food with a thud. "Ready for practice tonight with the new girl?" His team offered enthusiastic nods, and one of them nodded over at another table. Nova was there, with a few boys that all looked suspiciously similar to her. Brothers, he supposed. He waved at her, a slight invitation if she wanted to come over and meet the team.
Babe's eyes flickered in the direction of the table, and she caught the wave. Rico did too, shooting her a pointed look, and she rolled her eyes, standing and moving to plop down next to Henry. All she had was her hockey duffel, no lunch in sight. "S'up. I've been summoned?"
"You have indeed. Meet your new team: Myself, Kevin, George, Evan, and Dylan." He gestured toward each of the boys, and they all gave awkward waves. "To clarify, you're on the team. All the way on the team." The boys nodded at each other.
Babe brightened at that, a grin working it's way onto her face. "Nice. Name's Nova, pleasure to meetcha." She greeted everyone, more confidently and smoothly than they had her. If someone was paying attention, they'd have noticed her gaze lingering on Kevin, like she was sizing him up or something.
Henry engaged them all in a smooth conversation, keeping an eye on Nova. His dish of noodles was less than appetizing, but he had some of them anyway. While the conversation continued, he turned and leafed through some pages of science homework. He glanced up at a lull in the conversation. "So, Nova, those guys are your brothers?" He jerked his head towards the table she'd come from.
Babe looked over at her brothers, who looked to be in some heated debate, minus Kai, who was still focused intently on his robot. "Yeah." She grinned, shooting Rico a wink when he looked over curiously. "My twin, the other twins, and our resident robotics genius."
His eyebrows went up. "Robotics genius? That is impressive…" He looked over at their table again, studying the robot. Henry turned back to Nova. "How long you been playing hockey?" The other boys paused and looked over to see the answer. They were all eager to learn more about their new teammate's skills.
"If anyone related to me asks, I haven't played in three years." Nova said cryptically, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "The truth? I was skating before I could walk, and hockey came months after."
Henry gave an appreciative nod. "So we shouldn't advertise you as our new member?" He was somewhat anxious to get her back on the ice, to see what she could do with that much experience and as much enthusiasm for the sport itself.
"If you don't mind." Babe shrugged, looking apologetic. Nobody had asked her why yet, but she was expecting it. It always came up at some point. Playing this year, on this team, was going to be hard. Not the playing itself, but the secret keeping.
"Is there a reason?" Henry prompted. If she didn't want to say, it was fine. He just wanted to clear up anything right there, and get all the hard questions out of the way right then. The team could handle a secret member, but they needed a reason, or an assurance that they couldn't have a reason. There would be no hockey shenanigans as long as he was a part of the team.
"I was in an accident." Babe said with a resigned sigh, fiddling with her locket. "A skating one." If he wanted details, he could ask, but that was up to him.
Henry leaned back and studied her. She hadn't seemed at all stiff on the ice last night, so whatever had happened had seemed to have cleared up for her. She hadn't seem injured at all, very comfortable on the ice. He nodded at her, accepting her explanation.
"Oh, right." Babe said, changing the subject as she turned to look at Kevin. She pointed at him, singling him out. "Are you single, by any chance?" It kind of sounded like she was asking for herself, but her follow up question was whether or not he was into guys.
Kevin paused and looked at her closely. "I am… theoretically single." Dylan laughed. "He got dumped. He's still waiting for Abby to come around, but we all know she won't." Henry grabbed Kevin before he could lunge over at the laughing boys, but then turned to her. "Why, are you interested in Kevin?" The question was laughed at, as the boys teased Kevin mercilessly.