That week in California went by very fast, and before we knew it, we were on another plane to New York. Throughout the week, we watched every game. On Sunday, we watched California beat Ohio 4-2; New Mexico lost to Illinois 3-2, but damn, Illinois has a great goaltender; and Texas win against Michigan in a shocking 4-3 in overtime. On Monday, the North Dakota and South Dakota game went down with a fight after the first period. Eight boys started the second period in the box, five from North Dakota and another three from South. North Dakota won 5-4 with thirty seconds left in triple overtime. Indiana wiped the floor with Utah winning 6-0. Missouri and Oregon battled it out until Oregon finally scored in the third period ending 1-0. On Tuesday, Alabama didn't have a chance against Montana, they ended the first period 4-0, and the score only went up from there, something like 11-0. Then the game, we were all waiting for Wisconsin vs. Alaska. It was close the entire game every time Alaska scored; Wisconsin had an answer. It ended in another triple-overtime Alaska winning 6-5. Wednesday rolled around Iowa, and Nebraska was also a riot, Nebraska tried their best, but Iowa won 4-3 in overtime. Wyoming versus Arkansas was probably one of the more boring games of the week. Wyoming somehow won 1-0. Yesterday Arizona won against Kentucky 2-1. But the game we were really excited about was Tennessee versus Colorado. We placed bets on Colorado. I won over a hundred dollars, guessing 12-2 when the game ended. The final score was 12-1. I left Louis a message when he scored six of the twelve goals. Tonight's games were also going to be interesting: Louisiana versus Hawaii and Idaho versus Mississippi.
We were on our way to Madison Square Garden for our practice today. From there, we had almost an hour a half drive. One of the New York players has a house out in Kings Point, and we were having the team dinner there tonight. Our bus pulled up in front of Madison Square Garden, and we stared in awe. It gave me reminders of the X back home. We unloaded our bus, and security brought us to the locker rooms, Kansas had just finished their practice, and the Zambonis were out on the ice. We dressed and made our way out onto the ice. My jaw dropped as we skated out onto the ice. It was bigger than the X and more intimidating. The New York team was waiting in the seats for us to start practicing. I noticed Jagger watching me. Coach called us in, and we began our practice.
–––
I threw down my helmet on the bench of the locker room. "What's wrong?" Blake asked.
"Jagger wouldn't stop watching me this entire practice," I ran my fingers through my hair.
"So?" Blake questioned.
"Exactly! Things like this don't normally bother me, but he does," I sat on the bench. "He just gives me terrible vibes," I hung my head.
"It'll be alright, Charlie. We got your back," Blake reassured me.
"Thanks," I muttered and grabbed my helmet before heading to the other locker room to change. I showered and dressed, wearing the same thing I did last week. We met up on the bus and began the long drive to Kings Point. We pulled up to a ridiculously rich neighborhood and got off our bus.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," heads turned to me in surprise. Reece and Blake silently laughed. Out walked Jagger; this was his house.
"Welcome, to my family's home," Jagger cockily opened his arms. "Please, come in," he turned around and walked back inside.
I scoffed and shook my head at Blake. I reluctantly followed my team inside. Servers lead us to the backyard. They lived on a waterfront; their backyard was huge. There were waiters everywhere.
"Okay, I'm already done with this night," I made my way to a table and sat down. Blake, Reece, Sammy, Alex, and Isaac joined me.
"It's eight o'clock, and we just got here. How could you already be done?" Sammy asked.
"She doesn't like Jagger. That's why," Blake explained.
"Why?" asked Isaac.
"Because he's an arrogant ass," I answered matter-of-factly, making the others laugh.
I dug my phone out of my pocket and pulled up the Junior National Hockey League website. Idaho and Mississippi played in a half-hour, and I wanted to watch.
Waiters came by and served us food.
I ate mostly in silence until the game started. Once it did, the other boys crowded around to watch.
Ethan's voice came from behind us, "You do know they have the game on in the house, right?"
"Are there New York players watching the game?" I asked.
Ethan nodded. "Then, no."
"What's wrong with the New York team?" He asked.
"It's not the team, It's Jagger," Blake spoke for me. I glared at him.
"Jagger's the one with high cheekbones and a really sharp jawline, right?" asked Alex.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" I slumped in my chair.
"Because he's on his way over here right now," Reece finished.
I turned around and watched as Jagger was making his way over here; I turned to face the boys and groaned. Ethan pulled up a chair and sat with us.
"Hello, Minnesota," Jagger greeted us. I ignored him and focused on the game.
