CHAPTER 2 | TEAM USA
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THE NEXT MORNING, I woke to the sound of Julie's alarm that we had set for 10:00, so we would have enough time to eat breakfast and prepare for practice. I began to get up and get ready, but Julie just sat in the bed groaning about how tired she was. The time change was probably hitting her.
After a lot of complaining, and a lot of bribing, Julie and I finally made our way to the local cafe in the hotel lobby. I ordered a breakfast sandwich and orange juice, and I bought her a blueberry muffin and a coffee, which was part of what I bribed her with.
While sitting at a small table, we were approached by a couple people, most asking if I was who I was and for an autograph. Apparently hockey was a big thing in Minneapolis, and so was I. But one of the people who came up to us turned out to be one of our teammates and fellow recruits, Luis Mendoza.
He told us about himself, but we all laughed when he told us that he was really fast, but couldn't stop. He told us he was from Miami, which made me surprised. The three of us were from complete opposite sides of the US, I very northwest, Julie northeast, and Luis southeast. It was kind of cool.
By the time we finished, it was almost 12:00, meaning we had just over two hours before Nicholas picked us up. The three of us didn't know what to do, so I decided that we could take a walk around Minneapolis, but making sure we didn't get lost and not be able to find our way back to the hotel.
Long story short, Minneapolis was very different from Nome, in a lot of ways. There were significantly more people than back home, but it still seemed like most everybody knew each other. We saw the many varieties of sports they had here, besides hockey. We eventually had to make our way back, but it was a great way to waste the time.
At 1:45, Julie and I began changing into clothes appropriate for before hockey, her outfit consisting of shorts and a T-shirt and sweatshirt, and mine consisting of sweatpants that said Alaska down one side, and one of my many Alaska Wolves shirts, which was my club team name.
We made our way to the lobby at 1:55, and just as he said, Nicholas was there at 2:00 to pick us up, this time in a limo. We were told that the ride to the arena would be around twenty minutes, so we all did a little meet-and-greet.
Julie and I already knew Luis, from Miami, so we didn't need to go into great detail about him.
Ken Wu, or Kenny was what he told us to call him, was Junior Olympic figure skater, but he told us that once he tried hockey, figure skating was left behind.
Dwayne Robertson was a full-bred cowboy, Julie and I established. His Texan accent was so thick, and he would talk about his days in Austin. Apparently he was very good with puck handling.
Dean Portman was a completely different story. He was sat up front with Nicholas, and he said he was an enforcer. That was all he really told us before he put headphones on and began listening to some very hard rock. The other recruits thought he was a bit scary, but he looked like he was having fun, so I didn't care.
Our meet-and-greet took up most of the drive, so when we were done, we kept our eyes out for the arena we were going to.
When we arrived, Mr. Tibbles was waiting for us, and while he led us to our temporary locker room he kept going on and on about how excited he was for us to meet the Ducks.
We were left alone in the locker room, and were told that we were to be ready and on the ice at 3:00 sharp. Julie and I took our stuff to the other side of the locker room so we could change, away from the boys. They were already getting rowdy.
Julie and I made our way to the ice twenty minutes later, followed by the rest of the recruits, besides Dean. I had no idea where he went. Julie sported her Maine jersey, while I was wearing my Alaska one.
Once we were on the ice, we stood in a line across from the Ducks with our helmets off so they could see our faces. I heard the whispers instantly, but I didn't mind. I just smiled.
"Oh my gosh, that's Augustine Jensen!"
"That's the best player in America!"
"Averman, look at who it is!"
"Goldberg, it's not nice to point! Put your hand down!"
I heard someone reprimanding another, and I chuckled at their amazement. Even the coach was in shock.
"So tell me about my new kids," the coach, Bombay, said to Mr. Tibbles.
He began to go down the line, introducing us, starting with Luis.
"Luis Mendoza, from south Miami. I clocked him blue line to blue line, 1.9 seconds." Bombay looked surprised, and Luis began skating around as fast as he could. "But there's one tiny problem. He can't stop." Luis proceeded to crash into the boards behind one of the goals nearest to us.
