All the students ran out of the school building happily, running to the lunch tables through the snow-covered ground.
Antti just walked calmly to the other side of the school, where he usually ate his lunch at: next to what the kids call, the school lake.
But a group of guys from Antti's class already beat him to the lake and sounded pretty excited.
"Kyllä! Kyllä!" one guy shouted. (Yes! Yes!)
"This is awesome!" another one shouted.
"What going on?" Antti asked, trudging through the snow, nearing the guys.
They turned around and exclaimed excitedly: "The lake is frozen!"
Antti looked ahead of him and saw the surface now smooth and hard. "What's so cool about that?"
"We can play hockey!" The guys who shouted first in Finnish turned to one of his friends. "Go fetch some sticks and skates."
The nodded his head and took off.
"You guys are gonna play hockey?" Antti's eyes widened with awe.
"Yea, you wanna join?"
Antti nodded his head quickly.
"But do you know how to skate?"
"Uhhh..." Antti looked down, but then looked back up. "Yea!"
The guy came back with hockey equipment.
"Okay, here." The guy who seemed in charge of the group threw a pair of skates at Antti.
Antti caught them, but the force knocked him to the ground. He got up from the snow and ran as fast as he could to the bench that was on the shore of the lake. He climbed on it and began to shove the skates on his feet.
The guys were already skating and practicing on the ice when Antti finished tying his last skate.
"C'mon, Antti! We don't have all day!"
"Okay, okay, coming!" Antti slipped down from the bench and walked stiffly to the edge of the lake. And with one big breath, he placed his feet onto the slick ice. He stood for a good three seconds when he fell onto the ice. "Don't worry, don't worry, I-I got it." Antti got back up, grunting, and tried to move, but them fell on his stomach again.
The guys didn't seem so amused. "Hey, Antti, thanks for trying. But we really need to get the game starting. Why don't you just watch and learn from us?"
Antti sighed in defeat. "Okay." He crawled off the ice and watched the game while eating his lunch in silence.
"So, how was school, Antti?"
Antti was back home that night, eating dinner with his family once again.
"Uhhh...it was good. But the school lake is frozen!"
"Oh, really?" his mother asked. "That must be exciting!"
"Yea! Some of my classmates played hockey on it. I tried to, but I couldn't skate, so I just had to sit and watch."
"But you would've not had eaten your lunch if you played," his father told him.
"That's true, but I wanted to play. Dad, can I please play hockey?" Antti looked at him with big, begging eyes.
Mr. Niemi groaned. "Antti, we already went through this and it's gonna be a no--"
"But why?"
"I already told you. Now stop asking because I'm not gonna change my mind. You are fine the way you are; you don't need to play such a rambunctious sport. Just forget about it."
"Can I at least learn how to skate?" Antti gritted his teeth in worriness.
"No, or else that'll build up to wanting to play hockey more."
"But everyone in my class knows how to skate--"
"That's enough, Antti!" Mr. Niemi snaps. "You are not gonna be a hockey player, you are going to fly in your academics and become an engineer--like me. Okay?"
Antti shrinks back in his chair. "Sooo...no? Never?"
"Never."
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How AAOOOSC! Got Started!
FanfictionWe know the story, We know the characters, We know who's good, We know who's bad, We know who has victory, We know who has doom, We know who has powers, We know who has no powers, We know, we know, we know... But how? How? How is that determined? Ho...
