Puck'd

Prologue

Jonah "Puck" McCallum

I've been drafted into the OHL—that's the Ontario Hockey League. You know, one of the leagues that the National Hockey League calls up players from. That's right. National.

This has been my dream for as long as I could skate. My dad told me so. In reality, it's his dream as much as mine, but what old man doesn't grow up to dream big for his kid?

I'm pumped. So excited. It's going to be great, whether I get called up to the NHL one day or not—Dad says I definitely will, that there's no other way my life could go, but I'm a bit more of a realist.

It might not happen, and even if that means that Dad will lose his shit, that's okay. Because getting drafted to the OHL means that as long as I keep my grades up this year I'm all set for college. Damn, I could even go to university.

I mean, first I need to figure out what I want to do with my life—other than hockey, of course—but the possibilities are endless.

Dad says to just pick something easy; that once I get going with my hockey career, I won't have time for school and it won't matter much anyway.

"NHL players make a looot of money, Puck. Just keep your head straight, don't get distracted, and for shit's sake put down the comic books."

I'm actually surprised as hell that he let me come here today, but I guess he's still so elated about me being drafted that he managed to keep his nerd comments to himself.

Well, that's not quite true. He slipped in a "Later Nerd" when he dropped me off at the front door. I just pretended not to hear it.

And okay, I guess walking around in a cosplay costume mid-August is a little nerdy, but I don't care.

When I'm not on the ice, my jock exterior fades into a nerdy comic lover, and with my gruelling schedule of practices and games coming up, this may be my last chance to embrace this side of me.

So here I am. Living my second lifelong dream. I'm at the Toronto Comic-Con a.k.a. Fan Expo Canada!

"Hey, Batman, could you take a picture for me?" a girl's voice calls out.

I glance around at my surroundings as if the Bruce Wayne is about to make an appearance.

The girl giggles, and that's when I remember what I'm dressed up as.

Feeling a little embarrassed, I look toward the girl with the green-painted face, dressed up as Gamora from The Guardians Of The Galaxy.

"Oh!" I put my hand against my chest, which is puffed forward thanks to my shoulder pads beneath my costume, "You mean me?"

She looks around and gestures out with her hands. "Do you see any other Batman?"

I follow her lead and look around us. In the distance, there's an older guy with a round belly dressed in a poor excuse of a Batman costume. I subtly point toward him. "How about that guy?"

She grins and gives a light shake of her head. The green paint on her face emphasizes how radiantly white her perfect teeth are. I bet they're even real.

Of course, they're real. Most teenagers don't have hockey pucks knocking their teeth out. Thank goodness you kept that thought to yourself, man.

I shrug my shoulders. "He might actually be Batman. You never know."

She giggles again. "He would have done better coming as The Penguin."

I laugh out loud, finding myself surprised that she even knows who The Penguin is. She's honestly way too cute for someone with a green face. Mind you, Gamora herself is a babe, so it makes sense.