I gave my helmet to Julie while Kenny and I skated over there and got him off the ground and back onto his feet.
"I almost had it that time!" I shook my head while laughing. No, he did not almost have it that time.
Kenny was introduced next. "Is that that Olympic figure skater?" Bombay asked.
"Yep. Ken Wu. Put a stick in his hand and nobody's been able to touch him." Kenny was showing off his figure skating skills.
"Next, Dwayne Robertson from Austin, Texas. Best puck handling I've ever seen." Mr. Tibbles went on.
"You mean for his age?" Bombay asked, confused.
"No, I don't."
Dwayne was showing off his puck handling skills, and I immediately could tell he liked to showboat just a little.
"Then, we have Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney. Won Maine championship for her team three years in a row."
"We already have a goalie, Goldberg." Bombay looked over at Goldberg who was struggling to stay on his feet, and eventually fell. "We could use a backup."
I scoffed. Julie was way better than a backup. I watched her skate to the goal while the ducks formed a line, trying to score on her. The only person able to was #99, and it was clear he was one of the best.
Finally, Mr. Tibbles introduced me. "Is that Augustine Jensen, the girl who's the best in the nation?" Bombay was asking.
"Yep. Best player in the state of Alaska, and like you said, currently holding title of best female in the nation. I've never seen anyone like her. Offence, defense, even goalie sometimes, she's there. I've seen her take down guys three times her size, and she's really fast. " Mr. Tibbles then lowered his voice so pretty much only Bombay could hear. "She's also Icelandic, so I don't doubt it if she has ice running through her veins. Makes her prime target for the Iceland team."
While Mr. Tibbles was telling the Ducks about me, my eyes met #99's, his blue eyes meeting mine. He narrowed his eyes while smiling, as if liking a bit of competition. I narrowed my eyes and sent him a smirk back. He'd soon learn I was more than competition.
"Adam, Charlie, Fulton!" Bombay called three players out from the Ducks and motioning for them to take center ice, probably to go against me. Goldberg also skated back to his goal. I smirked, putting my helmet on. I could already tell they were a tad bit cocky.
First was #96, Bombay said his name was Charlie. We were at center ice, waiting for Coach to drop the puck. Before he did, I heard Charlie say, "don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
"You're the one who'll need going easy on." Bombay dropped the puck and I stole the puck while pushing Charlie out of the way and onto the ice.
While he was getting up, I turned my focus to Goldberg who was standing in the goal, nervous as can be. I started speeding up, but stopping and shaving ice onto him when I was in front of the goal. I was about to shoot when he moved out of the way. I looked at him in disbelief, but shrugged and tapped the puck in as I heard Charlie coming up behind me.
"Goldberg!" I heard coach say.
"What? She's scary!"
The Ducks and recruits laughed at his antics, and I shook my head and made my way back to center ice. Fulton was next, and he reminded me of Dean, wherever he was. I let Bombay give Fulton the puck, wanting to show off my defensive skills.
Fulton skated to me, expecting for me to be an easy beat, but he got ahead of himself. Trying to knock me down so he could have a clear shot, I moved out of the way as he lunged, having him fall forward, then pushing him out of the way before he could regain his balance. I took the puck from him and skated back to Goldberg, who stayed in the goal this time.
I faked shooting once to the left, then faking to the right, then circling around the goal to make him fall for the trick, then shot the puck once he was out of the way.
"I think she had her eyes closed!" Goldberg once again shouted to Coach, who began laughing along with the Ducks. I joined in this time, playfully punching his shoulder before skating back out to center ice for the third and final time.
#99, who Coach said his name was Adam, met me there. Bombay once again went to drop the puck, and this time, both him and I were ready for it. When the puck was dropped, we fought for it, but it got away from both of us. If this were a regular game one of the wing players would have gotten it, but since it wasn't, I decided to play a little trick on him.
