A Roller Coaster Life: Road to the Stanley Cup

Of course. Something like this would happen to me.

Standing outside of my school, I cursed myself out mentally. Badminton practice was canceled, and I was at my school instead of my cousin's First Communion. This is what you can call the Veronica Wilson curse; something will come up that will end up putting you at an utter disadvantage, stranding you at some place when you need to be at another place.

Oh, Veronica Wilson, you ask? Well, that's me. I'm just your average teenager with, perhaps, a not so average life. I stood at an impressive 5'3"--impressive for my family's genes that influenced my height, that is--if I rounded it off. In reality I was a quarter of an inch away from being 5'4", but I still consider that pretty short. My hair was something that rarely agreed with my intentions of having it straight, so I usually pulled it up in a ponytail. My eyes matched the color of my hair, a dark brown shade.

I sighed at my "misfortune" of being stranded at my school. I could not drive yet; I had no license. I haven't even taken driver's ed yet. Either way, it was impossible for me to get to Chicago to be at my cousin's First Communion.

Life's a game, but it's not fair
I break the rules so I don't care

I rolled my eyes at the ringtone, finding the irony in the situation irritating. I answered the call and asked, even though I knew the person who was calling, "Hello?"

"Hey, I'm five minutes away. Get ready."

With a quick "okay" in reply, I hung up on my mother. My mother, after the First Communion ended, told me she was going to come pick me up at school. After that I would go home and change so we could go to Gino's East to celebrate with a party.

Five minutes when you're waiting anxiously for someone to come can drag on for an eternity. Well, only figuratively. I don't have anything besides the uniform for badminton practice with me, so I had no way to entertain myself. No music, no video games, nothing.

I took a seat on one of the benches, staring blankly at the sky. What else could I do? I suppose I could hum to myself, but what fun would that be? I guess I have no other choice but to hum.

I decided to hum out "All the Right Moves" by OneRepublic, since I recently had this song stuck in my head. I was largely inspired by music, being the creative and imaginative person that I was. I had just finished the song when a black Kia Borrego caught my eye. I looked over at the other end of the parking lot and saw my mom.

Standing up, I grabbed my stuff and made my way over to her. "Thanks for picking me up. Sorry for being such an inconvenience," I said, opening the door and climbing in the truck.

"Sure, and you're not an inconvenience." My mom looked over to me, watching me with squinted eyes. She wasn't furious with me, but I could tell she was somewhat frustrated with me. That was the feeling I got from her. As she drove away, one of my sisters asked, "Why was badminton practice canceled?"

"I don't know, Sophie. It's strange because it wasn't supposed to be canceled."

I sighed, almost wishing I had gone to my cousin's Communion. I'm pretty sure at this point that my aunt doesn't like me all that much, even if I had to miss it for "badminton practice". The practice that didn't happen.

"We'll go home so you can get dressed for the party at Gino's East."

"....Do you think Aunt Maria will be mad at me?"

"No, why would she," my mom asked. I replied, "I missed my cousin's First Communion. I mean, I missed an important event. Shouldn't she be?"

"I think my sister will understand. Don't worry." I breathed out another sigh, this time out of relief, and remained silent all the ride home. My mom backed up into the driveway, parking. I opened the door and headed straight for my room. I quickly took out the dress, leggings, and flats I had prepared for the party.

I closed the door, changing into the green dress from Old Navy. I slipped on the black leggings from Hot Topic and the flats my aunt had given me. I took out my straightener, preparing to straighten my hair. It would take at least a half hour to straighten my hair because it was so wavy.

I hated when my hair was wavy; it was a wild mess. Almost all of my immediate family loved how my hair was. I had no idea what they saw in it, but I was nearly convinced that they were all insane. No way would my wavy hair ever look wonderful, unless you were speaking in terms of disaster. Then it would be spectacular.

Half an hour passed by quickly, and my hair was straightened. We all climbed in the car once more and headed over to Gino's East. It wasn't that long of a drive, maybe only fifteen or twenty minutes. I let my mind wander momentarily. The school year was almost over, and it seemed like just yesterday I was getting lost in the halls of my large school. Today was May first, and I couldn't believe it.

I nearly started when I saw my mom pull up to the Gino's East. She pulled into a parking space and led us all inside the restaurant. No one for the party was here yet besides my aunt, uncle, and cousins. My aunt, like my mom had said, wasn't angry at all. She was actually shocked when I said my practice was suddenly canceled.

Within fifteen minutes, all of the guests had piled into the party room. Pizza was served, and everyone was in their own little conversations, whether it be in Spanish or English. My sister Sophie came up to me and asked, "Can you take me to the bathroom? I don't know where it is."

I nodded and walked with her over to the bathroom. While I waited for her, I looked around at all the banners from different sports teams and colleges. I spotted the college my chemistry teacher graduated from, the college I recited poetry at the request of my eighth grade teacher....

I shook my head, wandering over to the Chicago sports teams. I spotted the White Sox banner, smiling at the latest championship stitched into the banner. The Cubs banner stood next to it, and the Bulls banner to the right of the Cubs. I looked to the left of the Sox banner to see the Blackhawks banner.

I had always been a hockey fan, especially a Hawks fan. Ever since I was little, I would always want to go to a game. Since I hadn't been able to watch many games recently, all I really knew was that the Hawks were in the playoffs. I stared intently at the banner, looking at the years they won the Stanley Cup. Their most recent win was in the year 1961.

"That's forty-nine years ago," I muttered, mentally calculating the difference. I touched the banner slightly, thinking, 'This will be the year. This will be the year the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup for the first time in forty-nine years. For the first time since 1961, the Stanley Cup will be brought to Chicago. They'll win for sure, I have faith in my Hawks!'

I turned away from the banner, hearing my sister call me. "Hey Veronica, I'm heading back over by Tyler." Tyler being the cousin who had his First Communion. I nodded, saying, "Yeah, I'll be right over there."

I looked over my shoulder at the banner once more, throwing a smile at the Indian head. My Hawks would win the Stanley Cup. I was certain of that.

I returned to the party, now in a thoroughly good mood. Of course, some good things come to an abrupt end, and I could hardly expect what was to happen in the days to come.