AAOOOSC! Wheatie Bits!

E. 8. "The Game of Juniors" (5/8)

The puck is dropped.

Blue and white dash with red streaks across the ice.

It's the match of Canada versus the United States!

In the United States' bench, Jake is sitting in the corner of the boards, right by the glass that separates the two teams' benches, looking out at the ice excitedly. His eyes immediately light up as he spots his bestie dressed in white and red zip past him.

"Brett!" Jake slightly rises from his stool and points at him. "Oh look, there's Brett!" He giddily waves at him. "Hi, Brett, hi!"
Next to him on the bench, Kailer scowls at him. "Shush, Oettinger, this is a game, not a meet and greet." He slowly turns away from him, softening his features. "You can see him afterward."

Jake whirls to him with sorrow, keeping his finger at his bestie's direction. "But-but he just passed by and I wanted to say hi to him."

"And this is the exact reason why you're not starting this game," Kailer mutters bitterly.

Jake instantly spins back toward the ice as he senses Brett passing by him again. "Brett! Brett!" He waves his hands frantically in the air.

Kailer follows the opponent with his eyes, noticing him gliding to the small bench on the other side of the box. "He's going into the penalty box, he has no time to greet you."

Jake takes in a huge gasp. "He's going into the penalty box?!" He slams his fist against the boards' top. "No, he doesn't deserve to be in the penalty box! He's innocent!" He then leans over the benches, standing up, and bellows: "DON'T PUT BRETT IN THE MMM—!"
With his hand clasped against the goalie's mouth, Kailer uses all of his strength to tug him back onto his stool.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the box, the referee closes the penalty door behind Brett as he hobbles into the penalty box.

Brett begrudgingly takes a seat and stares out through the spotted glass. "Great." Ecstatic movement catches the corner of his eye, causing him to flicks his eyes over to the American bench.

He spots one of the players sweep his hands over his head with large gestures. "Huh, that must be Jake Dog." He gives him a small wave, cracking a similarly small grin.

From the American bench, Jake takes in a thrilled gasp. "HE WAVED! HE WAVED AT ME!!!" He continues flailing his arms in the air.

In the penalty box, Brett stares with uncertainty at Jake's continuous movements. "Uhhh..." He resorts to motioning him to calm down by extending his face-down hands in front of him and bobbing them downward slowly.

Jake observes the motion by his bestie and drops his arms. He then settles back on his stool, satisfied.

Next to him, Kailer has scrutinized eyes at the penalized forward. "I need to learn from Howden how to tame you." He slides his narrowed eyes at the goalie.

Jake turns to him with a large, closed smile. "Anything to make Brett happy." His smile immediately drops into a frown. "But being in the penalty box doesn't make him happy."

Kailer flicks a gloved hand at him. "He'll get out soon, don't you fret."

With that, Team USA scores!

Kailer's eyes immediately light up at the glorious sight. "Oh yes!" He jumps up to his skates. "USA USA USA!!! Red, white, and, blue, boys!" He holds out his gloves hand to fist pump the line of teammates on the ice.

Jake has also stood up and is holding his fist to his teammates. "Wooo-hooo!" His eyes then catch the sight of Brett gliding out of the penalty box. "And Brett's out, yay!" He claps happily.

Brett, on the other hand, is grumbling under his breath as he drifts toward his team's bench and slips into it. He sits on the bench and then stares out at the ice with an intense scowl.

Another teammate climbs into the bench as well and settles next to him.

"Welp, that was a bust," Kale remarks with a hint of embarrassment.

Brett keeps his composure. "I already hate this." He then lets out a groan while craning his head back. "We already gave the lead to them." He throws a glare at the American bench.

Jake spots his bestie and waves back to him excitedly.

Kale cracks open a smile and nods at the goalie. "Jake Dog's saying hi to you."

Brett solemnly motions him to calm down again.

Jake lowers his arms and slips back into the sea of navy blue.

"Not in the mood, Jake Dog," he mutters while turning away from him. "I don't like your team."

Yet the game becomes better when Canada ties the game with a goal.

Jake continues wistfully watching his bestie on the ice from his stool behind the boards. Even with the puck is thrown to the other side of the ice, he keeps his eyes on him as the audience's attention is on the actual game.

Kailer nudges his arm with his elbow. "The puck is over there." He jabs his gloved hand to the left, where two Canadian defencemen are passing the puck between each other by the blue line.

"But Brett's over here." Jake points at Brett, who is by the net.

Suddenly, an eruption of cheers echoes through the arena.

Kailer's eyes fly open at the sight of the Canadians on the ice huddling in a celebration with the puck in the net. "WHAT?! NO!!! THIS IS—" He slams his hands against the boards. "NO, NOT AGAIN!!!"

The Canadians, including Kale and Brett, make a line and fist-bump their teammates on the ice.

"Two to one!" Brett exclaims with building passion. "I'm starting to like this!"

Kale shoots him a grin. "See, I know we can pull through!"

Kailer, on the other hand, is taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. "It's only the first period, it's only the first period, it's only the first period..."

Jake has an excited expression at Canada's bench with Brett grinning at his teammates. "Yay, Brett's happy!"
Kailer whirls to him with anger flashing in his eyes. "We're LOSING. TO CANADA!"

Jake turns to him, not wiping the smile off from his face. "But Brett's happy!"

"Do you want to join them?!" He holds a scowl at him.

"I wanna join Brett! But not Canada, no, no, no, no..." He shakes his head vigorously with scared, wide eyes.

"So start rooting for USA, Oettinger!!!" He slaps his arm with his gloved hand.

Jake jolts at the smack and begins chanting shakily: "USA, USA..."

Kailer turns back to the ice and lets out a huff. "Now excuse me, but I have an assist to fulfill. We must even up this score." With that, he stands up, slips over the boards, and hops onto the ice.

Jake automatically turns back to Canada's bench, watching Brett jumping onto the ice as well. He follows him attentively with his eyes as he rushes to the action occurring by Carter's net.

Kailer with the puck passes it to Casey Mittelstadt, who feeds it to Adam Fox; Adam shoots the puck at the net and it sails in!
"Yes!" Kailer zooms up to the huddle being created around the scorer and joins in on the celebrating. "Now that's what I'm talking about, fellow countrymen!"

"UGH!" Brett smacks his stick against the ice. "NO! We had the lead!" He storms back toward the bench.

In the American bench, Jake is standing up to give his teammates fist pumps. "Yay, USA!" He then senses Brett passing by him, causing him to lift his eyes to his sulking position. "Awww, Brett..."

Kailer is soaking in the glory, fist-bumping the rest of his teammates, including Jake. "Go, USA, go!"