After I dumped my purse and stuffed penguin off in my room, I was practically beelining to practice. Running at full speed. I was still so shocked that I slept with Olaf Sanderson and I had a steamy make-out session with him. So many emotions were racing around in my head.
I knew I was gonna regret wearing my dress to practice but I had no choice, I was already late as it was.
The team was already out on the ice practicing. Coach and Jan were watching everyone do a tug of war battle. When the gate opened, Coach automatically turned around and started for me, his clipboard in his hand, and his whistle dangling from his neck. I ready for him to start yelling at me that I had an excuse already made up.
"Hey Vicki, are ya alright?" He smiled patting my shoulder.
My eyes went wide, "Uh-uh, yea-yeah, doing lots better." I nodded my head.
"Yeah, Connie and Julie told me you were nauseous this morning."
"Did they?"
"Yeah, but that's not really what you normally wear to practice." Coach gestured to my outfit.
"Oh, yeah, I didn't have any clean practice clothes." I lied, rubbing the back of my neck.
Coach smiled, patting my shoulder, "Well we have lots of work to do for tonight's game against Canada." He led me over to the team.
After practice, I stayed in the locker room and waited for Jules and Con to get out of the showers.
I was sitting on the stool in front of my locker which was also near Jules and Con's locker. They came out in their clothes with wet hair, trying to ring it out with their towels.
"Don't ask us to do something like that again," Connie said dryly, throwing her towel in her locker before sitting down.
"I didn't ask for you guys to lie for me!" I snapped. "I had an excuse already made up."
"Where were you anyway?" Julie raised her brow, giving off a worried expression.
Chuckling nervously, I rubbed my neck "Well I didn't expect to pass out and wake up in his bed if that's what you mean."
"You slept with him?!" Connie blurted out.
I waved my hands, shushing her, "Don't be so loud! Yes, I passed out and woke up sleeping next to him in his hockey jersey!" I loudly whispered.
"You slept in his hockey jersey!" Julie squeaked.
"Yes, he undressed me apparently and got me into his jersey."
Julie once again squeaked, shaking her hands, before pushing me down in the stool, "Oh my God! I want to hear all about it and go slow." Connie just rolled her eyes and sat down.
"Ok well, when we met up at the coliseum, he was like looking all bad boy greaser like and he took me to the Santa Monica pier-"
Connie cut me off out of excitement, "What was it like?" She half smiled, changing her attitude.
"It's just like in the pictures that you see," Looking to the ceiling, I pictured every detail I could remember about last night. "Everything was so vibrant and alive. The smells, the sounds, everything is burned into my head."
"I can imagine." Julie nodded her head before turning to Connie, then back to me.
"We went on one of the roller coasters and put in the front, but he held my hand the entire time." I smiled into the abyss, replaying the memory in my head. Then we went on the bumper cars, and the ferris wheel twice. Got some nachos and took a picture in the photo booth together."
"Aww, how cute."
"That's not even the best part, he did one of those strength games, took his jacket off to reveal some muscles like I have never seen before and he won me a penguin." I squeaked which made the two girls scream.
"That is so CUTE!" Julie screamed at the top of her lungs, making me lunge forward, covering her mouth.
"Julie Gaffney!"
"Sorry." She mumbled through my hand. Her eyes curled at the edges.
That night before the game, I got a shower, ate dinner, and got some new clothes on before our game with Canada.
Adam was on the bench with me the entire time, since he was still in his sling. Whenever I got angry, he would hold my hand, or rub my shoulders, or whisper in my ear to calm me down. Adam was there for me.
Our last play in the game, our Bash Brothers sent us to victory. Fulton has blasted the net of the Canadians goal with the puck just back home.
The next day in the paper, our win was in the paper Dean and Fulton on the front page along with Iceland's win with the Russians.
Charlie had come to me about asking Russ Tyler to join Team USA since Banks was on the bench. I was ecstatic about this idea, so we went to South Los Angeles to find him and recruit him ourselves before bringing him to Coach.
"Coach! Coach!" Charlie ran into Coach Bombay's office with me at his side. "I know with Banks out we have a roster slot open."
