“Mom, what happened to the lights?” Bella asks.
“I don’t know.” I reach for my phone and turn on the flashlight. “I think that lightning machine must have blown the power or something.”
“Everyone, stay seated, please” a voice yells from down below. It’s hard to hear because it’s not over the speaker system. “We’velost power, but for your safety, we ask that everyone stay seated until we have the lights restored.”
“Are you kidding me?” Bella drops to her seat, and slumps down in the chair. “It was getting so good.”
“Yeah, that’s terrible timing,” I mutter as I sit back in my seat, grabbing my popcorn, thankful to have something to do while we waste time. Everyone has taken out their cellphones. There are hundreds of flashlight beams weaving through the air now, and it’s crazy hard on my eyes.
“What do we do, Mom?” Bella’s wide eyes look back at me.
“Nothing.” I shrug. “We just wait.” I fold my bottom lip in and check my phone for the time. Hopefully, this delay isn’t long—it’s a school night. I find myself shaking my head.
What are the odds that the power goes out the one time I actually go to a sporting event?
sixteen
Jackson
This is worse than a made-for-TV sitcom!
The game is far from over, but apparently Bill’s lightning machine overloaded the breakers or something, and the arena lost power.
We stood on the ice in the dark for a while. At first, it was funny to watch Bill scramble to get someone to look at the machine. There were several electricians in the crowd, but they all seemed to have the same opinion—that parts needed to be replaced. Parts that had to be ordered, which meant the game was over.
We forfeited and took the loss on the biggest game of our season.
Bill can’t be mad at us.
This is all on him. I know one thing: I’m not sticking around to hear how upset he is. We use our phones for light, propping them up to help us see the locker room. I’m able to quickly remove my gear, stuffing everything into my bag.
“What’s wrong with your face, Owen?” Axl stuffs his skates into his locker.
I was hoping nobody would notice. We just took the most depressing loss of the year, but I can’t wipe the sloppy grin off my face. Ever since I saw Kaci, it’s stuck there.
Elijah, usually the quiet one, since he’s the new guy, leans over and punches my shoulder. “You got facial paralysis from taking too many pucks to the helmet?”
“I think so.” They can think that, because I’m not admitting to them the real reason. Kaci’s gorgeous face is stuck in my brain. Somehow, she’s become my obsession. I don’t need to explain any of this to them. They’ll just make fun of me.
I’m ready to leave by the time Coach ambles into the locker room. “Nobody leaves, guys.” He motions for everyone to sit.
A groan sticks in my throat. Thankfully, I hold it in and lower myself to the bench.
“What was Bill even thinking?” Axl blurts out the question we all want to ask.
“I think we can all agree, he really wasn’t.” Coach stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets, and a forlorn expression washes over his face. “Apparently, the breakers should have been upgraded, but he was in too big of a hurry to have the machine available for tonight’s game, so he instructed the installation team to just force it. So, we will go forward with zero points from this game.”
A collective moan ripples through the room. I leak out the groan that’s been burning in my throat. Sometimes, it feels like we’re owned by a circus ringmaster and not a professional.
“They are vacating the arena now. As for practices,” Coach raises his voice above our disgusted muttering, “the arena will be dark for at least a day or two. Tomorrow, practice is at the outside ice rink.”
I snort. This doesn’t feel real. It’s been ages since I played hockey on a frozen pond, and I certainly didn’t think I’d be practicing like that once I made it to the AHL.
“Is there any good news?” Axl asks sarcastically.
“That’s all I have.” Coach shrugs, his head hanging low. I’ve never seen him so downhearted. Maybe it’s the stress of what this game was supposed to be. I let out a heavy sigh, the emotional rollercoaster of the week finally reaching a point of release. Sure, we didn’t win, but the game is over. Not the outcome we wanted, but over nonetheless.
And I didn’t get fired.
