Chapter 8: The Canadian Experience, Part 1/?

September 8th, 2013

Williams Residence, Calgary

Sarah POV

"Dad I'll go get her!" I shout to my dad as I get out of the truck and run up to the house we were parked in front of. *Doorbell ring* Soon after ringing the doorbell I hear the sounds of rapid footsteps coming up to the front door.

The door opens and I am met with Alice with her hair tied into a ponytail. She is wearing a black zip-up sweater with red on the inside, a black camisole, and some black jeans with a white belt. Around her neck laid a black rope necklace with a silver cross as the accessory. "Sarah!" I giggled a little at her excited reaction. "You ready to go?" I asked. "Yup"

(Alice image. No weapons for obvious reasons or the backpack)

"Alright let's go then" I started to walk to the truck with Alice by my side "Bye Ms.Maxwell!" Yelling out to Alice's mother I hear a gentle voice call out in response "Have fun you two!" Alice giggled a little at her mother's light-hearted response "We will!" Alice responded.

Getting in the black Ford F-150 my dad started a conversation "You excited to watch Sarah play?" Hearing my name and the context Alice seemed excited. "Yeah! It's my first time watching a hockey game so I'm excited!" I laugh a little and say "Well I guess I will have to play my hardest so I can impress you won't I?"

*giggle* "I don't know if you can" her challenging words caused me to become competitive. "Ara, I guess I'll have to prove myself then" (A/N sorry I couldn't help it. It fit perfectly) It was silent for a moment until everyone in the vehicle started to laugh. The rest of the ride was filled with light-hearted banter and music until we reached the arena.

Pulling into the parking of North East Sportsplex or NESS for short and parked the truck. Hopping out I head to the back of the truck, grab my gear and start walking to the entrance with my dad and Alice. When we reach the inside we all head towards the dressing rooms as my dad was the head coach of the team and Alice didn't want to be left alone.

I head into a room that was empty and meant for girls who were on a primarily male hockey team and my dad went into the main dressing room which was currently empty. I throw on some music with the speaker I brought along while talking with Alice and changing into my gear. After finishing changing and getting a text message from both my mom and dad I head over to the other dressing room while Alice went to meet with my mom.

Entering the room I am met with 22 people only 18 of which are players on the team. Finding an empty spot next to one of my other long-time friends I head over and sit down. "Wassup Alex" Alex turned toward me and spoke "Hey Sarah. How you been?" instead of looking at me longer he turned his attention back towards his skates. "I been good. You?"

"I've been alright. Schools been really boring even though it's only been a week" He groaned and I giggled a little. "Well my school life has been great and I even made some new friends." He processed my words for a second and then sighed "Well lucky you then. I ended up with a really bitchy teacher" *giggle* "I get you" He looked up at me doubtfully.

"What you don't believe me?" He continued to stare at me doubtfully. "Fine, don't believe your best friend. See if I care." I pouted a little at his doubt which caused him to laugh "Fine I believe you" He said while finishing tying his skates. "My dad is probably gonna talk soon so hurry up" Urging him to be quick so my dad doesn't mad I stop talking to him so he can focus and just listen to the music.

[Song playing: Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond]

Hearing the new song playing almost the entire team started to sing along with a few exceptions. (A/N actual hockey thing. Trust me when I say that if this song came on in the dressing room most of the team would sing along)

Eventually, after a couple more songs, the music was turned off and my dad started to talk. "Alright here's the game plan. Based on the last few games our defence needs to step up and actually play properly. Most of the time you are way too slow to fall back in transition so try and focus on that" My father admonished but continued

"Our offence is decent, on one forward line. We can't solely rely on one forward line to get us all of our points even if they can!" He said taking a pointed look at me and Alex. "The rest of you need to hustle your asses off on every play! Regardless of the score or the fact that Sarah and Alex can get the points back if they do score! Is that understood!?" The entire team spoke. "Yes, Coach!"

"Now I'll tell you your lines" He walked over to his bag and grabbed his phone. "First lines out, for the forward line we have: Sarah at center, Alex on left-wing and Jacob at right-wing with Logan and Sam on defence" After stating the first lines out he continued to call out names until everyone knew what line they were on and who they were playing with.

"Coach the Zamboni is done flooding the ice" An assistant coach came from the bench and spoke to my dad. "Alright come line up" The entire team grabs their water bottles and lines up behind the goalies. My dad yells "Saints on three! ONE, TWO, THREE!" The team yells in unison """"SAINTS!"""" And head out to the ice.

FIN

Authors Note

Sorry that this chapter was filler but the next chapter is gonna be a hockey game as it can't be a Canadian MC without hockey. Also, the Saints (Calgary Saints) are a real team. I have done some basic research about community hockey teams in Calgary so all of the teams that I might end up mentioning when doing hockey chapters will involve actual teams. I won't do a whole lot of hockey chapters as this is a slice-of-life novel but I will do some. Anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading

(Jerseys)

How did I do?