As my alarm started to blare this morning, all I wanted to do was sleep. The excitement from Travis' show last night left me feeling exhausted this morning. It's a good thing we have a nice long 7 hour bus ride to Ohio. I'm looking forward to sleeping through most of the ride. Slowly I got up out of bed and collected everything I needed for the weekend away and stuffed them into my team issued duffle bag half awake. Once I thought I had everything, I walked out of my room and threw my sweatshirt over the back of one of the kitchen chairs.
Just as I was finishing up making breakfast I heard Cassies door open and she walked out. She looked like she was barely awake rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"I just wanted to see you off before you go." Cassie said and yawned.
"Thanks, I hope I wasn't too loud. I didn't want to wake you up early on a day I know you have off." I said and put the pan I was using in the sink.
"Leave it, I'll wash it after I make myself breakfast. Wait, you have a tattoo?" Cassie asked and limped over to me to catch my wrist.
The limp in her walk is very noticeable now and I wondered if her holding my wrist is steadying her to keep pressure off her bad leg. I looked down at my right forearm and smiled and the tattoo. It's fairly simple tattoo, two hockey sticks interlocking with my number 21 on the left side of the sticks and a four leaf clover on the right with a hockey puck on the bottom in between the stick blades.
"Yea, I think I have lived in my sweatshirts since I got here. My mom got the four leaf clover tattooed on her arm as well and Travis has the hockey sticks." I said and watched as Cassie ran her fingers over the tattoo. It was then when I noticed that we were so close to each other. If either of us moved closer to each other there would be barely any space between our lips.
"That's really cute that you and your mom have matching tattoos, my mom would never." Cassie said quietly.
"We've been through a lot together, before we drove up here we got them together so we always have a little piece of each other no matter where I am in the country." I said and clenched my jaw trying to push the bad memories away.
Before either of us could say anything there was a loud pounding on the door. We could both hear Becca whining from the other side of the door that we were going to be late if we didn't get a move on. Cassie jumped back a little and her hand dropped from my arm.
"I'll be out in a second!" I yelled through the door. I wrapped my breakfast burrito to go and put it in my backpack before slipping on my sweatshirt and grabbed my old four leaf clover hat and put it on my head before pulling on my hood. Once I made sure I had my phone I went to grab my backpack and found Cassie was holding it. I took it from her and put it on my shoulders and looked at Cassie.
We both just look at each other for a moment deciding what to say to each other. Apparently we were taking too long because Becca started to beat on the door again to get us moving. With the decision made, Cassie closed the distance. For a second I was scared. Was Cassie about to kiss me? The next milia seconds felt like hours as Cassie wrapped her arms around me in a hug. It took a second for my brain to catch up and I followed suit and wrapped my arms her.
"Good luck tomorrow." Cassie said when she pulled away.
"Thank you." I said and gave her one last smile before pulling away completely and grabbed my duffle bag.
Cassie held the door open for me and I was met with a tired looking Becca. We didn't say anything to each other as we left the dorm and walked all the way to the hockey house. When we got to the front of the house the bus was already waiting for us. We gave our luggage to the driver and they loaded it up as Becca and I went onto the bus to find a seat. Becca put her backpack down on a seat closer to the front of the bus and once she moved out of the way, I put my backpack down next to hers.
After we claimed our seats, we walked into the house and found a lot of tired teammates lingering in the hallway. Coach Decker came out of the team office holding a bag of bagels and started handing them out to our tired teammates.
"Alright ladies, last call for the bathroom then start loading up the bus." Coach said as most of the girls were fighting over the bagels. I just sighed and told Becca I was heading out to the bus.
Just as I walked outside I saw Travis walking down the block. Perfect timing. I walked down the stairs and he pulled me into a tight hug.
"Just have fun out there kid, you're going to do great." Travis said when he pulled away.
"It's going to be weird not playing with you on my right wing." I said and tried to shove my emotions into a box to not have to deal with them now.
"What are you talking about, I'll always be on your right." Travis said and put his hand over the tattoo on my forearm.
I couldn't say anything without breaking down so just pulled him in for another hug. When he pulled away from me, he held out his hand and I smiled and we did our handshake. We always do it before every game and after either of us score. It will definitely be different playing without Travis streaking up my right wing but I know that this only the start of something good.
Once our hand shake was complete Travis pulled away and nodded towards the bus. I gave him a tight lipped smile and walked up the stairs and took my seat. I gave him a wave once I sat down and Travis waved back one more time before he turned and walked down the block. Once he was out of sight I pulled my breakfast burrito from my bag and ate it while I was waiting for the rest of the team to get on the bus. It didn't take long before most of my teammates climbed the bus stairs and started to full up the empty seats.
