The league match. The same three words that are coursing through every hockey player's mind today. It is finally time.

"River where are my shin pads?" Hein yells from his room, I can hear him scurrying around as he throws stuff out of his way in search of his shins.

"They are in the car!" I answered back and continue with the task at hand. I was busy making a jelly dessert for tomorrow night. It was the night that Alex will finally come and visit. I have kept him informed about the whole ordeal with the hockey and he has offered to help me as much as he can. He will be staying for a week before he goes on tour with his team for the year.

"When will Coachie be here?" Gary questions as he steps into the kitchen dressed in his game attire. He had been very cranky about the whole ordeal of Alex coming to visit and had decided to call him Coachie from now on.

"Tomorrow night, for the 100th time." I mumbled the last part softly, placing the dessert in the fridge and turning towards Gary. I had a stern look on my face with one eyebrow raised and both arms crossed over my chest. "Remember you will not be calling him Coachie when he gets here. I told him all about you guys when I was there and he's really excited to meet the two of you; therefore I ask very nicely that you be nice."

"Fine," he grumbled, spinning on his heel and stomping out of the kitchen like a little child. A scowl was etched on his face and I knew that he was planning to taunt him when he got here.

Yesterday at practise Coach had called me aside, and asked me to rather be a reserve and a watergirl for the team. He didn't want to use those exact words, but that was basically what he wanted me to be. I assume that he only wanted to give me a job in hope that I would be satisfied that I actually had the opportunity to do something. That, of course, was not the case because I was absolutely pissed off.

"Everyone ready?" I questioned as I stepped into the living room where both were waiting. I had the case with all the bottles tugged underneath my arm. A smile was etched on my face, but on the inside I was scowling. I wanted to be the one that's playing.

"Yeah," Hein looked excited as he nearly sprinted out of the door leaving his hockeybag behind and only returning a few seconds later to fetch it."Now I am."

"Come on,"Gary grumbled and stepped aside so that I could walk through the front door. He looked it behind him and fell into step beside me as we made our way downstairs. I was dressed in something similar to them since I was 'part of the team'. The uniform consisted of navy shorts and a white shirt that has every player's name on the back's bottom with their number and lastly the school logo printed in navy. Apparently this was only the warm-up uniform, but it was necessary on game days. The game shirt was a shirt that matched the shorts, but the printing was in white and it did not have the player's name on the bottom since it was too 'high school'. The first teams had a say in what they wanted to wear for game days. They had 3 different uniforms and all three included the game uniform plus the warm-up one. I didn't understand why it was such a big deal to have so many clothes since everyone should be focusing on the game and not the outfits that they are wearing.

I also had the uniforms, but since I wasn't playing I had to wear a different colour shirt. This one was three sizes too big for me, it was a mustard yellow colour and it had the word Water printed in black on the back along with the school logo on the front like the others'.

"I won't call him Coachie," Gary said softly as we reached the car. Hein was already sitting in the passenger seat, jumping up and down like a little kid. He really looked excited for this, probably since the last game he played was our championship. Gary is also part of a club that plays league matches over the holidays so he seemed quite calm about the whole ordeal.

"Thank you." I smiled at me, a genuine smile. I really want them to like Alex and I couldn't achieve this with Gary constantly taunting him about useless things. I climbed into driver's side and waited for Gary to climb into the back. We decided that it would be beter if I drove tonight since I will be the only one that's sober at the end of the night, not sore from the game and I will be able to get parking while they run to the Astro.

"I'm so excited and I just can't hide it..." Hein abnormally high voice enter my ears making me flinch slightly. It really was an ugly sound.

"I'm driving." I reminded him and he instantly shut up knowing what happened last time.

"And?"Gary questions from the back. His expression curious as he scooted closer to the front, his butt perched on the edge of the seat. He pressed his face inbetween the two front chairs and looked at us with curiosity.

"Nothing." Hein said quickly, maybe a bit too quickly because I saw the curiosity turn to suspicion on Gary's face through the rearview mirror.

"Doesn't sound like nothing. River, was it nothing?" I saw Gary look at me through my peripheral vision.

"I'm driving Gary please keep quiet."

"Just listen to her Gary. Trust me." Hein shuddered slightly, a horrid look on his face.

"What happened?" Deciding that it was time to have my fun I checked that there was no one behind me and pressed down on the brakes causing the car to shoot forward. Gary's head came forward a bit and a few moments later I heard him groan from his impact with something hard. Hein was pulled back by the seatbelt, but the look on his face was still evident.

"Shit, shit, shit. Gary why didn't you just shut up already. Shit!" He mumbled loudly, he looked absolutely terrified.

