Depending on who you were, and what your interests were, the first week of school could pass by incredibly quickly, or incredibly slowly. For Theo, it was the latter. Waiting anxiously for the week to end, his mind was only on hockey tryouts. Two days on the ice here in Moose Track Falls. Two days to prove he was back.

When Friday finally arrived, he was about ready to head over to the rink already. Part of him wanted to camp out there overnight. He wouldn't do that, of course. He'd arranged to get some skating time in Loon's Lake that night to get ready. Mr. Cliff was always willing to help him out like that. He did help out at the rink to make up for it, of course.

He'd created a bit of a stir in the school by signing up. Some people were excited, on his side and believing he'd made a full recovery. Even though he'd only suited up half a game the last year, they expected he'd be a valuable member to the team. Others, however, had seen the injury, read Natalie's article, or merely heard the rumours. They thought he was insane. They stared at him with pity and curiosity, wondering what on earth he could be doing.

It took everything in Theo's power not to snap at some of these moments. One of those moments was at lunch that day, when he was at his locker. Dylan was with him as he was stowing his books away, babbling on about some girls in his English class who probably didn't exist. As Theo closed his locker up, a pair of students walked past, one of them a senior who was likely to make the hockey team. He tried to hide his expression, but the girl he was with looked at Theo as though he was a lost puppy.

They hurried along before Theo could say anything, but his fist was clenched so tight it hurt. Dylan stopped talking when he noticed, patting Theo on the back. "Hey man," he said, "you just gotta light 'em up at tryouts. It's all good."

"It's not gonna stop until I play game one," Theo muttered. "Seems like everyone thinks I'm made of glass right now."

Dylan punched him in the arm and he staggered back, staring at his friend accusingly. "Hey! You didn't break!"

Theo grinned weakly. "Thanks for testing."

They began to make their way to the cafeteria. Their lunch period was fourth period, so it had the fewest students, meaning the cafeteria would be fairly empty in comparison to the previous periods. That was both a blessing and a curse for Theo's current issue. On the one hand, fewer people were there to stare at him, but then there were also fewer distractions.

So, naturally, when he and Dylan walked into the cafeteria, a few people stared at him, many with pity. Dylan tried to distract him from his irritation, talking about some ridiculous story from his summer vacation where he'd knocked over a street vendor's table and found himself getting chased down the street for thirty minutes. He had many strange stories, most of them unbelievable. Theo did believe this one, though.

As they were making their way to an empty table to sit, though, Dylan's story was interrupted. The voice was immediately recognizable to Theo, and he looked to his right to see the familiar red hair of his childhood friend.

"The guy with the beard!" Angela pointed. "He's your friend, Theo?!"

"Huh?' Theo asked. "The guy with the..." He paused, remembering Dylan's antics from the first day. "Oh...yeah, that was fake. This is Dylan. He's just a..." Theo wasn't really sure how to explain Dylan, but of course, his friend was willing to step in.

"I was incognito. It was necessary to ensure the safety of the school with all the newbies coming in." He started rummaging through his bag, presumably searching for his fake beard.

With Dylan distracted for the moment, Theo let his gaze wander over the table Angela was at. She seemed to be sitting with the girls she was with on the first day. He remembered them somewhat from middle school. He was pretty sure their names were Victoria and Brooke. They'd even played hockey from what he remembered. And then, of course, Chloé was there as well. He gave her a friendly smile, hoping she wasn't feeling weird about the other day. He hadn't gone back to the cafe since then, and he hadn't run into her at school, either.

"So Byers, you're still trying out tomorrow?"

"Vicky..." Angela muttered, glancing at Theo uneasily at her friend's question.

Theo wasn't bothered, though. Victoria wasn't looking at him with the same pitying look so many others had. She seemed genuinely interested. "That's the plan."

"You do look better," Brooke murmured quietly, sipping on a drink. "The rumours about you might be overblown after all."

"It is reckless..." Angela mumbled, folding her arms and looking away. "You should still – agh!"

Theo jumped a bit at the sudden noise she made, but realized what it was a moment later. He sighed as he noticed Dylan, who had somehow made his way over to sit next to her, pulling out his lunch and appearing content as he wore his fake beard. He ignored Angela's look of disgust as he glanced at Theo. "You gonna sit down?"

