Chapter 24
I made it back to my seat right as the boys started skating onto the ice for the game. Jack looked up to me and forced out a smile. I smiled back trying to reassure him. It seemed to work because he looked back to his teammates with a determined look on his face.
He was the one the team looked up to and he couldn't falter in this game. He had to maintain his rep, so he did. Though I still caught the tremor in his hands as he held onto his stick.
After a few minutes of both teams skating around, each went to their separate bull pins to hear from their coaches before the puck drop.
"Welcome to the Seattle Eagles Tournament! Here to start us off with the first game of the day is the Colby Hill Jaguars vs The Mighty Bears!" A loud voice boomed through the rink. The crowd roared as our boys and the Mighty Bears skated to the center of the ice for the puck drop. The crowd continued to cheer, yet I fell silent watching Jack.
He was focused, his tremor was gone, replaced with a hardness that'll let him win the game. The girls and I shushed as the puck was dropped. It fell slowly, but when it hit the ice the game was on.
The Mighty Bears center had gotten the puck and made a smooth pass to his left wing. Not stopping for a second, the guy tore down the ice and Nick had trouble keeping up with him. I watched as the Mighty bears guy darted between our players and then took a shot for the goal. There was no way they were going to score this early in the game, I told myself. And when, luckily, the puck bounced off of Alex, our goalie's chest and into the hands of Kane I let out the breath I had been holding.
The boys recovered quickly from the quick start of the game and began to follow through with the next play. Kane took the angle he was at and shot the puck against the wall to make it to Kylar who was in shooting position, but as soon as the puck was in his control he was plowed into by number 13 on the Mighty Bears. Kylar landed on the ice hard, but with a quick shake of his head he popped back up and went into the bullpin letting another fill his place.
Jack, still in, was busy stick fighting with the Bear's center for the puck. Each kept shoulder checking each other until the other would let the puck free. Luckily Talon had come up behind the two giving Jack the distraction he needed to gain the puck and bring it towards the goal. He didn't make it far before he lost control over the puck letting another one of the opposing team's players steal it from his grasp.
Jack tapped his hockey stick on the ice in frustration before he quickly exited the ice as Kylar did before.
The game went on like this for the whole first period. We had only taken 5 shots, never getting the chance to line up to shoot. The Mighty Bears had taken 10 non of which went in thanks to Alex. The buzzer sounded ending the first period and the boys skated off the ice each panting for breath.
Jack looked up to me. His face glistened with sweat and his cheeks were blotchy. He looked tired, almost ready to give up. I tried to mentally send him some of my strength but all I could do was smile at him and give him a thumbs up. He returned it but I could see the effort that it took.
It wasn't long until he was ushered off the ice and the Zamboni was taken out to smooth the ice over.
Needing to stretch I stood up and started to walk up the stairs and towards the concession. "Rosie, will you grab some popcorn for me while you're up." Georgia asked stopping my ascent. She was holding out a five dollar bill for me to take.
"Of course, m'lady. Is there anything else you request, your highness?" I teased in a mock british accent. Georgia laughed along with Paisley and Jess.
"Popcorn will be it, but if you must, get me a drink, I feel rather parched." She joked back.
"Very well." I say grabbing the bill from her hand and then made my way toward the concession. The line was filled with people wearing green. If I didn't know any better. I would think today was St. Patrick's Day with the amount of green before my eyes.
There were a group of girls in front of me all adorned in Mighty Bear hoodies, one had a button of one of the Bears players. If I had to guess she was either a relative or a girlfriend, but I was leaning more towards girlfriend from the way she talked about the players. "Oh my god, did you see Bill take down that Jaguar guy? He's so strong." She says exaggerating her words.
Considering how many times our players had been knocked down I couldn't pinpoint which exact reference she was referring too. "Hell yeah, that was hot. But I also felt bad for number 12 on the Jaguar team..." Her friend started to say. I tuned in recognizing Jack's number. Curiosity overtook me and I strained to listen more to their conversation. "He was just so cute, I couldn't watch as Matt kept pummeling into him."
A strange feeling passed through me and my heart started to pound. I recognized this feeling before, it was jealousy. But as to why I was feeling it now over a group of girls who didn't even know Jack's name, was a mystery to me.
"Don't get too attached to that one, Tiff. That one's Jack Vella and Shawn plans to take him out in the being of the third period." Caught off guard by what the girl just said I hadn't even realized they had walked away leaving me standing a few feet from the counter.
"Move, you're holding up the line!" Someone shouted. My cheeks flamed and I hurried up and bought popcorn and a water before hurrying back to Georgia.
The second period was starting soon which didn't give me enough time to catch Jack before he went on the ice to warn him about the Shawn guy. I was worried. Jack told me last night that there was a guy in that team who didn't like him, but I didn't think he'd plan to do anything about it, especially during a tournament game.
*****
The second period started out the same way as the first, except this time we got the jump start. The boys seem rejuvenated and Jack started to regain his confidence on the ice.
I found myself smiling and cheering him on as he slid between two Mighty Bear wings before passing the puck to Talon who took his chance and shot the puck, not missing a beat. It was a stroke of luck because the puck hit the side pole of the net, bounced out against the back of the Bears center and back into the net.
The small section of Jaguars fans went wild while the rest of the stadium booed. I couldn't help but notice the glares Jack and Talon received from the Mighty Bears player and I thought back to what I heard about what is going to happen to Jack. I can't let Jack not know about what I overheard. He could get seriously hurt.
But with excitement all around me of the goal I quickly decided to find a way to let him know during the next period break.
