Courtney had trouble falling asleep that night. Her stomach was in knots. She couldn't get the Iceland game off her mind. This was the first night Adam was allowed to stay back in the dorms and that was the only thing that could possible take the game off her mind for at least a second. Courtney peered at him through the darkness. They caught each other's eye.
"I can't sleep," Adam whispered. He sat up and sighed, bored.
"I can't either," Courtney replied, throwing her pillow to him. He held it close to his chest.
"Come over here," he said, patting the bed.
Courtney got out from under her covers and slid under his covers beside him, laying her head on his shoulder.
"You wanna take a walk?" Adam suggested. Courtney took his wrist and lit up his watch. It read eleven forty-two.
She shrugged, "I guess so.
They silently put on their shoes and shut the door as quietly as they could. Although the halls were silent and no light shown from under the doors, Courtney doubted anyone was actually asleep. Courtney and Adam made their way out of the dorm with no one stopping them. Walking along the deserted streets under the stars was calming.
"I'm so stressed out about tomorrow," Adam commented, breaking the silence. "There's so much pressure and the odds of us winning…are not good."
"Adam," Courtney began, stopping on the side of the street, taking his hand in hers. "I want you to forget about math. Okay? Proportions, probability; forget it. Forget about scouts. Forget that the other team is over double our size."
"Thanks, Courtney. I hadn't thought about that," he replied, sarcastically.
"Listen to me. Forget it all. When you're on the ice tomorrow, all I want you to think about is having fun and playing your best. Oh, and if you can fit in: winning," Courtney teased.
"I'll think about you. I'll win for you if you win for me."
"Deal. You score for me; I'll score for you. Deal?"
"Deal," Adam confirmed. "How about we seal the deal with a kiss?" Courtney nodded, enthusiastically. She tilted her head to the side as Adam gently placed his hands on her neck. His lips touched hers smoothly. Courtney let her hands slide easily into his back pocket. Adam's body pushed against her own warmed her.
It was well after two am by the time they got back to the dorms. No one stopped them form entering the building. You'd think we would have better security, Courtney pondered as she fell asleep.
Thankfully, the game wasn't scheduled until four p.m., that night. The whole team slept in. Courtney felt too lazy to get up and do anything. She laid under the covers, awake, what seemed like hours.
Around noon, Charlie knocked furiously on the door. "I'm going to the arcade. Come with me!"
"I don't wanna go. I'm tired," she whined. Charlie opened the door and stared at her.
"Oh, right. From your walk last night t midnight! C'mon, no one else is here and I don't wanna be here, either!"
"Not even the coach? Jo? Where's Adam?" Charlie shook his head at the mention of their names.
"Coach wouldn't say where he was going, neither would Jo. Adam's with Dwayne playing basketball," he explained. "Please, let's go."
Courtney sighed, "Fine. Let me change first."
Reluctantly, she left with Charlie to go to the arcade. They spent an hour alone playing air hockey. Courtney creamed Charlie every time.
"Do you give up?" Courtney giggled.
"Yes!" Charlie exclaimed. "Let's race instead."
They spent another hour racing Taxi's through narrow tunnels and busy New York streets hitting pedestrians and anything else in their way. Courtney smiled as she beat Charlie for the eighth time in a row. Courtney looked up at the clock on the wall. It was already two forty-five. Almost game time, Courtney thought nervously.
"We've got to go," Courtney mumbled, "The coach'll kill us if we're no there by three fifteen."
Courtney and Charlie ran non-stop back to the dorm just in time to catch the bus with the rest of the team. Courtney threw herself down into a chair and gasped for air. Adam was already seated with Dwayne, so she had a seat to herself. There's the coach, but I don't see Jo, Courtney thought curiously as she gazed around the bus. Guess she's already there.
There was silence as the team descended the bus steps. Reporters and fans were screaming out the their names and trying to push forward to them. Courtney caught sight of Hunter, the little boy from the restaurant. He was waving his small arms up and down crazily, telling her name.
"HEY HUNTER!" She cried over the crowds. He heard her and smiled proudly. Coach Bombay ushered her into the locker room.
