Realistic or Modern Phones Don't Skate

[EtherPillows]

Weird. Win thought when she saw how Matthew's defensiveness rose at the mention of Claire Wu.

"What are you apologizing for?" She bit out, head ablaze. The second floor of Richard's Hall was barren, with only a couple of people giving the group curious glances every now and again. "You're welcome to hang around. I doubt those reporters will leave you alone."

Bailey was still bristled. "That's the least of his worries. I'm afraid someone might try something on Matthew."

Win rolled her eyes. That was a given.

The door to 324A opened.

Helena had been here before. Elliot and Rhydian had shared a dorm back when they were seniors and she was a college applicant. "Where's Fanny?"

Win shrugged her shoulders. She moved a couple of old harvest moon games away, hid a bunch of Mario cartridges inside her nightstand, and made last week's pizza box disappear under her bed. "Make yourself at home. There are bean bag chairs over by my desk."

Then she took off her shirt. A sports bra revealed the amount of sweat on her body. "Thanks for taking me home. I'm afraid I'm not much company."

 

[CJWrites]

Matthew sank into one of the beanbags. "Thanks." He muttered. "They'll get tired of me eventually. I'm not that famous. It's just... it's because of me that they're around."

He sat up as Bailey muttered. "Why would somebody try something? He was just too drunk, right?"

He blushed as he looked up and realized she was changing. Despite being his best friend, Claire had never changed in front of him.

Helena looked appalled "Win!" she shouted. "There's a boy here"

 

[EtherPillows]

"My poor chastity," She deadpanned. "Spare me, I'm more worried Fanny might try to pork me in my sleep."

"That's not the point." Helena muttered back.

Win settled onto her bed, a thin bed sheet covering her torso. She twisted her body to look at the three people in her room, proping her head with her bent arm.

"So I take it you're all the best of pals, now? You all seemed pretty cozy at the rink." She asked, eyeing the three of them curiously. "Or is this the Matthew Anderson support group?"

Whatever the answer was, Win didn't believe she could be apart of it. There was distinct line she wanted to draw between herself and everyone involved with last night. Friends were fine, until they no longer enjoyed her company for an assortment of reasons. Her abilities. Her looks. Her manner of being. She was the factor that no one counted for and no one was comfortable with, but she didn't pity herself for it. It made having over 100 acquintances easy.

 

[CJWrites]

"Geez... I'm like 23. You're a freshman, right? What are you? 17?" He wondered if he was breaking some sort of obscure child porn law just by being in the room. The age of consent here was 16 right?

Matthew took a chance, but he still stared pointedly at his feet, blushing heavily.

He'd never thought of girls like that much. Most female friends took him up as their "gay friend" who they could go shopping with.

Bailey and Helena looked at each other.

"A bit of both" Bailey said "I guess we're more his entourage, you know the kind celebrities have?"

Helena could feel her heart sink a little.

"Truth is, it's dangerous to practice higher level jumps alone." Matthew said "So I asked Helena if she wanted to sit in. And it seemed only logical to share the rink with Bailey. It saves money. But of course, we're pals, you're not hanging out with me just because of who I am are you?"

Helena frowned. Her heart had soared before plummeting back down. She wasn't, was she? Just because of who he is? Would she be giving him the time of day if she wasn't? She was always hanging around athletes but if she'd met Matthew, average college kid, would she hang out with him?

"I mean... we would never have met you if we weren't fans" She admitted. "But I'm not that kind of fan, I swear!"

Bailey nodded. "Well I am... a bit" She admitted honestly. "But I think we'd be friends regardless of whether I was or not"

 

[EtherPillows]

Win whistled, amused. "21, flattered someone actually believes otherwise." She mumbled.

The girls proceeded to explain their attachment to Matthew, so Win listened intently, never missing the looks that passed upon their faces and the words that came out of their mouths. She determined that Bailey was more sincere with her position, the kind of girl who could be loyal, perhaps to a fault. As for Helena, she had that complicated look that had passed by Matthew when Claire Wu was mentioned, albeit less obvious. What it meant, she was only beginning to understand.

"Alright, I guess I'm the only one here who thoroughly doesn't give two pork cutlets who you are." She figured the feeling was mutual.