The cheering and booing stopped as soon as the teams were ready for another puck drop. This time we gain control of the puck first. Cole had the puck and was racing down to the goal. He faked a shot then swiftly passed it over to Kylar who knocked it into the net before the Mighty Bear's goalie.
The boys were gaining their swagger back and they kept their two point lead until the last five minutes of the period when number thirteen knocked Kylar down again, and used the open distraction as advantage to sneak the puck into the goal.
Jack helped Kylar onto his skates before he turned to see 13 skate by gloating. It was evident Jack was angry at the hits everyone on the team was taking, but then one struck a nerve. Jack moved towards the Bear's player ready to swing, but Cole came over holding him back. Cole whispered something into his ear then motioned over to where we were sitting. Jack followed his direction and looked up to meet my eyes.
Instantly he relaxed under my gaze. We didn't stare long because Jack was ushered by Cole back to the team.
Still on edge about letting the Bear's score and Jack almost starting a fight the boys were once again off their game. They let the Bears take the puck away from them again. In hurry to gain the puck back Jack rammed the Mighty Bear player into the side wall.
The whistle blew and for the first time the ref called a penalty... On Jack. Infuriated Jack was bickering with the ref trying to explain himself, but it did no good. The ref only pushed Jack towards the penalty box, giving him a one minute timeout. Jack was angry, that much was clear. It was a stupid call and now he had to sit out for the rest of the second period. I watched as Jack hit the walls of the penalty box letting out what looked like a growl.
I willed him to look at me. If he looked at me then maybe he would calm down, but he refused to look anywhere but straight ahead. As the buzzer sounded I realized I hadn't been watching the game, I was still watching Jack.
I looked at the score board. It was tied 2-2. The Bear's must have scored a goal. The crowd around me cheered loudly as the Mighty Bear's left the rink and the boys followed after them. Jack was let out of the penalty box still looking pissed. He had still refused to look up at me, and still hadn't by the time he disappeared from my view.
"I need to go see Jack." I said abruptly standing up out of my seat.
The girls turned to look at me like I lost my mind, but I hadn't. He needed to know what the Mighty Bear's were gearing up for.
"Ro, sit down. You can comfort him after the game." Georgia said a handful of popcorn in her mouth. Of course she chooses this particular time to be logical.
"No, this can't wait." I say before I turned and tried to make my way to the boys locker room.
"Miss, you can't be down here during game time." A security guard stopped be at the entrance to the hallway that led directly to the locker room I needed to get to.
I looked behind him. The door was just a couple feet away, if inly this caveman would let me by.
"It's an emergency."
"Are you a trainer?" He says.
"No."
"Then it can wait." The man says crossing his arms.
I groaned, where was this guy when I was down here early basically during game time. Why is he here now when he wasn't before? Simple, because I have the worst luck. But if I don't warn Jack about the Shawn guy then he'll be the one with the bad luck.
"Please, it'll take one second." I pleaded but it did nothing to move the security guy.
The guy shook his head and place his hands on my shoulder to lead me back to the stands. "Sorry, miss no can do, now run along and find your seats."
"But..."
There was nothing I could do. The guy wouldn't let me through and the hallway was filling up with coaches and trainers. I huffed and turned to leave not wanting to make a scene. But before. i could walk completely away I froze. I had to warn Jack somehow.
Taking an old receipt out of my purse and a spare pen I wrote:
'watch out for the Shawn guy in the beginning of the 3rd. -Rose'
I walked back over to the guard. "Could you at least hand this to number 12 on the Colby Hill Jaguars?"
Being my last resort I was hoping the guy would at least do this for me. The guy nodded and I sighed relieved before I headed back to Georgia and the other girls.
*****
I had explained to the girls about what I had overheard. Paisley confirmed my suspicion of this Shawn guy being the one who has a bone to pick with Jack, also she told me he was number thirteen which made so much sense.
The worry in my gut had lessened since I found a way to relay the message to Jack but when the team came onto the ice for the third period and Jack had still not looked up to me the knot in my stomach came back. If Jack had gotten my message he'd had let me known, right? He wouldn't have ignored me completely like he's doing now, which means he didn't get it. Jack still didn't know about the Shawn guy.
I bit my lip until it turned raw watching Jack make tiny circles on the ice waiting for his other 4 teammates to join him on the ice for the puck drop. He looked so deflated and upset.
I watched as number thirteen, Shawn, from the Bear's came up behind Jack and slightly shoulder checked him on his way to set up for the beginning of the third period. Jack head darted up to glare at him as he skated passed smirking. Jack looked ready to kill but before he could do anything about the ref called them to center ice.
Again the puck fell, but Jack had it in his control before anyone had time to take a breath. Anger radiated off of him and he blocked out his teammates, heading straight for the goal.
Time seemed to slow down as Shawn caught up to him. Maybe he wasn't planning to hit Jack that hard to take him out or maybe he did. But before he could take anything back Shawn rammed into Jack from behind sending him flying into the ground and the wall.
Jack hit the ice and slid into the wall of the rink. His head had hit first. The force was so strong it knocked his helmet off. Jack lay still in a heap of hockey gear. His hair was sticking up, but it didn't matter.
My heart had stopped beating as I watched Jack lie there, the Shawn guy standing over watching him.
The crowd was silent as Jack let out a strangled cry while he clutched at his head. Hearing him in pain was enough to send me out of my seat and down to the rink's glass walls, as close as I could get to him, but it wasn't close enough. Jack let out another painful cry and I pressed further into the glass. "Jack..." I whispered as he cried out in pain once again before the trainers made it to him.