𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙜𝙤 / 𝙩𝙬𝙤

"cowboy"

I looked around excitedly, Adam's hand in mine. I was here. I was really at the Junior Goodwill Games about to play hockey.

"Welcome to Los Angeles, California, and the Junior Goodwill Games!" an announcer said over the speakers, "As teams from around the world arrive to compete in both winter and summer events. The U.S.A. is expected to score well in the medal count, especially in basketball, swimming and hockey." I shot a tight smile at Adam and squeezed his hand.

"And there's Team U.S.A. hockey led by Coach Gordon Bombay. They're looking fit and anxious to begin the competition." The team smiled and waved at some cameras that were near the entrance of the arena.

"Tonight's game matches the second-seeded Team U.S.A against the tenth-seeded team, Trinidad Tobago. This marks the first game for U.S.A. in this double-elimination, winner-take-all tournament."

_

I looked up at the scoreboard with a grin on my face. We were crushing it.

"Gordon Bombay looks to have his team well in control here. They lead six to nothing." An announcer said.

"All right yeah!" Jesse leaned over the wall and high fived a few of our players after we made another goal. I did the same.

"Yeah, high-five some more. Man, my little brother could score on these guys." A voice from behind us said. Jesse and I turned around to see who it belonged to. A short, loud mouth kid,  about our age stood smirking.

"Go bother him then!" Jesse rolled his eyes and turned back to the game.

"Haha!" The kid laughed, "I ain't even got a little brother!"

I was about to say something when Coach slapped his hand down on my shoulder. "Ella, Jesse quit gabbin' and get on the ice!"

We both nodded.

Almost immediately Jesse was in possession of the puck and bringing it down toward Trinidad's net. Before he could do anything, one of their players dove at Jesse's feet, causing him to trip into the net. All the Ducks players groaned.

Jesse made sure to give the player who had tripped him a piece of his mind. He skated right up to him and gave him a hard shove. "Hey what's your problem man?" He shouted.

"Jesse forget about it! Let's go!" Coach yelled from the bench.

A referee took Jesse by the shoulder and led him to the penalty box. "U.S.A. penalty, number nine, Hall. Two minutes, roughing."

Not even a second later, I looked over to see the same kid who had bothered Jesse and I earlier, banging on the side of the penalty box. "He dissed you bad G!" He yelled and taunted Jesse.

"Yeah? Come here man!" Jesse lept at him but he ran away, up the stands.

"Bye-bye have a nice day!" I heard him shout and I couldn't help but laugh.

I looked up in time to see Dean and Fulton skating onto the ice. They both skated to the back wall near me and smiled. "All right guys let's have some fun!" Dean yelled and held out his fists for both Fulton and I to bump. "Yeah Portman, let's do it!"

They both took off down the rink, knocking over anyone in the way. Scratch that. They actually just knocked down all the Trinidad players, regardless of where they were.

As expected, Dean and Fulton made their way all the way to the other side and made a goal. The crowd went nuts. They loved it.

Both boys skated up to face one side of the crowd and bowed. "Thank you, thank you!" "Thank you very much!" They ended their celebration with a chest bump and more cheering.