Freshman Year

The Puck

The puck flew across the ice and hit the boards with a loud thunk. The entire rink was silent as it should be at midnight. I missed the net again.

“Shoot” I mumbled to myself as the puck slowly came to a stop after the ricochet. You might be wondering why I was in an ice rink at midnight. Ever since I was little I loved hockey, but the problem is I can’t play. Another big problem is, I can’t skate.  Although, none of this matters since girls aren’t allowed to play hockey anyway. Just like football, hockey is a “man’s” sport in Perfection, yes our town’s name is Perfection, and the only thing a girl can do in hockey is cheer for it, which is so stupid, might I add. I circled around for another slap shot. As I skated towards the goal, my skate sipped out from under me.

“Ow!” I yelped as I fell, like a rock in water, onto the ice.

“Liz, you really need to go home. Your mom is worried sick again!” Chase yelled down to me from the bleachers. Chase is one of the seniors at my high school and lives right across the street from the rink. Whenever I stay here too long, my mom calls him to come and drag me out.

“Tell her I’ll be home soon. I just want to try a few more shots.” I shouted back.

“Elizabeth Beverly! Your mom is going to be so ticked if you don’t leave right now. You know it is against the rules to be doing this. You’re going to get caught one day. Now put the stick down, and go home!” Chase Kensington is the bossiest teenager I have ever met. Chase has two other brothers, Andy and Parker, who I prefer talking to when it comes to me playing hockey. They both are on the varsity team. Chase on the other hand plays football.

“Fine! I’m only surrendering because I’m tired.” I answered taking my final shot.

“Goal!” he yelled, “Now go home!” and he turned around and left knowing I would listen.

            I woke up to the sound of Matt, my older brother, leaving. Matt is a junior at Purdue and came home for the weekend to visit.

“Goodbye!” I yelled.

“No need to yell, sleepy head. I’m still here.” Matt smiled the big smile I miss when he is away.

“You have to go back already?” I asked sadly.

“Yeah, but I’ll be home before you know it.” He said as he ruffled my hair. “I heard you come in late last night. Were you practicing again?” he asked.

“Yes. I’m still working on my shots and balance, but before I could make any progress, Mom sent Chase to get me.” I replied sulkily.

“She was just worried.” He said. “You’re going to get caught one day and there is nothing anyone is going to be able to do.”

“I-”

“But, I think that what you are doing is right in its own way. You are following your dream, and that is all that really matters in this situation.” He finished

“Thanks Matt. You have to be my favorite brother.”

“I’m your only brother, silly. Now I really need to go. I’ll see you soon. Stay out of trouble, ok.”

“Fine.” I said rolling my eyes. We hugged goodbye, and I watched my only supporter in my family drive away. I went inside to find some breakfast and noticed that it was three o’clock. I really did sleep in.

“Dang it.” I ran upstairs and rushed to get dressed. Andy’s and Parker’s game was in 15 minutes. Suddenly I remembered that my Mom took my car because hers was in the shop. Could this get any worse, I thought. I brushed my teeth and darted downstairs, and collided with Chase.

“Slow down. Jeez, why the hurry?” he asked.

“The game starts in 5 minutes! Wait! How did you get in?” I inquired.

“With the key your mom gave us in case you got locked out, again.” He answered. “I knew you didn’t have your car so I’m taking you.”

“Oh, thanks.” Chase might not be my favorite Kensington brother, but he definitely is one of the nicest people I know. We drove to the rink, the same one I was practicing at only 12 hours ago, and found some seats close to the action. The players were already on the ice warming up.

            The game was really intense. Andy scored two goals in the first half and Parker scored a hat trick in the second. Parker’s final goal won us the game.

“Intense game you guys.” I congratulated them as they walked out of the locker room.

“Thank you Liz, we knew you liked it since you were the loudest person in there.” Andy laughed.

“All that intensity has made me hungry. You guys want to get something to eat?” Parker asked.

“I have to pick Emily up from her lesson.” Chase answered. Chase’s girlfriend, Emily McNeil, has been my best friend since freshman year. Like the Kensingtons, Emily was a senior, while I was a junior. Emily has been riding at the local stables since she was 10. The two of them, however, have been dating since last year.

