645 V2 ch117 (1/2)

”What did he mean by evaluations?” Noah asked Rhys as he took us up two flights of stairs to the third floor.

Rhys took a key out of the envelope and opened the door to our room. He handed Noah that key and then handed me the envelope with the other key. ”Don't lose these ot you'll get in trouble.”

I nodded obediently while Noah just stuff his in his pocket.

”As for the evaluations, it's pretty standard among elite camps. Especially as you get older.” Rhys explained. ”So what will happen tomorrow is that they'll grade you on your skills. That will give them a starting point of where you stand. Usually from there, you'll be divided up on your skill level so when we do drills, you'll be with those on the same level. It'll also help even the teams for scrimmages. At the end of camps, they usually will give you your evaluations and what you need to work on. Kind of like a report card.”

”So cool.” Noah sounded excited. ”Will all the coaches and scouts have access to it?”

”Yea. Of course.” Rhys grinned. ”They'll be the ones to help the grading.” He waved and headed for the door. ”I better get back and help them. I'll see you kiddos tomorrow. Make sure to go to bed early.”

”Yea, yea, whatever. Later!” Noah waved him away, closing the door after him. He looked back at me. ”Wanna call Mom while I start unpacking?”

I pulled out my phone and dialed.

”Hey, Jake, how was the ride? Are you boys settled yet?” Mom picked up right away.

”Yea.” I answered. ”Noah's unpacking right now.”

”And Zeke?” She asked.

”He had to help out with check-in.” I told her. ”But Rhys stood with us in line and took us to the room.”

She sighed with relief. ”Good, I'm glad. Do you guys know what you're doing tomorrow? Like what the schedule is?”

”Zeke said we're doing evaluations.”

”Oh, ok. Well, stay calm and just play your game, alright?” She told me.

I nodded even though she couldn't see me. ”Okay.”

”Are you guys going to bed soon?” She asked.

”Zeke said we should. Rhys too.”

”Good. Sleep tight and call me tomorrow. Now let me speak to Noah?”

”Sure.” I held my phone out to Noah.

Noah paused what he was doing and accepted the phone. ”Hey Mom.” He paused. ”Yea, we're good here.” Another pause. ”Okay, love you too, bye.” He hung up and tossed the phone back to me. ”I'm surprised she didn't want to talk our ear off.”

I nodded. It was a rather short call. With it out of the way, I moved to my luggage bag and unpacked it too. The dorm room was small with only two twin beds, a closet with drawers, and a shared desk. It was kind of like our room at home though so it didn't make me feel uncomfortable. After putting our clothes out, we pushed the empty bags under the desk.

I reached for my pajamas.

I hesitated. It was getting late and I think Zeke wanted us to go to sleep right away. ”Are we allowed?”

Noah tapped the top sheet of the packet we were given. ”Lights out isn't until 11pm. And it's not like I'm suggesting we leave the building. Just explore a little. Look at what the shared bathroom will look like and see if there's a vending machine somewhere. That's all. I promise.”

”Okay...” I gave in. Neither of those tasks sounded like making trouble.

We left our room, locking the door with the key. First we strolled half way down the hall and came across the bathroom. As soon as you entered, it split to the left and right. One went to the sinks and stalls while the other way was the showers.

I gulped. There were two curtains for each shower stall, but it was still a shared shower in my opinion. I glanced at Noah, worried.

Noah frowned. ”Don't worry. We can figure something out. Maybe shower after everyone else? We'll see what the situation looks like tomorrow.”

I nodded slowly.