Our opposing team, the Eagles, win possession of the puck. But Noah quickly recovers it. I may hate hockey, but I know what I'm talking about.
Noah takes it down the ice, just a few feet away from the opposing goalie. He shoots, the goalie catches it, the whistle blows.
I feel my phone vibrate in my purse. Taking it out, I find a text from both Dad and Cara. I open Dad's first.
I hear you went to hockey game. Have fun. Be careful. Make sure you stay with Cara.
I'm guessing he doesn't know that Cara and I never stay together at games. She'd be off with her friends, and I was off with mine.
I open Cara's.
Wth! Why r u in the the official's booth?
She's just jealous. I think it's the first time she is jealous of me. Well, I guess this afternoon during practice she was, but whatever.
Cole and Noah wanted me to sit up here. It's a great view.
I add that to make her even more jealous. She doesn't respond so I think she got mad that I have a better view than she does.
I check Instagram for a few minutes, because frankly, I'm bored. As much as I'm supporting my new friends that I've only known for about 10 hours, I still hate hockey.
The crowd starts to roar as I put my phone away. I look to the ice to find Cole and Noah leading our pack towards the goal. Cole passes to Noah, who fakes a shot, passing it back to Cole, who shoots above the goalie's shoulder and into the back of the net. The crowd goes wild. And, if I'm saying things honestly, I did too. I scream and shout, I applaud loudly.
Cole looks up at me. Even through the cage on his helmet, I can see his eyes gleam. He is celebrating on the inside. Guys come up to him, them jumping together, but his eyes somehow never leave mine.
The first period ends with 1-0 Bengals. The guys walk back into their locker rooms for the next 10 minutes for cool down.
The break is over, the players skate back onto the ice. Cole and his opponent, who's different than the first period center, take their positions in the middle of the ice.
The puck is dropped, and Cole takes possession. They travel down the ice. A player from the other team tries to get to Cole and the puck, but Noah checks him out of the way. Cole skates around the net before shooting the puck from the bottom left corner. The horn sounds. Another goal. 2-0.
4 minutes left in the 2nd period, nothing exciting has happened in the past 10 minutes. Noah got the penalty for cross checking that boy going after Cole before the second goal. Noah gets possession of the puck, and skates down the ice. He fake shoots, making the goalie move one way, and Noah shoots the puck to the other. Once again, the horn blares. The guys pile onto Noah in one of those huge hugs that looks like they really hurt the guys in the middle, but never really seems to.
The second period ends, the players head back to the locker rooms once again. I hear my name called from the ladder. Noah and Cole stand at the bottom, motioning me to come down. I grab my purse from beside me and climb down the ladder. We walk to the locker room.
The guys are chanting their song, and I, caught in the moment, I chant along too. The guys seem thrilled that I was happy, especially Cole.
Another few minutes of chanting and cheering fill the enclosed locker room, which meant echoes, we headed back out to the rink. Cole hugged me goodbye as I head back to the box.
A few people still sit up there, a few boys-managers- and older people dressed up in fancy shirts and dress pants. The officials.
Cole sits on the bench while another guy on the team takes starting center. Eagles win possession and automatically shoots for the goal, missing by a long shot. Another Eagle takes the shot from the other side, making it into our goal this time. 2-1.
22 seconds left in the game when Cole skates out again. He wins the face-off. They skate down to the opposite side of the rink. Noah is already there, taking the puck from Cole. He shoots, getting blocked by the goalie. Cole takes another shot, misses. Then, Zac, another boy on the team takes the final shot. Making it into the goal. And with only 3 seconds left on the board, we win the game!
I climb down the ladder as fast as I can to the players bench, even before the final horn blares. Coach opens the door, letting me onto the bench. Noah and Cole skate over to me. Cole picks me up from the open board gate, he turns on his skates.
"You won!" I say into his ear. He nods happily.
As Cole puts me down, I feel eyes on me. Lots of them. I can see people look at me. I don't really care at this point, I'm just ecstatic that they won their first game of the season.
Noah comes over, picking me up in a bear hug as well. Even more eyes are on me now. Mostly girls from the student section, half of them probably jealous that I'm already this close with the hockey team. The other half just want to know why I'm on the bench, which is one of those rules that isn't written, but everyone knows it.
The crowd screams again as I lead the guys back into the locker room.
Edited: 3/2/22