“I’m in. Tell Em I say hi.” I called as he walked out towards his Blue Jeep Cherokee.

“Hey, Parker, Andy. All of us are going to Papa Tony’s to get some pizza. You want to come?”  Yelled Nick Adams, one of the team’s senior defensemen.

“Is that ok with you Liz?” Parker asked me. Did I ever mention that the Kensington brothers have killer, hot, blue eyes? They remind me of a clear blue ocean on a sunny day.

“It’s fine with me.” I answered, hopelessly. So the three of us plus Ben Griesham, a forward, climbed into Parker’s Escalade EXT and drove over to Papa Tony’s. Papa Tony’s is the best place to get pizza in the entire area. Everyone from Perfection High comes here after games. So it was pretty packed because the basketball team had also won a game.

After watching the team, except for Andy, Parker, and another player, eat 8 or 9 pizzas, I lost count, a couple of them went to a movie, but Andy, Parker, and I went to go skating at The Lake. The Lake is the largest area of water in the entire county. It used to be where everyone went to skate or swim until the big rink and water park, Every Season, opened up. So we were alone and enjoying it, since I can’t skate I would have run into people. As I stepped onto the ice, I felt free and comfortable. I glided forward, slowly, making sure I had my balance. It abruptly started snowing making it look beautiful on the ice. I watched the snowfall, and without warning Andy came up behind me and shoved me forward.

“What the heck? You know I can’t skate.” I yelled as I slipped forward. Parker caught me before I could fall.

“Liz, we wouldn’t let you fall.” Parker laughed, he must have been amused my horrified expression. I glared at him. “At least, I wouldn’t let you fall.” He continued, trying to hide his entertainment. He took my hand and pulled me further onto the ice, and so began a lesson in skating.

            I finally got the hang of skating and just, slowly, drifted across the ice. We were care free for about an hour until another truck pulled up next to Parker’s. It was snowing hard enough that we couldn’t see who it was at first, but as the figures got closer we could tell that it was trouble. Ever Oaks kind of trouble. Ever Oaks had the best hockey team in the county up until about two years ago, when we took the title from them. Ever since then, Ever Oaks has hated Perfection.

As the Oakies, that’s what we call them, crossed the ice towards us, I noticed one of the girls was Parker’s ex-girlfriend, Alexa. Parker broke up with her about three months ago for cheating on him. Although, she didn’t accept that they were over and now she was making that clear. She winked at him and my hand involuntarily curled into a fist. I’m not the jealous type, but what she did to him really got me mad, this was just making it worse.

“Well look what we have here.” Brock Firse sneered. Brock was captain of the hockey team, Alexa’s twin brother, and president of the ego club. I skated to where everyone had “gathered”. By this time Andy had already skated over and was face to face with Donny Mater, the giant forward.

“What do you want, Brock?” Parker asked, annoyed.

“We were just in the neighborhood and noticed you losers on the ice.” He answered.

“Well the only losers I see are you guys. You couldn’t have already forgotten about your horrible defeat last year when we beat you at Finals, now could you?” I said icily.

“Ooo. I see you have a feisty one here, and I like what I see.” Brock almost purred. He reached out his hand to touch my face and I slapped it away faster than he could react.

“Well you’re the only one.” I replied crossing my arms.

“Ouch, that hurt, but you’ll come around. We just came to warn you that we won’t be making the same mistake in letting you hockey trash take the title that we deserve.”
“We’ll see about that.” Andy threatened. The Oakies just laughed and walked away. So much for a peaceful night, but that wasn’t it. No, Alexa came back over.

 “You sure you want her over me?” she asked Parker. He didn’t answer.

“That’s what I thought.” Then she turned toward me. “You still trying to skate?” she mocked.

“What’s it to you?” I replied

“You couldn’t even skate if you were strapped to a zamboni, but good luck.” She smiled a menacing smile and walked off.