"Yeah?" He perked his head up.
"Well, ya know how I told ya that I'd be a better coach than player."
"Yeah?"
"Well, we did some scouting of our own." Charlie smile which made me signal Russ for him to come in.
"Russ Tyler. Coach Bombay." I introduced the two to each other. Russ gave a wide smile while holding his stick in his hand with his skates hanging from his neck.
"Russ Tyler, huh?" Russ nodded his head. "Well, Russ, what can you do for the team?"
He shook his head in shock, "You never heard of my knucklepuck?"
"Knucklepuck?" Coach questioned, folding his hands on his desk. "No." He finished, making the three of us turn to look at each other, smirking.
That night at our game, Russ showed the whole world his killer knucklepuck. We were two to one against the Russians.
Russ slapped his stick on the ice to get the attention of one of his teammates, "Over here! Over here!" Russ was passed the puck, then he put it on its side. "It's knucklepuck time!" Russ then slapped the puck past two Russian players as they watched the puck sail into the goal causing the crowd to roar with excitement at our win.
Getting into the locker room, everyone was surrounding Russ and showering him with compliments when Coach came into the locker room with camera crews, "I told him no visitors but he wanted to congratulate you anyway."
When we all turned, Wayne Gretzky walked through the doorway, slightly ducking to fit through, smiling at us.
Our mouths all dropped to the floor, "That's Wayne Gretzky!" I smiled, discreetly pointing at the famous NHL player.
We all surrounded him, shaking his hand, saying hello to him, "Guys, this is The Great One!" Charlie smiled.
"Wayne's fine." He reassured Charlie, making us all laugh and get in for a picture.
Coach Bombay, Jan, and Mr. Tibbles squeezed into the picture with us. Ms. McKay stood off to the side with all the camera crews getting their cameras ready.
"Ms. McKay! Come on! Get in here!" I waved.
"No, no, it's alright!" She smiled.
Everyone then waved and signaled her to come into the picture with us. She squeezed into the picture with Mr. Tibbles at her side. I was crouching in the front with Ken, Averman, Jan, Julie, and Jesse
"Say, hockey!" One of the camera crew members said from behind his camera.
"Hockey!" We all said in unison, smiling at the cameras with the flashing lights.
The next day before practice, Russ was on the front page with our win against the Russians, the knucklepuck ranking us to the final showdown with Iceland. Right below that was our picture with Wayne Gretzky, blessing our efforts in the games and wishing us luck with our final showdown with Iceland.
At breakfast, Adam also came up to me, showing me his wrist. It wasn't as inflamed or bruised as it was prior, so he wrapped it in some tape instead of keeping it in a sling. He told me it still hurt like a bitch but it was on and off pain.
Walking to practice, Adam and I held hands, except I was holding his left hand instead of his right. He kept on complimenting me on how beautiful I looked today which made me giggle like a schoolgirl, swinging our arms violently back and forth.
Mr. Tibbles and Ms. McKay decided to join us out on the ice today at practice, but Coach had a different idea about practice today. Coach had instructed everyone to get their skates on and not put on their gear. Everyone skated to the bench with Coach Bombay, while I was walking with him at his side.
"Coach, shouldn't we have our hockey gear on?" Luis shrugged, gesturing to everyone in their regular clothes.
"Guys, this is our last team practice, which means-" I started, standing next to Coach Bombay in his burgundy sweatshirt, a green and yellow baseball cap on backward, and sweats while I was in a lightweight tweet jacket, a white tank top, high waisted capris, and my white Lacoste Hendrix sneakers.
Averman interrupted, "The return of Captain Blood." He said sarcastically, kidding his head, causing everyone to laugh at his remark.
"No, it means," Coach started, reaching inside the benches to pull out a colorful beach ball. "Let's have some fun!" He smiled, hitting the ball from underneath, sending it flying out further on the ice.
Everyone cheered and chased after the ball. Goldberg kicked the ball with his foot, sending it up in the air. When I turned around, I saw Jan holding Mr. Tibbles by the arm as he was learning how to skate.