As Win's fever began to subside, her drowsiness started to leave her too, and she could make out her thought process a lot better.

That begged the question, what about Win, the rink and him then? Where did she stand? "Anywho, our deal over the phone? You promised to share the rink after a week...or has that been washed away?" There was no accusation, infliction, or pout in her question. Just an evaluation.

 

[CJWrites]

Matthew frowned. He hadn't intended to budge an inch but giving her the rink is the least he could do after that. Still, he didn't want to set a precedent. Now that they had gotten on the right foot, she didn't seem so bad.

"Well... Bailey and I have practice together now, that means half the time, I'll be practicing in her time slot." He looked at her, asking the unspoken question.

"Uhh.... I do two hours on Saturday and Sunday and an hour each on Tuesdays and Thursdays." Bailey said.

Matthew thought. He did two hours each day. He supposed he could cut two hours off his training a week...

"But it's late at night and the time slot right after is free," Bailey said. "So we could stay for two hours instead?"

It was as if she had read his mind. Matthew didn't think it was a good idea to practice late every day but twice a week would work.

"That settles it then. I can give you the rink on Tuesdays and Thursdays" Matthew said. "Is that ok? I think its more than fair considering I booked it in the first place."

It was just dawning on Bailey that Matthew was serious about training with her "Can you help me perfect my triples? And give me feedback on my Vivaldi performance? It's based off the one you did last year! Regionals are the week after next!"

Matthew hadn't given a thought to regionals since he was in high school. "Sure of course."

"Hold on," Helena backed up. "What deal? I thought you said you'd booked the rink through the month?"

Matthew hesitated. He didn't want to rat out Win.

 

[EtherPillows]

Elation had bubbled inside of Winfred, and she was just about to agree to the terms when Helena interrupted. She internally squeaked when she remembered that neither of the girls new exactly why their phones remained switched for so long. "I would love that...anyway, when we accidentally swapped phones, I kind of used it to my advantage and threatened to send nudes to all of his contacts if he didn't agree to share the rink with me...."

Well...

"Which, for the record, I would not have actually done." She included belatedly. "I can be petty, but not evil."

She stared at them, daring them to prove otherwise. Upon feeling her body temperature settle, she rolled over and stared at the wall adjacent to her bed. A large canvas collage portrayed a lot of the most important parts of her life. Most of them included some sort of wilderness, others contained her first hockey games, very little had anything to do with school achievements. All of them had two things in common: her large lumberjack-like father, a man with light brown hair and a bearded smile that didn't resemble Rhydian's and Win's, and the lack of a mother.

"Crap..." Win remembered. She lamented silently.

Then she turned back around. She didn't want to think about it today. "Do you guys want to watch some TV? I don't usually have company other than Carson, but she's probably hanging with my brother right now."

She got up momentarily and stole the TV remote from Fanny's side of the bedroom. Upon turning on the television, she realized that she'd left her favorite sports channel on. Currently, prerecorded clip highlights of the best players in the winter sports circles were being run back to back, while commentators listed off their achievements one by one.

She rubbed her rosy cheeks and headed to sit back down, but then a name everyone in the room was familiar with popped up.

"Coming in at number 5 we have Claire Wu, a favorite among the CBS crew and our first pick for the top 5 Inspirational Women on Ice."

 

[CJWrites]

Jenny Schmidgall-PotterMatthew groaned and lowered his head into his hands. Couldn't she put it in a more tasteful way?

"You blackmailed him?" Helena said astounded, Bailey looked too shocked to say anything.

"Drop it," Matthew said. "And I was a bit of a jerk anyways."

Helena pursed her lips. She highly doubted he could be a jerk to anyone. She opened her mouth to argue further but she was distracted by the sports program currently playing.

"Claire Zhiming Wu is hailed as one of the best figure skaters of all time. She holds all the ladies' world records in figure skating, won a silver for Canada at the Sochi Olympics and has just won her second World Champion and is currently the highest paid skater in the circuit. But it isn't just her accomplishments which land her on the list."

An interview played one which Matthew recognized from after last year's Worlds.

"How does it feel to finally land a perfect Triple Axel, you're only the second woman to do so and you have been trying for years."

