A Miracle On Ice

Chapter 11 "Jack's Party"

"Everybody ready?" Carly called out into the hallway that connected all of the teams dorm rooms.

"Remind me why we're going to this thing again?" Jim Craig stepped out of his room, grabbing his jacket.

Carly grinned at her friend, "Sure, Jimmy. It's called fun. You wouldn't wanna miss a perfectly good party, would you?"

"He probably might." OC and Rizzo joined them, making faces at the goalie.

Soon everybody was out of their rooms and ready to go. They split into groups and took multiple cars to Jack's place, having picked the designated drivers through a game of picking straws earlier.

"Take a left." Carly ordered.

"Aye, aye, Captain." Rizzo grinned from the drivers seat, pleased with his joke.

But Carly would not let him keep the satisfied smirk on his face, "I like the sound of that. Don't you?"

"I like the sound of Charlotte Elizabeth better." OC started laughing, "Who encouraged you to always snap back like that?"

Carly shrugged, "My mom. She's feisty."

They talked the whole drive there, mostly about trivial stuff. Carly enjoyed spending time with the guys and she was especially fond of her new friendships with the Bostonians, which she would have never thought possible.

"Ah, there it is." she said.

"Is Jack rich or something?" OC asked her in shock.

It was understandable. Jack's house resembled a palace. It was a five stock high, white house with too many windows to count that basically lit up the whole street. And it was even more beautiful on the inside, which was hard to believe when looking at it for the first time.

Carly nodded, "Pretty much. Now get ready for a night to remember."

They stepped out of the car and met up with the rest of the guys in front of the house, before entering the party.

Music was blasting, but Carly somehow still made out the voice of her best friend, "You made it!"

"Wow, you weren't kidding!" OC yelled over the music, "There's like hundreds of people here!"

Suddenly, Jack's interest in Carly was forgotten, as she pulled OC along with her, "You, come with me. Have fun, guys!" she yelled back to them.

"They sure are gonna have some fun!" Rizzo appeared next to Carly.

She laughed at that, "Even though they are both named Jack it's oddly fitting!"

Then she pulled Rizzo and the others along to the kitchen, "Let's go get some drinks!"

"I'm pretty sure this isn't what your dad meant by 'Team Bonding', Carls." Strobel explained grinningly.

Carly shrugged, "Well, I'm pretty sure this is gonna do a whole lot more than telling me what school you're from, Stob." she stuck her tongue out at her friend, who had been her class mate for ages.

They were sat on a bunch of couches in the garden that formed a circle around a table. Supplied with beer and snacks the team sat there talking and joking, along with Jack and Laura - Jack's cousin, who was currently sat on Rob McClanahan's lap.

"So, Laur? How's Florida been treating you?" Carly asked, honestly interested in the girl's life.

"It's been fine. Although, mom's been through the roof with her new guy and it's getting pretty annoying." she replied, "So, I've just been keeping buzy."

"Care to elaborate on that?" Mac asked, suggestively raising an eyebrow.

Laura leaned back and smacked him on the back of the head, "Pig."

Then she turned back to the rest of them, "Well, I've started working at my aunt's bakery and I've gotten into track recently, so that pretty much takes up my schedule-" she started.

"Carls! Jacky! Laur!" two beautiful girls slurred their way over to them.

Carly's face lit up in a heartbeat, "Oh, now we're getting somewhere."

She got up from next to Johnson and walked towards the girls, "Guys, this is Lia and Nina. My, 21-year-old hot and very single friends."

She grabbed Nina's hand and led her over to Ralph, "Nina Montgomery, Ralph Cox. Coxy, Nina." she said before dropping her friend next to her teammate.

Turning around and grinning at Lia she grabbed her hand as well, "Liana Woods, this handsome young man is Dave Silk. Enjoy."

As the night proceeded, more girls joined them. Even Jimmy decided to let lose and found one he liked and they had been dancing a few feet away from them, where the music was blasting the loudest and many couples had created a dance floor.

Carly had just walked out of the house with a bottle of water, handing it to Jack, who was full on drunk by now, "Thanks, Carls. You're a good friend."

She grinned while plopping back on the couch, "I'm a great friend. What's this good shit?"

"So, if I would hypothetically ask you to dance with me, what would you say?" Mark Johnson leaned closer to Carly's ear. 

She turned, looking at his captivating blue eyes, "I'd say that I can't dance and I'm not drunk enough to completely embarass myself in front of basically every person who grew up with me and my hockey team."

"That's too bad." Mark said, "Oh, look! Here's another unopened beer for you."

Carly chuckled taking the bottle from him, "Well, thank you, kind Sir."

"Drink up, Mi Lady." he replied.

About an hour later, everyone was scattered around the place. Bah, Pavvy, OC, Silky and Davey Christian were playing beer pong with a bunch of girls, including Jack and Lia, on the other side of the garden.

Jimmy and the girl were still dancing, just like Buzzy and his wife, Gail.

And the rest of them were either inside the house to find a quiet place with the girls they had picked up or around the garden playing drinking games. Carly and Mark were being part of a drinking game called 'Never have I ever'. 

Mark, who was getting bored at the game, grabbed the girl's hand and without further ado led her to their destination.

"What are you doing?" Carly asked the boy, who was leading her away.

Mark Johnson grinned at her, "We're gonna dance."

"I told you, I can't dance." she huffed at him.

"Come on, it's easy." he pulled her closer, "See, I'll just put my hands right here."

He put his hands on her hips, swaying her to the music.

"And now, you'll put your hands on my shoulders." he whispered.

Carly did as she was told and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

The two of them stayed swaying like that for a while, "I like this." Carly said almost in a whisper.

"I hoped so." Mark replied.

"And why is that?" Carly asked faces only inches apart.

Mark leaned even closer, so their lips almost touched, "Because I like you."

He overcame the last distance between them as he slowly kissed her.

"I like you, too, Johnson." Carly smiled.