lucky star // jamie drysdale

2

"He always reaches out when you guys run into each other and you're weak when it comes to him."

The toilet flushes.

"Gee thanks." I push my fingers through my hair, fixing it into place.

Ava exits the restroom, coming to the sink beside me. "You need to block his number," she says as she washes her hands.

"I want to but I just can't," I sigh deciding to wash my hands too.

"But why?" She moves to dry her hands, "He cheated on you! On graduation night!"

Connor Bell was my long term boyfriend, we started dating in eighth grade and stayed together through all of high school. He was my first everything and I mean every thing. I thought he was the one, he's sweet, caring, and just perfect...well he was.

The night we graduated one of our mutual friends was hosting an after party but I came late after spending some time with my family. No one knew where he was when I got there, so I went looking for him. I found him hooking up with Amber Nash, someone I had thought was a friend of mine.

Connor and I broke up right then and there. I don't remember much but I do remember rushing back out of the house crying and Griffin chasing after me then threatening to kill Connor right then and there. But for once he listened to me and just took me home, where even more chaos ensued as the rest of the family found out what happened.

Connor has apologized a hundred times, even Amber has. They both blame it on alcohol, but I just don't buy it. But it's been seven months and for some reason I still can't shake him out of my system. I unfollowed him on every social media platform but didn't block his number, so he texted me happy birthday a few months ago. And we still live in the same town so we run into each other every once in a while and chat like we used to. It's comfortable with him. I miss it. I guess there's a part of me that still hopes we'll end up together. Why? I don't know. But I just can't fully let go yet.

"Can we not talk about this right now? I know you mean well but we're here to have fun and support Trev, not talk about my ex," I say as I dry off hands.

"Yes sorry," Ava hums as we exit the bathroom.

We make our way back to the box, where we both focus on the game and next thing I know the game is a little over half way through the third period and the score is two-two. Trevor got one of those goals and we all completely lost it, we probably looked crazy but whatever. McTavish scored the other goal with an assist from Jones.

The game is getting intense now, both teams want the next goal to be theirs and they're playing like it. Trevor just got body checked into the glass and it looked really hard. There hasn't been a fight yet but it looks like one is gearing up, and if I know my brother he's ready to swing after that hit but he doesn't, he gets his balance and stays focused on the puck.

Dad mumbles something under his breath, probably something along the lines of "There ya go, Trevor."

The Kings get possession of the puck again, starting to move it towards the other end of the ice. I glance up at the clock, there's under eight minutes left.

Ava gasps beside me, making me look down at the ice again. The ten players on the ice are circling together, there's two in the center, one from each team. I can't see who though.

"Who is that? What happened?" I ask. I looked away for five seconds and missed so much but that's hockey, things happen so fast.

"It's Drysdale," Griffin responds from in front of me, neither of us look away from the fight though.

The refs finally start to slowly pull people off of each other. The Kings player, who's number and name I can't see, gets a good solid hit on Jamie. And then I see Trevor shout something, probably defending Jamie, because that's my brother, a protector.

"He better watch his mouth," I say. Trevor may look like the boy next door but when he gets mad he's got the mouth of a sailor.

After, what feels like five minutes, the referees finally fully break up the fight, calling a penalty on the Kings player for starting the fight and a couple of our players get penalties for fighting as well.

Jamie and Trevor both still look pissed but neither of them seem to be bleeding from what I can see all the way up here.

Next thing I know there's a minute and half left in the game. There's no way it doesn't go into overtime, both goalies are doing amazing. The Kings keep better control of the puck but the Ducks keep getting it back every once in a while.

Everyone is on the edge of their seats, including me. I'm nervously chewing on the straw from my soda while I watch.

Trevor gets the puck passed to him, "Go!" Ava and I shout at the same time, both of us leaning further forward. I don't look away from Trevor's bright orange jersey as he skates towards the Kings goalie. There's black and silver jerseys gaining on either side of him.

"Pass it, pass it," I mumble to myself, Troy Terry is to his left with the perfect open shot.

He finally sees Troy and passes him the puck, I hear the puck hit his stick and then the arena erupts in cheers as the puck hits the back of the net.

The announcers voice rings excitedly through the arena as every Ducks fan gets on their feet to celebrate. On the ice the five players in orange all circle around Troy to celebrate.

Ava and I hug each other in celebration. Then Dad gives us all high fives as the teams reset in the middle of the ice.

When I look back up at the clock there's less then thirty seconds left in the third, no one should be able to score again but hockey can be unpredictable. But luckily no one scores and the games ends with a Ducks win.