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Excuse the mistakes!

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I was angry.

No, not the angry where you hate the world and listen to angsty music. Not the angry where all you want to do is cry. Not the angry where you feel the urge to punch everything and everyone near you in the hopes of some degree of destruction. I was filled with the kind of anger that lit a fire under you and motivated you.

Why?

We were playing the Kings for the last time this season before league playoffs began, and it was also the first time we were playing them since the whole mess with Dane and Julian. I had yet to really prove myself to Julian and his team, and that was the fuel to my fire.

The game had started out in our favor. We were handling the puck well, and our offense spent a lot of time in the Kings' zone, with plenty of scoring chances. About halfway through the period, we'd gotten our first goal. The score remained 1-0 for the rest of the period with the goalie standing on his head, and we went in the second period feeling confident. However, they must have had one hell of a motivational speech because the Kings came back with a vengeance, scoring a goal right off the first face off. We'd managed to hold them off for the rest of the second period, but it wasn't easy. So far in the third period, they showed no sign of reverting back to the less-together team from the first period.

Here's something I really hate about the Kings; when they're on, they're on. The Kings were strong cyclers in the offensive zone, and their breakouts weren't too shabby either. Plus, they were fast. I'm not saying that my team wasn't any of those things, but going from being the dominating team to playing defensively in only a couple minutes could really throw a team.

"Kels! Kels, I'm open!"

How fantastic for you, I thought as I tried to keep the puck against the boards with my skates. There were two Kings players breathing down my neck and trying to pin me to the boards, and I was trying to freeze the puck long enough to get an opportunity to pass it to someone open, or at least get a whistle. My shift was running way longer than it should, but I couldn't exactly change when the puck was still in our zone.

"Kelsey, behind you!"

A second after hearing Dane's voice, I felt the pressure on my back disappear. I didn't have to look behind me to know that Dane had just gotten on the ice, and he was breaking off the vultures so I could break the puck out.

I looked up and quickly saw that Alec was up at the hash marks on the circle, and he was open. I didn't hesitate in sending him a smooth pass. He caught it and immediately turned and started off the ice, bouncing the puck against the boards and around the other team's defensemen as he went, catching it at the red line. Dane and my eyes met for a moment before he sprinted up the ice to support his wings.

"Rogers! Change it up!" Coach Marshall called from the bench, and I let out a sigh of relief before skating quickly back to the bench. I was told by my first hockey coach that when you were skating to the bench to change, you must skate your fastest because the position you were vacating needed to be filled as soon as possible.

I climbed onto the bench as my replacement hopped the boards, and I practically collapsed down on the bench. My dad and brother taught me that you didn't come off a shift breathing hard, you weren't playing to your fullest.

I grabbed one of the team water bottles and did my best to squirt water into my mouth. a good deal of it dribbled down my chin, but I was already sweating, so I didn't care. Then, I started to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth so that I would stop panting, and so I could rest until my next shift.

I glanced from the Kings' zone, where Dane was currently battling in the corner for the puck, to the stands. My dad was here, along with Nick, who'd come down from Cornell for the weekend to see us. They were both glued to the current play, and I could see them making comments back and forth, as well as using their hands to show each other where they thought the play was going to go, or how it should be played. It didn't matter if it was one of my games or an NHL game; this whole analysis was the norm.

I looked from my family to where Penny was sitting. The Monday after I'd gotten home from the tournament, We'd met up before homeroom. She had tried to apologize for the way she'd blown up at me before I left, but I told her not to apologize because she'd been right. Then, I'd filled Penny in on the events of the weekend, relating Tony locking us in the closet, as well as the momentous kiss when we'd won, in great deal. Penny, being the romantic she was, freaked out and got all excited, and I was happy that we were good again.

Penny saw I was looking, and she waved. Then, she made a stern face and pointed at the ice, which was her way of telling me to pay attention. I laughed and shrugged, and she shook her finger at me.

Suddenly, the referee blew his whistle, and Coach Hannover called for a line change, which pulled me back to the game. Today, we were running five defensemen, which meant that every third shift, someone would have a little extra time for a breather. This was my turn, so I slid down to the end of the bench as Owen and another of our defensemen, Paul, went out to the face off.

I took another swig of water, and I watched as the referee blew his whistle and then dropped the puck. The faceoff was outside the Kings' zone because apparently we'd gone offsides, and there was a small scrum before our offense managed to send it back deep into the Kings' zone Both teams needed a goal terribly, and that was adding to the tension on the ice. Right now, this game wasn't about having fun and being happy with your best.

It was about rivalry, and it was all about winning.

"Rogers!"