The team sat facing Coach Bombay; everyone but Jo. They stared up at him anxiously. They all knew this was what they had trained for. This was it. Coach Bombay stared at everyone's face with a slight smile.
"I don't really know what to say to you guys-"
"People," Connie corrected him.
"Right. I'm so proud of you all. All I can say is have fun and try your hardest. Forget about what happened at our practice. Don't sink to their level. Show them why you got this far!" He yelled, suddenly. "Remember everything you've been through to get here. That's more than them! C'mon Ducks, you can do it!"
"Yeah!" Jesse screamed, clapping his hands together.
"Wait!" Coach Bombay called as they headed to the door. "Just remember: the duck is the most noble, intelligent, agile creature in the animal Kingdom. Live up to your name."
"We're the ducks again," Courtney smiled as they left the locker room.
"Yeah," Adam agreed, "But so much for him not having anything to say to us."
They reached the ice and went through the normal procedure before they skated to the bench. The referee blew his whistle, signaling for Coach Bombay's players.
"One, two, three-"
"USA ALL THE WAY!" The team shouted in unison.
"Remember our deal," Adam whispered to Courtney as they took their place on the ice.
Courtney's heart was beating wildly. She took in a deep breath and looked to Guy, who was on the ice beside Adam. He gave her an anxious smile and thumbs up.
Courtney glanced around at everyone on and off the ice. Adam stared at the patch of ice before him, then closed his eyes tightly. Jo, who was also on the ice, showed no emotion. Figures, Courtney thought. Goldberg was shaking between the posts, with Jesse whispering something to him. Coach Bombay looked somewhat calm, shouting words of encouragement to his team. Luis sat next to him sullen. Courtney felt bad for him. She couldn't imagine training so hard and them not being able to play in the final game.
The arena was the loudest Courtney had ever heard before. Fans with their faces painted red, white, and blue hollered and banged their fists on the plexi glass. They brought Courtney's attention back on the game.
The referee blew his whistle and the puck was dropped. It was a confidence booster for the US when Guy swiped away the puck from Iceland. He flipped the puck back to Courtney who immediately headed for Iceland's goal. Olaf Sanderson was charging towards her. Quickly, she shot the puck between her legs back to Jo. Jo sailed it up to Adam, who was automatically flipped. The Iceland player flew down the boards, managing to keep the puck the entire time. He skated behind the US net for a wrap around shot. However, Jo was there to block the shot. The US bench cheered. Yet, Sanderson had come up behind Jo, tripping her. In the process, Goldberg was knocked down, resulting in a turn over in front of an open net. The puck was passed out to Gunnar Stahl for an easy goal. The buzzer rang out. The Iceland team already had a 1-0 lead and it hadn't even been five minutes.
Courtney slumped back to the bench and didn't look at anyone's face.
"Russ!" Coach Bombay shouted. Russ instantly shot up and skated onto the ice. Coach Stansson watched him skate out. With a hint of fear in his eyes, he sent out two of his biggest players.
Dwayne tried passing the puck to Russ. Slap it in, Courtney pleaded. Before Russ could set up the Knucklepuck, he had been bashed into the boards and Iceland had possession once again. Before anyone knew what happened, Iceland was up 2-0.
Courtney covered her eyes. This was turning out to be worse than the first time the two teams had met. The announcer was calling out the numbers of who had scored as Coach Bombay was trying to figure out whom to put on the ice next.
"Ken, Courtney, Averman," Coach Bombay mumbled, trying to keep his cool. Averman won the face off and slapped the puck before being tackled. It slid into the boards. Courtney rushed to it.
"No!" She yelled, frustrated. It was stuck. She couldn't get it away from the board. Pieces of shredded ice were slowly melting on the puck. "Come on!"
"Courtney!" Ken shouted. She looked up and saw Olaf Sanderson pumping his legs to get to her. She fumbled with the puck, tears almost falling from her eyes. She knew she would be trampled. Courtney heard the crowd gasp. She closed her eyes, steadying herself for the hit, but nothing came. She opened her eyes slowly and spun around. Her mouth dropped open. Dwayne was standing with a rope in his hand. He grinned at Courtney. Lying at his feet entangled in ropes was Olaf.