"Easy, easy now," Jan spun with Mr. Tibbles. "Good!" He smiled as Mr. Tibbles let go.
"I love it! I can skate!" He smiled, shrugging before skating off.
"Yes, he can skate," Jan mumbled before looking at me, shooing me off with his hands.
Then a loud screech came from Mr. Tibbles making Jan and I snap around to find him barreling for the wall of the benches then going in face first causing us to erupt into a laugh.
Jan went over to help while I ran over to Coach and Ms. McKay. I watched as Averman spiked the ball into open ice, everyone stopped abruptly as we all watched the ball roll over to a large group of skates.
Coach Stansson in the front with Marria, Gunnar, and Olaf at his side with the rest of the team behind him in their hockey gear. Marria used the stick in her hand to move the ball in front of Stansson. For a moment, he looked down at the ball before bending to pick it up, tossing it a bit to get a better grip on it before crushing it. Squeezing all the air out, then discarding it off to the side. Gunnar then gave him one of the sticks he was holding in his hands before they all slowly approached us in the middle.
"Playtime is over," He started. "We have the ice now. You and your little rink rats must leave." His insult wanted me to punch him in the face so badly but I was too focused on Gunnar and Olaf.
The two looked worried like someone them. They were both giving me sympathetic looks of shame while I stood in the front next to Coach with Ms. McKay at his other side.
"We're right here, Coach," Dean spoke out, making the three of us turn to see Dean give a slight nod of his head.
"The only thing little was your career in the pros." Coach stabbed, causing all of us to laugh, including myself.
"Gordon, no, let's go." Ms. McKay pleaded, gripping his arm.
Stansson rolled his eyes, scoffing, "Well, at least I had a shot. I was there."
"You were a disgrace," I added. Stansson looked over at me, biting the inside of his cheek. I then looked to Coach, who was staring at Marria. The two were exchanging looks making my head move back and forth slightly. "Speaking of disgraces, your so-called "Junior Assistant Coach" has been quite the little minx."
"What are you talking about?" Coach said with a bit of sass and questioning anger in his voice.
"Oh, well, I take it you've not seen this," Stansson then glanced at Gunnar, who looked down at the ground in shame and gave him what looked like a rolled-up magazine before frisbee throwing it over to us.
The magazine plopped on the ice before sliding over to us. My eyes went wide and my stomach dropped from what I saw on the cover of Seventeen.
'Queen of The Ice? Or Queen of Stealing Hearts?'
Was the headline and two pictures taken from afar of Gunnar and I on our date at the park watching Indiana Jones and Olaf and I at Santa Monica pier after getting off the bumper cars.
'Junior Assistant Coach for Team USA wrapping two of Iceland's top two best players around her finger'
"Oh my God," I mumbled.
"Your coach, that sleazing minx of yours, has had my best two players wrapped around her finger the entire time." Stansson confronted me in front of the entire team, making them gasp and start to whisper from behind me.
"Vicki would never do that! Liar!" Fulton protested.
Stansson raised a brow, "Oh, really?"
"Ya, it's more of like them having me wrapped around their fingers." Rolling my eyes, I picked up the magazine, before crossing my arms over my chest.
"So it's true then?" Luis started. "You're an Iceland chick?" He half snapped.
Whipping myself around, I rolled up the magazine, pointing at him, "Look! The only reason why I did what I did was to benefit the team!" My face was turning red from embarrassment.
"What benefit? Your own?!" Dean snapped.
"No! The benefit of us not having to be assholes off the ice! The benefit of being friends!"
"There is no benefit of being friends in these relationships. You three fell so far for each other," Stansson dragged Gunnar and Olaf to the front by their arms. "You all fell so hard it's pathetic," He spat. "I can assure you that they are being thoroughly punished." Stansson glared at the two boys who stood there with guilt-ridden expressions.
There was an airy silence between us, "All right, team, we're outta here," Coach then turned, trying to get everyone to leave. "Let's go, I said! Come on!"
