the only exception - kenny wu

7. hippies

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when they got to the arena they were playing at, they noticed the crowd as they walked through. it felt weird for arabella to match with all the other players in their dryfit uniforms, but she figured she'd have to get used to it. 

bombay and don led them to their locker room, where they had to get ready for their game against trinidad. their hockey bags were already in the locker room for them, which surprised arabella. "what magical elves did this?"

"the ones from harry potter probably." averman came up from behind her, which made her jump. she hadn't known that he was there. 

arabella's bag was right next to charlie's, so she gave him an exaggerated hug. "spazway! i haven't seen you in forever! how have you been, my love?"

he rolled his eyes before hugging back. "i thought i told you to stop calling me that."

arabella frowned. "which one, spazway or my love?"

"both."

"okay, babe." arabella grinned before sitting on the bench and untying her shoes. jesse was on the other side of her, which made her realize it's been a while since they talked. "hey messy jesse."

"hey smella bella."

they both laughed at their nicknames for each other, the ones they came up with at the beginning of the district 5 team. jesse had spilled his water on arabella and the floor, so she started calling him 'messy jesse' because of the mess he made. jesse, who wasn't the brightest at the time, came up with 'smella bella'. he wasn't good at insults or coming up with names to call people. 

but then he and arabella became friends. they had a short time where they didn't like each other because of the name calling, but that was until jesse realized arabella was funny and couldn't hold back from laughing at her insults or jokes. 

arabella is how jesse got so good at trash-talking. she taught him how to, and together, the two were unstoppable at verbal arguments, especially on the ice. arabella could look at someone and come up with an insult or a name to call them. 

it wasn't something to be proud about, but in hockey, it was extremely useful. 

they started talking about their trip so far and how they liked it while they were getting ready for the game. jesse looked up from tying his skates as arabella told him about how she tripped and fell on her face during a 1v1 against charlie, and he saw how kenny kept looking over at arabella, listening to her story. he wasn't that far from arabella, he was across her on the other side of the bench. jesse grinned, noticing the look on his face as he listened. he looked at arabella, who was confused on why he was smiling.

"are you that happy i almost broke my nose?"

jesse nodded, but then told her to get closer. "is there something between you and kenny?"

arabella backed away in confusion. that's not what she expected. "huh?"

he quickly side-glanced kenny, and arabella shook her head. "no, we're just friends. why, do you want me to set you up with him?"

jesse smacked the side of her head, and the kenny conversation ended there. it wasn't long before bombay came in the locker room to tell them their lines, as well as a big 'motivational' speech.

as they walked out onto the ice, arabella saw a team with tie-dyed jerseys, making her laugh a little. "is this the 60's? did we go back in time?"

bombay told her to just get on the ice and play, so she did. in the second period, they were ahead 6 to nothing. arabella had made two of the goals, and she enjoyed listening to the cheers. she felt like she was appreciated. while she hated being the center of attention, she liked that people cheered. it gave her a sense of validation. 

she was on the bench talking with jesse when they scored again, and the arena cheered. the players on the ice huddled in a group celebration, and arabella cheered with jesse. 

"yea, high-five some more. man, my little brother could score on these guys."

arabella frowned and turned around to the stands, jesse doing the same. they saw a boy who looked around their age looking down at them. she was about to say something, but jesse beat her to it. "so why don't you go bother him then?"

"ha! i ain't even got a little brother!" the kid laughed, and arabella saw the annoyance on jesse's face. arabella had to admit, this was fun to see. 

coach stopped the two boys, telling jesse to "quit gabbin'" and go play. arabella watched jesse hop over the bench and skate. 

"show us you want it son. go!" bombay added, clapping a little. 

the boy in the stands mimicked him in a deeper voice, making bombay turn around. arabella hid her laugh, and instead went onto the ice when she saw guy come towards the bench wanting to change shifts. 

arabella skated behind jesse, who had the puck. he was on a breakaway, but didn't get the chance to score when someone tripped him. he fell into the net, and arabella knew something bad was about to happen. he got up and started skating towards the guy on the other team, pushing him. "hey, what's your problem man?"

jesse ended up getting a penalty. "usa penalty, number 9, hall. two minutes, roughing."

she watched jesse skate into the penalty box, and she saw the boy from earlier standing there. he must've said something, because jesse stood up and shot towards the window separating them. the boy then ran off, making jesse sit back down. 

fulton and dean put their bandanas on and got onto the ice, pushing down everyone in their path. arabella did a quick turn around fulton, making him smile. "hey belle."

"hey weedy reedy. knock down 42 for me, yeah? he winked at me earlier."

fulton scowled. "i'm gonna murder him."

fulton and dean took the puck across the ice, passing it to each other while shoving everyone. arabella watched as fulton and dean pushed one of the other players down roughly, and she saw that it was number 42. how surprising. after this, they scored on the goalie, making the crowd go wild. 

she joined the celebration huddle near the net, giving dean a smile and good job. she then turned to fulton and gave him a hug before batting her eyelashes jokingly. "my hero!"

"your knight in shining armor." he flexed, although his gear and jersey made it so that it just looked like he was holding his arm up. 

as they broke away, dean and fulton skated towards the side of the rink, bowing and thanking the audience. arabella laughed as they chest bumped, making the crowd go crazy. 

arabella was on the bench when the other team got their first point and started dancing, and she smiled. at least they were having fun. 

"hey ara."

she looked over to see kenny, and a smile formed on her face. "kenny! i haven't seen you in like, forever!"

it hadn't been that long, she just liked to be dramatic. he played along though, which made her smile grow even bigger. "it's been years. how have you been?"

"it's good, i scored and i got fulton to knock over some dude for me. it's been a great game! how have you been?"

kenny looked confused. "why'd fulton knock someone down for you?"

she shrugged before giving the answer. "the dude winked at me during the faceoff. i would've done it myself, but it's more fun to watch fulton do it."

kenny nodded, feeling sorry for her. "men can be annoying sometimes."

arabella laughed, and kenny smiled. he liked hearing her laugh. he liked seeing her happy. he likes everything about her, and it was getting to the point where he might even like her.

"they can be, but you aren't. you're sweet."

he grinned before bombay told him to go out on the ice, and before he skated away, he said goodbye to her. 

arabella smiled. men can be dicks, but kenny definitely wasn't.