The Boy, The Girl, and The Game (Artemi Panarin)

California Dreamin

-Artemis POV-

"CALIIII" Patrick screams going down the board walk skipping around. We all decided to stroll down the beach in sunny California after practice and we were loving it, some more than others.

Don't get me wrong, we love Chicago. But even this Russian boy needs some heat.

"Hey loud mouth, must I remind you were in Shark territory and were not exactly they're favorite people on earth" Jonny reminds him as Pat covers his mouth.

"Imbecile" Anna mutters under her breath and Jonny lets out a laugh.

"Jokes on you, I don't even know what that means" he replies sticking his tongue out.

"Fine, does dumb ass suit you better" she asks.

"Fits pretty nicely" he responds adjusting his fake suit and Anna lets out a loud laugh. We were an odd bunch, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

"Okay we have like five hours until curfew, what should we do" I ask as a bunch of people pull their phones out to check for things to do around here. The whole team tagged along to do some type of team bonding but so far all we've done is walk around and joke with each other. We can do that back in Chicago.

"What about bowling" Hossa suggests.

"Unless you want to be embarrassed by Miss. Bowling Goddess over here probably not" I laugh pulling Anna into me.

"Okay... how about laser tag" Motter suggest.

"Alright rookie, laser tag it is" Jonny says patting his back as we all pile in Ubers and head to the closest laser tag place.

Once we get there I notice the place is huge, not many people are here so that should make things a lot easier for us. Me, Anna, Hossa, Hartzy, Arty, Krugs, Seabs, Soupie, Desi, and Crow were all on the blue team and Jonny, Patrick, Motter, Smaltz, Panik, Tootoo, Hammer, Duncs, Scottie, Moose, Forsling, and Vinnie was on the red team.

"Are you good at laser tag" I ask Anna while we put our gear on.

"Never played, so I guess we're going to find out" she laughs figuring out how to work these things. She's very competitive so this should be interesting. Both teams go in and find a spot before the buzzer sounds and we all take off.

Part of the way through the game I lose Anna in the chaos and had to fight for myself. Yes I was relying on her to cover my ass but if you saw the way she was playing you would too. I play a lot of video games and this was a lot like a video game, but you had to physically run and jump and stuff so in a sense it was nothing like a video game. Regualrdless of how you want to look at it I very much enjoyed it. As I squat behind a large fake rock I see Patrick appear to my left. I wait for him to come closer and jump over the rock to shoot him straight in the chest. I run the opposite direction and find Anna crouching under a fake tree. She puts a finger over her mouth then points between us where Jonny, Moose, and Vinnie was strategizing. She counts down from five and I quickly figure out what was happening, we both jump out and shoot them down before the buzzer on all of our jackets go off and the lights come on.

"That was so much fun" Anna says smiling bright. We all put our things up and wait for the results. Our team won and naturally Anna had the most points.

"I've just come to accept that there is nothing I will beat you at" Patrick confesses before throwing his hands in the air.

"Umm I can't even ice skate, so I think there's a small chance you might have the upper hand in hockey" she laughs.

"Okay I guess that's true" he admits. Since we were downtown now the possibilities to do something were endless.

"Now what should we do" Vinnie asks and we just look around.

"Lets sight see, this place is pretty cool" Scottie suggests and we all agree.

We walk around for a little and get stopped by quite a few fans. Even in enemy territory we have fans, that's pretty cool. We get to the docks and find a nice outdoor Italian place to eat since we all tried sooo hard at laser tag.

"Tell me a word that I probably wouldn't know but should know" I ask Anna and she ponders her mind. Dinner has just been us asking questions and her never missing a beat in answering them.

"Equipoise. It's equilibrium or the state of being content" she says and I smile, I love her brain.

"What about one for me" Patrick asks and I wonder why he thinks this is a good idea.

"You're jejune" she says and everyone just looks at her weirdly. "It means childish or not interesting" she clears up and everyone laughs.

"How do you know these things" I wonder and she shrugs.

"Word a day" she replies and everyone lets out a "ohhh".

The food was really good and I enjoyed getting to know the rookies. I mean that was me just last season, I know how intimidating it is to come onto this team. The expectations were always high and it's hard to meet them constantly. But they kids were alright, I'm happy they're on this trip with us. I do miss Trevor though. We all take funny pictures around the restaurant and docks, I wonder what coach Q would say if he saw us right now? Eventually it gets dark and we had to get back before curfew.

"Alrighty guys, I had a wonderful time tonight and I hope your ready to kick some fish ass tomorrow" Anna says and the boys let out a cheer. We both head to my room and cuddle under the blankets. She plays with my necklace as I run my fingers through her soft hair. No matter where in the world I was it didn't matter as long as I had her with me.

"I love you" I remind her as she continues to study my ring.

"I love you too" she says with a smile and I knew then that she was the one meant for me.