"My loss at the Olympics really opened my eyes." Claire had been the favorite going in. Matthew remembered her moaning about how the Canadian Olympic skating curse was real. It didn't help she'd lost by less than a point and skated a clean program. "Adelina was amazing, and when she did that impossible jump, but I realized it's not and that I could do one too."

"You also study full time, correct?"

Claire nodded. "Not currently, but I am one year from finishing my Bachelor in Math at UT"

"Sporty and Smart! How do you handle the workload?"

"I don't study during the winter, I take my winter courses during summer instead." She said. "I think it's the work ethic engrained in me. When I was a kid, my parents wouldn't let me skate unless I brought home an A. I love skating so I learned to manage. So now I'm usually training, studying or on a flight."

"But your story isn't just one of perseverance and hard work is it, yours is an immigrant story as well?"

Claire nodded. "That's right. I was born in Harbin, China and I still regularly go back there. My parents made the difficult decision of immigrating to Toronto when I was five and that's also when I started skating. I don't remember much, but it must have been hard those first years! We barely knew anyone or any English."

The background faded and the announcer continued.

"Our number 4 pick is Jenny Schmidgall-Potter"

Helena sighed. "Ming Ming is so amazing."

"Ming Ming?" Bailey wondered.

"It's her nickname in Chinese." Helena explained. "Matthew! Do you know what her programs are this year?"

Matthew frowned. "She's been oddly mum... only Victor knows apparently and even then she had someone else choreograph them. She's been shooing us out of the rink to practice. "

 

[EtherPillows]

Winfred had been mute through the small span they began to talk about Claire. She thought about the interview and the clips that played throughout the highlights. Who wouldn't give anything to remain in that kind of spotlight, and gain that kind of reverence? Win could almost bitterly see that woman's face on the screen.

She tilted her chin and only partially listened to what Helena was saying, her eyes fixated on Matthew instead, even as he began to talk too. If that's one of the individuals he had left behind, why? All he had here was a black eye, two fans, and Mr. Polar - which she realizes now that she had more of an attachment to that tiny polar bear strap that he did.

"Is your brother the same as her?" She put it politely, interrupting. "He was really nice but...uh...let's just say he wasn't you."

Then she put pointed something out bluntly. "Claire seems about ten times more intelligent than every girl I've met in Winona State."

"Hey!" cried Bailey.

"I really resent that." scoffed Helena.

Both girls had no idea where this line of questioning was going. Besides, they were already uncomfortable in Win's room, and now they had to deal with her iffy sense of humor and raw bluntness. Bailey was the first to suggest that she and Helena get snacks and return. "We'll be back, Matthew." Bailey said, pouting at Winfred.

"Don't let Winny blackmail you again!" Helena gave her retaliation from earlier.

Winfred closed her eyes in frustration, hearing the girls step out. "I was including myself in that list, alright ladies?! And use the downstairs vending machine, the one on this floor is broken!"

She retracted her glare from the door that had long since been closed, and continued with her observations. "As I was saying...this lures the question, why is she dating your brother? It's obvious by the way they communicate with one another than they're a little more than friends. And before you point out that this has nothing to do with me, I'm very much aware. Consider it a curious whim from a sickly -possibly dying- human that only Matthew Anderson can satisfy."

 

[CJWrites]

"Claire is..." Matthew's eyes glazed over. "She is the nicest, smartest, most talented and hard-working person I've ever met. There's a reason she's so successful. When I moved to Toronto, she gave up so much of her time to show me around and help me in school. Even now, I'm not sure She can be a handful though." He grimaced.

"Alex is smart!" Matthew defended. "He just... Has no filter between his mouth and brain. Blurts out the first thing on his mind." It seems to be something hockey players had in common.

Matthew shrugged. "Probably because he asked her out. She didn't give much thought to love. We don't have time. And who wouldn't date an NHL defenseman?"

Or for that nice Time magazine spread when she announces it, Matthew thought, but he didn't voice it out loud. Isn't it kind of pathetic? To be near your mid-twenties and never have gone on a date? He thought that was probably the reason she had done so.

"Our careers are short. Maybe it's time to think about what comes afterward. Not everyone can become a coach. That's why I'm here, partially."

