Becoming Mrs. Seguin

During all of my classes, I could not stop staring at the clock. I thought the school day would never end, but finally, it was sixth period. Hayley and Sierra drove home to grab their stuff right after school, then they came over to my house. We'd all go to the game together and have a sleepover afterwards.

Around 3, my friends and I were getting ready for the game. Sierra wore her Seguin jersey, and Hayley and I both wore our Bruins hoodies. I also had my Bruins sweatpants on, too. Our plan was to get to the Xcel Energy Center as early as we could, in hopes of meeting some of the players. The game itself wouldn't start until 7.

Traffic was insane on the way downtown. My dad had to exit the freeway and drive to the game from there. Sierra was becoming more anxious as each minute went by. I kept reassuring her that we'd make it in time for the autograph signing. Thank goodness it wasn't snowing, or else we'd never get there.

We finally arrived at the Xcel Energy Center. My parents dropped us off and went to find a parking space. Several people were walking along the streets in large groups, most of them sporting Wild jerseys. We followed them inside, then headed over to where the crowd of Bruins fans stood in line. I saw some people from my school, too. They normally did autograph signings outside, but it was way too cold during the winter.

A table had been set up for the players. I was able to recognize Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, and Tyler Seguin. There were also some new players that had been recently added to the team, so I didn't know their names. Each one of them had a full-grown beard, which didn't surprise me. After all, they were the big, bad Bruins.

The line moved rather quickly and soon, there were only a couple of people in front of us. Sierra squealed with excitement when she saw Tyler taking a picture with a fan. Our turn finally came and I pulled out my Bruins poster from my bag. Chara was the first to sign it. Believe it or not, he looked less intimidating in person than he did on TV.

"How's it going?", Bergeron asked me when I got to him.

"Great. Wow, I can't believe I'm actually meeting you guys," I said with a huge smile. This was just too good to be true.

Bergeron and a few other players signed my poster, then I finally got to Tyler and Milan at the end of the table. They were talking to each other and Tyler looked up when he saw me. His face instantly lit up.

"Hey, didn't I see you on Saturday? Christine, right?", he asked. I nodded my head slowly.

Tyler's eyes were on me the whole time as I looked over at Sierra, who was just standing there at a loss for words. The same thought was running through both our minds: Tyler Seguin had remembered my name.

"Oh, you're Christine? Tyler was just talking about you a few days ago," Milan spoke up. I felt my cheeks start to blush.

"Really?", I said to Tyler.

"Yeah, I was telling the team about how we hung out at the airport. I had a feeling I'd see you again today," he replied with a smile. Then he turned to Sierra. "Want me to sign that jersey of yours?"

All she could do was nod. Tyler signed her jersey, then I introduced him to Hayley. He never took his eyes off of me, though. Sierra was simply taking in the moment, but then she finally managed to speak.

"Wow, Tyler, I am such a huge fan of you. I can't believe I'm actually talking to you in person."

"Well, you guys are the reason I love what I do. What's your name?", he asked her.

"Sierra," she replied.

Tyler smiled at at her and I swear, she looked like she would faint any minute. Milan whispered something in his ear then looked back at us. What Tyler did next was totally unexpected. He took off the Bruins cap he was wearing and handed it to Sierra. Her mouth hung wide open.

"You're letting me keep it?", she stuttered.

"Yup. Enjoy the game, girls," Tyler said with a wink. We wished him and Milan good luck then left. Sierra was now the happiest person in the world, proud to be the owner of Tyler's cap. As I walked away from the crowd, I couldn't help but glance back at Tyler to see if he was still looking at me. His eyes came in contact with mine for a brief moment before he directed his attention back to the other fans.

***

The second period had just started. Unfortunately, the Boston Bruins were losing, with a score of 2-1. Sitting up in the suites was nice and all, but it would've been so cool to watch the game from up close.

I watched Lucic pass the puck to Marchand, who sped by a lone Wild defenseman. He slammed the puck at the goal and it went in right between Harding's legs. All of the Bruins fans stood up and cheered. We were now tied with the Wild.

During the last period, both teams shot several times, but the goalies were able to catch each puck effortlessly. There were only 30 seconds left of the game. It would take a miracle to not have to go into overtime. Everyone was up on their feet, eager to see how it'd all play out.

The final face-off was between Seguin and Koivu. Seguin got the puck and shoved past Zach Parise, a Wild forward. He was quite a long ways off from the goal, but with 10 seconds left, he decided to just go for it. Tyler took a long shot and it went straight in, right above the goalie's shoulder. Unbelievable! The buzzer went off right after, signaling the end of the period. The Bruins had won!

Tyler threw his stick down on the ice and pounded his fist in the air. The rest of the Bruins ran over to congratulate him. Everyone stood up and cheered, even the Wild fans, because Tyler's goal had been absolute perfection. Sierra, Hayley, and I screamed until our lungs started to hurt, especially since it was Tyler that had scored the winning goal. What a great way to end the game.