Dean Portman had been sent to the penalty box, and there he was, stripping himself of his shirt and tossing it into the crowd.
Chrissy cheered, clearly invested in the now half naked teen boy.
He shot her a wink and I'm almost certain her heart stopped beating.
I had to catch her before she fell.
"Ella, you saw that right? Tell me you saw that!"
Her giddy face turned bright red as she looked up at me from my catch.
I smiled, nodding to my lovestruck friend.
"I saw Chris, I saw."
She hummed, closing her eyes. "Best. Day. Ever."
I laughed, patting her shoulder as we reclaimed our cheering positions by the boards.
Chrissy still kept throwing glances at Portman anytime he moved.
I shook my head, as hers was on a swivel for the boy she had just discovered she had the biggest crush on.
The ducks continued crushing Varsity and everyone was happy about it.
Then, disaster struck the team.
"Shit." I mumbled.
Ken had been put in the box too.
He had gotten onto the ice before he was supposed to.
Chrissy sighed, "They're two players down. They might not make it."
Our eyes fell to the crowd, where against better judgement, everyone was calling for Goldberg to score.
My eyes shot up wide. A goalie?
A goalie who scored.
I cheered as loud as possible, and I raced over to Adam.
The team was cheering for Goldberg as they all gave him supportive back claps or taps with sticks.
His face was wide with his grin as he felt pleased and cocky in the winning moment.
I laughed a bit, proud of the boy who had teased me the first time we met.
Chrissy claimed a spot next to Portman in the box, chatting away.
Adam smiled, scooping me up in his arms, clearly happy.
I hugged him as he spun me.
"You guys did it." I smiled, cupping his face.
He gave a wide grin and a relieving laugh. "We did."
I blinked, and against my better judgment, I pulled him in for a kiss.
His hands wrapped around my waist as he continued to hold me up, smiling as he kissed me back.
The kiss lasted a moment before I pulled away, smiling.
He sighed, clearly happy, "We should talk later, like I said the other day."
I nodded. Adam and I would finally have the talk.
My eyes wandered to Julie, and I gasped, eyes wide.
Julie Gaffney was kissing my brother.
Scooter was kissing Julie.
Scooter was her Varsity crush.
I grinned, stepping back from Adam and skating over to the two.
"So, this is the handsome jock you kept ogling." I smiled, humming.
Julie jumped back, face red and ducked her head. "I'm sorry, Ella, it was just a kiss and-"
I shook my head at her. "Don't apologize, Jules. I approve of him. Mainly because I have known him since I was in diapers. Good choice." I turned to my brother. "Hurt her and I'll slit your throat with my skates"
Scooter chuckled and I left the two alone.
Chrissy and Portman were still talking before she put a small kiss on his cheek.
What is with the kissing today? Geez.
Adam came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pressing a kiss to my cheek. "Ready to talk now?"
I nodded, following him out towards the locker room.
"Team will celebrate a bit before they come in here. Let me shower and change really quick and I'll be back out." He smiled, tossing his jersey on one of the benches.
Ten whole minutes.
I counted every second it took Adam to finish.
Ten minutes.
My heart was in my throat.
Could I really do this?
What would we even talk about.
What would we be?
My arms crossed, picking skin.
Adam came out with a smile on his face, but it quickly soured when he saw me. "Ella, hey, don't do that."
He came over and gently pulled my arms apart.
My head dropped down, embarrassed.
Adam kneeled in front of me, cupping one of my cheeks. His hand was still warm. "What's wrong?"
I sigh, keeping my head down, and whispering, "Did you even want to kiss me?"
Adam laughs, tilting my head up to face him. "Ella, I really like you. And I wanna be your boyfriend and hold your hand and kiss you everyday."
My eyes widened a bit. "Do you mean that?"
Adam grinned. "I really do."
I sigh in relief, closing my eyes.
He chuckles a bit, still holding my face.
A small smile forms on my face at the thought alone of Adam and I.
Boyfriend.
Adam, my boyfriend.
I felt the blush creep up on my cheeks, as I smiled like an idiot.
I really liked him, and I was in relief my likeness was reciprocated.
He smiled back and I pulled him in for another kiss.
I giggled a bit as I pulled away. "This, does this make us, like, together?"
He nods, smirking. "If you wanna be my girlfriend it does."
I nodded back, kissing his cheek. "I wanna be your girlfriend."
He smiled widened as he picked me up from the bench and spun me around again.
I laughed, feeling tickled and appreciated. My arms wrapped around his neck, and when he stopped spinning her held me for a moment, just staring at me.
"You're so beautiful, Ella." He smiled, my oh so favorite smile.
His words weren't poetic or utterly romantic, but they brought a tear to my eye.
Adam Banks thought I was beautiful.
Someone thought I was beautiful.
It wasn't often I considered myself this way, but knowing someone could see me like that when I wasn't the prettiest or even best version of myself, was enough to make me cry.
I was happy, content with his words.
His eyebrows furrowed before his eyes widened. "Hey, Ella, hey, why are you crying? What's wrong?"
I smiled up at him, sniffling and still crying a bit. "You think I'm beautiful."