"How is your evening tonight? How's the food?" Jagger continued.
"It's great. Everything's great," Blake answered quickly.
"Well, that's–," my gasp interrupted Jagger's next sentence. Louisiana just scored.
"Nice. Is there anything I can do for you?" Jagger asked.
"Go away," I muttered under my breath.
"Well, just let me know if you need anything," Jagger left.
"I think he heard that," Alex whispered in my ear.
"I don't care," I whispered back.
We went back to watch the game, that was until someone else interrupted us.
"Charlie, what did you do?" Kai's voice came from behind me.
"What do you mean?" I turned around, confused.
"I was watching the game inside, and Jagger walked in and went to one of his friends and said, "I did what you asked, and I can say she's a bitch," I slipped out before they noticed me, but I figured he was talking about you," Kai explained.
I was stunned; well, this was a first.
"All I said was go away, and I didn't think he heard me," I defended myself.
"Well, he obviously did," Blake muttered.
I sank back in my chair and looked up at the sky, "seriously, you can't do one thing for me."
Our coach soon told us we'd be leaving, and I was happy to get out of there. Another hour and a half later, we arrived back at our hotel, Reece and I collapsed on the bed and didn't move until we woke up the next morning.
I rolled over and rubbed my eyes until they adjusted to the light. Reece was still passed out next to me. I moved out of bed and undressed. The clock showed 11 am. I crossed to the window and closed the curtains. I crawled under the covers and went back to sleep.
–––
"Charlie, it's time to wake up," I heard Reece's voice and rolled over.
"C'mon Charles, it's almost time to go to the rink," I sighed and rolled out of bed; Reece was already dressed.
We met the group in the lobby and boarded the bus. We arrived in front of Madison Square Garden twenty minutes later. Crowds were already swarming the front entrance. We unloaded the bus, and security guards led us inside and to the locker rooms. We changed into our uniforms and sat back down onto the benches while my coach read us the starting lineup for tonight.
"Blake as our center, Reece and Charlie in the wings, Matt and Aidan as defense, and Brett as Goaltender," We nodded and made our way out of the locker rooms. The woman cued us, and we ran out onto the ice.
We circled and warmed up. The stands were packed. I didn't expect this many people to watch a game between Minnesota and Kansas. The horn blew, and we lined up for roll call.
"Hello, and welcome to the 2019 Junior National Hockey League. Tonight's game will be between Kansas and Minnesota. Let's meet our Kansas players. First up...
"Number 1 goaltender Beau Padilla."
"Number 2 left defenseman Jonah Beckett."
"Number 4 right defenseman Cameron Sullivan."
"Number 5 left winger Luca Day."
"Number 6 right winger Giovanni Ricci."
"Number 8 left winger Camden Sage."
"Number 12 center Rowan Oliver."
"Number 13 left defenseman Kingston Cross."
"Number 14 right defenseman Ryker Lucas."
"Number 15 left winger Luca Day."
"Number 16 right winger Seth Miller."
"Number 18 center Elliott Lee."
"Number 20 left winger Hayden Dawson."
"Number 21 right winger Reilly Schultz."
"Number 22 left winger Patrick Schultz."
"Number 23 center Connor Schultz."
"Number 26 right winger Grant Husky."
"Number 28 left defenseman Trent Norris."
"Number 29 right defenseman Timothy Stewart."
"And finally, number 35 goaltender Eric Atkins."
"The Kansas team is coached by Rhett and Madison Brooks and is assistant coached by their daughter Avery Brooks. Your starting lineup for the Kansas team will be Rowan Oliver as our center, Luca Day and Seth Miller in the wings, Timothy Stewart and Kingston Cross as defense, and Eric Atkins as Goaltender." Tonight, I was paying attention.
"And now for the Minnesota team, number 1 goaltender Samuel Evans."
I didn't bother paying much attention to our team until it was my turn.
"Number 23 right winger Charlotte Gallagher," I skated forward and skidded to a halt at the line.
"Number 25 center Isaac Lawrence."
"Number 26 center Alexander Moreno."
"The Minnesota team is coached by Daniel Lawson, Rebecca Daniels, and assistant coached by Mark Lawson. Your starting lineup for the Minnesota team is Blake Shoemaker as our center, Reece O'Reilly and Charlotte Gallagher in the wings, Matthew Fernnan and Aidan Henderson as defense, and Brett Wright as Goaltender. Now everyone, please rise and remove any hats for our national anthem."
The national anthem finished, and we made our way to center ice. We took our places, and the puck dropped.