Theo felt a bit awkward about it, but Angela gestured for him to go ahead. He supposed she was probably hoping he'd push Dylan out of the way, but instead he simply took the empty seat next to Chloé. She appeared a little tense, but she smiled as he got comfortable and began pulling his own lunch out.

"I know some people," Theo said, glancing at Angela to follow up on her last statement, "are worried about me. I appreciate it, but really, I feel like I can do this. There's no way I'll know for sure without getting out on the ice again anyway. I can't just give up."

"Maksh shensh ta me," Dylan mumbled through a mouthful of his sandwich. He seemed to be having trouble eating with his fake beard.

"I...I agree," Chloé said quietly. "If you feel like you have a chance to continue in your dream...it would be very hard to stop."

Theo nodded. "Exactly."

"Oh, right," Angela said. "Sorry, Theo this is-"

"Chloé. I know. We had a chat at the cafe the other day." Theo smiled at Chloé, who looked away quickly, hand going to her cheek. "Sounds like you guys are already good friends."

"Whaaa?" Angela looked stunned. "Chloé, you never-"

"D-Don't you remember when I told you about my part time job at TimBucks?' Chloé said quickly. "I-I spilled the coffee on my first day."

Angela stared at Chloé for a moment, before nodding slowly. "The coffee...right. Yeah, the coffee. Right...I must've forgotten you mentioning Theo after that."

"She never mentioned Theo," Victoria said. "Chloé, your face is all red. Are you okay?"

"Vicky!"

Theo was pretty sure his own face was heating up, but he took a drink of water to cool himself down, trying to ignore the quick, awkward whispering that ensued a moment later. He decided to change the topic and make things easier on everyone.

"So anyway, about hockey tryouts..." he started, getting the attention of the girls. Victoria seemed to be absentmindedly nodding to herself while Brooke shook her head slowly across from her. Angela turned her head to Theo as he spoke, though. "Did you sign up?"

"The girls' team hasn't opened sign ups yet," she said, disappointment in her voice. "That's part of what was going on when we were doing the club tour the first day. Natalie, and Maddie, from the figure skating team, were saying stuff about the girls' team not being welcome."

"That's dumb," Dylan muttered. He'd removed his fake beard, getting a relieved sigh from Angela as she glanced at him. "The girls' team was awesome last year. When Theo went down, it was the only hockey worth watching. I mean...they weren't the greatest team, but it was fun to watch."

The four girls stared at Dylan in shock at his statement, Angela the most stunned of all. "You watched the girls' hockey team?"

Dylan stared back innocently. "Well Kesley Gardner was on the team. I mean-"

"Right..." Angela rolled her eyes and shook her head at Theo. She clearly wasn't impressed with his friend so far.

"Dylan's just messing with you. He was legitimately into it. His cousin played women's college hockey in the states."

"It's true." Dylan nodded solemnly. "She barely knows I exist, though."

"Hm...well anyway," Angela said, glancing back at Theo, "it looks like I've gotta wait to sign up. Kelsey was going to try and figure out what was going on, but she hasn't said anything yet."

"Well, if you want to make sure you're ready for when the time comes, why don't you come to Cliff's rink tonight at nine?" Theo asked. "He's letting me take it before he closes up."

Angela's eyes widened, excitement in her gaze. "Seriously?" Theo nodded, grinning at her look. "Sure, that'd be awesome!"

"And you guys can come, too," Theo said to Victoria and Brooke. "You were on the Loonie Girls weren't you?"

"I think I'll pass," Brooke said. "I wasn't very good."

"Same here," Victoria added, a mysterious look in her eyes. "Hockey does bad things to me."

"Mhm. Hockey does bad things to her," Angela murmured ominously.

Theo wanted to know what that was about, but decided to ignore it for the time being. He turned to Chloé next. "How about you? You interested in coming?"

"Me? Well...I'm not trying out..." Chloé looked thoughtful, though. Theo had the impression she did want to come.

"You should totally come, Chloé!" Angela said quickly. "Maybe you can write your trial piece for the school paper about hockey tryouts? You can write about Theo working his way back from his injury."

