The motion.

The guidance.

The smoothness.

The puck being torn away from its path as it is led around the blade of the defenceman by the blade it is cradled in.

Getting back on track:

The motion.

The velocity.

The push.

The puck is thrown airborne with direction as the blade lifts it off for its flight.

The angle.

The speed.

The accuracy.

“Goal!” Nolan skates around the net calmly in his green practice jersey. “That’s another one!” He has a cocky smirk plastered on his face while gliding alongside the boards to the back of the line.

In front of the net and the goalie, Kale skates forcefully to the other side of the ice to the end of the other line.

He gazes across the ice to stare hard at Nolan. “How?” he murmurs to himself. He peers down at his defeated stick. “He juked me out for the fifth time in a row!”

Nolan darts his eyes to Kale. He gives him a mocking smirk.

Kale returns to him a scowl with narrowed eyes and furrowed eyebrows.

---

The hallway is still the same as when Kale entered into the arena for the first time. Yet this time, the mood of the teenager is the utter opposite.

Kale storms down the tunnel from the ice in the back of the line, his mind clouded in rising frustration laced with jealousy as his face shows a deadly glare.

“Ugh, I hate this,” he mutters through his mouthguard. “Nolan’s so good! Why does he have to be so rude, yet so great at hockey?! He smoked me every time we went against each other! I cannot read his moves! And on top of that, he’s practically flawless with his looks.”

He tromps into the locker room, not backing down with his harsh facial expression. “Flawless in his play, flawless in his looks, definitely flawed in his attitude.” He plops back down on his stall’s bench and tosses his stick with his gloves to the ground. “It’s not fair.” He unbuckles his caged helmet and pulls it off from his head, including his mouthguard. “Why is Nolan so good on the ice and perfect-looking off the ice?”

“What was that?”

Shock quickly replaces Kale’s seething, causing him to whip his head up at the one who spoke and whom he was speaking of. His eyes grow wide as his body becomes cold.

Nolan is peering down at him through his caged helmet with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk.

Kale swallows, attempting to reduce his panic. "Nothing."

"I heard jealousy...!" Nolan sing-songs as he places his stick by his stall and his gloves on the shelf. He begins removing his helmet.

Kale slowly turns his head away from him as he crosses his arms to the best of his ability due to his thick padding. "I'm not jealous."

Nolan lowers himself onto his stall’s bench, eyeing him with derisive concern. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!” Kale whirls around to him with wide eyes and knitted eyebrows. “I'm not jealous of your wicked hockey skills and amazing looks!"

"Keep lying to yourself, Kale.” Nolan rolls his eyes. “Your name does reflect you."

Bewilderment comes across his face. “My name?”

Nolan sticks his face into his with a growing, sick smile. “Green as kale.”

He leans away from him with disgruntlement. “I’m not green!”

Nolan pulls himself back into his stall, softening his facial expression. “Being jealous is being green.” He gives a shrug of fake sympathy. “I’m sorry you’re hurting so much.”

“I’m not hurting!” He spins around and stuffs his hands under his arms, silently fuming.

Nolan cranes his head to his right, making a ridiculing look at the defenceman. “Look who woke up on the wrong side of bed now…!”

Kale turns back around to face him with an infuriated expression. “I’m fine! What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, you raise your voice with anger ‘cause you’re” —he rolls his eyes slowly— “totally fine.”

Kale jabs a tensed pointer finger at him. “Quit poking at me!”

He holds his hands out at him in defence. “I’m not poking at you, I’m just telling you’re making absolutely no sense.”

Kale’s face begins growing red with exasperation. “You’re making no sense!”

Nolan smugly smiles as he spots Kale’s facial colour. “You’re now turning from green kale to Red Russian kale.”

With that, Kale pushes himself onto his skates’ blades and storms out of the room.

Nolan follows him with his eyes, completely unamused, before he disappears through the doorway. “Bitter as kale too.”

Notes

E.1 "Newest Of The Prairie"
Part 2/5
Episode 1/10