 

[EtherPillows]

Tiny bells went off inside Winfred's head after she heard Matthew describe Claire. She could almost picture herself in his position, as though she were describing Elliot before she knew what he was like. The only difference is that Elliot kept a mask. She doubted Claire was the same by the way she had treated her over the messages.

Which meant Matthew liked this beautiful and slightly perfect girl.

Her attention was pulled away from that minute revelation when he talked about his brother and his brother's relationship with Claire. Her red cheeks swelled with air, and she whistled for the second time in a week, "You make it sound like you die after your retirements. What's your careers have to do with your love lives?" To Win, matters of like and like not were separate from matters of Hockey. She let the question hang as he kept talking.

Then he mentioned part of his reason for being in Winona State, and he clarified that their careers were short, so she nodded, "Oh...I see. I kind of understand. Even though my career hasn't even started yet..." Perhaps it was the illness, she continued without restraint. "I'm on financial aid, all I need is 3 good years of doing what I love professionally, and I can repay my father for putting me in college."

Then she sat up on the bed, and looked at Matthew, serious. "Considering that, you should think about now." She extended her tired limbs in the air and stretched, smiling. "You and Claire aren't washed up 30 year olds yet. You shouldn't make decisions solely based on something as wishy washy and unpredictable as the future. For all you know, a good part of your life has yet to start."

She slammed back down on the bed. stretching her feet and toes. Her hair was tossed about, but she seemed satisfied.

It was then that Bailey and Helena returned. Helena sported a loot of healthy snacks, all low cal and natural.

Win ruffled through the portion Bailey gave her, and quirked an eyebrow. "I see that my last meal as a dying woman will be birds food."

Helena politely declined the bait. "Good news, the reporters are gone!"

 

[CJWrites]

Matthew's heart sank. "Claire had the right idea, She has this whole plan after getting married. Get a Masters or get into law school... I mean... I'm a skater. What am I without that? What am I going to do after I retire?"

He was interrupted by the return of Helena and Bailey. "They sell those in vending machines here? Sweet."

Bailey pouted, "Helena wouldn't let me get Cheetos"

"You have regionals in a couple weeks right? You have to be in tip-top shape!"

Matthew laughed. He shot a glance at Win and grinned. Wanted to stay in this moment forever and maybe he could forget about Claire and his imploding career. But a glance at his phone told him he couldn't "Anyways, I gotta go. I have to go eat, go to the gym and then I've got a class. See you!"

He grabbed his backpack and started heading towards the door.

 

[EtherPillows]

Winfred lamented the fact that she couldn't respond to his earlier self retrospect, and as he left for the door, she curiously tilted her head. Bailey and Helena remained to finish the rest of the snacks, all the while praising Matthew for his dedication. It made Win wonder how others could see you so differently from how you see yourself.

When the room was left alone, Win hiked her knees to her chest and looked at the door for a solid 10 minutes. When her illness hit her with another wave of exhaustion, Winfred fell back to her bed and slept.

_________________________________________
​

A couple of days passed and Friday had arrived for all students in Winona State. For some that meant a party weekend, for others - such as Winfred and Carter - it meant tests and preparation. Most of their afternoons were spent at Frido's, while their mornings involved classes and study sessions that would ultimately lead to wrestling fights that Win would almost always win.

Carter sat on her dorm room bed, fixing her disheveled brunette hair. "So you actually get the rink on Tuesday and Thursday?"

Win nodded happily, "He was cool about it actually. Not as domineering as I thought."

"Wow, what a plot twist. wish I could have been there. Rhydian and I --"

"I really don't wanna know what you and Rhydian do."

Carter laughed, but she agreed to cease and desist. "Are you going to Cosmo's today? Riddy says that after he beat up Elliot, half of the track team has been a little hostile towards him. There's also been talk of retaliation."

"On my brother? Ha!" Win guffawed in disbelief. She would love to see them try.

"On Matthew Anderson." Carter cleared up. "According to Rhydian's spy, some seem to think that they can't try anything as long as you're in the way. They think you fancy him."