"Yeah, we could even do our interview a little early, huh?" Theo added, giving Chloé a friendly nudge with his elbow.

Chloé shifted uneasily in her seat, but took a deep breath as she looked across the table at Angela, who was still quite fired up about the invitation. "I...I guess I'll go then. I'd like to see you two in action. It should be fun."

"Definitely," Theo assured her. "And there's no reason you can't come out on the ice, too, if you want."

"Oh...well...I can't actually skate," Chloé admitted. "I never learned, even though I like hockey."

"In that case we can teach you," Theo promised, giving her a thumbs up. "I taught my aunt to skate, and she didn't even listen to me very well."

"Maybe...maybe I'll try." Chloé smiled shyly. "Thank you."

With that arranged, the group finished their lunch together, with little more talk of hockey. Theo was curious how the girls had found their first school experience in Moose Track Falls to be, and he was glad that after the first day's incident, they seemed to be having a fairly good time. Angela and Chloé seemed to have most of their classes together, which seemed to make things much easier for them. Theo knew how that felt, thinking it would've been much harder to get through the school year last year without Dylan, even with his ridiculous antics.

When they'd finished up, Theo glanced at the clock and gestured for Dylan. "We should get going. Mrs. Higson will bite our heads off if we're late."

Dylan shuddered at the thought. Mrs. Higson was their geography teacher, and she was extremely strict. Especially with Dylan. "Yeah, let's go," he said, shoving his things in his bag and getting up to follow.

"See you guys later," Theo said to the girls with a wave. "Nice having lunch with you."

"Yeah, we should make it a thing," Victoria said.

The others nodded in agreement, and Theo hesitated, surprised to see Angela doing so. He grinned a moment later, though, He'd hated losing touch with such a good friend. He would be glad to hang out with her regularly again. And Chloé and the others were cool, too. "Sure thing," he said, and then followed after Dylan.

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It only took a moment for Dylan to look back at Theo with total glee in his eyes. "So that girl Chloé..."

"I'm not getting into that with you," Theo muttered, narrowing his eyes.

"She's cool, my friend. Very cool. Go for it, I say. You deserve your happiness." Dylan dramatically clutched his heart. "You can leave me to the clutches of the other three."

Theo sighed, shaking his head, although he couldn't help his mind wandering. He managed to shake himself back to reality a moment later, though, noticing a familiar face passing them in the hallway.

"Tanner! Hey!"

A tall, dark-haired boy looked back, raising his eyebrows in surprise. He'd grown since the last year. He was in his third year and would likely be a key player on the hockey team this year. He'd had a good start on Theo's line in that opening game the year before, but fell down the lineup after Theo was hurt. "Theo," he said with a nod. "What's up?"

"Not much. Pretty pumped for tryouts tomorrow, though." Theo grinned. "Your dad mention anyone who could be on the top line with us this year?"

Tanner frowned, looking away awkwardly. "Coach Dawson doesn't talk about the team to one specific player. I get treated no different."

Theo shuffled his feet uneasily at that. He supposed it wasn't easy for Tanner playing on a team his dad coached. At least for a high level. "Well, hopefully we show him some good stuff this weekend, right? It was awesome playing with you last year."

"For half a game?" Tanner's eyes went to Theo's leg for a brief moment. He then locked eyes with Theo, and there was no friendliness in his gaze. "Well...good luck. We'll see how it goes."

He continued on his way, and Theo watched him a moment, wondering what that look had been about. Was the team not hoping he'd be back? Did they not want to get their hopes up?

Dylan called back to him as he stood there, getting his attention. He quickly followed, feeling a twinge of pain in his leg as he did so.

Theo so wanted to prove he belonged once again. He needed to get back on the ice.

----------------------------------------

Angela was the happiest she'd been all week. The first week of school was always tough after a relaxing summer vacation, but seeing your friends always made it better. This week had been particularly tough on her, though, after having looked forward to hockey tryouts for so long. Becoming friends with Chloé had definitely been great, but that disappointment had stuck with Angela ever since the first day.

