Icebreaker

Nathan Hawkins wakes up next to a woman with whom he doesn’t remember going to bed. The night before, he went to the basketball players’ party and got drunk enough to forget part of the evening. He vaguely remembers Summer Castillo-West rejecting him, and he now discovers that he instead had sex with Kitty Vincent, whom he doesn’t like. He tries to be nice to her and calls her an Uber.

Nathan’s roommates—Robbie, Jaiden (JJ), and Henry—tease Nathan after Kitty leaves. Nathan is the captain of the hockey team. JJ and Henry are Nathan’s teammates, and Robbie is an assistant coach to Coach Neil Faulkner. Robbie lost the use of his legs after a skiing incident during his junior year of high school, so now he coaches hockey instead of playing. They are on their way to class when they learn that hockey practice is canceled.

Coach Faulkner lectures the team because someone smashed the generator and the cooling system at their ice rink, ruining it for months. Nathan insists that they were not involved, but the coach doesn’t believe him. They leave to attend a meeting with the athletic director to find out the punishment for the incident.

Athletic Director Skinner calls all Maple Hills athletes to a meeting, which causes Anastasia stress because she does not handle schedule changes well. Ryan comforts her and teases her about the “sickeningly motivational” (23) quotes that she posts on social media every morning. While they wait for the director, Ryan offers her some cookies. When Anastasia declines, he expresses concern that she is dieting too much. It is a conversation they have had before. Skinner makes a long speech about the need for student-athletes to be more disciplined than other students. He threatens zero tolerance for pranks going forward and dismisses everyone except for the skating and hockey teams. He announces that the figure skaters and the hockey players will need to share one ice rink for the foreseeable future. Anastasia complains because regionals are in five weeks.

Anastasia notices Nathan talking to the hockey coach. She doesn’t know who he is, and she is annoyed by the sympathetic expression he gives her. After Brady leaves, Nathan comes over and apologizes to her for the situation. He invites her to a party at his house that evening, but she declines. He introduces himself as Nate Hawkins, captain of the hockey team, and asks for her name, but before she tells him, Aaron interrupts and wants to leave.

Nathan understands why Anastasia is angry. He hopes that she will accept his invite to the party, because being friends with the figure skaters will make sharing one ice rink much easier. He still doesn’t know her name and believes that Aaron is her boyfriend. Before the party begins, Nathan interrogates Russ, one of the younger players on the team. He is kind about it because he knows that Russ has a bad home life. Russ explains that he started hanging out with a girl at UCLA before knowing whether she had a boyfriend, and that the boyfriend is likely the person who sabotaged Arena Two. Nathan tells Russ to keep this information a secret.

At the height of the party, Summer rebuffs Nathan’s attention again. Then he spots Anastasia across the room and tries to welcome her, but she ignores him. When he introduces himself to her friend, Lola, Anastasia begrudgingly introduces herself as Anastasia or Stassie and tells him that she is “immune to hockey player charm” (36). Anastasia tries to convince Lola to join her in the line for the bathroom, but Robbie charms Lola into staying. Instead, Nathan offers Anastasia access to his personal bathroom, and she accepts. He leads her up the stairs while her hand touches his waist for guidance. When Anastasia exits the bathroom, Nathan is waiting. She snoops around his bedroom, and they learn a little bit about each other. She claims that she hates hockey, and he finds himself sexually attracted by her antagonistic tone. Anastasia demands to know who destroyed the hockey players’ ice rink, and he is forced to lie and promise her that the hockey team is not responsible. When they go back downstairs, Aaron waiting for Anastasia.

When Nathan tells Anastasia that her boyfriend looks upset, she says she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Aaron snaps at Anastasia about going upstairs with Nathan. She is already upset with Aaron for criticizing her eating habits earlier, but she doesn’t yell at him. Instead, she explains herself and introduces Aaron to Nathan. Aaron does not believe that Anastasia was only using the bathroom and accuses her of “collecting team captains like Pokémon” (42). Nathan puts his hand on Anastasia’s back and tells Aaron to be nice or leave.

