the only exception - kenny wu

9. water fight

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when she woke up, arabella noticed connie and julie were already moving, so she looked at the small clock on the wall. she realized she should probably get ready too, so she drank some water and grabbed her clothes that she would play in. it was nike pros and an old dry fit shirt, but she grabbed the uniform she was supposed to wear over.

"god, this is so ugly and uncomfortable," she complained as she went to the bathroom to change. she quickly changed before brushing her teeth and hair, doing a quick skincare routine. she definitely didn't want to break out with all the cameras being pushed in her face all the time. 

when it was time, she walked out with the two other girls, and saw that most of the boys had been walking in front of them, so the girls joined them. fulton threw an arm around her shoulder as he said good morning to her, and she just sighed into his side, too tired to be playing another game. 

they made their way to the rink on a bus, where dwayne was telling everyone about how the boys put shaving cream on his face when he was asleep. they found their locker room after getting there. arabella found out they were playing italy's team, and she cheered. charlie asked her why she was so happy, but she was hoping there'd be someone selling pasta outside the rink. 

she was sad when there wasn't.

the game started, and it was a pretty easy and straightforward game. arabella scored in the second period, which led to her getting tackled by fulton, who was proud of her. 

when she went to the bench, kenny grinned at her. "that was a really nice goal."

and it had been, she had gone through both of the defense, skating backwards to tease them for a moment, before shooting it in the top right corner. the crowd went wild when she did this, and it felt like a moment she could never forget. 

another time she was on the ice, goldberg tried to start a fight, which she rolled her eyes at. he had saved the puck with his glove, but that wasn't enough for him. he started teasing the italian player, telling him that it was an easy shot. then he asked if the meatballs were slowing him down. a few more taunts, and goldberg ended up getting shoved, before the ref came to break it up. 

the game felt fun to watch, as portman made a ref jump onto the boards and checked a kid, before passing the puck to arabella, who passed it to fulton. fulton got the puck, and immediately wound up to take a shot. arabella cheered for him, hoping that he would make this shot. 

and he did. the puck went bar down, making the crowd go wild. arabella was screaming at him, catching him in a hug as he cheered. she looked into the stands and saw the boy who had been making fun of jesse the entire time, and he was clapping, obviously impressed.

they ended up winning the game, 11-0. it was their best win yet, an absolute shutout. arabella felt her heart beating super fast, knowing she was excited. like always, they said good game to the other team, and celebrated in the locker room. charlie started a water fight with her, which ended up in the whole team doing so. they were drenched when they began the walk out of the rink and to the bus. 

kenny looked at arabella, who was trying to fix her hair, which wasn't working since the water made it messy, and smiled. even if her hair was 'messy', he thought she was gorgeous. her smile made him smile, her cheeks would always lift, making her eyes look closed. 

he felt someone nudge his shoulder, seeing charlie raise an eyebrow at him and smile. his eyes widened, knowing he had been caught. charlie grabbed his arm and made him stay back a few feet away from everyone else, then started walking slowly when the rest of the team left the rink doors to go to the lobby.