Reflection (Artemi Panarin)

Halloween Pt 1

Lesson three: Be strong, because things will get better. It may be stormy now, but it never rains forever.

-Taylor's POV-

It's the night before the Halloween party and the boys just had a rough loss to the Wild. I had to go look for costumes and I told Artemi that if he was going to be all shitty he couldn't come with. But after I promised ice cream he decided it would be okay to tag along. After a few hours of looking around I was over shopping and still had no idea what to be.

"Why don't you be a cheerleader" he wonders pulling the outfit off the rack.

"Because I already was one and if I wear that you can't yell at your teammates for looking" I say and he quickly put it back.

Right when I was about to give up I see a beautiful light blue sparkly poofy dress and I quickly find my way to it. I pick it up and discover it's a Cinderella dress complete with the shoes and a tiara. I look next to it and find a Prince Charming costume. I smile largely and hand it to Artemi and pull him to the front. He was tired and just thankful I finally decided on something so he agreed to wear it. After I paid for our costumes and Patrick's Elsa costume we headed to a small ice cream shop then went our separate ways.

Come halloween I was running around the UC to make sure everything was perfect. Some of the guys and their families or significant others were already there. Carter Seabrook was dressed up as batman and was already hyped up on sugar running around screaming "IM BATMAN". I was frantically setting out the candy when someone appears to my side and started helping me.

"Hi! I'm Elina and I'm Niks wife" she says emptying a bag of Hershey kisses into a container.

"Hi! Thank you so much for helping, it makes a world of difference" I say wiping the sweat off my forehead. I check the time and it was 6:40. The party starts in 20 minutes and I wasn't even close to being dressed, but everything was finally set up now.

"Do you want help getting dressed" Elina asked. I nodded relived I was finally connecting with someone who wasn't a boy or a co-worker. "I didn't catch your name" she says walking to the locker room where my dress and things were.

"Oh duh, I'm Taylor Smith" I say shaking her hand.

"Ohhh so you're the famous Taylor" she says nodding her head.

"Oh god, what did you hear" I ask.

"Nothing bad. I promise. I've actually heard nothing but great things. Nik thinks of you as a little sister" she says.

"That's good to hear. Nik is like the older brother I never had" I say grabbing my dress.

I quickly change into the dress and slip on the fake glass slippers. Elina takes my hair down and pulls it into a tight bun. Sadly I had so much hair that it was almost like having another head on my head. After getting the tiara placed perfectly so we could see it through my hair she pulled out her make up.

"You know what, I don't think you need this" she says putting it away.

"Really? Not even a little" I ask feeling like I needed something.

"No, it would ruin it. I think you're beautiful without it" she smiles. My face heats up and I pull her into a hug.

"Thank you so much. For everything."

We release each other and I slip on the gloves and take a deep breath.

"Ready girly" she asks sticking her arm out for me to latch onto.

"Yes I am" I state proudly taking her arm.

We get back to the ice where the basketball court was put down and everyone had gathered. Everyone looked so great. All of the players attended and most were dressed as their favorite super hero. Then there was Corey Crawford who decided to be MC Hammer. Which I think is pretty on brand for the goalie man. I see Jon who is not dressed as a minion but as Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. I guess he won the argument with Pat. Speaking of... Where was he?

I scan the crowd three times and finally find him and Artemi by the fruit punch. Before heading over there I stop by Jon who was talking to some little kids and giving out high fives. I wait for him to finish and finally get a chance to talk.

"So scarecrow where is Dorothy" I tease. He points to a pretty little blonde showing her ruby slippers to a bunch of little girls standing in awe.

I playfully slap his arm and yell "What the hell Jon, she's stunning. Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend" I whine. He laughs and takes a sip of punch.

"You never asked" he shrugs. I shake my head and decide to take matters into my own hand. I

walk over and started a conversation. She was so sweet and loved the kids. "Wait so you're Taylor" she finally realized. Why do I feel like I was going to get that a lot tonight? I awkwardly laugh and nod my head. "Don't be scared. Jon has only said great things about you. You've changed him. I haven't seen him smile as much as he has since you've gotten here. How'd you do it" she asks smiling at Jon. She loved him, I can tell.

"I didn't do anything. I just helped him realize how great he was all along" I shrug. We talk a little more before Jon steals her from me.

"Can I have my girlfriend" he says cutting into our conversation.

"I mean... I guess you can have her" I say fake annoyed.

It was about 7:20 now and I was expecting Lucy to come anytime now. I asked her to come a bit later to surprise Artemi.

I walked over to him and Pat who still haven't moved. Artemi was facing his back to me so Pat saw me first. He smiled brightly and turned his attention from Artemi to me. Art noticed his change of attention and started to snap his fingers in his face. Eventually he realized he was looking at something and not just spacing out. Pat grabs his shoulders and turns him around so he was facing me. Suddenly his mouth was open and eyes were wide. I finally made my way to him and stopped in front of the two. I laughed as Artemi still had his mouth open yet nothing was coming out.