Alaska || Auston Matthews

four

ALASKA

Monday comes all too quickly and completely unwanted to pretty much everyone. At least, everyone except my mom and Tom. When I get home from school, I am greeted with a sticky note posted on the fridge.

Alaska-

Tom and I are going out to dinner before our flight, so you won't see us before we leave. Sorry! Have fun and be safe while we're gone! If you need anything, we're a call away.

Love,
Mom

I crumple up the note and toss it in the garbage, knowing that if I don't do it now, it'll get added to future clutter. I sigh and lean against the counter, feeling the cool surface beneath my palms. I allow my eyes to close because of how exhausted I am from school. However, the sound of my phone ringing jolts me awake. 

Groaning, I slide my phone out of my back pocket and answer it without bothering to look who was calling.

"Hello?" I ask nonchalantly.

"Alaska!" Carly yells into the phone, causing me to wince. I turn the speaker volume down before furthering the conversation.

"Hey, Carly. What's up?"

"There's too much to explain over the phone! Can I come over?"

"Yeah, sure. When will you be here?"

"In about five seconds."

"Okay. Wait, what?" I exclaim, realizing what she had said. The call ends right as the doorbell rings. I jog over to the foyer and swing the door open, revealing a smiling Carly. She doesn't hesitate to walk right in and make her way upstairs. I follow her into my room, confused as to what exactly is going on.

"Carly, what is it?" I ask once we are both seated on the floor in my room.

"Okay, so don't be mad at me, but when we met the Leafs on Saturday, I exchanged numbers with Mitch. I didn't think he'd actually text me, but he did! And we have been talking all weekend!"

"Why would I be mad at you for that?" I ask with a chuckle.

"I'm not done," she says, holding up her index finger, "so today Mitch and I were talking for a bit and he mentioned something about hosting a party with some close friends tonight."

"Okay..." I say, not sure where this was going. She looks at me with a bewildered expression on her face.

"Are you dumb or do you actually not know what I'm getting at here?" she exclaims.

"Just go on," I sigh, motioning for her to continue.

"Anyway, so Mitch invited us, as in you and me, Carly and Alaska, to the party!" I blink at her a few times, not knowing what to make of the offer. A party at Mitch Marner's house. Mitch Marner, the Toronto Maple Leaf's house. Is it like parties we usually go to with keg stands, body shots, and crowds of hormonal teenagers? Except instead of teenagers, there'll be professional hockey players? I must have been staring off for quite some time because Carly has to wave her arms in front of me to help me refocus. 

"What?" I ask, backing up a bit.

"Well, what do you think? Do you want to go?"

"I don't know Carly. We have no idea what to expect, plus we have school tomorrow which I do not want to be hungover for, might I add," I say, uncertainty soaking my response. She frowns a little and looks at me with her big, brown eyes.

"First of all, we have a teacher in-service day. Second of all, Mitch said it's only going to be close friends and teammates. And third of all, we don't have to drink if you're so worried about getting hungover," she explains, clarifying everything. I feel like an idiot, forgetting that we have a teacher in-service day, but I still don't know if that's enough to convince me to go. I look at Carly who was silently begging me to say yes.