Meet Me at the Rink

Chapter 1

~ Allison ~

"Leah come on, it's going to be fun!" I exclaim trying to convince my best friend to come with me to the Marlies game. "Ally, I don't even have a jersey to wear!" Leah replies. "I know and that's exactly why I told your brother to sneak his Robertson jersey into your bag before you left your house." I smile as she glares at me before opening her bag to find her brother's Robertson jersey on top of all her other stuff. "You little sneaks!" Leah exclaims "You're welcome! Now you don't have any excuses!" I reply with a smile before walking past her and out the front door to my car.

** At the arena**

"We're seats A1 and 2 down by the glass." I say reading the seat numbers out loud on our tickets. "Great front-row seats to all the action!" Leah says. "Aren't you glad I asked you to come with me?" I ask as we arrive at our seats. Leah goes in first and folds her seat down before I do the same with my own. "I guess so." She replies sarcastically before we both laugh.

A few minutes later, the two teams were stepping out onto the ice for warmups and the crowd cheers as the Marlies make their way out. "Oou, here they come!" Leah says wiggling her eyebrows. I sit quietly in my seat and watch as they skate around and warm up. "Oou he's cute!" Leah exclaims. "And he is too!" She adds as number 17 skates past us. "What do you think All?" She asks me. I glance at number 17 then I turn to Leah with a shrug. "Meh, I guess he's kinda cute." I reply as a puck hits the glass in front of us. Leah and I jump in our seats a little startled before we both turn our attention back to the ice. I watch as the guy who flicked the puck against the glass leans up against the boards before one of his teammates skates up behind him and they talk. "Whatcha looking at?" Leah asks leaning up next to me and snapping me from my thoughts. "Oh nothing, just trying to remember what time I've gotta be at the rink for tomorrow." I reply. "Yeah right Als! I see you checking out Mr. Handsome 24." She says as I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. Damn it! She knows me too well!

The buzzer goes off signalling that warmups are now over. Leah and I are in mid-conversation when I feel something fall at my feet. I move forward to see what it is and I pick up the round piece of rubber. When I look up towards the ice surface in front of me, I'm met with the brown eyes of number 24. I give him a warm smile as he smiles back at me before Leah nudges me. " Oou Mr. Handsome likes you!" She teases. "How can he like me if he doesn't even know me?" I exclaim in reply turning to her and then returning my gaze to the ice where number 24 is skating towards the tunnel with number 12 by his side. Before the two get off the ice to go down the tunnel, 24 turns back to look at me from across the ice and winks before he disappears. I turn to Leah once he's gone and thank God she didn't notice anything.

**Second Period**

"Here you go Als." Leah says coming back with a couple of drinks and popcorn for us to share. "Thanks Lee." I reply taking the bottle of iced tea I had asked her to grab for me. The score for the game so far was 1-0 for the Marlies and they've been playing solid defensively so I wouldn't be surprised if they win.

"What'd I miss while I was gone?" Leah asks. "Nothing much really. Just a couple of hits and a power play." I reply taking a handful of popcorn. "No fights yet?" She asks. "There was almost one that was about to break out but nothing exciting." I reply as I follow the play with my eyes. The Marlies get possession of the puck and break out of their zone, rushing out past centre ice and into the offensive zone.

"Here we go!" I exclaim as number 12 passes it to 24 who's set up right in front of the net. "Shoot!" Leah and I exclaim together. A few seconds later, the Marlies huddled up against the glass in front of us, celebrating the goal. "Goal scored by number 24, Austin White!" The announcer says as the crowd goes wild.