Shooting Star

Chapter 28

I wrote down the last sentences to my French essay and quickly checked over the entire thing. Then, I jumped up, grabbed my things and my exam, and dashed to the front of the room, handing my exam paper to the examiner.

"Thank you," Mme. Allaise said.

I nodded and ran out of the room. I had 30 minutes to get to my game.

After the miracle win on Friday, Coach Hiller had pulled some strings and gotten the final game postponed from 2:30 to 4:30, giving me time to write my exam and still get to the game on time.

I jumped into Mom's car, which was loaded with my equipment, tossed my stuff into the back, and began to get into my gear as she drove the car out of the parking lot.

"It'll take at least 20 minutes to get there, according to the GPS," Mom told me.

"As long as I'm there before the puck drops, I don't care how long it takes," I said, trying to strap my shin pads on with the seatbelt restraining me.

Mom laughed and we got onto the highway straight towards downtown. The game was against the Copperdale Whales, the underdogs.

They'd beaten one of the strongest teams, just like we had, to get here.

Most people were calling it The Underdog Finals. I didn’t really see why, because we were an excellent team. The only reason we’d slipped to eighth was because I’d left.

I managed to get my shin pads on and my socks on top of those. Then I focused on my chest pad and elbow pads. Once those were on, I wrapped my neck guard around my neck and reached into my bag for my skates. I laced them up with the skate guards still on, protecting the blade.

"Sweetie are you sure you're able to get out of the car with all that equipment on?" Mom asked, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

"Positive," I said.

Of course, once we got past a certain exit, all movement on the DVP (Don Valley Parkway) stopped.

"What's going on?" I groaned.

"Major traffic jam," Mom guessed. "I'll turn on the radio and check.”

The radio crackled for about a second, then turned to actual audio.

"-bzzzt- The Don Valley -bzzt- way is blocked from -bzzt- to the Bayview Bloor Exten -bzzt- due to a tractor-trail -bzzt- police cruisers are on -bzzt- No injuries reported but it could take up to 10 minu -bzzt- it is all cleared up."

"That is really bad reception," Mom said, shaking her head.

"I got the gist of it," I said, my voice shaking. "The Don Valley Parkway is blocked from somewhere to Bayview Bloor Extension due to a tractor trailer crash. Police cruisers are on their way to the scene. No injuries reported but it could take up to ten minutes before it's all cleared up." I looked at Mom, horrified. "Don't you get it? By the time it's all cleared, I'll be late!" I wailed.

"Calm down," Mom said. "It'll be fine."

Sure enough, the cars started to slowly move forwards. It took us five minutes to reach the Eglinton exit.

"You are kidding me," I groaned. "At this rate we'll never make it in time. It's almost 4:10 and the game starts in twenty minutes."

The car was moving in slow motion. Luckily, somehow the time was moving that way as well. We passed the Eglinton exit and I saw the sign the Bayview/Bloor extension coming up.

"Almost there," I muttered to myself.

I decided to take a nap to rest my energy.

Some time later...

I woke up, rubbing my eyes. "Are we there yet?" I asked.

"We just got off the extension," Mom said.

"Really?" I asked. It was 4:15 when I fell asleep. "What time is it now?"

"4:20."

I've only been sleeping for five minutes. Wow.

We got off the extension and drove for a while.

Every second I got I would glance at my watch.

4:21.

4:23.

4:26.

4:29.

"Turn right in 300 metres onto Callaway Road East," the GPS chimed.

Mom followed the instructions and we soon pulled into the rink's parking lot.

I threw the door open and jumped out with my hockey bag. "I'll see you!" I called, and raced off into the arena.

"Where were you?" Kylie demanded. "The game was postponed and you STILL barely made it on time!"

"Some huge traffic jam on the DVP," I sighed. "We were delayed almost 20 minutes."

"Well we're glad you're here," Alyssa said. "Let's go out there and kick some Whale-butt."

"I'm pretty sure whales don't have visible butts," Ruby said as we left the changeroom.

We all laughed. It definitely broke the tension, that's for sure.

"Girls, I just want you to know even if we don't win the championship," Coach Hiller said, "that I'm still extremely proud of you and that you should be feeling the same about yourselves. The championship is just the icing on the cake."

We laughed again. "I still want to win," Michelle piped up. "When are we gonna get this opportunity again?"

"Most of us won't," Kelsey said, who was graduating later this month.

"Exactly," I said. "So, as Alyssa said, let's go kick some Whale-butt!"

We all cheered and skated out onto the ice.

It's showtime.