"No one hurts my sister," Dwayne stated proudly. Courtney embraced him, gratefully.
"Thanks," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "bro."
The referee blew his whistle. "Two minutes!" He yelled, leading Dwayne to the penalty box. Courtney was already skating back to the bench.
"Guess your little boyfriend is better, huh?" Olaf asked her tauntingly, with his accent. Courtney stopped. She let her stick and gloves fall to the ice. She felt anger coursing through her.
"It was you?" She demanded, advancing to him.
He nodded, "I guess we didn't hit him hard enough," he sneered. Courtney couldn't hold herself back. She knew her mom and dad would see, but she didn't care.
"You son of a bitch," She leaped on Sanderson and started punching him. Her anger had overtaken any logic she had. Her face was hot and the blood was pumping through her body. "You mess with him, you mess with me." She wouldn't let him get a word out. She continuously punched him, throwing off his helmet. She heard whimpering that wasn't from her or Olaf. She looked to her side and saw Jo bashing Gunnar Stahl's head along the plexi glass.
"That's for getting Dean thrown out!" She screamed in his ear.
Suddenly, Courtney felt herself being lifted up. She stared up into Fulton's eyes. What's going on? She wondered. He pushed her off the ice and into the locker room. He lifted her onto a table and looked directly in her eyes. Courtney felt like a little girl.
"What was that?" He questioned.
"He-he beat up Adam," Courtney stuttered. Fulton sighed and wiped the tears from her face. She hadn't been aware of her crying.
"You need to concentrate on the game. Adam can take care of himself. You can't get in fights like that. You're just putting our team down. Now, we've got to play three down."
Courtney nodded, "Sorry."
"Get back out there."
Courtney returned to the bench. She apologized to Coach Bombay and joined Dwayne and Jo in the penalty box. Dwayne left shortly after, leaving Courtney and Jo alone together. They sat silent until their five minutes were up and returned to the team bench. Coach Bombay patted each of them on the back as they sat down.
"Keep your head up, guys," he said. He turned to everyone else. "Adam, Jesse, Charlie, Fulton, go," he instructed. They all nodded. Adam and Jesse easily passed the puck into the Iceland zone. Jesse had control now. He took a shot, but it was blocked. The rebound came right out to Adam. Adam wasn't looking at the puck. He was staring at the same player who had spiked his drink at the club.
"You," he whispered in disbelief.
"Hello," the Iceland player laughed menacingly. "Feelin' better?" He mocked. He swiped the puck from Adam.
"Hey!" Adam yelled, spinning around. "Oof!" Adam had been hit from behind. The referee blew his whistle, charging over.
"Two minutes!" He yelled. Team USA cheered louder than the fans. They had the first power play! There was hardly any time left on the clock, so they knew they had to make it count.
"I want Jo, Courtney, Portman…and Charlie," the coach explained. They climbed out onto the ice. The ref blew his whistle once again and the power play had begun.
Courtney sailed down the ice with the puck, using the moves Wayne Gretzky had shown her. She felt good being part of the game.
"Courtney, pass!" She heard Charlie yell. She looked up at the player in front of her. She had just enough time to pass the puck to him. Portman was waiting behind him for the puck. One minute and twenty seconds was left. Charlie let the puck fall back to Portman. They were in Iceland's zone now. Portman stopped halfway and sailed the puck up to Jo. She shifted past the defenders and shot it to Charlie. He only grazed the puck. There were only forty seconds left. Portman dodged to retrieve the puck. He swatted it back to Jo.
"Jo!" Courtney called. She was wide open. "Pass!" Jo heard her and passed it while thrashing Gunnar into the boards. By the time the puck reached Courtney, she didn't have the open shot anymore and the clock was ticking down. She glanced up at Adam on the bench. He was watching her eagerly. She turned her attention back to the game. She had to pass the puck. Only fifteen seconds left. Courtney shifter her eyed from the clock to the puck. Charlie had control with five seconds left. He wound back to shoot, but was tackled by Sanderson. Olaf took the puck down the ice and slid it past Goldberg without breaking a sweat. The period was over and USA was losing 3-0.