"What's the problem?" Gary asked unsure, his voice now taking the same tone as Hein's. I turned my head slightly to the side with an evil smile plastered on my face, a mischief glare evident in my eyes. They will cry like little babies. An evil laugh escaped my lips before I pressed down on the gas, making the car lunge forward. I was laughing like a maniac as the car surged forward, going faster and faster until we finally reached the school and I slowed down slightly. I easily found a parking spot and once the car was parked did I turn around to look at Gary. He was pressed against the backseat with a look of pure terror on his face, his mouth hanging open.

I turned to my side and looked at Hein, he wasn't as terrified as Hein and easily met my eyes. A smile started making its way onto my face before I couldn't hold it in any longer and I started laughing like a maniac, Hein soon joining me.

"That was genius,"Hein gasped in between laughes. "Did I look that bad as well?" I could only nod in response as I was still laughing to hard at this whole ordeal. This was too funny.

"What the heck just happened?" Gary gasped, sounding out of breath.

"Well see," Hein started, his laughter dying down."Last year River was driving and I started changing the radion stations and doing everything possible to irritate her. She kept on saying that she was driving and that I should stop, but I didn't. She then decided that enough was enough and she took me out onto an abandoned road and did the same thing she just did. We then decided that if we ever had the opportunity then we would do the same to you. It was quite worth it."

"Wait what! How can you even drive like that?"

"My dad took us all to the racetracks Gary. How could you forget that." I facepalmed myself at this, a big smile still on my face.

"Oh," he looked slightly embarrassed at this, but his glare was more prominent than that. He rolled his eyes at the two of us, gave us each a glare and grabbed his bag.

"He looks pissed." Hein stated as we watched Gary stomping towards the Astro.

"It was still worth it." I said with a cheeky grin on my face.

"For sure."

°~°

"Ok team, since we don't have a captain yet I will be doing the speeches until then. When we choose the captain he will be the one that decides everything and I will only say what the plays are. This is college hockey, I'm not needed anymore. Ok, so we all know that this is the rival team and they are one of the strongest teams in the country. I've seen how well you all play together the past few weeks and I know that every single one of you will make me proud today. I'm pretty sure all of you are familiar some of the players in the other team and therefore I want to motivate each of you to give it your all. Now go and make me proud!" The huddle breaks and the starting line-up runs onto the field with big smiles on their faces. I slowly make my way to the bench and watch as they all go stand in their position. There are only two other guys that are on the bench tonight, but both are seniors already and are only playing to keep fit. They had volunteered to become the bench players for the season. I wish I had that choice.

I watch in anticipation as the ball is hit from the centre and soon the game is in on. Ryder is a true natural on the field, his moves are fluent and comfortable as he weaves through the players. Gary and Hein seem to easily go back into the hockey mode, their game faces set as they play.

When we neared the end of the first half we were leading by a point and I could already see that some of them wished they had taken the fitness a bit more seriously. The other team are coming on strong and we are only winning because of the goalie's quick reflexes. I instantly recognised the striker, Johnathan, he was one of the best players in the country and he was also one of my closest friends. Just before the whistle blew for the end of the first half, he scored and made the scores even.

"Huddle up," Coach yelled once the whistle blew and the guys begrudgingly jogged towards him. Only a fair few seemed to be coping with the amount of running that they are doing and I couldn't help the smug smile that made its way onto my face. "We need to get this score up enough to give the backs a bit of rest. They are running around like a bunch of headless chickens. Do any of you have a game plan?" His question was met with silence. I, of course, had a plan but I knew that there would be no way that he would even remotely listen to me.

"Why don't you use River for a change. She might actually help you out," an all too familiar voice suggested a few feet from our huddle. I looked up and met the brown eyes of Johnathan himself. He had a big smirk on his face as he strode past us with a water bottle in hand. Suddenly, everyone in the team was looking at me expectantly, even Coach.

"Well?" He questioned.

"Ok, so Ryder and the two wings should stay up in the circle in a straight line. They are only to run out of that straight line once the ball passes the 50m line. Now Gary and Hein do you remember the Lollipop manoeuvre?" both nodded at my question."I want you two to tell the ones that need to be involved about that and then we can basically use that to get the ball to the top. Those that are not part of it should make it their job to be open for assistance and to stop that ball from going back into the circle. Got it?" Everyone nodded and quickly dispersed into smaller groups to discuss better tactics. I wasn't sure if this would actually work, but when the scoreboard at the end of the game showed 4-1 I knew that it was the best call I could've made.

Sorry for the late update. I started with exams and it has been soft of hectic.

I hope you like this one

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-CharleCloete