his everything || a. banks ³

Chapter 24 - First Game Together Again

Angelina's POV

It was now Friday, game day. And I was extremely nervous. I haven't played with the team for 2 years, and I was nervous that I would perform well. I have been doubting myself the whole day. As the wait for the game became smaller, my nervousness increased.

The bell, signalling the end of last period, rang and everyone got up.
"Ready to watch the teams game?" Allie asked. I nodded. I still hadn't told Ezra and Allie that I joined the team. No one besides the team and Alex knew. I wanted to surprise them.
"I need to go to lockers first. I'll meet you guys in the stands."

Ezra and Allie nodded before walking away. Alex came up to me and pulled me into a hug.
"Good luck today! You'll do amazing! Don't worry, okay?"
I nodded. "Thanks Alex."
He smiled before walking away with Allie and Ezra. That's when I made my way to the locker room.

~

When I got there, it seemed that I was the last one to arrive.
"Damn Hothead what took so long?" Dean asked, while he was fixing his pads.
"I had to make sure that Allie, Ezra and Alex made their way to the stands before I came here." I said, placing my bag down next to Connie.

"Still haven't told them?" Goldberg asked.
I shook my head. I was too nervous to reply with words. I put on all my gear. The last things I did was put on my jersey and my skates. I sat down in my place, helmet and stick in hand. The sound of chatter filled the locker room.

I felt a gentle nudge to my rib. I turned and saw Dwayne.
"Dont be nervous Ange." He spoke.
I looked at him in surprise. "How did you-"
"I've known you for a long time Ange. I think I know when you're nervous or stressed." Dwayne explained.
I smiled slightly, before leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Don't doubt yourself Ange." He whisper to me, and I nodded. That's when Orion walked in.
"Right. Everyone ready for warm ups?" He asked and everyone cheered. I stayed quiet.
"Now. Don't be nervous for this game. The Cardinals have nothing on us." Orion said. He proceeded to give us a short pep talk.

"Lets go!" He finished. We all got up, grabbed our stuff and left the locker room.

~

We got to the doors to the ice and we began to enter one by one. I took a deep breath. Come on, Ange.
I entered after Connie. The moment I entered my eyes found Allie, Ezra and Alex in the audience. They were absolutely gobsmacked, but did cheer for me nevertheless. Them cheering for me gave some reassurance. Maybe this game won't be as bad as I thought.

"Well it looks like the Ducks have a new member. Or old member shall I say. Angelina Sparks used to be on the team as one of the Captains in freshmen year, and it looks like she has made her return. She wears the 'C' proudly."

We did a few laps around our end of the rink before being called to the box.
"Right Ducks. Let's go hunting for goose eggs. Hands in." Orion said. We put our hands in, and the iconic chant began. The audience joined in too.
"Quack! Quack! Quack! Gooooooooo Ducks!" We all cheered.
We began to skate to our position.
"God I missed this." I whispered to myself.

I was centre, Connie was right, Averman was left, Dean and Lucas were defensemen and Julie was goalie of course. I looked at each person individually. I gave them a nod, and got a smile or a nod in return. I took my position, put my helmet on, and put my stick against the ice.

A big guy, probably over 6"0 stood opposite me.
"Alright, let's have a good game of hockey." The ref said, and dropped the puck. I got it immediately and passed it back to Averman, before knocking the guy over. He fell and I started skating down the ice. All the others joined me. The crowds cheered loudly as we were getting closer to the goal.

"Averman fakes and passes back to Dean Portman. Portman to Connie Moreau. Moreau with the puck and passes it over to Captain Angelina Sparks. She shoots and she scores in the first 20 seconds of the game. Excellent goal by Angelina 'The Hothead'!"

I threw my arms up in celebration before getting swarmed by my friends.
"Yeah!"
"Woo-hoo!"
"Go Ange!"
I hugged them back, with a big smile on my face. I really missed this.

The game then continued. One of the Cardinals had the puck. Dean checked him, then passed the puck to me. I skated down the ice again. One of the Cardinals nearly pushed me over but Lucas came to the rescue. I passed it to Averman and he scored!

~

I got called back to the box. I sat down next to Jesse and Dean. We were currently leading 5-0. Luis had the puck and was skating to the goal. Unfortunately, he got checked before he had a chance to shoot.

"Oh! Mendoza receives a hard check into the board. That has to hurt!"

"Sparks. Change it." Orion called.
"You got it Coach." I said.
"Come on Ange!" Jesse cheered.
"Lets go Hothead!" Dean hooted.
I jumped out the box. I had the puck and I was all alone. Out of the blue, a Cardinal hooked me and I fell on the ice. I heard the whole crowd and everyone in the box stand up in protest.

It didn't hurt at all. I got up immediately and skated over to the guy. I shoved him hard.

"Oh and there goes Sparks. The Hothead shoves number 12, and he falls."

The ref came up to me and told me to go to the box.
I scoffed. "I barely touched him." I looked over at the guy that I shoved. He was still on the floor and the ref was going to take him to the box for hooking me. "Wussie." I mumbled.
I skated to the penalty box and sat down.

~

We were currently in the third period of the game. I was in the box. The Cardinals had the puck. I don't know what happened, but our defense went down hill for a moment, allowing them to score. Orion called a timeout.
We all gathered around.

"Okay. I'm gonna change some things up. Moreau, Wu and Hall you stay on. Holland you're off. We need someone to go on with Portman." Orion looked at Fulton. "Fulton."
"I'm not going on with him!" Fulton protested, leaving me in shock.
"Fulton you're going on-" Orion began.
"I'll go on." I spoke up.

All the jerks looked at me.
Cole chuckled. "You as a defenseman?"
I glared at him before turning back to Coach. "I'll do it Coach."
"Fine. Sparks you're on." Orion announced.
"Coach. How is that gonna work?" Guy asked.
"You see, she can play any position unlike you." Julie spat.

"Lets go guys. Come on!" Coach said and I jumped out the box and got into position. 1 minute left of the game.
The puck was dropped and the Cardinals got it. They made their way towards the goal. I quickly ducked down infront of the dude, flipping him over and getting the puck.

"Oh! Sparks sent Number 45 head over heals. Her she goes. 30 seconds left of the game. Will she make it?"

I sprinted down the ice, knowing there isn't much time left. I got to the goal and tricked the goalie before scoring. That's when the buzzer went off. The game was over and we won! My friends skated over to me and hugged me. I looked up at the score board. 7-1 to us.

We began to cheer once more. I was so happy to be with the Ducks again. It made me feel so happy. We left the ice and made our way to the locker room.

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That was Chapter 24! Hope you enjoyed!
-author
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