All I feel when I skate is the rush of adrenaline and the sting of my lungs as they scream for more oxygen. I feel more free on the ice then I do anywhere else. I come around the back of the net, getting ready to try and give my team the best chance at a goal that I can. I pass to Shawn, and get ready for the rush. He passes to me, and I barley feel the thunk of the puck on my stick before I shoot. Straight past the goalies left ear, into the back of the goal. Buzzer goes off, and my line is suddenly jumping on me, helping me celebrate the goal. This? This is hockey. This is what I've eaten, slept, and breathed since I was three years old. Ask me what I do for fun? Hockey. What I wanna do when I grow up? Hockey. I played juniors for two years, and now am playing college. I have the Dallas Stars looking to draft me, but I told them I wanted my degree first.
We hold them off for the last twenty seconds of the game, before the final buzzer goes. Another game won. We aren't in it just to play. We're in it to win.
Shawn looks into the stands, seeming distracted.
"Dude, what's up?" I ask.
"My friends here for the game and I wanna see her before she leaves." He says. That's weird, he's engaged and definitely not talking about his fiancée....
"Oh wait! There she is! You've gotta meet her dude! I've known her since kindergarten! She's the nicest person and she's really fun to hang out with." He rambles as we're exiting the ice. He starts waving, and I notice a blonde in the stands wave back at him. Of course. Probably a puck bunny.
After we've changed, we walk out and he immediately heads off. I follow him, cause he's my ride.
"Scar!" He smiles, walking up to her. She's not the blonde puck bunny I was expecting. She's wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and a camo beanie.
"Hey Shawn! Been a hot minute! Nice game!" She says.
"Axel, this is Scarlett. Scarlett, this is Axel, my other best friend!"
"Nice to meet ya." She says, casually smiling. Well dang, I'm used to girls crawling all over me. It comes with being a hockey player, and it sucks.
"How's your school going?" He asks her.
"Good, transferred here last semester and I'm a year out from graduation." She tells him.
"What are you planning on majoring in?" He asks.
"Animal Management." She states.
After they talk for a bit about that, she says she has to go, and heads off.
"What do you think of her?" Shawn asks me.
"She's different. A good different, but she's definitely different." I tell him. He just nods and smiles.