But now, along with her newest friend, Angela was excited to get on the ice again. If she wasn't going to get to tryout herself this weekend, getting to help Theo with his tryouts was a thrilling consolation prize. She was still worried about him, but perhaps he was right. Perhaps he was ready.

"You look really happy."

Angela smiled as she turned around, the skates and hockey stick she carried feeling weightless. She'd been waiting outside of Chloé's house, the two of them having planned to walk to the arena together. She realized she'd been humming happily to herself, and Chloé had likely heard her.

"I can't wait to get on the ice again," Angela said as the two set off down the quiet road. Chloé lived closer to the lake and downtown area than Angela did. Mr. Cliff's rink was just at the edge of the downtown area.

"Was the last time you skated during last season?" Chloé asked curiously. She was fiddling with something in her hand and pulling something from her pocket.

"Yeah, I've never skated in the summer. Usually Mr. Cliff uses his rink for indoor sports once the weather gets too warm." Angela peered at Chloé's hands, noticing a pencil in one and a notebook in the other. "Are you...taking notes?"

Chloé jumped as she was scribbling something down. "I...sorry. I was wondering if you'd let me write about you for my trial piece as well as Theo. I thought it would be interesting to talk about how both of you were preparing."

"Wh-What? Me?" Angela's eyes widened. "Why would you want to write about me? I'm not that exciting. Theo's the star around here."

"Yeah, but you were captain of your team last year, and you're a first year," Chloé said. "That should be an interesting story, too. Especially for students from Loon's Lake."

Angela couldn't help but smile, feeling a warmth spread through her. "Well...thanks. I'm honoured you want to write about me, too. Go ahead, ask anything you want!"

"Okay...so what was the Loonie Girls program like?" Chloé asked, smiling as she prepared to write. She squinted through her glasses. It was fairly dark out at this point, with street lights providing most of the light.

"You sure you can write anything down in this light?" Angela asked. Chloé nodded, though, appearing quite determined. "All right then. Well, it's the program for girls in Loon's Lake. We usually barely meet the requirements for a full team, though, since we're such a small town. We play in the Deer Valley league, so we need at least two forward lines, two defence pairs and a goalie."

"What happens if a player is hurt?" Chloé asked.

"Then we 'call up' a player from the year below us. I actually got called up a couple years ago and played up a year until last year. It's an under fourteen program so there was no other level other than my age group." Angela smiled as she thought back to the previous season. "It was fun, though. I got to play with Brooke and Vicky one more time. I wish they would try out with me this season."

"About that..." Chloé glanced at Angela somewhat uneasily. "What does Victoria mean about hockey being bad for her?"

Angela chuckled nervously. "You wouldn't really understand unless you saw her. But she...she becomes a different being."

"Sounds scary."

"It is."

Chloé shivered, but straightened up a moment later, looking out over the lake river they were walking past that led both to the lake and the falls that named the two towns. "Wow, it's so pretty..." she whispered.

Angela nodded, smiling as she looked at the water as well. "The lake is even better," she said, pointing ahead in the distance, where the lake was just visible through the trees and a couple of houses. "In the winter a rink is set up just next to it at Cupid Park and people can skate, play hockey and just have fun. It's great!"

"Cupid Park?" Chloé asked, tilting her head in confusion.

Angela laughed. "The trees around the park kind of make a heart shape if you look down from above. I've never seen it for real, but there are some cool pictures. There are a bunch of stories about people going there and becoming couples so it does get overrun during the holidays. Even people from Moose Track Falls come up to skate there."

"That's kind of nice," Chloé murmured, no longer writing in her notebook. "It seems like something that can bring the towns together."

"Maybe," Angela said with a shrug. "There has been the occasional fight. And then a hockey game might break out, too."

"Do you ever skate there?" Chloé asked.

"Not as much the last few years," Angela admitted. "Used to go with Theo a lot."

Chloé walked a little ahead, keeping her gaze forward. "Oh...you and Theo were...?"

"What?! No! No, of course not!" Angela couldn't help but blush at the remark. "Chloé, we were, like, nine and ten the last time we went there. And even otherwise...no!"

Chloé laughed uneasily. "Oh okay. Sorry. Just thought with the park and the stories about couples..."

