Synonym

Epilogue

The world was silent except for the sound of blood pounding in my ears. My arms groaned at the stretching in my shoulders as I twisted my body and whipped the hard yellow sphere through the cool summer air of Paris. In slow motion, my eyes watched the ball slip in between the Canadian goalies left shoulder and the orange metal goal post as my stick head stilled near my hip and my right leg left the ground as a reaction from my momentum filled throw, like a golfers swing.

As soon as I saw the net swoosh and heard the immense noise of the stadium fill my ears again, the adrenaline in my veins pumped impossibly hard. Without hesitation, I ripped off my Team USA helmet, a smile on my face as I felt a body slam into mine, tackling me into a hug. A joy filled laugh left my throat as I hugged Jason back. My best friend was 28 and he knew this was his last Olympics. Jason didn't want to do it anymore.

And here he was, closing his career with his second Olympic gold metal and his girlfriend of three years in the stands. Yes, Jason has a girlfriend. Who is it? None other than Al Smith.

After rekindling at yet another Connecticut Christmas, Jason and Al did the whole long distance relationship thing for Al's remaining two years of college before she joined us all in DC to start our adult lives.

Sam also moved to DC, becoming a full time journalist for Vox. Kelsey returned in DC, dropping out of college to become the tattoo artist she always dreamed of being. Owen moved back to Boston, becoming one of those Facebook friends you never see after college. Emma did the same, moving to England after meeting her boyfriend on a semester abroad in junior year.

We still saw Jameson two or three times a year, making sure to maintain our friendship in person and online. Sadly, life doesn't always work out. Al and Finn had been correct when they had said that Chris was going down a dark path. Just after we had returned from Tokyo to start our sophomore year, we found out that Chris had overdosed on heroin at a party. It took weeks for Finn and Al to accept that he was gone, the days dragging on for the longest time. And Aiden, Jameson's sweet and laughable best friend, was killed in a bar fight just last year. Life doesn't always go as planned and tragedies happen, but you are stronger when you get through them.

I should know.

And what happened to Finn and I?

I was snapped out of my own mind again when I felt another sweaty and padded body put their gloved hands on my hips, making me drop my stick as their lips pressed against mine. Jason's body dropped away from mine as Finn and I kissed like it was our first time seeing each other in years.

Like idiots, our mouth guards clashed but we didn't care. When our panting mouths separated, I barely had time to look into his ever so emerald eyes before our entire team descended on us. Everyone was all smiles, we were officially a two time Olympic team and I had just scored the winning goal.

And in all honesty, I didn't even get to say two words to Finn for hours as we went through the medal ceremony and interviews. It wasn't until I was leaving my own locker room with my bag on my shoulder and my stick in hand that I finally saw him again. The love of my life.

Finn surprised me by pushing me against the cool white wall as soon as I exited the lockers, making me drop my stick in surprise for the second time in two hours. His body pressed against mine, his large hands settling on my hips once again. "Hey," I smiled giddily up at him, the adrenaline still running through my body.

"Hey," He said back, a wide smile on his face. "Look at you, scoring your first Olympic goal for the win. Nice job, baby." Defense players rarely scored, that came true in Tokyo when I didn't even get to take a shot on goal. Jason and Finn took that glory like the attention whores they were. I was ecstatic that I had scored a goal for the books. Being known for 'carrying' the defense was one thing, scoring a goal felt like a whole other world.