By the time I finished my breakfast burrito, Becca made her way onto the bus and took her seat next to me. We both made ourselves comfortable and then coach Decker got onto the bus and counted us off to make sure we had everyone. Once he triple counted, he gave the bus driver the go ahead and we were off. As we drove down the block we passed the men's house and saw a lot of them standing outside with signs cheering us on. All the girls on the bus waved at them and I sent Travis a thank you text before settling down next to Becca. I put my headphones on and put some music before getting comfortable. As I pulled the bill of my hat down to cover my eyes I felt Becca put her head down on my shoulder. With the gentle rocking of the bus it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.
When I woke up again and checked my phone I saw that we were somewhere in Indiana. I pulled my hat up and sat up. Becca was no longer sitting next to me and I realized that we were stopped at a rest stop. As I got up I noticed that there were a few girls still sleeping and a few that were still awake.
"We just got here McKenna if you want to go inside and get something." I heard Megan say from the seat in front of me. I just nodded and stumbled off the bus to find the bathroom. I quickly did my business and bought myself a large water and a few snacks to have for later in the hotel. As I was making my way back to the bus I heard my phone starting to ring and I saw it was my mom calling.
I answered and got to talk to her for a few minutes while standing outside the bus waiting for everyone to come back. She wanted to tell me she got the package and with the shirts I sent her and that she is going over to Travis house tomorrow to watch the game with Dawn. She said she would call me tomorrow before the game to wish me luck and I ended the phone call to get back on the bus.
We still had another three hours on the bus before we got to the hotel and this time I stayed awake. I ended up playing a few games on my phone while Becca slept on my shoulder for the remaining travel time. When we finally got to the hotel, Coach Mayfield gave us our room assignments and a warning we all have to be down here in one hour to go to the rink for a quick practice session before dinner.
I'm rooming with Becca for this trip and we made our way up to the fifth floor to find our room. Once we got settled we left our things in the room and made our way back downstair to the lounge to wait for the rest of the team to go practice. It didn't take long for the rest of our teammates to come downstairs. We actually left for the rink earlier than the one hour mark we were given.
A blanket of nerves settled over the team on the bus ride over to the rink with this being the first game of the season. But when we stepped off the bus and got inside the arena, all of us were in business mode. It was like someone flipped a switch and we all got dialed in. Coach Decker didn't push us hard at practice. He just wanted us to work on some power play drills and we all got a half an hour to test out the rink for ourselves. I took some time testing how the puck bounces off the boards to see how lively they are. Next I had Stacey throw me into the boards a few times to see how much they give and how I pull off of them. I didn't get to do it too much as Coach Decker skated right over to us and pulled me away. He was yelling in my ear to save it for tomorrow and let me go skating.
When practice officially wrapped up we all hit the showers and got changed. Dinner was waiting for us back at the hotel in one of the ballrooms. We all moved through the buffet line and got what we wanted and picked seats at the tables. Toni, Stacey and Becca all came over and sat with me while we ate. By the time I was done all, I wanted to do was go to bed. I didn't want to think about my nerves for tomorrow or about what happened this morning with Cassie. So once Becca finished her dinner we made our way to our room for the night.
I changed into some pajamas before climbing into the bed by the wall. Becca got into her bed not long after I did and turned on the TV. Old reruns of Law and Order SUV were playing as I set an alarm for tomorrow morning. Once it was set, I relaxed and watch two episodes of the show with Becca before I fell asleep.
It didn't take me long to get up after my alarm went off the next morning. After I turned it off, I got up and started my game morning routine. I figured now would be the best time to call my mom because once I get started in my routine I don't like being knocked off of it. Mom answered right away like she was waiting by the phone.
"Good morning McKenna." Mom's voice filled my ear and it brought a smile to my face as I sat on the floor of the hallway in my pajamas.
"Good morning mom." I responded.
"How was practice last night?" She asked.
"It was good, it settled a lot of the teams nerves. I think we are all ready to play today." I said.
"That's good to hear honey. I'm not going to take up much of your time, I just want to say good luck hon, you are going to do great today." Mom said.
"I'm playing for you tonight. You sacrificed a lot for me to get here and I want it to be worth it." I said feeling my emotions start to rise.
"Hey, you are playing for yourself first McKenna. This is your dream, you worked so hard to get this scholarship and worked even harder to get back into playing shape after everything happened. I know you are going to do great." Mom said.
We didn't speak for much longer after that. She wished me luck again and I hung up. After the phone call I got dressed and went downstairs to eat breakfast and found Toni was the only other one awake. I took the seat across from her and we both were in our own worlds. When I finished breakfast I went back upstairs and got ready for the game. I gather everything I needed and made my way to the hotel lobby.