Angela shook her head furiously. "Definitely not! We were best friends, sure, but just that." She narrowed her eyes, a hint of amusement in them. "Any reason you were wondering about Theo?"

Chloé jumped at the question. "Eek! No!"

"Don't worry," Angela said a little more gently. "He's a good guy. Too worked up in his hockey career, but still a good guy."

"Y-Yeah." Chloé glanced back at Angela shyly. "I just...I got a bit embarrassed the other day when we were talking at Timbucks. He offered me a donut, and I thought he was...um...asking me..."

Angela's eyes widened. "Asking you out?" She bit her lip, amused at the thought. "Chloé...Theo's not that hasty. If he ever does do that, he'll take his time."

"I...right." Chloé fidgeted with her glasses, clearly still uncomfortable. "I'm just embarrassed. I think he knows what I thought he was going to do."

"Aw, don't be. He'll embarrass himself worse before you know it." Angela sped up and patted Chloé on the back, before pointing ahead where Mr. Cliff's arena was located. "Look, we're almost there!"

It was much smaller than the newer arena set up next to Moose Track High, but to Angela, this arena was home.

It was painted a light blue out front, with a small wooden statue of a Loon at the entrance. Through the glass doors, the lobby was visible with a small snack bar. There was also a nice little restaurant to the side, where Angela had gone many times before games. And, towards the back, two doors led to the ice surface. Few games had been played there in recent years, but Angela loved it. She'd grown up on that ice.

Angela led the way as she and Chloé walked in. As soon as they were inside, Chloé took in her surroundings with wide eyes, her gaze immediately going to a wall covered in pictures of the teams that had played and practiced here over the years. She quickly found the one with Angela's team from the last year.

"Wow! Those jerseys are so pretty Angela!" she almost squeaked in joy. "That captain's 'C' looks good on you, too."

Angela laughed at that, heading over to stand next to Chloé. She smiled at the sight of the team picture, her sitting just behind the goalie, right in the middle. The jerseys really were beautiful, a yellow-gold base and a cream-coloured trim, with a majestic loon front and centre. She admired Moose Track Falls' baby blue jerseys, but she would definitely miss these ones.

"Ah, well if it isn't our Loonie Girls captain."

At the familiar voice, Angela turned around, looking up at the elderly man standing there in his worn brown coat and dusty old jeans. Jordin Cliff was almost always smiling, and now was no different. It made him look younger, even with the wrinkles around his eyes. The owner of Loon's Lake's old, but reliable arena, Mr. Cliff was well loved in the town, and not one person ever spoke ill of him.

"Mr. Cliff! It's so good to see you!" Angela exclaimed, quickly hugging him in greeting. "Theo invited us to skate with him for the time you set aside for him. Hope that's all right?"

"Of course!" Mr. Cliff said happily. "I'm glad he got you to come. It's been too long since our town's finest young players took the ice together." His eyes drifted to Chloé. "And who might this young lady be?"

"This is Chloé!" Angela said quickly, gesturing towards her friend. "And Chloé, this is Mr. Cliff. He owns this place, and he also does most of the maintenance here."

"Well I do have some help now that I'm getting older," he murmured, before nodding to Chloé. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Chloé. Will you be joining Angela and Theo on the ice this evening?"

"It's nice to meet you, too," Chloé greeted. "And no thank you. I'm actually just watching. I'm planning to write about Theo and Angela for the school paper."

"She needs to submit a trial piece to join," Angela added. "So she's writing about our tryouts for the school teams."

Mr. Cliff looked impressed. "Ah, an aspiring journalist. I do enjoy some good hockey reporting." He gestured to a counter nearby, just next to the doors leading to the ice surface. A woman was behind it, doing some paperwork. "If you do want to join in on the ice, however, you can borrow some skates over there. Free of charge."

As Chloé thanked him for the offer, Angela glanced at the clock, seeing that it was nearing the time to get on the ice. She could see the people that had been on it before beginning to exit through the doors, too.

"Oh, looks like it's almost our turn to get out there. I should probably go get my skates on!" she said. "Thanks again, Mr. Cliff."

