in a world where a sweet girl tries to be her best, she gets pushed down by those around her. she thought going to California for the goodwill games was supposed to be the time of her life, but her teammates made sure that wasn't possible. back in W...
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F O S T E R G R A Y
-Team USA vs. Russia
"Yeah, another one!" I shouted amongst my teammates as we celebrated on the ice after yet another win.
I had no idea if the LA King's were here. I was too focused on the game but I hoped they were.
We eventually made it back to the locker room with adrenaline and excitement taking over. We were getting closer to the championship game which we were definitely playing in, and we were getting better every game.
I took a seat at my locker and started to get undressed. Getting overheated, I stopped and stayed in my undershirt and all of my pads from the waist down. I let out a sigh.
"Tired there?" Adam asked me while grinning. I groaned and nodded my head.
"And sweaty," I breathed out. I got up from my stool and headed over to Coach's desk where he kept extra tape. I needed to tape my stick.
Coach trailed into the room looking at all of us with joy, "I told him no visitors, but he wanted to congratulate you anyway," he spoke. I looked at the door confused. Seconds later Wayne Gretzky trialed in.
People outside the locker room started clapping and cheering, as did Coach, Mr. Tibbles, Yans and Ms. MacKay.
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. I wanted to cry. Why? I don't know. My idol was standing in front of me! I didn't know what to do. I skipped over to the team, standing beside Ken. I was so close to Wayne!
"This isn't real! Tell me you're joking! Someone pinch me!" I shouted, looking up at the taller man in shock.
Wayne grabbed ahold of my hand and gave it a firm shake. I looked at him with wide eyes before a huge smile formed on my face.
"He touched me, he touched me!" I said in shock, "oh jeez, I might pass out!"
"No, no, no, don't do that," he laughed. My eyes widened even more. He talked to me!
"I'm sorry, I'm like really fan-girling right now," my voice was so shaky on how excited and shocked I was. I quickly rubbed my eyes to make sure this was really. When I opened them he was still standing there. I looked over at Ken.
"Okay, gather in for a picture!" One of the photographers shouted in the noisy locker room. I squealed. I rushed to Wayne's side to make sure I got to stand beside me. I realized it was kind of selfish of me, so I backed off and kneeled in front of everyone else, "say Hockey!"
"Hockey!"
"Hey, can I get a copy of that?"
Holding hands with Adam while skating together in synch in the crowded rink was something I would never get bored of.
It wasn't the rink we always had games in. That was for the Olympics and the Olympics only. It was a local rink for the schools and community.
They let us in for free after recognizing us as part of Team USA. I felt bad. I started thinking about the other day. How Kris was telling me embarrassing stories about Adam. I thought of something I did when I was younger, and I could stop laughing.
"What is so funny?" Adam asked me while laughing himself. I groaned.
"So, I have a story to tell you from my childhood," I continued to laugh, "it's embarrassing, so, just beware."
Adam smiled, "okay," he said confused. I looked down at my skates. I couldn't believe I was about to tell him this. It was so embarrassing but it was so funny. I knew he'd have a great laugh. Or else's he'd find it weird. Maybe I shouldn't tell him.
Nah, I thought, I'll just tell him.
I let out another laugh, "so when I was maybe three, I had a cabbage patch doll, alright? I took her everywhere with me, named her Clairese, but I wanted her to be like me. I drew my scars on her and everything. I noticed she didn't have you know, nipples," I said quietly. I started to laugh again, "so I drew nipples on her."
I continued to laugh. Adam joined me. I gripped onto his hand tightly while my cheeks turned red.
"You did what?" He howled. I nodded my head in embarrassment.
"I didn't find out until before my father passed away. We were going through all of my old things and found it. He couldn't believe it. We laughed about for days," my smile started to fade. I missed my dad greatly. Adam squeezed my hand tightly. I smiled up at him.
I came to a sudden stop when a little boy fell in front of me and started to cry.
I hurriedly knelt down in front of him.
"Hey, buddy, are you alright?" I asked him, helping him up from the ice. He looked up at Adam and I with sad eyes, struggling to stand on his skates in front of us. I kept my hand on his arm to help him stand.
"I don't know how to skate," he sighed, "but I wanna play hockey really bad and they won't let me on the team because I can't skate."
A D A M B A N K S
I looked down at the little boy as he spoke with sadness. I frowned.
"Well, the both of us actually play hockey," Foster told the boy, "hey, what's your name?" She asked. I smiled to myself. She was so good with kids.
"Adam," he spoke. I looked at him with surprise.
"No way, me too!" I said with excitement to get him to smile. He did. I knelt down beside him and Foster, "we can help you skate, it's no problem. You're just learning from the best."
The boy grinned. He nodded his head with excitement.
I stood up. Foster got in front of him and held onto his hands tightly.
"Go ahead, bend your knees," she sweetly said. She slowly started to glide backwards with her hands still attached to the boys. He followed her directions and moved forwards with her. He fell right back onto his bottom. He let out a small groan.
"I'm never going to be on the team!" He said with disappointment. I shook my head.
"It's okay, buddy. Everyone falls. You just have to get the hang of it, okay?" I asked him. He nodded his while standing back up. He grabbed ahold of Foster's hands again, "now I know this sound weird, but kind of like make a V with your skates."
The boy glanced back at me confused. Foster laughed at me. I came to a stop and showed him what I meant. He watched intently before trying it on his own.
Foster still held his hands as he skated. It was cute.
"Do you have enough confidence to let go now?" She sweetly asked him. He had a nervous look on his face but eventually nodded. He slowly removed his hands from hers. She quickly skated out of the way and back over to me.
The boy started to skate around almost effortlessly, his body still stiff. He turned to us and waved with excitement.
"Thank you guys!" He shouted. I heard Foster laugh. I looked down at her in awe.
She waved back at him, "you're gonna make that team, buddy! You've got this!"