            Parker and Andy dropped me off at home, without one word on the way there might I add, and I had a message from my mom. She said that she had an emergency meeting in Dallas and wasn’t going to be back for a while, which was just great. As if I didn’t have enough to think about. I went to bed hoping to be exhausted enough to pass out. That didn’t work either. As I lay in bed, I thought about all that had happened that night. I remembered about what Alexa said and made the biggest decision in my life. I was going to learn how to skate.
            When I woke up the next morning, I realized that I didn’t know how to learn to skate. What was I going to do? Just as I ‘m contemplating my options, Andy called. Those guys have impeccable timing. The hockey team was having their annual Learn-Hockey event. I agreed to meet them there in half an hour. This was perfect. Now I would show Miss Priss who can and can’t skate.

            When I got to the rink, it was packed with little boys just thrilled to learn the contact sport of hockey. I “suited up” and went out onto the ice. None of the guys cared.

“Look who decided to show up.” Andy teased. I told him my epiphany. He was just about excited as I was. He told me he would help then he had to go line up with the other players, I saw him whisper to Parker, Probably telling him my plan.  Jason Lilix started explaining about skating, since none of the little kids could skate well either, and so tips on keeping your balance. When he was finally done, everyone was split into groups and assigned two “teachers”. Surprise, surprise I was with Parker and Andy. I skated over, with my group, to where Andy and Parker stood. We practiced some drills, and then Andy taught the little guys a few hockey moves. I just focused on keeping my balance, and Parker helped me.  By the end of the two hours, everyone was exhausted. As I was taking my skates off, Parker walked over with a clipboard in his hand.

“I have a schedule for you.” He said smiling. Parker was very organized with everything. I wasn’t surprised now. I took the clipboard and about screamed. My first practice was right now.

“Now!” I cried.

“Yes.” He replied pulling me up. We drove to the Lake and he started “training” me.

            It has been two months since Parker started training me. I could skate really well by now and my hockey game was improving a lot. Parker and I started getting closer and we hung out more then we used to, which was new for me. I mean I liked him before but it’s different now. We could tell each other anything, so when he came to practice in a daze I knew something was up.

“Hey, you ok?” I asked him.

“Jason and Andy are hurt” He said, sadly, “and we don’t have enough players for Regionals.”

“Oh my gosh! What happened?” I asked, astonished.

“They collided during practice last night.

“I’m sorry. I wish I could help?” I said apologetically. Then his face lit up.

“You can. What do say to filling in for the team?” He asked excitedly. I was shocked. He was asking me to break the rules and play on his hockey team.

“What?! Are you serious? The team could be disqualified from Regionals. Plus, I can’t play that well.” I countered still in shock.

“I’ll help you. Will you please do this.” He half begged. I just stared at him. “For the team” Still I stared stunned. “For me” he continued. That broke me. I rolled my eyes.

“Fine, I’ll do it, but you’re going to be disqualified for having a girl on the team.” He just picked me up in a huge hug.

“Thank you, Liz” he hollered.

            We had a week before Regionals, so that meant a lot of intense training. I passed out every night and still felt sleep deprived. By the time the week ended I was in tip top hockey shape but exhausted. Parker agreed we needed a break, so we were having a movie night at the Kensingtons. I went home and changed into some comfy clothes. I decided to walk to their house because it was a beautiful night. As I was walking, I saw some people ahead.

“Look who it is guys.” I heard Brock say to his friends. I knew his voice instantly. I ignored him and tried walking around them, but Brock grabbed my arm.

“Let go, Brock.” I said calmly. He just tightened his hold and dragged me closer to him.

“Still feisty I see, and I still like what I see.”

“Get a new line, jerk.” I snapped at him trying to wriggle away. He wrapped his arms around my waist this time. “Get off!” I yelled at him. He just laughed but then he was off. I turned around and there was Parker and Chase. They were glaring at the retreating Oakies. Parker turned around and came over to me.

“Are you ok?” he asked worriedly. I just nodded. He put his arm around my shoulders and walked me towards his house. He sat me on the couch when we got inside and got me a Dr. Pepper, my favorite.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” he asked again.

“Yes, I’m fine.” I reassured him, “Just a little startled.” He rubbed my arm and started the movie. We were watching Titanic, Emily picked it out, but I was too distracted to focus on the screen because I could feel Parker’s gaze on me. I had never experienced him so worried before. Finally, I had to leave the room. I went into the kitchen to get some more popcorn. I heard Parker follow me.

