Rocket’s hockey sticks tumbled to the sidewalk. He kicked one and it spun around and whacked Maddy in the foot.
“Slashing penalty, goofball,” Maddy said. “You’ve dropped them twice already. Did you dip your hands in butter?”
“Connor’s rock-hard head. My hand is messed.”
“Give them to me,” she said, collecting the sticks. “Let’s hurry. Your bus leaves in twenty minutes.”
“Not my fault,” he said. He gave his hockey bag a pull and they continued down the street. “Mom lost her mind. She was convinced I’d forgotten my nail clippers. I swear I had to actually show her they were in my kit bag.”
Maddy adjusted the duffel bag strap across her shoulder. “You could have been a little nicer, Bryan. She was obviously upset, especially since she had to go to work this morning.”
“I was nice to her. I watched that movie last night and talked to her and … I need to do this. I have no choice. She has to understand that. I’ll make it up to her.”
“Maybe a call tonight from Axton?”
“Don’t you think she made me promise to Skype her about ten times already? It’s not a big deal.”
“I didn’t say it was a big deal.”
She’d been sniping at him all morning. He wondered if this didn’t have something to do with Connor and Raja. “So, change of topic, but I was thinking a lot last night about the Brigade … I feel bad about leaving you.”
She stopped and put the hockey sticks together in one hand. “Thanks, Bryan. But I’ll be okay.”
“I hate not being here to help out. That’s why I thought it would be a good idea for you to come to Axton. Once school starts, you can avoid Connor easier.”
“I figured as much.”
“And I know I’ve been a bit of a jerk to my mom. She’s worried about me going to a new place. But at least she won’t need to spend any money on me. That should help a bit.”
Maddy bounced the sticks lightly on the pavement. “This is important for you. This is what you’ve killed yourself for, all those games, the training. I get it. So I don’t want you worrying about us. Think about hockey. We’ll be fine.”
“You want me to think about myself? I don’t need help with that.”
They both laughed.
“First things first. You’ve got to get that bus,” she said.
They hurried into the terminal.
“Do you have the bus ticket?” Rocket said.
She stomped her foot. “Bryan! Your mom asked you before she left and you said …”
He couldn’t hold the laughter in.
Maddy pressed her lips together. “You think you’re so funny. Now I’m glad you’re going.”
“Don’t throw a fit because I got you. Just be ashamed of yourself.”
“Trust me. I am. Let’s find that stupid bus so I can get rid of you.”
They looked at the departures screen — bus to Axton, platform eighteen.
Suddenly Rocket heard a loud cheer and three kids came running over. The girl held a piece of Bristol board that read Good Luck, Bryan in big, blue bubble letters.
Rocket smiled at them in surprise. “Hey, guys,” he said. He hadn’t expected to see his old trivia teammates here. “Where are Des and Daniel? Did you kick them off the team?”
In grade seven, when things weren’t going so well with hockey, Rocket had joined the trivia team as their sports expert. He’d been friends with them ever since.
“They aren’t back in town until next week,” Megan said. “This is all I could find on short notice. Hi, Maddy!” The two girls hugged.
Megan looked different. He hadn’t seen her all summer. She’d been at her cottage and then working at a camp. Her lips were really red and her cheeks had a bit of colour to them. Her blue eyes seemed to be sparkling.
Megan was wearing makeup!
“Um … earth to Bryan,” Megan said.
He’d been caught staring.
“Right. I’m good. Just a little spaced. It’s been a crazy morning,” Rocket said. He lowered his hockey bag to the floor. “Guys, this is nice. Thanks.”
A tall, thin boy with very messy hair walked past Megan. “What’s the capital of Madagascar?” he said.
“Bird, I’m the sports guy,” Rocket paused. “But, it’s Antananarivo. You want to take a shot, Nigel?” he said to the other boy.
“Largest city in Burundi?”
“Bujumbura.”
“I can’t believe you’re leaving us,” Bird said. “You’re hitting your trivia prime.”
“I’ve been focusing on geography. Tired of Nigel making me look bad.”
“That’s always been fun,” Nigel said.
“You can still make me feel dumb in math, if that helps,” Rocket said.
Nigel nodded. “Thanks. It does.”
“I still can’t believe you’re ditching the school trivia team to play in the OHL. This is going to destroy your nerd cred,” Bird said. “Just don’t forget us when you’re in the NHL making millions — free tickets and such.”
“He gets free hockey gear in the OHL,” Megan said. “That’s a start.”
“So, not so much with the millions right off the bat …” Bird said.
“The average NHL salary is a little over $2.5 million a year,” Nigel put in.
“That would buy a sweet motherboard, a wicked processor and a totally awesome graphics card,” Bird said.
“I guess we don’t have to worry about our trivia team losing its nerd cred,” Megan laughed.
Bird grinned and flashed two thumbs-up.
“The minimum salary in the NHL is $550,000,” Nigel said, “so even if you kind of suck, all you have to do is make it.”
“Bryan will make it,” Megan said.
Easier said than done, Rocket thought.
A crack of thunder sounded.
“Who’s in charge of this weather?” Bird asked. “The rain is going to totally mess my hair.”
“I am, and I decided we needed some,” Megan said.
“Why now, Evil Rain Princess?” Bird asked.
“To show you I’m all-powerful — and to clean your hair for once,” Megan said. They all laughed.
“You should get to the platform now,” Maddy said to Rocket. “You want to get a good seat. It’s first come, first served.”
“Okay,” Rocket said. “Bye, guys. I don’t know when I’ll be back. It might be sooner rather than later. This is a tryout training camp for me, so I’ll text when I know what’s going on.” He reached for his bag.
“I’ll help you to the platform,” Maddy said.
“We’ll wait for you here,” Megan said to Maddy. Then she turned to Rocket. “Take care, Bryan. I know you’re going to do great. You’ll make that team, totally dominate, and smoke guys and dangle defencemen and roof one for a top-shelf goal …”
Rocket hugged her and she held him tightly.
“Later, Bird, Nigel,” Rocket said, letting go of Megan. “This is your year. In March, I’d better hear that you’ve won the trivia tourney.” He pointed at them. “What city in Europe is known as the Pink City?”
“Toulouse, France,” they answered.
“Unbeatable,” Rocket declared, and he headed to the doors leading to the platforms.
“Go Rockwood Go! Go Rockwood Go!” his friends chanted.
He fist-pumped in rhythm and pushed the door open.
“Do you have anything to read for the bus ride?” Maddy said to him as he lined up.
This was an old joke of theirs.
“I forgot.” He slapped his forehead. “So stupid. Now I’ll have to listen to music and play games on my phone the whole way.”
She snorted. “No wonder your brain is three-quarters mush.”
“Three-quarters? I’m getting smarter,” he said.
The line moved quickly. The driver threw Rocket’s stuff into the storage hold.
“You’ll do great. Just remember to bring it,” Maddy said.
“Always. I’ll talk to you tonight.”
She gave him a hug.
“I’ll ask my billet about you coming up. The exhibition season starts right after training camp. You may as well see a game.” He winced. He had to stop jinxing himself.
“Sounds good.”
“And tell me if there’s a problem with Connor and Raja and the Brigade. Seriously. Tell me,” he said.
She pointed to the door. “Get on the bus, Bryan.”
“Passengers to Axton. Last call to Axton,” the driver called out.
“Bye,” Rocket said to her.
She was already heading back into the terminal.
He took a deep breath. Bring it. Ty, Adam and he had begun saying that when they were little kids.
Tomorrow he had to do exactly that.
He had to.