"You're welcome," he said, before gesturing to the door. "You can go on ahead. I'll direct Chloé here to the benches. That will probably be the best place for you to watch."

"Sure!"

Angela nodded, heading off as Chloé and Mr. Cliff began to talk some more. It seemed Chloé had once again pulled out her notebook. The sight made Angela laugh a little as she stepped through the doors to the ice surface. Once she saw the ice, though, it grabbed her attention immediately.

It seemed the ice had just been cleaned, the surface smooth and the light coating of water just barely glistening before freezing. Angela was surprised that a Zamboni had been out, since she was pretty sure Mr. Cliff hadn't done it. That was when she noticed someone stepping out from the Zamboni doors, kneeling down and tightening up their skates.

"Theo..." She laughed. Of course. Theo was the only one Mr. Cliff would trust with the Zamboni. She'd heard a story about another helper he'd had that hadn't done a very good job. It looked like Theo was quite good at it, though.

Seeing her old friend on the ice, Angela decided to hurry up and get ready herself. She wanted to get out there right away and join him.

She quickly darted into a dressing room and dropped her bag with her skates on the ground. She hadn't brought all of her equipment since they wouldn't be doing much more than skating and moving the puck around. She had brought her jersey that Chloé had just been admiring, though. She quickly slipped that on and then began to put on her skates. Once that was done, she grabbed her stick and emerged from the dressing room.

Theo had already set up the nets and was practicing shooting when Angela stepped out onto the ice. He turned at the sound of the doors opening, grinning at the sight of her. He, too, was in an old Loon's Lake jersey.

He pointed across the ice to the empty net opposite him. "How about a breakaway pass?" he called out.

Angela grinned, tapping her stick and taking off. She immediately heard the sweet sound of skates digging into fresh ice, and the fresh feeling of the cool air in her face as she picked up speed. Every stride felt perfect. This truly was home. She could skate on this ice forever.

Theo fired his pass as Angela reached the red line at centre ice. It surprised her somewhat. She wasn't used to such fast passes. Nonetheless, she received the pass smoothly, catching it on her stick without a sound, caressing it as she sped across the blue line. Few things felt better than receiving a perfect pass so smoothly. She'd forgotten what it was like practicing with Theo.

Angela locked her eyes on the net ahead. She imagined a goalie coming out to challenge her. She pulled the puck to the left and let her momentum speed her ahead as her stick hung behind her. She faked a shot, simply dipping her shoulder and lightly folding the blade of her stick over the puck. In her mind, the goalie took the bait, going down to stop the shot coming from the left. In that moment, Angela acted on instinct, scooping the puck up onto the blade of her stick and spinning around in a circle. She deftly flicked the puck as she spun around, depositing it into the top corner of the net. She turned, raising her arms in celebration of the imagined goal.

A cheer came from the bench, Chloé clapping excitedly while Mr. Cliff beamed next to her. And at the other end of the ice, Theo stared in stunned silence. Angela blushed. She hadn't meant to show off.

A move like that just came easy to her.

She skated back slowly, approaching the bench where Theo had come to a stop. He, Mr. Cliff, and Chloé all looked at her. Theo appeared thoughtful, while the other two looked simply overjoyed for some reason.

"I see what you mean, Mr. Cliff," Chloé whispered. "Angela, that was amazing!"

Angela glanced at Mr. Cliff in confusion, wondering what he might've said to Chloé. She ignored it for the moment, though, turning back to Chloé. "Thanks," she said, rubbing her neck in embarrassment. "Just kind of came to me in the moment."

"You've been working hard the last few years," Theo said. Angela locked eyes with him, and she saw two emotions battling in his gaze. Shame...and excitement. He must've felt bad for missing out on seeing her growth as a player. But, she was glad to see excitement in his eyes, too.

"I've still got a lot of work to do, you know?" she said, grinning as she poked her stick out and snatched the puck he had with him. "Let's try a few one on one drills, Hotshot Byers!"

He laughed, bending down slightly. He winced a bit, but he skated backwards smoothly to give her some space. "All right, then. Show me what you got, MVP."

Angela took off, laughing as she carried the puck with her. She had missed this. Few things could beat a high stakes hockey game.

Playing with your best friend was one of them.