“Stop worrying about me. I’m fine.” I said, reassuringly. I looked up and saw him assessing my mood. I just rolled my eyes in return.

“Am I not allowed to worry about you?” he smiled finally convinced that I was indeed all right. I smiled back, grabbed the popcorn and headed back towards the movie.

            It was Saturday, we had Regionals today, and I was extremely tense. I arrived at the rink two hours before we were supposed to be there. I found comfort in the ice, and as I skated around the arena, my tension faded away.

“You’re a little early, aren’t you.” I heard someone say behind me. I spun around and saw Andy. He was stretched out across the bleachers. That was the first time I saw his broken leg.

“Just a little. How’s the leg?” I asked.

“I might survive.” He replied in mock pain. I smiled and went up to join him.

“I’m so nervous for the game today! How do you guys do this every game?” I asked.

“It will be fine. Once the game starts, you won’t even think about how stressed you are. You’ll think about not getting hit.” He laughed.

“Thanks so much.” I shot back.

“You are going to do great.” He said punching my arm. I just grinned at him, my nerves still on edge.

            “This is it lads.” Coach MacRiley began, “We’ve made it this far. You lads are well on your way to championships. Lets go out there and beat those weak Ever Oaks Titans. You boys are the Perfection Knights, and nothing stands in your way for victory. But, don’t forget to have fun out there. I’m so proud to have you lads as a team.”  He went out to the ice and Andy and Jason gave us a pep talk. Then we went out onto the ice. The crowd was screaming in the stands, it was exhilarating. I wondered how they would react if they knew there was a girl under all this padding, if you were wondering I was covered head to toe in thick padding concealing anything to let on that I was indeed a girl. Coach didn’t even know. We began warming up and the announcer called out the starting lineup.

“Number 22, Parker Kensington” the announcer declared, “and last but not least, #88 Leo Bexson.” He continued. I froze with fear. That was my number and name, lame I know. I went out on the ice and was glad the comfort from it was still there. I needed it.

“It’s going to be fine.” He reassured me. He skated over to his position, and I took my stance. The referee dropped the puck and the game began with us in the possession. I followed the game with anxious eyes. About 5 minutes into the game, Parker looked straight at me, and passed the puck. It slid right into my stick. I panicked, but not enough to keep my legs from moving. I raced to the goal, and found an open shot. I smacked that puck smoothly into the goal. The buzzer blared, but I was just standing there stunned.

“Way to go.” I heard someone yell. I smiled, but hen I was tackled by one of the Oakies. I was furious so I threw a punch at him. It became a fight, and we were beating each other up. He hit me in the head knocking my helmet off. That was followed by absolute silence from the entire stadium. Now I was frozen, the only part of me that moved was my eyes scanning the crowd of disapproving faces. I saw some people get up from their seats. They made their way to the scorekeepers’ table. Everything in the world stopped, I just lost the Regionals for the team. I looked one last time at the table, but the referee was approaching the center ice with the decision.

“After discussion, the girl is going to be allowed to stay in the game.” He said. I just about screamed. Parker skated over to me and patted me on the back. I went over to the bench t get my cuts treated.

            I went in and out of the game like a normal player, and after a while the crowd accepted that I was on the team for this game, and started cheering again. We had two minutes left in the third period and we were tied. The puck would never stay in one zone more than a few seconds. With a minute left, I got the puck again. Once more I dashed towards the goal and shot. It was a miss. It slid right back to me and I tried again. It looked as if it was going to miss again. I missed what happened because someone hit me causing me to fly into the boards.

            When I opened my eyes, Parker was right there.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, Liz.” He began, it didn’t sound good. “Looks like you are going to have to play at championships, cause you won us the game!” He exclaimed. I threw my arms around his neck unthinkingly. I was so excited. He picked me up and twirled me around. Then he put me down and kissed me full on the lips. That’s when I fainted.

            It’s been six months since that game. Now we play street hockey. Coach decided to put me on the team next year, and I can’t wait. Parker and I have been dating for six months as well. We’re going out tonight to celebrate with Emily, Chase, Andy, and his girlfriend. I just can’t believe all this started with a goal and a puck.