My Hockey Alpha

Nina

The next day, I headed to work with Tiffany.

She was evaluating a sick student when I arrived.

“Good morning!” Tiffany called over her shoulder when I entered. I started to take off my jacket, but she stopped me. “Don’t get too comfy,” she said. ” We’ll be heading out right after this. Did you wear athletic clothes like I asked?”

“I did,” I replied, keeping my jacket on. Tiffany had texted me early before my shift to tell me to dress appropriately in athletic clothes and sneakers today — she didn’t explain why, but I complied and put on my only real athletic clothes, which was a pair of leggings and a tight zin-un ton with long sleeves. I had purchased them the semester before when I thought I was going to be one of those girls who was into yoga, but one yoga class with Jessica changed my mind. Jessica was graceful and flexible with excellent balance and I… fell on my face. A lot.

Tiffany finished evaluating the student. “Looks like you’ve got a nasty case of strep throat.” She walked over to her desk and scribbled on a notepad, then ripped the page out and handed it to the student. “Take this to the pharmacy for some antibiotics. Avoid overusing your throat and try to drink lots of tea with honey. Can you come back in a week for a checkup?” The sick student nodded miserably and left, coughing into her elbow.

“Alright,” Tiffany said, grabbing her coat and medical bag. “Let’s go.”

We headed out the door. Tiffany turned the sign to ‘closed’ and then headed offtoward the athletic fields with me on her heels.

“Where are we headed?” I asked, almost jogging to keep up with Tiffany’s quick stride.

“We’re gonna be making the rounds for all of the sports teams today,” she replied, her breath making little clouds in the chilly morning air as she spoke. ” Football, soccer, rugby, and hockey.”

when she mentioned that we’d be visiting the

the way,” she said as we walked, ” you don’t have to tell me if it’s too personal,

and shrugged. “I don’t know,

you a bit of

I replied. “I need

and turned toward me, taking me by both shoulders. She was shorter than me, but still had a protective and comforting

it’s not worth it if you have to

with James or Enzo? At this point, I didn’t know

voice now low and somber. “It was a lot like you and Enzo, actually. We met here, in college. It was a confusing back-and-forth that went on for far too long, all because of me. He pissed me off. I argued with him. When he finally got sick of my games, he got together with a girl just a few days later; they got engaged by the time we graduated…

asked, my curiosity getting the best of

actually,” she responded. “Still married to her, with

before we got to the football field, and even if I had,

notes on their performance, attend to any injuries or concerns that the players had, and I watched Tiffany teach them new stretches to help with their performance. It was fun to see how each team trained differently, but I dreaded visiting

Tiffany’s words

late afternoon, after taking a funer break, Tiffany and I made our way to visit the hockey team. My heart pounded as we got closer to the arena and

outside on the athletic field behind it. I didn’t know that the hockey team

his biceps would burst out at any moment. As

was acting incredibly polite, which was a surprise considering how I yelled at him the day before. However, when his brown eyes flickered over to me, I saw the briefest flash of red in them. Was