the choice • charlie conway

chapter twenty two

charlie

It's so surreal to me that I'm playing in a college hockey arena.

If you told me this five years ago when I was a little ten year old kid who sucked at hockey, I would've laughed in your face.

I also can't believe that I'm in the state semifinal. My team is good enough to be here right now. I think this might even be better than beating Iceland at the Goodwill Games.

I texted Bombay a few days ago and invited him to come out and watch, but I'm not sure if he'll show. He knows that me and the rest of the Ducks made varsity, but otherwise we haven't talked much recently. He's been too busy practicing law to be around a lot. I wish he knew how much I could use his advice right now.

When our bus pulls into the arena parking lot, my eyes nearly pop out of my head. I can't believe that I'm about to play in a D1 college hockey team's arena, on their ice.

This arena is stunning. A lot of my teammates are having the same enchanted reaction that I am, but Adam doesn't even bat an eye. I wish I had a brother who plays for a program like this, and I get to see this place so many times that I actually start to lose count. He even starts showing us things like where the UM hockey team goes for training, PT, and where their locker room is.

It all starts to set in when we take the ice. We're playing Marshall today, and they haven't been this far in years. Sure, their Cinderella story is great. It's really nice to hear about a team that's making a miracle run. But today, that story is going to end.

I feel oddly calm as the ref drops the puck to start the game. Their white jerseys accented with black and yellow are similar to our jerseys, black with red, gold, and white accents. I hope the similar color schemes don't cause any confusion for us, because the last thing we need is to lose this game.

I guess the hockey gods are in our favor today, because we end the first period leading 3-0. Like I said earlier, their Cinderella story was bound to end at some point.

We continue to dominate throughout the second and third periods, ending the game with a final of 6-0. Even though I didn't score today, I assisted one of Adam's two goals. The other four came from Dean, Connie, Drew, and Julie, who scored an empty netter. You bet we went crazy when she scored.

I won't lie, I definitely felt bad for Marshall when the final buzzer rang and the devastation on their faces was evident. In the handshake line, I told the captain to keep his head up. I couldn't tell if he wanted to kill me or hug me in that moment, but at least I tried to be nice.

It doesn't sink in that my team and I are going to the state finals until we get back to our locker room an hour and a half later. Although we don't play for another two weeks because of our weird schedule, I'm already ready to step back onto the ice.

As I'm taking off my gear, Dean comes over and sits next to me. "Yo Conway, are you going to the soccer game tomorrow?"

I look at him in confusion. "Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"Alright, sweet." he says, cracking a smile. "I was just curious because of what's been going down between you and Sadie."

I tense immediately. "Dean, everything's fine."

"Jesus Conway, relax. I was just asking." His defensive tone makes me feel bad, because I didn't mean to be harsh.

I watch as he walks away and goes over to Fulton to ask him for a ride to the game tomorrow. I would've offered him one, but I'm one of the youngest kids in my grade and I don't turn sixteen until June. Having my license like Fulton and Connie would be so much easier for so many reasons, but I still have to wait quite a few months.

I still feel guilty about being so defensive with Dean, so I seek him out and apologize. Luckily, he's a person who's quick to forgive and all is good between us again.

The last thing I do before I leave the locker room is find Connie and ask her to drive me to the game tomorrow. She thankfully agrees and I feel much better as I leave and go back to the dorm.

Right after ten, Orion sends a text out to the team that we don't have practice tomorrow. His reasoning behind it is so that we can have an extra day off before practice starts up again on Monday.

The problem with practices starting again on Monday is that I'm supposed to leave for Florida with Sadie on Sunday night, although I don't know if that's happening anymore. The other problem is that I still haven't told my mother we have practice the week of Thanksgiving, and I know she won't let me go if she finds out.

I know that texting my mom to come get me so I can bring my gear back home this late is a really bad idea, but by some miracle she agrees to it. She gets to campus within half an hour, and then helps me load all my gear into the car. I end up staying the night at my house, because I haven't been home in forever.

Unfortunately, my mom ends up finding out about practices before I could try and cautiously bring it up to her. My guess is that Mrs. Banks probably called her to gossip and started complaining about how the practice schedule is interfering with their plans to visit wherever Adam's fancy family lives for the few days before Thanksgiving.

Anyway, my mother told me in the car that I'm not allowed to go to Florida with Sadie anymore because of practice and how upset she is with me that I didn't tell her. I feel bad for keeping this from her, but I guess I thought I could handle everything on my own.

The worst part about this all? Texting Sadie the night before the biggest game of her life that I can't go to Florida with her. I can't imagine how she felt when she saw that, and I feel horrible knowing I could be the reason that screws with her mind before a game like this.

The hole that I've been digging for myself seems to be getting deeper and deeper, and I have no idea how I'm supposed to get out of it.