Aaron blames his anger on the ice rink situation. He claims that one of the hockey rookies got someone’s sister pregnant and then ghosted her, which led to the ice rink being destroyed. Nathan denies the accusation, revealing to Anastasia that he lied to her earlier. Nathan apologizes for hiding the truth; he relates what Russ told him and explains that Aaron’s story is false, but Anastasia no longer trusts him. When he accuses her of being dramatic, she storms off and finds Ryan talking to Olivia. Anastasia is excited at the idea that Ryan might potentially date Olivia. The next day, Anastasia works at Simone’s ice rink, where she teaches children’s skating classes. Ryan shows up during her lunch break with food, and they each tease each other about being afraid of commitment. Anastasia convinces him to ask Olivia out.

Three weeks pass, and Nathan deals with the fallout from the ice rink sabotage. Aaron tells his story to the authorities which leads to a meeting between the UCLA and UCMH hockey teams. Russ is exonerated, but Faulkner tells the team that he will bench the next person to make a mistake for the rest of the season. At home, Robbie is worried that Nathan hasn’t invited Lola to his surprise birthday party. The two of them have been talking since the previous party. At the rink before practice, Nathan sees Anastasia. She looks at him and the rest of the hockey players with hatred, except for Henry, with whom she has become friends. As she leaves, Nathan asks Anastasia to invite Lola to Robbie’s birthday party. He invites Anastasia, too, and she coldly agrees only to tell Lola. His teammates tease him for not being able to charm her. Henry explains that she is dating Ryan.

Nathan has grown to hate Aaron, partly because Aaron is rude to the hockey team and partly because he doesn’t like the way that Aaron talks to Anastasia during practices. As Aaron skates off the ice, he tells Nathan that Anastasia will never sleep with him; she will only string him along “like she does [Ryan] Rothwell” (57). Nathan threatens to punch him if he talks about Anastasia that way again.

Skinner organizes an icebreaker to improve the dynamic between the hockey team and the figure skaters. Faulkner and Brady serve as emcees for a speed dating exercise to encourage everyone to get to know each other. (Aaron has been nicer to Anastasia recently because Ryan started dating Olivia.) Anastasia starts to warm up to the hockey players and likes Henry in particular because he is sweet and earnest. Days before the icebreaker party, when they were spending time together in the library, Henry explained to Anastasia what happened with the ice rink sabotage, stressing that nobody on the team was at fault. He explained that Nathan was being extra protective because he didn’t want Russ to lose his scholarship.

Back in the present moment, Anastasia’s first speed date is JJ. He tells her that he’s a big fan of hers because she “puts Nate Hawkins in his place” (61). They get to know each other and have a good time. Later, Anastasia pairs up with Robbie, who is clearly serious about his budding relationship with Lola. She likes Russ, too, despite wanting to be mad at him about the rink. Henry seems especially irritated by all the forced socialization, so Anastasia offers to sit in silence with him; he appreciates it. When paired with Nathan, Anastasia tries not to be “swayed” by how attractive he looks in gray sweatpants. Nathan reintroduces himself cheerfully and says he wants to start over; he apologizes again about lying to her. Anastasia gives him a second chance, offering to put him on probation.

Nathan turns the house into a casino for Robbie’s surprise party. Nathan greets Anastasia at the bar while Lola and Robbie flirt with each other. Nathan thinks Anastasia looks breathtaking as she laughs with Henry. When she starts shivering, Nathan offers her his coat, and she accepts it. JJ drags Henry away to give them time alone. Nathan teaches her how to play poker, and she wins $200 from him. When Anastasia stands to go to the bathroom, Nathan offers his bathroom again, and she accepts. This time, Anastasia directs his hand to her waist as he follows her up the stairs. Nathan waits for her in his bedroom again. They talk about her past, and Nathan encourages her to snoop around his bedroom. She tells him that she knows everything she needs to know.

Before she can leave, Nathan asks if he needs to get on his knees and beg for her forgiveness for lying about the rink. She says she only wants to see a man on his knees if his head is between her legs. The suggestion visibly arouses her, and Nathan realizes that the attraction between them is mutual. He accuses her of only pretending to hate him. She denies it, but he offers to pleasure her orally, if she asks nicely.