Chance of A Lifetime (Junior National Hockey League Series Book One)

Chapter 14

That week in California went by very fast, and before we knew it, we were on another plane to New York. Throughout the week, we watched every game. On Sunday, we watched California beat Ohio 4-2; New Mexico lost to Illinois 3-2, but damn, Illinois has a great goaltender; and Texas win against Michigan in a shocking 4-3 in overtime. On Monday, the North Dakota and South Dakota game went down with a fight after the first period. Eight boys started the second period in the box, five from North Dakota and another three from South. North Dakota won 5-4 with thirty seconds left in triple overtime. Indiana wiped the floor with Utah winning 6-0. Missouri and Oregon battled it out until Oregon finally scored in the third period ending 1-0. On Tuesday, Alabama didn't have a chance against Montana, they ended the first period 4-0, and the score only went up from there, something like 11-0. Then the game, we were all waiting for Wisconsin vs. Alaska. It was close the entire game every time Alaska scored; Wisconsin had an answer. It ended in another triple-overtime Alaska winning 6-5. Wednesday rolled around Iowa, and Nebraska was also a riot, Nebraska tried their best, but Iowa won 4-3 in overtime. Wyoming versus Arkansas was probably one of the more boring games of the week. Wyoming somehow won 1-0. Yesterday Arizona won against Kentucky 2-1. But the game we were really excited about was Tennessee versus Colorado. We placed bets on Colorado. I won over a hundred dollars, guessing 12-2 when the game ended. The final score was 12-1. I left Louis a message when he scored six of the twelve goals. Tonight's games were also going to be interesting: Louisiana versus Hawaii and Idaho versus Mississippi.

We were on our way to Madison Square Garden for our practice today. From there, we had almost an hour a half drive. One of the New York players has a house out in Kings Point, and we were having the team dinner there tonight. Our bus pulled up in front of Madison Square Garden, and we stared in awe. It gave me reminders of the X back home. We unloaded our bus, and security brought us to the locker rooms, Kansas had just finished their practice, and the Zambonis were out on the ice. We dressed and made our way out onto the ice. My jaw dropped as we skated out onto the ice. It was bigger than the X and more intimidating. The New York team was waiting in the seats for us to start practicing. I noticed Jagger watching me. Coach called us in, and we began our practice.

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I threw down my helmet on the bench of the locker room. "What's wrong?" Blake asked.

"Jagger wouldn't stop watching me this entire practice," I ran my fingers through my hair.

"So?" Blake questioned.

"Exactly! Things like this don't normally bother me, but he does," I sat on the bench. "He just gives me terrible vibes," I hung my head.

"It'll be alright, Charlie. We got your back," Blake reassured me.

"Thanks," I muttered and grabbed my helmet before heading to the other locker room to change. I showered and dressed, wearing the same thing I did last week. We met up on the bus and began the long drive to Kings Point. We pulled up to a ridiculously rich neighborhood and got off our bus.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," heads turned to me in surprise. Reece and Blake silently laughed. Out walked Jagger; this was his house.

"Welcome, to my family's home," Jagger cockily opened his arms. "Please, come in," he turned around and walked back inside.

I scoffed and shook my head at Blake. I reluctantly followed my team inside. Servers lead us to the backyard. They lived on a waterfront; their backyard was huge. There were waiters everywhere.

"Okay, I'm already done with this night," I made my way to a table and sat down. Blake, Reece, Sammy, Alex, and Isaac joined me.

"It's eight o'clock, and we just got here. How could you already be done?" Sammy asked.