My head shot up as my name was called, and I saw Coach Hannover hurrying down the bench towards me. He leaned down, and in a voice only meant for my ears, he started to tell me what he wanted. "You can't let them get a shot on net, Kelsey," he said, "I don't care what you have to do. If you have to take a penalty, take a penalty, but make it smart. We don't have a lot of time left and we need a goal."

"Got it," I said, nodding my head seriously at him.

"Do what you need to do, Kelsey," Coach Hannover stated, and he gave me a long look before straightening up and walking back to his place at the center of the bench.

After a moment, I returned my attention to the current play of the game. The puck had moved up the ice, away from the Kings' goal, and towards Tony. It was currently going back and forth between the blue lines, and I was getting antsy. I'd had my rest, and now I was more than ready to get back on the ice.

The Kings were in our zone, and I watched as the puck went from the wing up to one of their defenders, who passed it to the other defender. He looked like he was just going to pass it off, but then the defender suddenly changed his mind and wound up for a slap shot.  His stick hit loudly against the ice, but he made the mistake of shooting at Tony's glove side, and the puck was easily caught.

The referee blew his whistle, Coach Hannover ordered a line change. Immediately, I hopped the boards and knocked gloves with my teammates as they retreated to the bench. I was out with a fellow defenseman named Liam, who'd I'd only really played with whenever we ran five defensemen instead of four. Those were the games when we needed stronger defense.

I instantly noticed that Julian was out for the Kings, and I tightened my jaw. Dane's line was also out, and I could tell that Coach Hannover was looking for a goal this shift. I felt slightly flattered as I lined up on the edge of the face off, and I calmly shifted into position with my eyes watching the puck in the referee's hand. I heard Tony tap the pipe of the net with his stick, and then the puck was on the ice.

Dane tied up Julian, and Alec immediately went for the puck. Seeing that he didn't have an opening, as both Dane and the other winger were covered by someone, Alec looked to me. I was in the corner, and since you can't really score from the corner, Alec made the decision to pass it to me.

Without hesitation, I draw the puck back and started around the back of the net. But before I made it around, I stopped and went the other way, successfully opening up one side of the ice. I skated it up a couple of feet before seeing an open Dane, and I passed it up. I could've skated it, but that was a riskier play and I wanted to move the puck up and away from Tony.

 Liam and I trailed behind our forwards as they moved into the neutral zone, and then into the Kings' zone. We took our places at the blue line, and I watched the play unfold. It went Dane to Alec, and then Alec to me, and then me to Liam. Liam wound up for a slap shot, but then he passed it to the other winger, who sent it to Dane for a one-timer.

The goalie deflected the shot into the corner on my side of the ice, and one of the Kings' defensemen picked it up. He sent the puck up the boards, but it bounced over the waiting stick of his wing. When I went to pinch and pick it up, the winger had turned around, and he hit it past my stick.

"Fuck," I grunted, and I took off down the ice as fast as I could. I hated when this happened. I'm not someone who is afraid to pinch, because it's better to step up and get burned than not try and stop the puck at all, but still. Having to haul ass down the entire ice as fast as you can is not my idea of a good time.

But hey; at least all those conditioning drills were worth something.

Thankfully, I managed to catch the person with the puck just as they reached the top  of the circle, and I edged him to the boards and separated him from the puck. I was immediately checked into boards, so I pushed the puck up to a waiting Alec, and the person who had been pinning me skated away.

Alec turned to skate the puck up ice again, but the defenseman on the point had pinched in and hit the puck back down off of Alec's stick. I stopped the puck with my foot and kicked it up to my stick, and suddenly seeing an opportunity, I decided to skate it.

I pushed the puck up the ice, and I got past the defensemen with almost no interference, because they weren't really ready for my play. As I reached the redline, I realized that there was no one in front of me. I had a breakaway, so now was the time to get a goal. I pushed harder, and I could practically taste the goal.

But just as I entered the Kings' zone and was about to draw the puck back for a shot, a body slammed into me from behind, sending me to the ice and taking away my chance for a shot. I groaned and rolled over onto my back as the referee blew his whistle, since that was a blatant hit from behind, and thus a penalty, and I saw Julian's smug face.

In that moment, all reason left my mind. In a flash, I was up on my skates, and I cocked my arm back. There was a little voice in the back of my head telling me that he wasn't worth it, but in that moment, the voice screaming at me to do it was much more convincing.

So I did it.

I punched him right in the face.

And it felt fucking satisfying.

Julian was taken by surprise, and my punch threw off his balance so much that he tipped over and fell onto the ice. I didn't make any move to hit him again or even go near him, but I did start chuckling at the wide-eyed look he was giving me.

"Black number one, checking from behind! White number four, roughing!" The referee came between Julian and I, and he pointed to our respective penalty boxes, which were each between the timekeeper's box and our respective benches.