–––
We cheered as we entered the locker room. We won the game 13-0. Coach Lawson entered the room behind us.
"Wow, great job tonight. This win tonight means we move into the winner's bracket in two weeks. We have a chance to go to Russia!"
We clapped and cheered.
"And now, we get to go home," we cheered again. "Now, get dressed, and let's go home!"
Coach Lawson left us, and I made my way to the showers and stripped off my uniform. I finished quickly and got dressed and rummaged through my duffel, trying to find clothes. I pulled out something, and when I looked at it, I realized it was Ángel's ND sweatshirt; I smiled, remembering when he gave it to me. It seemed like such a long time ago, but it's only been a few weeks. I was genuinely excited to go home and sleep in my bed and take a shower in my bathroom. A home-cooked meal also sounded terrific. I exited the locker rooms and made my way to the bus.
"Charlie," I turned around, it was Louis.
"Louis, I thought you'd already been on a plane to Minnesota," I hugged Louis.
"Our coach made us stay; we have a flight tonight," He answered.
"Really, what time?" I asked.
"Midnight," My face lit up.
"Us too. I guess I'll see you on the plane then," Louis nodded.
"I just wanted to say you did a great job tonight," Louis added.
"Thank you, but I should go; I'll see you at the airport, though," Louis nodded and waved.
I stepped up onto the bus and found a seat towards the middle. Sammy came running full speed onto the bus.
"I saw you were talking to Louis again," He panted, kneeling in the seats in front of me.
"Did I hear Louis?" Matt's voice came from behind, and suddenly he was climbing over the seat to sit next to me.
"Did you really come running all this way just to tell me that?" I raised my eyebrows at Sammy.
"Yup. Now, what did you talk about?" Sammy and Matt leaned in.
"All he said was a good job. We didn't have much time to talk. Oh, and he's on our plane to Minnesota," I added quietly.
"WHAT!" Sammy yelled, earning stares from everyone else on the bus.
"Shut up," I muttered.
Sammy squealed. "Okay, what is wrong with you? Every time I see Louis, you act all crazy, and why do you want to know Matt," I raised my eyebrows at Matt sitting next to me.
"It's just that I may or may not hardcore ship you two," I rolled my eyes at his reasoning.
"Amen," Matt added.
"As I said before, never gonna happen," I reminded him.
"Well, a guy can dream," Sammy added.
We talked about nonsense until we pulled up to JFK International Airport. We made our way through security and finally arrived at our gate. Ten minutes later, I noticed the Colorado team was also making their way towards us.
"Sammy, if you do not calm down, I will not introduce you," Sammy immediately stopped jumping up and down.
"Hello, funny running into you here," Coach Lawson greeted Nicholas Mason, the Colorado team coach, along with his sister Laura and his son Zach.
I dragged my friends over to Louis. "Louis, I'd like you to meet some of my friends. This is Isaac, Alex, Reece, Sammy, Aidan, Brett, Matt, and you already met Blake," I pointed each boy out.
"That's Brett, and that's Matt," Louis seemed surprised.
I nodded, "They're not as scary anymore, I promise you," I whispered.
Louis stuck out his hand, "Louis, although you probably already knew that," Louis shook everyone's hand.
"Je m'attendais à bien pire," Louis added.
"Tu vas bien. Vous vous habituerez à l'idée d'eux de toute façon...finalement," I added.
My friends looked at us weirdly, "Don't worry about it," I waved them off.
"Flight 32A to Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport is now boarding," We heard over the loudspeakers.
Blake pulled me aside, "Hey. I hate to ask this, but can I crash with you? My parents are still out of town and won't be back until Wednesday. I don't want to spend the next few days alone."
"Of course," I reassured Blake.
"Okay, it's time to board," Coach Lawson clapped his hands together. We gathered our stuff and started boarding the plane. I dug my phone out of my pocket and clicked the first contact in my favorites; it rang twice before he picked up.
"Hey, Charlie, nice job tonight," he greeted me.
"Thanks, Chris. I got a favor to ask," I started.
"Go ahead," Chris was doing something in the background. I could hear the pots clatter.
"Can you pick Reece, a friend, and me up in three and a half hours at MSP?" I asked while waiting for our line to move.
"Why?" Chris asked wearily.
"Because we're on a plane ride home right now," I heard him sigh.
"Fine," he gave in.
"Thank you," I hung up.
We made our way to our seats, and I plopped next to Ben. "Who was that?" He asked.
"Chris?" Ben gave me another questioning look.
