The Opportunity Has Just Begun

I knew I was stalling when it came to get ready. Tying and retying my laces, fiddling with the velcro on my elbow guards all to delay stepping out on the ice.

“I will see you out there,” Sid tapped my leg and flashed a reassuring smile before disappearing.

I was left sitting in my stall while I finished getting ready. My eyes wondered around the locker room trying to let it all sink in. All the names of the guys that I had looked up to these past few years and now they were my teammates. It was definitely going to take a while to get used to this.

“You ok?” I heard a thick Russian accent that could only be one person.
“Yeah I am fine,” I looked up to see his lopsided smile and deep brown eyes staring back at me.
“I am Evgeni, call me Geno,” he sat down next to me and stuck his hand out.
“Hi, I am Cameron, Cam,” I accepted his handshake.

“So,” his eyes flickered around everywhere but at me, “girl play hockey?” he drummed his fingers on his pads.
“Yeah, is there something wrong with that?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“No,” he shot back quickly, “no nothing wrong with girl playing hockey,” I watched as his adams apple rose and fell with each gulp of nervousness.
“Good,” I nodded in conclusion before standing up, grabbing my helmet and stick and leaving.

I wasn’t going to let people criticize me about my hockey because I was a girl. I could play as every bit as good as they could, I knew it, I had done it my whole life. Being one of the guys was what I did, it was just me. I guess having the name Cameron helped to sink back into the crowd too. People were a little surprised when they matched my name and face together but I had gotten used to it.

I walked down the tunnel and stopped when I reached the ice stepping gingerly trying not to make a fool of myself if I fell.

I skated a lap around looking at everyone else’s pre training routine. They were all stretching, cracking jokes and it was all rather relaxed.

There was no way I could be relaxed. Not with all the nerves kicking around in my stomach. I didn’t know where to stop and stretch, I didn’t know what everyone else liked to do and if they were all really particular, I didn’t want to be messing with it.

I found myself standing there like an idiot staring off into the world around me. I could only imagine what this arena was going to look like come home opener next week. Full to the brim of people, people cheering and celebrating for us, for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was going to be a night I would never forget.

“You stretch?” that dumb Russian accent was back.
“No, not yet,” I shrugged before kneeling down on the ice.
“I stretch here,” he knelt down too, “my spot, but share,” he smiled.

What was his deal? Was he going to be that person that just showed up out of nowhere all the time? Because if he was I was going to get sick of him pretty quickly.

I already had Sid bugging me. I lived with him though and he was the captain so having him showing up out of nowhere was kind of mandatory. But this Russian, he really wasn’t in my book of people I was interested in spending my time with.