Part 1, Jake: I woke up, too late, thinking about last night. The Flames won, I couldn’t believe it! They never win… but I’m sure that it was just pure luck. The Canucks would get ‘em next time, eh? Hopefully…. Right then I was getting ready for my hockey game though, I couldn’t be thinking about yesterday! I was thinking, “Ugh, they made those tournament games so eeeearly! I mean, noon? C’mon!!! Well mom’s taking a long time to get ready, she should know I have to be there an hour early! Oh, there we go, arighty let’s hop in the car and we’ll head over to the rink…
Oh my goodness it’s almost time for the game to start! Yeee, I’m so pumped!!! We’re playing the Americans today. So it’s like a Peace-Arch battle, except it’s really no contest, because I’m sure we’ll win, we INVENTED the sport for goodness sake! My team’s lookin good today, the coach is actually smiling for once, and we all feel good. The other team looks pretty chipper also though… I hope they’re really super anxious on the inside though. They can get really violent (okay, so hockey IS a contact sport but I mean they get like REALLY pushy) when they’re mad. But right now it’s just me and the ice.” As a left-wing forward my goal was to get the puck into the other team’s goal. Luckily I had grabbed a 5-hr energy shot before I left, I felt pretty good. Now it was time for the faceoff….
As the puck dropped, I shot forward, knowing that my center would win it for me. Luckily, he did. The first period flew by, and I scored a couple goals. The second period started out really fast too, then at one point I got slammed up against the glass, and I locked eyes with a girl in the stands. The whole rest of the game all I could think about was trying to find her and talk to her after the game.

Part 1, Lacey: I sauntered through the slowly sliding doors, into the only slightly warmer hockey arena. It was much chillier than I expected, even in the lobby area. Not only was it cold, it smelled like sweaty sports gear and chemicals. People were crowded EVERYWHERE! However, all the shadowboxes on the walls with trophies and photos were being paid no attention. Most of the attention was pointed toward the raffle table or the locker rooms. However, the group I was with and I were part of the crowd who was filtering toward the actual rink. The game I was about to watch I expected to be REALLY boring. I didn’t know anything about hockey! Aren’t only Canadians supposed to play hockey? But anyways, I sat down just as the puck was dropped. The first period flew by! I started to understand the game a bit better, too. Then came the second period. Both the teams were doing really well! I noticed that the left-wing forward on one of the teams was scoring a lot of goals and he was doing really well. At one point, he got slammed up against the glass and I got to see his face a bit better and I saw that he was really cute! I definitely wanted to talk to him after the game…. Then the buzzer to show that the second period was over brought me back to reality again. For the whole third period, all I could think about was this guy…

Part 2, Jake: As soon as the game ended, I rushed to the locker rooms as fast as I could without falling and embarrassing myself. I think I took the quickest shower I had ever taken, and got changed back into my dress clothes incredibly quick, too. I just couldn’t stop thinking about going as fast as possible without hurting myself so I could go see that girl… I just kept my eyes on the prize and barely talked to any of my buddies or the boys on the team. Coach said something to me about doing well in the game, but I really wasn’t paying attention and I don’t remember what he said now. But I do remember I had all my stuff and I rushed out of the locker room, still wanting to get to her as soon as possible. Then I realized that if I went too fast it would look sloppy and rushed, and DEFINITELY not attractive. So I slowed down to more of a swagger, and nonchalantly checked myself over to make sure I was as perfect as possible. My parents saw me and came over and grabbed my gear from me. They told me we were going to go talk to some other family they knew, I was pretty bummed, to say the least. I mean, I REALLY wanted to go talk to that girl! BUT this isn’t a sad story, and it turned out that the family we went to meet was her family. Our parents talked for a LONG time, and so did we. We got to know each other pretty well, and I could tell she liked me. We were definitely flirting with each other and we exchanged numbers and other contact info. This Lacey girl was incredible… and by the end of the night I knew that we had a thing going on. When our parents called and said it was time to go, we hugged real tight, and I snuck a quick kiss right on her cheek. I STILL remember that night, and we’ve been dating for almost two years! Amazing what can happen at a hockey game, eh?

Part 2, Lacey: Once the game ended, the players made a mad dash for the locker rooms. And all of us in the stands made a mad dash for the warmth of the lobby! It was a mass of people once again, this time shoving the opposite direction. We all piled in the lobby to wait for the players to come out of the locker rooms, as an army wife waits for her soldier to walk down the ramp in the airport after being away for months on end. However like that army wife, I was waiting for one guy in particular. My mom called my name, and I walked over to her. She told me that we were about to meet a family, the father was one of daddy’s coworkers. I was mad at my parents for making me miss the opportunity to talk to that guy… but I guess work comes first, uhm, eh? I guess that in Canada you’re supposed to say eh after everything…. Anyways in a pretty ticked-off mood I introduced myself to the mother and father of the family, and finally to their son. I was trying to make as little eye contact as possible, but as I pulled my hand away (yes, in business you have to shake everyone’s hand you meet) he wouldn’t let go, and I looked up. Immediately, I recognized those eyes. From then on, we walked off from the parents and talked for what must’ve been over an hour. I could tell we had a connection. At some point we exchanged contact information, and the sparks were definitely flying. Sadly, the parents called for us after a while, and we had to say our goodbyes. We hugged and then, really quick, he kissed me right on the cheek. After that the whole drive home I was smiling like crazy. In fact, he still makes me smile! And I know that we’ll be together forever, and I will NEVER forget that December evening.