Scott and Nick walked in, followed by Pudge. Charlie had been waiting for his friends at his mom’s café for over half an hour. “C-man. What’s shakin’?” Nick said. “Not much. Just waiting for you slugs.” “Sorry for being late,” Pudge said. He cast an accusing eye at Scott. “We got a slow start.” “...
It was phys. ed. class, and his teacher, Mr. Barton, had organized a series of three-on-three basketball games. Charlie, Zachary and Scott formed a team, and they were well on their way to winning their third straight game. The score was 8–0. All they needed was one more basket. Scott delivered t...
I could have done without the cold wind blowing in my face or the pain in my feet from the blisters that had broken even with the Band-Aids. But I ignored all that as I headed up ice, imagining it was game seven, overtime, Stanley Cup Final, with the puck deep in our end. I imagined a forechecker...
“Getting in a little extra skate?” Nadav said. Rocket had stayed out after practice to take some shots. He shrugged. “I watched most of the practice. Needed to work off some energy.” Nadav smiled warmly. “I was watching. You can really move out there. They call you Rocket, right?” “That’s more to...
The girls were kneeling at centre, crowded around Ms Cummings. Julia had told him Cummings was a great coach. Charlie had never been coached by a woman, and he was interested in hearing what she had to say. “Why isn’t Hilton coaching?” Scott said, as they skated over. “I bet he can’t be bothered,...
The reality of his situation had sapped him of all his energy. Even though it was only eleven o’clock in the morning he could have gone right to sleep. “Take a shower, Joyce, and maybe you can clean off that bad luck that follows you around,” he said aloud to himself. “Go ahead, I’ll wait.” Corey...