Students pack the lower sections, and faculty and donors fill the upper sections. It looks just like what Ellie had described in the meetings. The tech crew and hockey guys really outdid themselves.
Ellie comes up from behind, stopping next to me. She looks hot and professional in her black pantsuit and heels. I want to devour her here and now, but I contain myself. As much as I’d like to go for round two today, I have to keep it together for both our sakes.
“Oh my god,” she breathes. “It’s perfect.”
I look down at her and my chest squeezes as I watch her smile grow wider, her cheeks pink from the cold and eyes wide as she takes it all in like it’s magic.
“Told you hockey draws a crowd,” I say with a chuckle.
The announcer’s voice booms overhead.
“Welcome to Ellington University’s Pucks and Props night!”
The arena explodes. Ellie and I share one last look before heading to our respective areas with our students.
The theatre kids take the ice first, their first excerpt making the crowd laugh, and at the end, everyone’s clapping. From what I could tell, it seems to be some kind of love story. The leads, April and Leo I think, did a great job at keeping everyone engaged. The props are awesome and everything went smoothly. From across the rink, I find Ellie standing proud and tall, her hands clasped togetherunder her chin as she admires her students work and the response from the audience.
As soon as the music switches, the Wolves take the ice, jumping over the boards and getting set up for their scrimmage game. The crowd goes nuts, and it seems to fire up the boys even more. Half of the team wears our home jerseys, and the other half sports the away jerseys. They look like actual pros out there. I never thought I’d see the day, honestly.These guys were a total fucking mess. But it seems like whatever I did these past few months paid off.
When the scrimmage is over, the theatre kids come back out and perform again. We take turns going back and forth like this for an hour. By the looks of it, this crowd is loving every second of it, thank fuck. I didn’t expect us to be able to pull something like this off. I don’t think its ever been done.
I just hope that for as much as they seem to enjoy it, they dig into their pockets at the end of the night so all of this wasn’t for nothing.
All night, I’ve caught Ellie watching everything like it’s magic, and every time our eyes meet, my anxiety seems to dissipate. So, I’d say the real magic… is her.
This was all her vision. Sure, I helped execute it. I got the team ready. I helped where I could, but she did the rest. I’m so fucking proud of her. She’s been busting her ass working on this and the play. I’m sure I made everything even more difficult for her, adding me into the mix. But she’s handled everything with confidence and tenacity. She always has.
By the time we’ve finished with the scrimmage, and the theatre kids have finished their performances, we’re all spent. But it’s not over yet.
Shaking my hands out at my sides, I take few calming breaths before stepping out onto the empty ice where the crew has laid down a large tarp for us. I’ve never enjoyed public speaking. In fact, I’ve always kind of avoided it, but there’s no avoiding it now, so here goes nothing. It’s only a few words, Jamie. It’ll be fine. You’ve done thousands of interviews; you can get through this.
I tap the mic clipped to my collar and fight the urge to say, ‘is this thing on?’
Clearing my throat, I begin. “Thank you all for coming to Pucks and Props night. We appreciate you being here and donating to our Arts and Athletic departments. Now, you’ve seen the theatre department act. You’ve seen the hockey team show off.” I pause, letting the crowd settle. “What happens when you combine them?”
As I walk off the ice and back to the bench, the lights drop and the arena gasps. Darkness swallows everything except for a single gold spotlight burning at center rink.
I watch Ellie from across the ice as she counts down to her cue. She doesn’t look nervous or stressed. She looks calm and collected, the complete opposite of what I’m feeling right now.
This is it. This is the finale.
Chapter 40
Ellie
T
he music starts and my heart pounds. We’ve rehearsed this for weeks, over and over again. These kids know this routine like the back of their hand. Half of them can probably do it in their sleep. I’m not worried about them as much as I am Jamie. That panic attack he had earlier scared me. It seemed worse than the other ones. Yet he didn’t want to back out. He’s determined to do this, and I wasn’t going to argue with him. Let’s just hope he doesn’t pass out or throw up.
Bright colored lights burst across the rink in streaks of gold and purple. My theatre kids surge onto the ice first, confident and ready. They fan out in dramatic formation, arms slicing through the air in sharp, synchronized movements, exactly as we practiced. One they’re in their places, the hockeyteam storms out onto the tarp and the crowd goes crazy. The song switches to ‘Bye Bye Bye’ by NSYNC and the choreography snaps into place.
It’s no longer theatre versus hockey. They’re working together, and it looks amazing. Jamie dances alongside them, doing exactly what he said he would. I laugh and clap along with the music as the crowd loses their minds. When I make eye contact with Jamie, he has a huge grin on his face that rivals my own. He looks completely carefree and I love that for him. He may not be the world’s greatest dancer, but he’s putting in the effort, and I appreciate that.
All of a sudden, Jamie cuts through center ice, never taking his eyes off of me, and I barely have time to register him before his hand is on mine.
“What are you doing?” I yell over the music. “This isn’t part of the routine!”
“Screw the routine,” he yells, breathless and grinning as he pulls me onto the ice. Well shit, I wasn’t planning on that. I don’t even argue, because his smile and joy are infectious and I can’t help but want to join him.