Winfred scowled, it had to be due to her encounter at Cosmo's earlier. "What do they want with him? Matthew's a good guy, Carter. He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Oh look at you." Carter started using her index finger to poke Winfred, until the giantess wacked her hand away. "Lucky for you, your brother agrees. He's keeping an eye on the situation."

"Mm, if I get the chance today, I'll warn Matthew." She began to rub her stomach side to side. She wasn't hungry, but nervous. She was already worried about the meeting with her mother she had tomorrow. It really wasn't helping her digestion.

 

[CJWrites]

"So you're going to Minneapolis?" Bailey wondered.

Matthew nodded. "Coach Victor said he'll come this week instead of next. He choreographed it sooner than expected so I should get started as soon as possible."

"Can we come?" Helena's eyes glazed over. "You promised we'd be able to meet Victor Nikiforov right?"

They were hanging out at the rink, waiting for Amy to finish leveling the ice.

"Of course!" Matthew said. "Although I don't know how much time you'll be able to spend with him. They're usually nice to their fans but...." His voice trailed off as he stared slack-jawed past Helena at the four figures that had just walked past the door.

"What the! What are all of you doing here?" He got up and walked right past Helena and Bailey who turned around before their mouths opened in shock.

Helena's eyes widened and she shrieked, jumping up and down. "It's Ming Ming! Oh My Gosh! I can't believe it!"

Matthew hugged Claire and moved in for a pound hug with Alex. He laughed at Helena's reaction "Helena, Bailey. Meet Claire Wu, my brother Alex, and my coaches Victor and Yuuri."

"Mum's out of town to do research for a case. Don't have anyone to feed me so I thought I'd drop by." Claire told Matthew. "I miss your cooking."

"And we wanted to check up on you! That punch looked like it hurt, man!"

Alex grinned, looking so much more relaxed than his brother always seemed on edge. He wore loose, ill-fitting jeans and a grey sweatshirt with items in almost every pocket. Despite being identical twins and wearing similar clothes it was almost impossible to mistake one for the other

Claire turned to Helena. She was dressed completely different from how Helena had imagined her as. Instead of tight leggings and a cute dress like Helena, she wore dark blue boyfriend jeans with bulges indicating her wallet and phone. Slung over her shoulder was a well-worn purse where a book and a lanyard were sticking out. Unlike on TV, her wavy hair fell loosely over her shoulders and she wore glasses. "Selfie and autograph?"

"Yes please!" Her eyes shone and she turned to the coaches. "You as well!"

"Me too!"

 

[EtherPillows]

"I could come with you?"

Win shook her head and twirled the polar bear strap that her father came to give her yesterday...after she had asked for one. She never requested anything, so Dean was happy to spoil her for once in his life. "Tomorrow is going to be a stressful day, and I doubt she'd want an audience."

"What do you think she wants with you?"

She shrugged her shoulders and put her phone back in her pocket. She was sitting criss cross utop her best-friend's bed. "I don't know, and I do not care. Car...I'm really tired of studying."

"Break?"

"Yes, please." Winfred placed her feet on Carson's dorm floor, then stood up. "You know what, I kinda want to check up on Anderson."

Carson's blue eyes widened. "You mean Matthew? Oh...O...kay."

"What?"

"Nuthin'"

"That's annoying, stop."

"Mmmmm, kay."

"God. Give me your car keys, I'm driving to the rink." Winfred bumped Carson's head with her index finger, pushing the girl back onto her pillow.

Carson made a swift recovery. "No no! I'll take you. It's a short drive and I haven't properly introduced myself anyway."

 

[CJWrites]

After a couple of pictures and autographs, Yuuri paused. "You're Bailey, the girl who defended Matthew right?"

"That's me!"

"Thanks a lot for helping him." He said. "I hope it hasn't caused you too much trouble." Yuuri turned to Helena. "And thank you both for being there during practice. It's easy to get injured and if nobody were here..." His voice trailed off.

"Well then, let's get started!" Victor said. "Matthew, you watched the video I sent you right?"

"Yeah,"

"Then watch me do it one more time" Victor turned to his female student. "Claire, you also have work to do on your triple axel."

Claire immediately perked up "Right, I'll get changed."

Bailey felt nervous. She wanted to get on the ice too and had even brought her skates.

"Go on" Helena whispered.