I let Adam get the puck, then waited a moment before skating up behind him, then wrapping around to be in front of him. He slowed for a moment thinking I came from nowhere, and lost his focus. Our eyes met once again before I stole the puck from his stick in a quick movement, pushing it between his legs before going to chase it and take it to goal.
This time though, I moved the puck between my skates, back and forth while still moving forward. I heard Adam skating up behind me, so I maneuvered, letting him become in front of me. Goldberg, who was trying to keep up, was not expecting what I did next, and nor was Adam.
I faked right and left again, pretended to wrap around, making both of them fall for it, and with a sharp turn, I skated the other way, and shot it. It hit one, two, three pipes. It went in.
I liked to call it my signature move, and it drove the goalie crazy.
"What was that?!" Goldberg shouted from the ice, clearly I faked him out too much.
I pulled him by his arm back onto his feet, and be struggled a bit to get his balance. He eventually did, so I turned and skated back to the recruits. They each congratulated me, giving me hugs. I gave Julie my helmet because she offered to hold it. The ducks were looking at me in shock, some with their mouths wide open.
I turned my attention to Coach Bombay, who had an impressed look on his face.
"What was that shot? I've never seen it before," He asked me.
"A little specialty of mine. Took a bit to master, but I got it eventually." I smiled at him, and he went to say something else when Dean finally showed up, pushing a few Ducks down, then skating over to the recruits.
He had his headphones in, and swung an arm around Dwayne's shoulder, and the poor boy looked terrified.
"Sing it with me, cowboy!" Dwayne frantically shook his head, trying to get away from Dean.
"Our kids don't play that kind of hockey." I hadn't even noticed Mr. Tibbles come up to us, but I took it as my chance to back away. I saw Adam skating up to me, so I turned to him.
"Good job out there. I wasn't expecting that shot. How'd you do it?" He asked me.
"A hockey player never reveals her secrets." I told him while putting a finger to my lips. "But thanks. You did a good job too. Maybe I could teach you a few things, like not falling for Augustine Jensen's tricks."
He shook his head at me and we both started laughing. It was short-lived when we heard commotion behind be.
I turned around to see a bunch of Ducks lunging at Dean, probably for pushing someone else down. Julie, Dwayne, Kenny and Luis rushed forward to protect him, not that he needed it.
I rolled my eyes at the sight and sighed. I didn't want to get involved, so I skated back over to Coach Bombay. I saw Adam skate over to Charlie, who was yelling for who knows what reason.
A sharp whistle stopped everyone fighting, and I turned my head to look at Coach.
He said something that was mainly for the Ducks, then continued for everybody. "We didn't come here to fight. We're here to play hockey. You are Team USA, you are representing your country!"
Mr. Tibbles seemed to want a say in this, so he included a 'that's right'. I simply rolled my eyes.
"We want you to-" Coach was cut off by Mr. Tibbles.
"Be the best you can be!"
I could tell Coach was getting annoyed, but brushed it off again. "Start with a scrimmage."
Both Coach Bombay and Mr. Tibbles blew their whistles at the same time, and Coach glared at him. Mr. Tibbles took that as his time to leave, saying something about the team tutor.
"Don," Coach held out his hand. Mr. Tibbles put his whistle in his hand before walking off the ice. "You'll get this back at the end of the school term."
I laughed, as did the team, and Coach looked at me. "As you were saying..."
"Scrimmage!"
The team quickly split up, the Ducks v the recruits, and after playing for a bit, it was clear that not very many people trained in the offseason. The only ones I noticed who weren't struggling besides me were Adam, Charlie and the other recruits.
At some point, Fulton had shot one of his power shots, but instead of going into the goal, it hit the post and went flying.
And it hit Mr. Tibbles right in the forehead, knocking him out.
I shouldn't have laughed, but I did. It was kind of funny.
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Woohoo. Second chapter finished. That took forever. Augustine has officially met Adam, and they will continue to compete then share laughs afterward, and continue to build a strong friendship.
{Word Count: 2562}