i swear to god.. // j. neal

Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Megan's POV

Never until the fourteen hour flight to Russia did I realize my overall distain for flying. I never really minded it when I was with the Pens, since the flights were relatively short, longest being four hours, or so, but when you're stuck on a plane for fourteen hours, wedged between Dan and Pauly, it's a different story. Completely different.

First off, we had to be to the airport by six in the morning. Six fucking a.m. I hated waking up in the mornings, no matter what time it was, but early enough to get to the airport by six sucked. It completely fucking sucked. And to make matters worse, we were flying out via Newark, New Jersey. Not Pittsburgh. Thus, I had to fucking drive out there early enough to get to the airport by six.

To make things somewhat simpler, Dan, Tony, and I carpooled. Woo, we helped cut down on pollution.

But me, being the youngest, got stuck in the backseat. Dan drove. And quite frankly, for a guy that made as much money as he was raking in, he had a terribly uncomfortable car. Not that I'm saying I wanted his car to be as luxurious as a fucking limo, but something where I didn't smash my head against the window every time we hit a bump would've been nice.

So the drive itself sucked. And since it's a solid seven hours from The 'Burgh to Newark, we had to leave crazy early. Or late, depending on how you looked at it.

So if you combined the ridiculous time with the mild concussion I had sustained, the trip to the airport was much less than pleasant.

Making matters much better, once we got to the airport, I found myself having to go through security with a bunch of tired, cranky Pens. Again, less than pleasant.

The actual highlight of my morning was when I got five minutes to myself to go piss. I mean, it was enlightening.

And as I was in there, hovering over the germ-infested toilet bowl, I was thinking about how I was going to the Olympics. I wasn't playing in them, but I was going nonetheless. I wasn't very sentimental about it, though. It probably would've meant more if I didn't have a bruised cranium, and I wasn't so tired I could barely walk straight.

After stumbling out of the washroom, and into the seating area, I tossed my aching body into a chair between Jussi and Kuni. Kuni proceeded to tell me I had to move since I was for Team USA and he was for Team Canada. I told him to piss off, and proceeded to steal his sweatshirt to use as a pillow. For a coach and player, Kuni and I had a pretty good relationship.

While sitting there, head propped on Chris's sweatshirt, I listened in on Jussi and Olli's conversation. The kid was 19, and going to the Olympics. You could say he was something special.

All the meanwhile, though, him and Jussi were having a somewhat disturbing conversation, including whether or not the kid packed enough pairs of boxers. I swear to god, the things you heard while around hockey players...

After listening to Papa Finn and Baby Finn for a bit, my eyes fell upon Pauly, who sat across from me. His eyes were intensely fixated on his phone, his thumbs doing what I imagined to be crafting a text. His tongue was drooping out, slightly. He looked pretty into it.

"What are you doing over there, composing the Great American Novel?" I teased, extending a leg and lightly kicking him.

He glanced up, looking almost panicked. "I'm texting James."

I sat up, slightly. "Is everything okay?"

"He's on vacation with Beau and Bortz. Said that he was going to Mexico City. I'm just making sure he's not

A.) Dead in a ditch, somewhere

B.) Snorting some sort of cocaine

C.) In prison."

James never told me he was going to Mexico...

"Why the hell would they go to Mexico, of all places? What? Were all the plane tickets to North Korea sold?"

Brooks, who was sat next to Pauly laughed quietly, while Paul looked into my eyes, unfazed. "Coach, it's not funny."

"Why are you even so concerned?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"He's moving in with me. I've already set up a bedroom for him. I figure it's better the kid doesn't kill over or get locked up beforehand."

"It really depends on which was you look at it," Kuni offered, suddenly. "I mean, if you want a roommate, it's better. If you don't want him, it's kind of pointless to give any fucks."

Paul glared at him, quite evidently not amused.

So, James was leaving the country without telling me, and moving in with Pauly without telling me? Cool.

After an hour of sitting there, listening to brain-rotting conversations, we final boarded. And that's when I got stuck between Pauly and Dan. And it started going downhill.

Well really, shit started going downhill when I had to give Kuni his sweatshirt back, because that was on damn-nice hoodie.

It was on the plane where many things spilled out. Including, but not limited to, Paul's clubbing experiences, Dan's ass tattoo, and my first love.

Like I said, it was one hell of a flight.