Bailey's mouth felt dry.

It wasn't long before Claire exited the changing room tying her hair up, glasses off and wearing a red t-shirt, gloves, and yoga jeans. It was only now that Bailey noticed how similar she looked to Helena. Granted the pro skater was a bit taller, noticeably heavier and had darker skin.

Claire walked past Matthew. She put a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "It's great that you're making friends"

Matthew nodded and his mouth felt dry as she pushed off and took the ice, practicing around Victor.

 

[EtherPillows]

"That's what you're wearing?" Carter peered at Win during a stop sign right outside the student parking lot.

Win looked down. She had a large black hoodie on and warm sweat pants that made her legs look bigger than they really were. Carter always lamented the fact that Winfred was too lazy to care about her appearance. One of these days, she would force her into a nice pair of tight jeans and a blouse.

"It's the rink, not the Buckingham palace." But even so, Win felt a little self conscious for no apparent reason. She huffed to shake away the feeling.

The arena was open, as expected, and the two young women trudged in with all the familiarity that 10 plus years of attending the same rink acquired. The only thing that was unnatural was the fact that neither were decking out in their jerseys and skates.

Carter opened the doors to the rink, "Do you think he would mind?"

"Not as long as we don't interr--"

If the definition of private included an entourage of people Win didn't know, then she had been doing private incorrectly. How could she have perceived that there would be not 1 not 2 but 7 people at the ice? Both females appeared like intruders. Carter was already aiming for the back of the benches, where the light was dim.

Win halted the shorter female. "Nope, c'mon. We're only here to check on him and drop a message. Stop acting like we're criminals."

Winfred wasn't close enough to tell who was who yet - or surely she wouldn't have dared to interrupt - so all she could do was whistle, putting her fingers to her mouth. She raised a tentative hand and waived. "Been a couple of days! Missed me yet ladies and gentleman?"

"Winfred! You don't even know if that's them." Carter begged.

That was true. She kinda felt like she was seeing double.

Bailey and Helena were the first to react to the sixth foot female a good distance away. After all, they didn't think they would come across her again. "Win?!"

 

[CJWrites]

Helena seemed confused "You have the rink on Tuesdays and Thursdays right?"

Alexander Anderson sometimes called Andy or Double-A by his teammates, was currently tapping away on his phone. It still had a crack from when he was checked into the wall one too many times during shinny, hastily plastered over with a tempered glass screen protector and wrapped inside a rugged blue and white phone case his girlfriend had made him get.

He turned around at the sound of the shout. Yuuri was focused on Claire's, watching her intently with his arms crossed over his chest. ("Keep your arms up, your free leg is sloppy") while Matthew was still transfixed watching Victor.

"Win? Win what," Alex asked, confused. He stood up. His face lit up in excitement. "Are there prizes?"

He squinted and seemed to recognize her. "Hey! You're that girl from the video! Thanks for protecting my brother, man. You're an awesome secretary."

 

[EtherPillows]

"You need to work on your whistling."

"Tell me about it." Winfred had garnered the attention from 2 out of the 3 individuals she hailed. She had a huge suspicion that the person on the blue and white phone was not in fact Matthew.

And she was right. Not Matthew was in fact twin Matthew, AKA : "Oh my gosh! You're Alex Anderson, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Carter Bentley. I love the Maple Leafs!" Carter extended her hand when she saw that Win looked a tad bit confused.

"Oh...Oh!" In an wonderous instant, all the messages she previously sent over Matthew's phone came rushing back. "Heh-heh." She scratched the back of her head. "Thanks man, but I'm not really his secretary. Just an...off duty super hero, I guess." She grinned, her green eyes apologetic.

Carter nudged her and made a pencil gesture. Winfred was nervous and didn't know how to interpret that, so she introduced herself. "My name is Winfred Tamford by the way. Do you have a pen?"

"We'd love your autograph!" Carter released in exasperation. She could only blame herself. Her brunnette waves bobbed as she blocked Winfred's advancement.

Win sighed, but she allowed Carter to proceed.

Helena then approached the group after their greetings had been exchanged. "Win, this is a really important private practice. You haven't signed a non-disclosure agreement."

