Sacrifice

Chapter 3

The next day in History class Ryan sat down next to Alyssa. "Hey Alyssa, how you doing?" Ryan asks as he sits down.

"Wow look who remembered my name. I'm impressed." Alyssa says back as they both laugh. Ryan had a feeling that she was interested in him. He's never had any issues getting girls, he's good looking, a genuinely good person, and of course everyone knows he's going to the NHL. Most girls he had been with were pretty and dumb but she seemed different. She was a great student and extremely kind, Ryan liked the idea of seeing her everyday in this class.

"Any plans this weekend?" she asks.

"Yeah actually we travel all the way to Montreal for our first games of the year, I'm super excited." Ryan answers with a grin.

"Well that's too bad, I'm having a party Saturday night I wanted you to come to." Alyssa says, immediately wiping the grin off Ryan's face. That would've been a great chance to really get to know her. Hockey always gets in the way of these opportunities for Ryan but he always tries to convince himself it'll all be worth it.

"That's too bad, sounds like a lot of fun." He says trying to seem like he wasn't crushed that he couldn't go.

"Don't worry about it I'm sure there will be more parties." Alyssa says back.

"Yeah just text me if you have another one, maybe we can find a day where I don't have hockey." Ryan quickly says.

"Hmm I don't have your number though," Alyssa says half-smiling.

"Hmm..." Ryan says as he laughs.

"Smooth, Ryan." Alyssa grabs his phone and puts in her number with a big grin.

After school he sees all his friends talking in a circle and approaches them. "Trevor you're going to be so proud of me, buddy!" Ryan yells to the group.

"Why? What's up?" Trevor asks with a confused face.

"Pulled Alyssa's number in class today... No big deal." The whole group laughs and congratulates him.

"It's been two days and this guy is already in love." Kyle says as everyone laughs again.

"She's having a party this weekend actually but I'm travelling. I cant believe it." Ryan says looking down at his shoes.

"When are you not travelling?" Kyle says as everyone agrees with him.

"I know, I know I promise when I get back we will all hangout together." Ryan answers but everyone knows that's what he always says. It's all part of the sacrifice for the hockey lifestyle.

It was finally travel day, 6:00am on a cold Saturday morning. All the rookies on the team were doing the bus duties of loading everyone's bags and equipment on the bus. Ryan did not miss being a rookie at all, now that he's paid his dues for a year he gets to sit at the back of the warm bus and watch the younger guys load the bus in the cold. The bus ride from Brampton to Montreal is about six hours but with a group of guys it helps pass time easier. Everyone sleeps for the first couple hours before waking up at 8:00 for the breakfast stop at a Tim Hortons. Bus rides are were memories are made and deep conversations are had. Ryan sits at the back seats with Logan and John because they are the most respected on the team. Logan is also a grade 12 but goes to a different school on the other side of Brampton. John is a 20-year-old playing his last year of hockey before he ages out of Junior A. Every bus ride they tell stories about their week and share some laughs to make the time pass. After telling the two guys about Alyssa he gets chirped a few times about 'being in love' and 'catching feelings' for this girl. Ryan laughs it off because he knows its not true, although he is interested. Four hours went by and Ryan received a text "Hey Ryan! Wondering how that long bus ride is going!" from Alyssa. This was the first time she had ever texted Ryan. It put a smile on his face as he smiled and had a conversation on text for half an hour.

The team finally arrived in Montreal and checked in to their hotel. Ryan shared a room with a quiet kid on the team, which wasn't the worst thing to have. They unloaded their bags and put on their suits in the room before leaving for the pre-game meal.

After eating at the restaurant, it was all business and everyone was mentally preparing for the first game of the year.