"Can you still move on the ice?" Stansson poked. "Well, please, play a little with me." He somewhat skated forward, Gunnar and Olaf went back into their previous spots before being dragged out. "Show me the famous triple deke your daddy taught you or was it that old geezer over there?" He mocked and gestured to Jan in the back of the group with his head.
I balled my fists, crinkling the magazine, "Don't you dare speak about Jan like that."
"Marria." Stansson turned to Marria who got another stick from Olaf, then gave it to Stansson, he tossed it to Coach who caught it with both hands on the shaft.
Coach examined the stick before looking up again, "Three bar. First, one to hit both posts and the crossbar have to take it out past the blue line."
Stansson rolled his eyes, "I know the game." He said lowly.
Coach then looked over at me, signaling for me to go find a puck while the ice was being cleared. I ran over to the benches with the magazine in my hand, hopping over the wall. I found a puck in the corner on the floor of the benches, so I exchanged the magazine in my hand for the puck before going back to the group. The two teams were split and everything from the center and to the one goal was all cleared. Coach was fixing his cap on his head the right way when I dropped the puck in the center of the red circle.
I stood back with my team and looked at Gunnar and Olaf. The two were still looking at me. Gunnar mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' to me while I responded 'It's not your guy's fault'.
The two coaches circled the puck in the center a few times before dropping their sticks, Coach skating backward defending the goal while Stansson skated with the puck. Both teams violently yelled and cheered on our coaches.
Getting to the net, Stansson and Coach went behind it, the two aggressively fighting for the puck when Stansson threw Coach off of him, sending him to the ground while he skated to the front, slapping the puck just right, it hit the right goal post. The Iceland team roared and raised their fists in the air for Stansson.
The two set back in the center, swapping positions. Stansson was watching every move Coach made, "Come on Bombay! Come on!"
The two were weaving their legs while skating. Coach looked up a few times before shooting the puck, hitting the left goal post, making us cheer for his goal.
Again, the two set back in the middle. Stansson was trying to pull some fancy moves on Coach. Coach was trying to steal the puck early. The two were cutting their edges, moving back and forth rapidly, Coach almost tipped over but he was leaning so far on his skate that flakes of ice were coming up as he turned. Stansson moved in front of the goal but Coach shot and hit the right post causing him to go around and smile.
"News flash, that wasn't even my Triple Deke." He teased which made me laugh.
The two again, set back in the middle, with Coach skating with the puck. He faked out Stansson making him fall forward on his face, sliding forward a bit, "One more post and you go home cryin'," Coach smirked, stopping in front of Stansson who was still laying on the ice. "By the way, you owe me a beach ball." Stansson banged his fists on the ice before going after Coach. He came up behind him and smashed his stick into the back of his leg. Coach let out a bloodcurdling whale before collapsing to the ice, clutching his knee in pain.
I screamed, "Coach! No!" Before running over to his aid with the rest of the team behind me. Just like with Adam, I was on my hands and knees. "Coach? Are you ok?" Coach was clutching his knee and letting out groans, his hat fell off his head, then Stansson skated past the two of us with his stick. My eyes stared knives into his back before I shot up and started storming for him, "You son of a bitch!" I spat. "You bastard!" I screamed, I was about to throw a punch but a pair of hands were gripping my wrists together, keeping me back from Stansson who was with his team that had skated up. "I'll take ya right here! Right now! Let's go!" I screamed as my face turned red and my eyes became hungry for revenge. Looking behind me, I saw Adam holding me back with his injured wrist.
"Vicki, no, it's not worth it." He tried to talk some sense into me but I just blocked it out.
"Adam! Let go of me!" I screamed, still struggling and wiggling in his grasp trying to throw punches with Stansson.
He just lowly chuckled, "Put a muzzle on your pitbull and tie her up. She has a bark," The Iceland team all chuckled at Stansson's remark except Marria, Gunnar, and Olaf. "And get your coach of the ice, we have to practice now." Adam slowly let loose of his grip before I went to jump at him, but Adam locked my wrists together again causing Stansson to scowl at me, pointing the butt of his stick at us.
Team USA and Team Iceland all scowled and stared angrily at each other before we all helped Coach into the locker room, letting Iceland have the ice to practice.