𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗛 𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥?

14 : the beauty

the following morning was our very first game. i jumped out of bed as soon as my alarm rang off. i was quite excited, to say the least.

we were given team track suits and they were pretty slick. i checked everything i had and once i was satisfied i walked out of my room and down to the lobby.

a few other team mates were sat on the couch while coach bombay and don were talking with someone at the front desk. i sighed as i plopped myself next to an excited julie.

"i never expected california to be so," she started, not knowing how to finish off her sentence. "beautiful?" i questioned. she nodded her head with a smile.

she wasn't wrong. the beautiful sunsets on the beach, the tall palm trees that were scattered all over, and especially all of the little shopping places. but, i still loved my hometown back in colorado.

"ready to win team?" coach asked as he made his way over to us. i didn't even recognize the rest of the team arrived until now. both julie and i nodded our head proudly.

we all dropped our hockey gear off in the back of the bus and then made our way on the bus. i took the window seat and julie sat herself next to me. across from us sat connie and guy.

as we drove along, both julie and i stared out the window, taking in everything we could see. california seemed like such a busy place, it honestly looked like fun.

sooner than later, we arrived to the rink. as we all stepped out, we were met with enormous green trees standing before us. my jaw dropped in a state of awe.

julie decided to pull out her camera and take multiple photos of the scenery surrounding us. she even snapped one of me and connie as we were pointing at different things with happy smiles.

"never been to california?" a boys voice asked from behind me. though i didn't have to turn around to know it was dean.

"no sir i haven't. what about you?" i asked him. "well when i was about four years old i went here for vacation, but my mind was too small to remember anything." i chuckled at his response.

we had made our way inside the rink. people were beginning to flood in through the doors. we all walked our way to the locker rooms and began to get ready for the game.

i took a deep breath before throwing on my helmet and grabbing my stick. "ready to win sweetheart?" dean asked me as he walked out the doors behind me.

"i sure am." before he could say another word, i stepped on the ice and warmups began. we started out with skating around for a few minutes and then started began taking shots on both goldberg and julie. i was excited but nervous at the same time.

the ref blew his whistle, signaling the game was bound to start in the next few minutes. i took a quick swig of my water before all of us gathered around coach bombay.

he gave a quick speech to us all before we all put our hands in the middle and cheered together as a team. i was sat on the bench in the beginning. i was crossing my fingers coach would throw me in soon.

it was already half way through the game, and i still hadn't stepped foot on the ice. though we were winning six to nothing against trinidad.

every time we'd score, i would jump up in excitement and cheer on everybody even more. on the inside i may have been a little upset with no time on the ice, but my teammates always put a smile on my face.

jesse and another kid in the stands were bickering with each other. though coach stepped in before anything else happened. "hey jesse, quick gabbing and get out their on the ice. show them you want it son." the boy had mimicked him, making him walk elsewhere.

even at one point, dean had made a goal. the first person he looked over towards was me. i swear, he looked like a little kid who just got a puppy. him and his 'bash brother' bowed to the crowd.

adam was staring off into the stands. "got a girl in the stands?" charlie piped up. "scouts. look at them." i rolled my eyes playfully at the blonde kid.

"oh please, don't worry about the scouts. you're doing your best and that's all that counts," i told him as i patted him on the shoulder. he nodded his head at my words and the focused back on the game.

but suddenly, trinidad had gained control of the puck and was weaving through everybody. he took a shot on goal and scored.

there were the sounds of bongos and people dancing from behind me. i turned around to see many of the trinidad fans cheering and laughing together. the scene put a small smile onto my face as i turned back to the game.

connie had skated past two defensemen and quickly passed it to kenny. he made his way behind the net, underneath a trinidad's player's legs, and easily shot it into the net.

we had won our first game nine to two.