I still had about an hour before we needed to be ready so I pulled my hat down and tried to relax. I believe I might have fallen asleep for a bit because the next thing I knew was Becca was hitting my shoulder to wake me up for the bus. I got up and made my way there behind her and we took our seats. Coach Decker came onto the bus a few minutes later and did his count. Once he determined we were good to go, we left the hotel and headed over to the rink.
The drive took about twenty minutes and we pulled up to the rink. I took a deep breath and waited to disembark from the bus. As I stepped off the bus I looked up at the arena in the day light and smiled. Today is going to be a good day. We walked into the arena and I saw the team's social media coordinator filming and taking pictures of us as we made our way to the visitors' locker room. That is something that is going to take some getting used too.
I pushed the camera's from my mind and followed my team into the locker room. When I walked in I was surprised to see that all of our gear was set up for us. I made my way over to my locker and just stared at it. My white away jersey is hanging in the locker with my gloves and helmet on the top shelf. My skates and hockey shorts are sitting on the bench just peeking out underneath the jersey and I'm thinking that the rest of my pads are behind the jersey.
The red 21 stood out from the white and I felt tears well in eyes. I took out my phone and took a few steps back to take a picture of the locker and sent it off to my mom and Travis. I put my phone away and heard that someone put on some music in the background. The outside world kind of faded from my mind and I went through the routine of putting on my pads. Once all my pads were on and everything was properly tightened I sat in the locker and looked around the room. Almost everyone was dressed and ready to go out onto the ice.
Just as I finished lacing up my skates someone cut the music and I looked up to find Megan and Toni standing on the benches that were in the middle of the locker room.
"Lets go! Everybody up!" Megan yelled and all the girls stood from their lockers and joined around them in a circle.
"Today is the day we have been training the last two weeks for. I know this team is hungry for goals, I see it in the way we practice and move. I saw it yesterday as we all got locked in the moment we stepped out onto the ice for the first time at practice. For my fellow seniors this is our last first game and we want to make it count." Toni said.
"This game will not be easy. Ohio State is one of our biggest rivals and I know they want a win to start off their season, especially at home. But we are here to spoil that for them! Are you guys with me!" Megan yelled.
"YEA!" We all yelled in response.
"Then lets go out there and win!" Toni yelled. We all yelled in response and I was getting hyped up. Toni and Megan put their hands together and we all joined in.
"Badgers on three, one, two, three!" Megan yelled.
"BADGERS!" We all yelled back.
After that Megan and Toni got down from the bench they were standing on and we all finished getting ready. I slipped my fresh jersey over my head and sighed. All my hard work is about to pay off. I reached deep into my backpack and found my eye black. I took it over to the mirror and applied the long streaks under my eyes and down my cheeks. It was one of the things I was known for back home. The girl playing on the all guys team that wears eye black.
Once it was too my liking I grabbed my helmet and pushed it onto my head. Once I snapped it into place I grabbed my gloves and my stick and got in line with the rest of the team. Coach Decker got our attention and started calling out line assignments for the game. For today I'm the center one the line with Toni and Becca. I know we are about to wreak havoc on the other team.
It took a few more minutes of announcements from the public address announcer before we were called out onto the ice. All of us girls skated around for practice and paid no attention to Ohio State. I was locking myself into game mode and nothing was going to distract me now.
We got fifteen minutes of on ice practice before we left the ice so the Zamboni could give us a clean sheet for the game. I felt good, I felt ready. A game day music playlist was playing when we got back into the locker room and I took a seat in my locker. Taking a look around the room I could tell everyone was ready to go.
Time seemed to speed up and shortly we were back out into the arena for the start of the game. The national anthem was played and I could hear the crowd start to roar as the first lines of our teams stood ready for puck drop. With a whistle from the referee the puck dropped and my first college game was under way.
Megan won the face off and was able to push the puck up the ice into the offensive zone and got to work. They got a few good shots on goal before Ohio was able to send the puck down the ice for change. As our team got to the bench I hopped over the boards and found my footing chasing after the puck. Skating with my head down, trying to get to the puck first, all of a sudden I felt like my shoulder hit a brick wall and I went flying. I ended up spinning around on my back before coming to a stop. When I looked up I saw a face I was hoping I would never see again.
"Welcome to the show, kid." Tatiana McMichael stood over me before my teammates could push her away from me. The ref came over and checked on me as well and called a 2 minute minor penalty on Tatiana for interference.
Great, just when I thought I finally escaped a ghost from my past, Tatiana showed up and made me realize I'll be haunted forever.
a/n: finally some hockey action! took me long enough but now we need to wait a little bit longer for some actual game play. welcome to the show is right. song on the side is Boom by X Ambassadors. i've always thought this song could be playing in the background when they start playing hockey.