The two met about halfway from where the actual practice was taking place. Win pursed her lips. Oh sure. 7 people private.

The shorter girl read her mind. "Those are his coaches Victor and Yuuri and that's...." Helena's eyes beightened when watching a familiar figure on the ice. "That's Claire Wu."

Winny paused.

Then she shook it off. It seemed like listing off these people was supposed to deter Win from approaching, but given that she rarely cared for celebrities, and even less when they were ice skaters, she sort of felt caught in a tight place. Still, she was rather surprised that they were all here at once.

"I just need to talk to Matthew. I'll leave after that." She explained to both the man who was Matthew's twin -yet managed to seem nothing like him- and Helena.

 

[CJWrites]

"Uhh.... I think Claire has one, hold on." Alex rummaged through her purse and pulled out a pen and a pad of paper.

"I didn't know you guys existed outside of Southern Ontario!" He said. "Who should I make this out to?"

Helena looked over towards the ice, where Matthew had now joined Victor in the center. They were avidly discussing the program and the problems Matthew had with it. Meanwhile, Victor was trying to convince Matthew to attempt harder jumps. "I think he's a bit busy right now."

However, it seemed to attract Yuuri's attention. "Take five," He called to Claire who looked a bit annoyed but nevertheless complied.

"It's ok," Yuuri told Helena. "Usually it's when people stick around too long, there's too many or are coming periodically that we don't allow it. Matthew's allowed to have friends."

Claire also joined them. Alex, without even looking, put his arms around her shoulders and despite still wearing her skates, she fit snugly beneath it.

"Matthew's friend who had his phone right?" She asked Win. "Thanks for defending him, by the way, and you too," she nodded towards Bailey, who still seemed transfixed watching Matthew and Victor argue over program elements.

"Yup! Her name's Winfred Tamford"

"Nice to meet you." Claire extended a hand.

 

[EtherPillows]

From the beginning to the end, Winfred's astonishment and slight confusion never ceased. It was one thing to communicate with someone over the phone, and read about them on wiki, but it was another thing entirely to face them in person. Now, Winfred faced three different individuals who had originally been nothing more than strangers on someone else's phone.

"Yeah, sorry about that. As you can see, we have our phones back." She waved her battered phone in the air, a cute polar bear strap, identical to the one Matthew had on his phone, dangling from it.

A thank you proceeded, and the next thing she knew, Claire Wu's hand was in hers.

So...petite. Winfred thought, encompassing Claire's palm with her large one. It made sense, considering their sport involved more aerodynamics than hers. "Same. It's nice to meet all of you..."

Carter tucked a hand around Win's arm. She could tell when her giantess was getting nervous. Despite being outgoing, Win had her moments of shyness as well. "We're sorry for intruding, really. We should have waited, but we're so used to practicing hockey in this rink that we didn't think twice."

Winfred nodded in agreement, even though she was more preoccupied by the fact that this was the girl. The "nicest, smartest, most-talented, and hard-working" woman that Matthew Anderson plausibly had a crush on.

Doesn't concern you.

Win couldn't think of a way to tell these people that an individual they were close to had earned some hefty enemies, so she decided to lie. "If you don't mind, I'd like to watch all of you skate. Although Carter and I play hockey, we'd love to have a couple of nifty tricks up our sleeves."

She hoped this wouldn't make it seem like she wanted to spy. Unlikely, considering she didn't exactly have the body of a figure skater.

 

[CJWrites]

Claire fidgeted at the mentions of more people watching but didn't object when Yuuri told them they could stay as long as they didn't make a fuss or take pictures or videos.

Alex's eyes lit up at the mention of hockey. "You play! That's awesome! I was hoping to get, whaddya say to a casual shinny? Between friends of friends?" He grinned at the two girls.

"Now?" Claire stared at him incredulously. "But we have practice and you only have three players."

"Oh." Alex looked a bit put out. "That's ok! Matthew can play!" And before Claire could object, he shouted across the ice "Hey, Mattie!"

"What?" The voice back sounded annoyed, similar to the cold tone Win had received on her first day. "Claire, Yuuri can you tell this idiot of a choreographer there's no way I can land a quad and two triple axels in the second half of my program."

