Where Do I Begin?

Chapter 5

Courtney

Charlie and I started to skate around to get warmed up. The rest of the team was getting on the ice one-by-one. I am really freaked out about today's game. I looked over at the Hawks bench and saw one of the players from the Hawks keep staring at me, but I couldn't see his number. Charlie looked over at me. "You okay, Jane?"

"I'll be right back, Charlie." I started to skate over to the player right after. I once I got closer to him, I realized who he was, and I stopped dead on my tracks.

It was #9.

"Hi." I said in shock. The player looked at me and went wide eyed. "You look like someone I know." I stated, shooting him a confused look. He looked around, grabbed my hand, then started to take me off the ice. "What are you doin'?" I asked as I started to resist. We got off the ice. He turned around and took off his helmet. I gasped. "Adam?"

"Yeah, it's me." Adam sighed. I stared at him with a confused look on my face.

"You play for the Hawks?! Why didn't you tell me this when I said I was playin' the Hawks?!" I asked. He sighed and shrugged softly.

"When, when you were talking about #9. I just, was, surprised. No one has ever talked to me like that." He answered without looking at me, then he looked up. "Oh no." I turned around and looked up at the level above us through the window.

Coach was talking to the Hawks coach, and they didn't look to happy. I turned back as Adam looked at me. "I got to go. I'll see you on the ice." He walked back to the ice and skated to his friends.

"Adam!" I yelled. It was too late, he couldn't hear me. I shook my head and went onto the ice. I went to the bench and got my stick. I sighed. I sat there for about five minutes, staring at Adam.

Why didn't he tell me he's a Hawk?

"Are you okay, Jane?" I looked and saw Coach walk over to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just nervous." I looked on the ice at Adam once more. I saw him talking to two of his team mates. I looked back. The team started to come in.

"Okay, team. Game plan. Jane." I turned over and looked at Coach. "You are going pass the puck to Conway like you did before on the lake. He will go down the ice. You will follow him, Jane. He will pass it to you, and you will make the goal." Coach explained the game plan.

"Okay Coach. But, we're gonna loose. I have seen the Hawks play so many games, and they beat everyone. Their best player is #9, Banks. So I'm gonna watch out for him." I implied.

"Thanks for the idea." Coach said. I nodded. "Okay, get out on the ice! We have a game!" I got off of the bench and hopped onto the ice. I went into the center, and of course, Adam come in front of me. We bent down, our stick on both hands, resting on our thighs. We both stared at each other.

"I'm sorry, Courtney." Adam apologized. I sighed quickly.

"I'll talk to you later." The referee came over and threw the puck down. I got it and passed it to Charlie. He started to rush down the ice with me following. Charlie stopped in the middle of the ice with a Hawk player in front of him. I kept skating till I was by the goalie. "Pass it to me!" I screamed.

Charlie shot to puck over to me, but a Hawks player got to it before I did. "Dang it." I sighed. We started to rush down the ice. "Come on, Goldberg! You can do this!" I screamed. Goldberg looked at me. The guy stopped on front of him. He looked at him.

"Please take it easy on me. I'm a new goalie. Come on, please!" Goldberg begged. The player didn't stop, but instead shot it and made a goal.

"Man." I sighed again. I started to skate back to my position.

"Nice try, girly." One of the Hawks players laughed as he knocked me down. He started laughing. I got onto my elbow so I can sit up a little.

"Hey! Don't do that to her!" I looked over and saw Adam. He skated over from his group of Hawks and shoved him. The player that knocked me down shoved Adam back. The referee came over and broke them up.

"Banks? What are you doing?" I looked behind at the guys back and saw his last name, McGill.

"Don't hurt her." Adam snapped. I smiled a little bit.

"Come on, Banks. You're going to the penalty box." The referee stated. I started to get up from the ice. I heard the announcer.

"#9, Adam Banks, is going to the penalty box for two minutes for," There was a pause. "Shoving his own team member? Whoa. Never seen that before."

I finally got up and grabbed my stick off the ice. I skated over to the penalty box. I stopped at the window. I looked inside and saw Adam sitting on the bench, his elbows on his knee and his hands folded, looking down at the ground. I tapped the glass lightly with my stick. Adam looked up. I smiled a little at him. He started to smile too. I kind of let out a laugh and skated to my position.

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"Okay guys. It's 5-0, Hawks. There is five minutes into the game." Coach sighed in disappointment. "This is bad. Look, we have practice tomorrow. So you better be there." Coach demanded with a sigh. We all nodded lightly.

"Yes, Coach." We all sighed. Coach nodded and closed his eyes like he was annoyed.

"Let's just," He sighed again." Let's just finish the game." I went out and started to skate to my position. Adam went in front of me again. We both bent down with both hands on the stick and the stick resting on our thighs. We started to stare at each other again.

"Can you meet me at the snack bar? After the game?" He asked softly. I smiled.

"Sure." The referee came over right after and threw down the puck. Adam and I fought for the puck. He got it and shot it to McGill.

We all raced down the ice. One minute left. McGill went to pass it to one of his mates, but Charlie got it. "Come on, Charlie!" I screamed.

We all raced down the ice. Then he lifted his stick up, ready to shoot it.

This is it, thirty more seconds.

He swung his stick, missing the puck by a long shot, and he fell on his face. I stopped skating and sighed in disappointment. The buzzer went off, and we lost. I skated back to the bench. I put my stick against the wall and grabbed my water bottle. Charlie came beside me. "You did great Charlie, don't worry."

"I know. Man, I hate the Hawks." Charlie stated. "But that one player. He's alright. The one who defended you." I smiled.

"Yeah, he's a good guy."

"Locker room, now!" Coach snapped. We all became silent. He didn't look too happy. He looked at all of us, turned around, and walked to the locker room. I sighed and grabbed my stick. We all left the ice slowly, and made out way to the locker room. We walked in and I unlocked my locker. I started to take off my padding and my jersey.