Without a second look at Julian, I skated to the penalty box, and I hopped over the boards. I watched as they put my number up on the scoreboard, along with the time of my penalty, and then I sat down on the short bench to stretch my legs. My roughing penalty was only two minutes, whereas Julian's was five minutes, because a check from behind was an automatic major.

"Oi, Rogers!" Coach Hannover called, and I glanced over to my bench. He was standing at the center of the bench, and even though his mouth was set in a line, I could see the hint of a smile on his lips. "I told you to take a smart penalty."

"I bought you three minutes of power play," I replied with a grin. "Plus, you're still even."

"If we don't get a goal, I'll make you stand in the next for the next rapid-fire," Coach Hannover stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do I get my helmet or my stick?"

"Yes to the helmet, and you'll get a stick if I'm in a good mood," Coach Hannover said, and then really did smile as he returned focus to the game. I chuckled, and then I looked over at Dane, who was looking at me.

"Nice punch," he said, and he threw me a water bottle.

"Thanks," I replied, and I winked at him before taking a swig of water.

Ever since the overdramatic, right-out-of-a-YA-novel kiss at the tournament, Dane and I had resumed our relationship, and I was really happy. We made the agreement that on the ice, I was just his teammate, but off of it, we were happily boyfriend and girlfriend. So far, it was working well for us.

I glanced at the clock to see a minute and a half left on my penalty, and then I started watching the game. The downside to getting a penalty this late in the third period is that when my penalty was released, there wouldn't be much more than a minute left in the game.

I had been hoping that our team would pull one out during the four on four, but we'd spent the whole time pretty much batting the puck back and forth in the neutral zone. So when the seconds ticked down to zero, and I hurried back onto the team bench, the pressure was on. There was barely any time left, and we needed a goal.

"Young, I want your line out next! Kelsey and Owen; you two on defense. Let's get one dammit!"

Coach Hannover's voice was flooded with a mixture of excitement, frustration, and stress, which is probably how most of us were feeling at this point in the game. The adrenaline was pumping in all of our veins, and I was itching to get onto the ice. Soon enough, the lines were changed on the fly, and I was skating once again.

The puck was in the other team's zone, and Dane and his wingers immediately put the pressure on. Owen and I followed up, waiting for a potential breakout. The current Kings players on the ice were getting tired; their shift was running long and they were trying hard to get off.

One of the defenders, finally getting their hands on the puck, drew it back and then sent it sailing down ice. Since they were on the penalty kill, the Kings couldn't get an icing, but they could force us to skate all the way down the ice.

Owen and I took off after the puck, and I caught up to it just as it entered our zone. I passed it up to Owen, who'd stopped just past the red line, and then I saw that all of the ice in front of him was open. The Kings' players had changed, and the new ones were filing onto the ice, all of them covering our offense.

"Take it, Owen!" I screamed, pointing towards the net. "You've got ice; take it!"

Owen hesitate for a moment, but then he turned and gunned it down the ice, his blades cutting sharply into the ice as he skated as fast as he could. By the time the Kings players had caught up to him, he had already shot the puck. There just in time to watch it sail through the air and find its home in the upper left pocket of the net.

I let out a yell and sprinted down the ice to join Dane in a group hug with Owen. Alec soon joined, and we all patted Owen on the back and told him he had a good shot, and if we didn't fuck up the next twelve seconds, the game was ours.

The referee blew his whistle, and we all lined up, still grinning from ear to ear. the referee dropped the puck, and Dane drew it back to Owen, who passed it to me. Their wing charged at me, but I calmly bounced the puck off the boards and around the player, and Alec caught it on the other side. He passed it to Dane, who skated into the Kings' zone.

Then, the buzzer sounded.

We won.

The whole team jumped the boards, and we all surrounded Owen and Tony in a huge mosh-pit-resembling crowd. Suddenly, I could feel someone watching me, and I turned to see Julian and a bunch of his players glaring at me and my teammates.

Our eyes met, and I laughed and then smirked. Julian's eyes narrowed and he shook his head. Obviously, this win had only strengthened the rivalry between our two teams, but without that, where was the fun.

I turned my back to Julian and joined my team in celebration. This victory was sweet, and I was going to enjoy every minute of it.

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Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh the last chapter of thin ice! It's been about a year since I started this project, and it's had its ups and downs, but overall, I love it! Thank you all so much for reading my story, loving my characters, and sticking with me on this. I may go through and edit it, but that won't be for a good while.

I was going back and forth on this chapter and the angle I should write it. I know there isn't a lot of Dane, but this story was really about Kelsey and her struggle with people judging her based on he gender, and her love of hockey. And so I'm satisfied with this ending. Also, I love Owen, and I'm glad he scored the winning goal. And Julian got knocked on his ass which was nice.

Not His Girl is next!

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