"You never know until you try," Claire shouted back.

"I believe in you, Matthew!"

"Traitors" Matthew muttered under his breath before sighing and skating back to the entrance. "So what do you want?"

"You can play a game of shinny with us, right?" He turned to the two other girls in the room "Do you guys want to play?"

Helena laughed nervously and declined but Bailey jumped at the notion. "Sure! I'm not very good though"

Matthew spluttered. "I haven't played since high school! And I didn't bring hockey skates."

"Oh, that's ok! I brought my extra pair!"

 

[EtherPillows]

This was bad. If prior experience thought Winny anything, it was that her casual play could instantly turn into a serious predicament. Moments in her past life kept flickering over her mind like a movie reel: the time she elbowed Jamie Balthazar in the nose and her hearing aid fell out during capture the flag, and when she ran into glass trying to catch a ball with her baseball glove, or the time she kneed her freshmen crush in the groin and people swore that he lost a testicle.

Her alarm only grew when Alex referred to his brother, and a sick feeling entered Win's stomach at the thought of accidentally forming a new black eye on his face.

"I don't think so. Maybe some other time." She mumbled, not meeting any of the gazes.

"We'd love to." Her best friend spoke a lot louder.

Traitor. Winfred's mind echoed Matthew's words from earlier.

She shot Carter a look, but her friend was focused on the ice. She was smart enough to know that Winfred was a magnet for trouble, but Carter figured that if she could handle it, they could too. Besides, it was her chance to get to know this Matthew Anderson fellow and do some reconnaissance work for her boyfriend.

"That is... if your coaches don't mind. I'm Carter Bentley, by the way." She grinned at Matthew, blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "We met once before."

 

[CJWrites]

Yuuri pursed his lips. "For half an hour. And no checking Matthew. Any of you could snap him in half like a twig."

"Yes!" Alex shouted and pumped his fists in the air. "Girls vs Boys, what do you say?"

Claire looked like she very much did mind, crossed her arms and glared at Alex and Yuuri but kept silent. Victor put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we booked it later today and you can practice your routine then," Her expression didn't change.

"Umm... it's not really fair for you to check either." Bailey pointed out.

"How about this?" Matthew proposed. "No checking Bailey or I, and Al can't check at all"

Helena glanced at Claire out of the corner of her eye to notice she had quietly slipped away and was pushing the doors to the common room open. She followed

"Aren't you staying to watch?"

Claire shook her head. "Might as well get a bit of homework done. And I have to look over the details for a photo shoot in Japan on Monday. Call me when they're done." She smiled at her doppelganger.

 

[EtherPillows]

There was no greeting returned as the man known as Yuuri established the guidelines, and then Alex set up the teams.

Better, Win thought. Women's hockey disavowed body checking for the rediculous reason that women are somehow more fragile. That didn't stop her coach from having Win practice men's checking on the girls, just in case the opposite team tried something. The result was a league of women like Carter, ready to take a beating and shake it off in the next second.

"I won't check anyone either." Win said, determined.

Bailey quirked an eyebrow, but didn't rebute. "So is it 4 men against 3 girls?" She didn't think Yuuri and Victor could play, and both Helena and Claire were off on the ice.

Carter shook her head. "Seems pretty unfair...you might need more men on your team." She winked and then made a face of pain. Win had pinched her back discreetly.

"We'll go fetch our skate's from the lockers...we'll be back." Winfred said, a bit apprehensive.

She shot an apologetic look towards the heavens, and then proceeded to leave the rink.

When she was a good distance into the direction of the locker rooms, she took out her phone.

"What are you doing?" Carter asked, trying to get on her tiptoes to see.

"Calling the paramedics, just in case."

"You're joking."

"I am, but I should be," She shot her a look of reproach. "I'm shooting Matthew a text. We can't stay and be distractions all day. I should have just texted him anyway."

She'd saved his contact number as Gentle Matthew for the simple reason that she had another contact named Forceful Matt. She contacted the former.

Me: I should have texted you before. We just stopped by to tell you that some of Elliot's cronies are out to get you. We're keeping an eye on them.

Win rolled her eyes. It sounded like a bad Mafia Movie set up, but she sent it anyway and went to go fetch her skates.