forever yours • adam banks

chapter thirty one

adam

The one thing I love the most about hockey is that there's a thrill to it.

Every time I skate onto the ice, a rush of adrenaline goes through my body. There's just something about that rush that keeps me coming back.

Of course once the skills, the crowd, the culture, the history, and how it brings people together are added in, it makes up the sport that has made me into the person I am today.

The closest thing I've felt that compares to the thrill I get from hockey is when I'm with Ella. There's just something about her that drives me crazy.

I wish I could tell you what it is, but even I don't know. But what I do know is that I've really mistreated her recently, and how unfair of me it was to take out my anger on her for doing the exact same thing I did, only doing it after I did it first.

The ice skating hang out was actually my idea. I talked about it with Charlie on Friday night after he was out with some of the Ducks. I was invited, but I couldn't go because Wilson scheduled practice and I obviously had to be there.

Charlie said it was a great idea, and we texted in the group chat to ask everyone else what they thought. Everyone also thought it was a great idea, and Averman asked if we could invite the girls. Connie and Julie immediately started begging us to invite them, and of course we said yes. Did they really think we were going to say no? We then all went on Facetime and stayed up until two, which definitely wasn't the smartest idea.

In the morning, Guy and Charlie came over while we waited to hear if the girls could come. Once Averman confirmed they could, we ate breakfast and started to get our stuff ready.

We got to the rink around noon, and to our surprise, Julie, Connie, and the girls were already there. I don't blame them for getting there early though, we aren't always the most trustworthy when it comes to time. The rest of the boys got to the rink right after Guy, Charlie, and I walked in, so within five minutes we were all on the ice.

We all watched in awe as Fulton taught Faith how to really skate, so we could include her in the games. Dwayne brought his lasso, so of course we played a few rounds of roundup. After that, we played some tag, freeze tag, and did some races.

Of course, time flies when you're having fun, and we had to leave eventually. Mrs. Conway told Charlie to bring us all to Mickey's for food, so that's where we went.

I haven't mentioned it, but Ella and I actually got along really well at the ice rink. When we were playing tag, I may or may not have made her my main target. I chased her around the rink, and most of the time she would try and hide behind either Dean or Fulton to get away from me. When we played freeze tag, we both were going after each other when we were on opposite teams. When we were on the same team, we helped each other as much as we could. I also tried to protect her from Dwayne in roundup, because he will get anyone within reach.

When we were at Mickey's, I was sitting with Charlie, Guy, Dean, and Fulton. The girls were all together, and the rest of the boys were in the booth behind us. While I was casually telling the boys about varsity and what they should expect for next year, I felt an arm sling around my shoulder. I turned to my right and saw Averman sitting next to me, grinning from ear to ear. "May I help you?"

"Hi Adam!" he said in a sing-songy voice.

I sighed and started rubbing my temples. "What did you do Averman?"

"I may or may not have taken the cutest picture of you and Ella during roundup."

"Ooooooh!" the boys mocked, while Charlie gave me a few playful shoves.