The ice rink smelled like zamboni exhaust and teenage boy sweat.
I was ten years old, sitting in the bleachers with my cheap disposable camera clutched in both hands. My mom had given me five dollars for it at the drug store, and I'd been taking pictures of everything for a week straight.
But today was special.
Today was the Pee Wee league championship game, and my two best friends were on the ice.
"Come on, Luca!" I screamed, my voice getting lost in the chaos of parents and siblings all yelling at once.
Number twelve in blue and white, Luca skated like he'd been born with blades on his feet. Smooth. Controlled. Even at ten years old, he moved like he knew exactly where everyone else was going to be.
"Hit him, Jax!" someone's dad yelled from a few rows back.
Number seven, Jaxon, obliged immediately. He slammed into an opposing player with enough force that I heard the impact from the stands. The other kid went down. Jaxon kept the puck, passing it to Luca with perfect precision.
They moved like they could read each other's minds.
The buzzer sounded. Game over. The Tornados had won.
I was out of my seat before my mom could stop me, racing down to the glass. Both teams were shaking hands, the ritual my dad had explained to me a dozen times. Good sportsmanship, he'd said. Even when you wanted to punch the other guy.
Luca saw me first. His serious face broke into a smile, the kind he only gave to me and Jax. He skated over, his helmet already off, dark hair plastered to his forehead with sweat.
"Did you see that goal?" he asked, breathless and excited in a way he never was at school.
"I saw everything!" I held up my camera. "I took pictures!"
"Yeah?" Jaxon appeared beside him, grinning wild and fierce. He had a cut above his eyebrow that was already starting to bruise. "Did you get my hit? That was a good hit."
"You're bleeding," I pointed out.
He shrugged. "Doesn't hurt."
"Liar," Luca said, but he was smiling.
My mom appeared beside me, her hand on my shoulder. "Good game, boys. You were wonderful."
"Thanks, Mrs. Hale," they said in unison, the way they always did.
"Can we take a picture?" I asked. "All of us together?"
Luca and Jaxon exchanged glances, then nodded.
They climbed over the boards, still in their full gear except for their helmets. My mom took the camera from me and the three of us squeezed together. Luca on my right, already trying to stand up straight and look responsible. Jaxon on my left, one arm slung over my shoulders, his grin taking up half his face.
And me in the middle, exactly where I belonged.
"Say cheese!" my mom called.
"Tornados forever!" Jaxon yelled instead.
The camera clicked.
Luca looked down at me, his ice-blue eyes serious again. "We're gonna play in the NIHL someday."
"Both of us," Jaxon added. "Together. And you're gonna take all our pictures."
"Promise?" I asked.