"Reece's older brother... by two minutes," I added. Ben nodded. Ben and I eventually fell asleep, and we woke up just as the plane was landing. I sighed happily, looking out the window. We were finally home.
"Alright, I know it's 1 am, and we all want to go home, but this afternoon Alaska and Florida have their practice. I believe Florida is at 10, and Alaska is at noon. You don't have to watch them, but I wouldn't be opposed to it. Also, tonight's dinner is at Isaac's house and meet there at 5 O'clock. Ask him for his address if you don't already have it. I will see you all soon. Jackson twins, you're coming with me."
We were dismissed. Reece and I made our way to baggage claim and grabbed everything before making our way outside. I saw him standing at his car and made a beeline to Chris. I dropped my stuff before running into his arms.
"Hey," Chris hugged back.
"I've missed you," I whispered into his ear.
He pulled away, "I've missed you too. We all have missed you both," Chris looked at us both. Blake stood there, awkwardly.
"Wow, you both look terrible," He added. I punched his arm.
"Ow. Okay, maybe I didn't miss that," Chris joked.
"Chris, this is Blake; he's going to crash with me for a few days. C'mon, I wanna go home," I piled my bags in the trunk and sat in the passenger seat.
Chris started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. I waved as I saw other teammates.
"So, tell me everything," Chris started.
"Well, what do you want to know?" I added.
"What's it like? How exhausting were all the interviews? That kind of thing," He explained.
"It was crazy. There were so many people," Reece started.
"And so many fans. I mean, I know hockey is big, but not that big," I added. "As much fun as it was, it's so exhausting, and we're not even halfway done yet. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world, but I'm kind of glad we're not playing this week," I continued.
"Oh, I'm right there with you," added Reece. "As for the interviews, it's a lot of being shuffled back and forth and being told when to walk. I think that team walk-around was the longest day we had so far. I can't imagine what the closing interviews will be like later," Reece continued.
"Especially if you win," Chris added. I groaned internally at the thought of this.
"Trust me, I hope we win, but at the same time, I think I'll be fine if we lose too," Blake finally said something, and I nodded, agreeing.
"So, Blake, what team are you on?" I held my breath waiting for his answer.
"Uh, Danehead," Blake said carefully. Chris hit the brakes hard, and I shot him a look.
"Oh," was all Chris could say.
"It's okay, Chris, we're all good," I reassured him. He nodded, probably still not believing me.
"I'm serious, Christopher," he nodded.
We pulled up into our neighborhood a few minutes later.
"Oh, finally," I sighed as Chris pulled up into his driveway.
"Thank you, Chris. We'll see you tomorrow, probably," I thanked him.
"No problem, Charles. Anytime," I unbuckled my seatbelt as Chris opened the trunk. I stepped out onto the pavement as Reece grabbed his things. I grabbed my things, set them down on the pavement, and hugged Reece.
"I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early. I love you," Reece whispered in my ear.
"Love you too," I whispered back and watched them disappear into the house.
"So, how are we getting to your house?" Blake looked around, confused.
I said nothing and grabbed my things, and crossed the street. "Wait, is this your house?" Blake finally put the pieces together.
"Yup," I unlocked the front door and put in the security code before opening the front door to let Blake in.
"If you don't mind, you'll probably have to crash in my room," I added quietly. Blake nodded.
"Just leave your stuff down here," I placed my suitcase at the bottom of the stairs but grabbed my duffel and backpack.
"Leave your shoes at the door too, and then follow me," I directed. I quietly made my way up the stairs, feeling immediately comforted by the smell of my home. I ducked into the third room, which was Ángel's, and quietly padded over to his closet. I grabbed a few things for Blake before dipping back out.
"My room is down here," I made my way to the last door on the right; I opened my door and flipped on the light switch. Blake followed closely behind.
"I figured you might want clean clothes to sleep in," I gave him Ángel's clothes. "You're the same size as my brother. The bathroom's two doors down on the right," Blake ducked back out, and I opened my closet doors. I changed into clean pajamas and plugged my phone into its charger before getting into bed. Blake arrived a few minutes later.
"They fit perfectly," Blake closed the door behind him.
"Good. Feel free to sleep in my bed if you want. Normally, the triplets sleep in my bed anyway, and two 17-year-olds are much more comfortable than four," I explained.
Blake smiled at my nickname for them. He crossed to the right side of the bed and lifted the blankets before crawling in. Once he was comfortable, I turned off the lights.
"Goodnight, Blake."
"Goodnight, Charlie," I sighed and closed my eyes as I drifted off to sleep.