𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓

chapter 15

for the few following days, we studied both our opponents and ourselves. we over watched tapes of our games. we had to learn from our mistakes.

jan set up stacks of empty soda cans for luis. his goal was to stop in front of them without making any fall. his speed was great, but he needed to learn how to control it.

coach bombay had even made us go all the way back to basics. we put all of our gear on and were crawling across the ice. this helped build strength in both our arms and legs.

i had been the first one to finish. i stood up and wiped all the excess snow or ice off of me. "nice job mymy," coach complemented as he patted me on the back.

later in the evening, we were all put in the weight room. right now half of us were on treadmills and half of us were taking a break. i was close to hitting my one mile run.

i could feel eyes on me and as i glanced behind me, i could see dean smiling at me. i quickly turned back around and a small blush arose on my face.

coach had stepped behind goldberg; so if he fell, he took down coach with him. "hey how you feeling today, goldberg?" he questioned jokingly.

"lean and mean." he responded quickly to coach. after another hour of being in there, we had one drill left on the ice. afterwards, i knew we'd all be dead.

everybody began taking shots on goldberg at once. he had to have kept all of them out the goal except a few. everyone was having fun in reality. even our coach was proud of us.

we all made our way to the locker room and changed back to our street clothes. a few of the guys had taken a shower from the sweat. i was just going to take one in my room.

"want me to wait for you?" dean questioned as he was about to leave. i waved him off. "no worries. i'll be out in a few minutes." he sent me a small wink and then headed out the door.

i tossed my skates in my bag and threw my jersey on top. from around the locker, i heard someone wince out of pain. as i looked, i could see it was adam holding onto his right wrist and he was about to wrap it.

"you alright, adam?" i questioned as i threw my bag over my shoulder. he was shocked when he saw me and quickly threw the tape in his bag. "oh yeah, i'm good. just a little sore from all the work today." he seemed nervous when he said the words, though i just nodded my head.

as i turned around, coach was standing at the doorway. "hey, great job today mymy. i could see you put in as much effort as you could," he commented as i was leaving.

"thank coach. i'll see you tomorrow morning. have a good night." i quietly closed the door behind me and made my way outside.

the bus back to our rooms was luckily still there. i quickly threw in my bag in the trunk of the bus and hurried my way on. i sat down next to fulton while dean was across from us.

the following day, we were back practicing on the ice. banks had come out with a sling on his arm. i skated over towards him.

"doesn't exactly seem like you're alright," i said as he slowly skated next to me. he shrugged his shoulders. "i will be alright. don't worry about me." a smile formed on both of our faces before i went back to the drill.

luis was back in front of the cans. he was still having his struggles with properly stopping. but everyone knew that he'd be able to do it. we worked on simple stick handling drills and were soon sent off.

a stack of the city's newspapers were outside the door, entering the ice rink. i had picked one up to see that dean and fulton were now known as the 'bash brothers.'

"wow, you guys are famous. look!" i said as i walked over to the two boys. they both quickly examined the paper, looked at each other, and started jumping around excitedly.

averman had taken the paper from fulton to look at it himself. "well look here," he started off. i looked back at the paper. "iceland is angry since the u.s is now tied with them," averman read aloud.

we all looked at each other proudly. this group of teens, most from minnesota and others from different states, all with different backgrounds, had now come together to win the gold as one.

everyone had a hop in their step from the excitement. though as dwayne sat down across from dean and i, he had a puzzled look on his face. "well if adam's out, who will take his place?"

everyone was quiet for a moment before charlie spoke up. "i know the perfect guy!"