We Found Love

I watched with bated breath as Emily tore down center ice, the puck on her stick and the Canadians right on her heels. She pushed herself just a bit harder, far enough to make it a breakaway, and then deked on the goalie. The goalie dove, and she dumped the puck over the pads, breaking the tie and giving the Americans the 2-1 lead with 3:31 left in the third period. The Americans in the crowd went nuts, along with me, Flower, Geno, Marty, and a few of the other NHL guys that were here for the Games. Unfortunately, the Canadians were quick to tie it up again, and I could see the frustration creasing Emily’s face. The coach let her and the other two first line forwards rest up for a second, and then they were sent out again with 1:23 left. Emily pushed herself even harder than she had been moments before, and I could see her body straining to reach the puck. Her and the other two girls that were on her line worked in perfect synchronization, and I was amazed by their fluid movements. My heart began to hammer as the clock reached :20, and Emily finally reached the puck. She dashed down the ice. :15. She twisted the puck onto her backhand. :10. She took a second to aim. :09. She rifled the shot off. :07. The rebound. :06. She scored. :05.

The crowd goes nuts, and Emily begins to scream her head off.

“DAMMIT YEAH EMILY!” I scream, jumping up. I get a few strange looks from the Canadians near me, but when they realize it’s my teammate who just scored the golden goal, they shrug it off and resume their sulking. The clock winds down and the Americans converge on Emily as the final horn sounds.

Tears rolled down Emily’s cheeks as Katrina, the captain of the US team, bent down to receive the gold medal. A medal was draped around her neck after Katrina, and then the team converged onto the pedestal, which wasn’t really made to hold over twenty people. They all clung to each other and screamed “USA! USA!” as the American flag was raised to the rafters and The Star Spangled Banner was played.

Emily’s Point of View

“GO SIDNEY GO!” I screamed as Sidney raced towards Ryan Miller with the puck on his stick. A few people gave me weird looks, especially considering that I had the Team USA’s Women’s Hockey jacket on, but I didn’t care because I knew that Sidney had been cheering me on yesterday. He scored a few seconds later, bringing the score to 3-2 Canada. The clock was winding down, and I felt a little bubble of pride forming in my chest as I watched Sidney and his teammates fight until the last second of the game to secure their newest gold medal. Sidney’s eyes found me in the crowd as he approached the pedestal a few minutes later to receive the medal on behalf of the team, and I waved feebly. He made my heart race every time he looked at me, and as I saw the passion and pride burning in his eyes, the effect was doubled.

That night Sidney grabbed me and pulled me into a fierce embrace the instant he saw me. There were cameras everywhere, but neither of us cared as he kissed me strongly, showering me with affection as we celebrated our gold medals. Nothing could ruin this moment for us, not even showing the world that we had something more between us than team comraderie.