Pucking 7 Yellowjackets hockey SMAU - Natalie Scatorccio x reader
You check your phone again.
Maybe it was a bit excessive to wake up at five thirty and leave your shared apartment no later than five fifty, but you hated being late. More so, you hated people that were late. So avoiding becoming what you hate the most was somehow… constructive? Yeah. Constructive.
Pushing the heavy door open, you enter the training rink. Big, wide— well more like huge. The air is fresh and cold at the same time, making your skin tingle as the temperature softly penetrates you. It somehow feels great, giving the circumstances and the hot temperature outside.
You take a few steps forward, hands sliding over the edge of the half wall as you walk closer to the tiny door. The ice is even, practically new (except for the few scratches that are already shining beneath the blinding lights). The lines are vivid, the net looks slightly used, and so do the corners of the plexyglass. And somehow, you find it beautiful. This is gonna be your home, at last for a year. You’re already imagining the bleachers full, fighting for the puck, scoring and—
“Early riser, aren’t ya?”
You turn your head in a sudden move, catching the slim form behind you. Turning, you stutter “I- yeah I didn’t wanna be late on the first day. I’m never late anyway, so—”
Her rosy lips twitch into a lopsided grin, and you feel your heart stutter when her green eyes scan your form. “Well Jackie is gonna love that.” She hums. Some bleached blonde strands of hair fall from her lower bun, and her cheeks are slightly red from the outside heat. “Nat.” She says after a beat of silence.
“The exchange girl, yeah I know.” It doesn’t come out in a mean way, just in a low murmured tone. She’s probably just like that, so you give her a soft grin. “Been gossiping about me?” You say, almost matching her tone if it weren’t for the slight nerveousness in your voice.
She laughs and shrugs, slightly tilting her head. “Hm. Somethig like that.”
“Ohh I see,” you murmur, not being able to hold back a smile. Why is she so fucking pretty? “Were you guys user_4679295?”
“Mmm no, we were actually kate_elopez21”
That makes you laugh, and her grin widens even more. She follows with a soft laugh, more to do it with you rather than a geniuine laugh. When you both quiet down, she speaks again. “You going to the changing room?”
“I was going to, when I found it.”
“Well, I can show you where it is,” She says, sliding her hands in the pockets of her sweatpants.
“Oh, great.” You adjust your duffel bag as you start to move behind her, rushing a bit to get beside her.
“So, Miss Barcelona,” she starts, making you snort at the stupid nickname. “You’ve been playing for a long time?”
“Yeah, since I was like nine,” you smile as you walk beside her. “How bout you?”
“Oh I started in my Sophmore year,” She murmurs “Wasn’t even cause I liked it. I kinda um… got in to avoid getting expelled.”
You chuckle at that letting out a ‘Seriously?’ And laughing even more when she nods with a yes “What did you even do?”
“I uhhh might have tried to steal chem gear to make a bong,” You laugh, hand coming to cover your mouth. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it off…” She grumbles trying to hold back a smile.
“I’m sorry but that’s hilarious,” she rolls her eyes, holding the FEMALE CHANGING ROOM’s door open for you. Muttering a ‘thanks’ you follow her in.
“It’s not the best, but it’s good enough I guess,” you take in the room; old benches, creacky lockers, leaking sinks and showers missing tiles. “It is.” Is all you say.
“Okay team, line up!” Jackie’s chocolate ponytail wiggles behind her as she moves, following her hair bobs as she looks at all of you. “Okay! Good morning ladies,” Coach Martinez’s voice is far from Jackie’s sweet tone as he slides in front of you all. “I know we still have a few weeks before classes start but we need to be ready for the upcoming season. This week’s trainings are gonna be focused on practicing our skills and on trust.”
“Trust? What are we a middle aged couple trying to avoide divorce for the sake of your children?” Van murmurs grinning.
“Vanessa it’s our first day, give me a break with your jester jokes,” The older man murmurs, making averyone laugh even more. She snorts and murmurs a (not really) apologetic ‘sorry, sorry’. “Okay, well, trust and all that bullshit i have to tell yall. Anyway, aside from that, welcome back or welcome in, depending if it’s your first year with us. Buzz buzz Yellowjackets or whatever!” Jackie woops and claps, nudging Shauna to follow with the clapping and cheering. You follow after seeing the rest of the girls chime in, some more excited than the others. Natalie claps lazyly, and Van keeps trying to hold back a laugh.
“Ooookay, we’re gonna start with some drills, but before that, we need some warm up. Jackie, you can uh… take it from here” he murmurs, not bothering to get an answer back before he slides off the ice.
“Okay! Well I’m Jackie Taylor, team captain and center, for those who are new, and I’m very excited to welcome you all to the team! This is gonna be a great year and we're gonna kill it and hopefully get to nationals and not miss on the semifinals like we did last year. So yeah! I’m glad to see new faces and well, this is gonna be great!” She smiles wide and excited, hands squeezing her stick’s pink tape. You all clap, (you don’t really know why, guess it’s to cheer her) before she slides her phone off her pocket. “Oh just to remind you all, each year we make a warm-up playlist, you just have to request and I’ll add you as a co-creator so you can add your own songs to the playlist.” She presses play, and the speakers start to fill the stadium with the rhythm of ‘ice ice baby’.
“Seriously cap? You really didn’t rack your brains in this one, did you?” Natalie murmurs with her usual teasing grin.
“I didn’t add this one!” She shoots back, long brows scrunching in a furrowed ball.
“I did,” Van grins, skating backwards in a silly dance as she sings ‘ice-ice bah-byy’ under her breath. Taissa huffs rolling her eyes, but a smile still peeks from her chapsticked lips. “You’re unbelievable.”
“You say that all of the time,” Her girlfriend smiles teasing as she skates around her. “I don’t mean it like that,”
“I dony meany it nyke yat—” the ginger mocks, ganing a nudge from the curly haired “ow!”
“Ladies! get to working! Now!” Coach yells from the bleachers, huffing with his thick brows clumping together.
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