Darkroom: A Moo U Hockey Romance

go?”
“Good. We didn’t finish. We still have two more questions, so I’m meeting her after practice.”
I wasn’t about to mention the kiss because then I would get the third degree about it. Plus, you never knew who was listening in the locker room. I didn’t want it getting back to Indi that I was blabbing about the kiss not a half hour after it happened.
“Persistence, dude. Good for you.” AJ held out his fist and I bumped it automatically. “As for me? I spent two hours with Ruby and I’m in love. I’m in love with a Hawaiian princess and I don’t care who knows it.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Seb Hunter said.
AJ ignored him. “She’s my Buttercup and I’m going to do everything in my power to prove I’m her Westley. I will devote myself to making her happy in all the ways that can be accomplished.” He nudged me with his elbow. “Anything you can do to help would be appreciated.”
AJ was one of those guys who fell in love all the time. There was no easing into it with AJ. There was no “like” phase. He was all-in right from the get-go. I had to admire that. He was fearless that way. I’d asked him once why he wasn’t afraid of getting his heart broken.
“Dude, love is the most amazing thing of all. It’s the reason we’re here. If there’s even the slightest chance of finding it, I’m going for it, pedal to the metal. You can’t win big if you don’t bet big.”
“Remind me never to take you to Vegas,” I’d muttered.
A little over an hour later, Coach Keller blew the whistle and motioned for us to gather around. We were hot and sweaty from the drills we’d just run. I grabbed a water bottle off the railing and took a deep drink.
“All right, boys. Time to elect your captain,” he said, handing out pens and small pieces of blank paper. “I want you to remember, this isn’t high school. This isn’t a popularity contest. I want you to think long and hard about who can lead this team to a championship.
“It should be someone who constantly pushes himself, because he knows if he ever slacks off, that just gives other people an excuse to do the same. It should be someone who isn’t always in his own head, thinking about himself. A captain has his finger on the pulse of every one of his teammates. He’s aware of stuff that’s going on. He’s not insulated. He’s aware.
“He also listens. He listens to us and he listens to you. He’s a decision maker, he’s courageous, he’s fair. Coach G? Anything to add?”
Coach Garfunkle glided forward. “Coach Keller told you what the captain should be. I’m going to tell you some things he should not be. A captain isn’t selfish. He doesn’t think he’s right all the time. He doesn’t think he knows it all.”
“He’s willing to learn,” Coach Keller interjected.
“Exactly. He doesn’t lie, or cheat or treat people disrespectfully.”
“He’s basically Jesus,” AJ said under his breath and I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing.
“So, we’ve put together a list of three candidates for you to choose from—Pete Bramley, Jonathan Kurlander and Hudson Forte. We’ve talked individually to each of these men and all of them said they’d be honored to lead the team, so write the name of your choice on the paper, fold it and give it to Coach G. After that, you can hit the shower.”
When I got my ballot, I didn’t know who to vote for. I honestly thought I was the best man for the job. I certainly had the experience. I’d been captain of almost every hockey team I’d played for. But Bramley had been right. I could wear the C next year and give someone else a chance. When the Brewski Brothers had pulled their little stunt, Brammy had stepped up and the two of us had handled the situation. My dad told me there should always be more than one leader in the room and that leaders weren’t always designated as such. Sometimes they just worked in the background and that I shouldn’t ever shy away from being that unrecognized character guy.
Of course, he seemed to have conveniently forgotten about this selfless philosophy lately, but sometimes he got tunnel vision.
In the end, I scribbled Pete’s name, handed in my ballot.
Everyone seemed subdued in the shower and later in the locker room where we waited for the announcement. AJ couldn’t keep still. I was pretty anxious too. I wanted time to go home and change clothes for my date with Indi.
Finally, the coaching staff came in and stood at the front of the room where the white boards were still covered with notes about the plays we were working on.
“Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce your captain, the man who will lead us all to the Frozen Four in April, is…Hudson Forte. At his side, as alternate captain, will be Pete Bramley.”
AJ whooped it up like he’d just scored the game-winning goal.
Pete had a solemn look on his face as he shook my hand. “Congratulations, Forte.”
“Thanks, Pete. Congrats to you for getting the A.”
“Yeah.”
“Aw, look at Kurly,” AJ said, a little loudly. “He looks like he’s gonna cry. Gonna go cry now because you didn’t make captain? Because an entitled piece of shit junior got captain instead of you?” AJ made an exaggerated sad face and pretended to rub his eyes.
Kurlander’s face went red. “Fuck you, Scovie!”
He looked like he was going to launch himself at AJ, so I quickly shoved myself between them.
“Knock it off, both of you,” I said.
I couldn’t believe I’d been captain all of five minutes and I already had to play referee to two knuckleheads, one of them being my best friend. This sucked.
“AJ, apologize.”
AJ looked at me with shock. “What?”
“You need to apologize to Kurly.”
“The fuck I do.”
“You don’t rub a win in someone’s face,” I said. “Especially a teammate’s.