The Hockey Captain's Secret Obsession Wasn't Me?! novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: The Equipment Room

At five on Monday morning the rink smelled like cold rubber and floor cleaner, and I was already regretting everything.

The equipment room was a long concrete space with a washer, two dryers and about two hundred hockey sticks.

Someone had set a clipboard on the folding table with my name on it.

"You made it," a bright voice said behind me.

A tall girl in a camel coat was holding two paper cups.

She had sleek auburn hair and the kind of smile that made you want to be friends.

"I'm Courtney. I run the booster club. Coach asked me to show you the ropes." She held out a cup. "Hot chocolate. It's brutal in here before the sun's up."

I took it and felt my shoulders loosen for the first time all week.

"Thank you. I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Nobody does on day one. Come on."

She walked me through the whole room in ten minutes.

Jerseys go in the left dryer, never the right, because the right one burns the numbers.

Tape gets counted twice a day.

Skates get dropped in the blue bin and sharpened on Wednesdays.

"And that's the captain's locker," she added, nodding at the corner. "He doesn't let anyone touch his gear, so don't even try. Mason's very particular."

"I've heard," I said.

"I'm sure you have." She smiled again. "He has the whole season mapped out. See that calendar? He's circled December twentieth in red. He's been counting down to it."

I looked where she was pointing.

The date was circled twice.

I didn't know why, and I didn't think about it again.

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