My Way Back to You

Chapter 5 | The Autograph

Lydia

A week has gone by and we decided to go to the following week's game. This time, we convinced Christine to come along.

At first I remember avoiding Anthony like the plague, but now I regret it. Seeing him play the week before turned my whole world upside down.

We dressed to impress, and tonight was family night. Meaning the players are doing a meet and greet with the public, and this was our chance.

The group wore yellow and black to match Kimberly's colors, and Christine braided our hair. She's extremely good at french braiding.

Jayda took us to dinner to get boneless wings. I got honey barbecue, Jayda got sweet thai, and Christine got garlic parmesan.

When we arrived at the stadium, the parking lot was full. More full than any parking lot before any of my figure skating performances.

"Where the hell are we gonna park?" Jayda crazed, "Look at this place! It's packed!"

"Park in the student parking, where else are we gonna go?" Christine suggested.

I shrugged, "I guess if we have no other choice."

We definitely stuck out like sore thumbs compared to the students meant to be there. But Jayda assured us that if anyone asked, we were with her brother.

Jayda is the older sibling of her family with one little brother. He's a freshman this year, and his name is Luke. Luke is the backup goalie, and hasn't gotten into many games yet according to Jayda.

Jayda put the car in park and we noticed a car sitting across the lane from us.

The girls got out of the car and they wore jerseys, like, real ones, and rabbit ears.

Jayda sighed, "Puck bunnies."

"Did they get those jerseys from their boyfriends? Or where can I get a jersey like that?" Christine asked.

"Yeah, those are definitely from their boyfriends." I added, "Those things are real."

We walked into the stadium, quickly grabbed a soda, and found our seats. Because of the busy night, we were on the brink of the nosebleed section.

We came too late to watch them warm up, which I was secretly sad about. But the game was on, and the lights went dark to introduce the players.

They first introduced the goalie, but it wasn't Anthony.

"It's Luke! That's my brother!" Jayda cheered.

"Where's Anthony this game?" I worried.

Christine assured me, "He'll be out here somewhere."

The rest of the starters were announced, and lastly they announced a familiar name, "Lastly, Anthony Vernon playing forward!"

I sighed in relief, wait a minute, he plays forward too?!

Additionally, since when was I head over heels for Anthony Vernon?

The crowd cheered and the puck dropped. As it hit the ice, a wave of silence filled the frosty air.

Anthony passed the puck effortlessly before getting nailed to the wall by the other team's offense. He recovered quickly and continued to push to get closer to the goal at the opposite end of the rink.

Zach jumped onto the ice and stole the puck right out of the gate. He passed it through players legs before faking out the goalie and catapulting it into the goal.

Jayda screamed, me included. Needless to say we were obsessed, and Christine enjoyed the fun of it all.

After the game we got in line to meet the players. After around 25 minutes, we were up next.

I decided at the last second to act like I didn't recognize Anthony, maybe it was the nerves, maybe it was the fact this man was gorgeous and I forgot.

I walk up to him and politely ask for his autograph on my crop top. Using the sharpie already in hand, he signed on my back by my shoulder.

He smiled, "Hello"

"Hi," I answered back.

It might have been the skates, but Anthony towered over me. He must have grown a whole 4 inches since the last time I saw him.

"What's your name?"

I can't lie god dammit! "Lydia."

"You're very sweet, we should go out sometime."

I nearly cried right then and there, but I somehow kept it together. He carefully picked up my hand from my sides and wrote his number on the palm of my hand. I looked up as he finished writing the last number, and he winked at me.

"Vernon! Keep the crowd moving!" Called the coach from afar.

Just then a group of girls swarmed him, pushing me to move along. I looked back at him, but he was too focused on trying to keep a distance from the freshmen girls. I found Jayda and Christine talking to her brother and congratulating him on the win.

"Lydia! There you are! Look what I got!" Jayda revealed the autograph on the front of her shirt that read "Zach Monroe" with his jersey number.

"Oh yeah?" I challenged, "Look what I got."

I showed the back of my shirt and when I opened the palm of my hand the two girls gasped.

Christine gasped, "Holy shit!"

Jayda was stunned, "You got his whole number?!"

"Sure did!" I swayed my hips.

The car ride home was filled with several questions. Most of them included what I'm gonna do once I call the number.

"What if it's a fake number?" Christine questions.

"Well then it wasn't meant to be." I nod.

"What if he wants to go out with you?" Jayda asks, "Are you genuinely going to date a hockey player as a figure skater?"

"I mean he's hot as hell, I want him to ask me out. And as much as I beef with the hockey players, I'd give it a try." I shrugged.

We got back to the dorms and I decided I was going to text the number from Anthony in the morning.

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They finally meet again! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Please comment and vote! <3