Puck Off!

Chapter 4

I should have realized this before we went, but ice rinks are cold. Yes, I know, that seems like common sense, but I wasn't really thinking about that. I was thinking about hanging out with my kid sister instead. We took the subway over to the Boston University campus, which is where the game was, and I have to admit I was surprised that Ella didn't like it. It was a pretty nice place in my opinion, right on the Charles River. But it didn't matter what I thought, she was the one making the choice, and she'd have to go there for four years. If she wasn't comfortable there, I couldn't fault her for that.

Our seats were nice too, right down near the ice on the visitors end of the ice, and Ella was all smiles as she clutched her little sign under her arm. "This is so awesome!"

"So next year, you could be playing here?" I asked.

"If I'm on the BC team, yeah, they play every year," she replied. She was sticking with the no BU talk, and I could support that.

It wasn't long before the stands were pretty full. I wasn't surprised, since we were up north, and hockey was popular. Plus, both teams were from here in the city, so you had a lot of students and alumni to draw upon for fans.

"Oh fuck! There they are!" Ella said breathlessly as the teams came out to start warming up. She was staring at the women in garnet colored jerseys that were circling the ice near us. Not surprisingly, they all said Boston College on them. At the far end of the ice, another group of women were skating, though this time in white jerseys with Boston University. BC was the Eagles, and BU was the Terriers. I know, terriers are cute, but come on, Eagles is a pretty iconic name. "I can't wait to be out there!"

All the skaters were huge. Well, that was overstating things. They all had ice skates on, and that added a few inches, and then they were wearing pads and helmets, that made them even larger and then you didn't get to see much of them. A lot had long hair in a variety of colors sticking out of the backs of their helmets, and thankfully they had names and numbers on the jerseys, otherwise you'd never know who was who with all the pads and helmets on!

The largest of them was the one that I presumed to be the goalie, number 1 on her jersey and who had pads that looked as though she was ready to survive an explosion. If Ella was excited before, then her seeing the goalie was like seeing a Hollywood star. She screamed and pointed as soon as she stepped onto the ice. "I guess you like the goalie?" I nudged her a little in the arm.

"Are you kidding? That's Iryna Chajka! She's going to be the goalie on the next U.S. Olympic team! She's fucking amazing!" Ella quickly unrolled her sign and waved at the goalie, who didn't seem to notice.

I looked a little closer and couldn't tell a lot. Sure, even with everyone in skates, she was taller than the other players, but with all the pads she was wearing, she could be as skinny as I was, and I'd never know. "She must be really good, huh?"

Ella just looked at me disbelievingly. I know. That was a stupid question. But in my defense, it's hockey, and not my strongest subject! Not even bothering to give me an answer, she waved her sign more and started screaming. "Iryna!! Iryna over here!"

Evidently yelling out her name worked, and her head turned in our direction as she skated by. She even turned around and skated backwards to read the sign that Ella was pointing at her, then circled back to stop in front of the plexiglass that separated us from the ice as protection from stray pucks. I couldn't see much of her through the mask, but I could see pale skin and a pair of bright blue eyes. Blonde hair streamed out the back of her helmet as though it were in a ponytail. She read the sign, and then started laughing in a deep tone that made my back shiver.