The Hat Trick

chapter eight

we had a game against Trinidad today. I had gone to bed right after the incident last night.

I lied on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I thought a lot about what Luis had said. 'I want you to myself!' I kept replaying in my head.

then I thought about what Adam had said. the stomach flutters had returned. I didn't think I was beautiful, but he obviously did, or he wouldn't have said what he said.

ugh, my emotions were all over the place.

my train of thought was derailed by Julie telling Connie and I good morning. "good morning." we said in unison, tiredly.

we were all startled when miss McKay came into our room. "it's time for breakfast, girls." she said, peeping in the doorway. "today is a big day!" she hollered as she started to walk out and down the hallway.

we all got out of our beds and changed out of our pjs. I slipped on one of Luis' sweatshirts and some denim shorts.

I had a bad habit of stealing Luis' clothing from him. but I couldn't really help myself. I mean, who doesn't love comfy, oversized clothes?

the three of us went to the kitchen, which was just down the hall from the five dorms.

Jesse, Dwayne, Goldberg, and Averman were already chowing down into the pancakes that miss McKay and coach had generously cooked for us. they smelled delicious.

"hey..." said Luis walking up to me. "that sweatshirt looks awfully familiar." "that's because it's yours, smart one!" I giggled. "I know that." he laughed.

I took two pancakes, drenched them in syrup, and sat down between Guy and Luis.

"how is everyone this morning?!" shouted coach Bombay. "good." we all said unenthusiastically. you could tell we had all just woken up. "good!" said Bombay.

we all continued eating. "you nervous for the game?" asked Luis as he chewed his pancakes. "I guess you could say I'm a little eager. and don't talk with your mouth full! gross." I laughed.

the day went by slow and my anxiety built up over the hours. I was eager, yet nervous to play my first game as a duck. well, a team USA player.

as we were in the locker room getting geared up, I made sure that Banks and Luis weren't near each other so there wouldn't a repeat of last night.

as I was tying my skates, I noticed a shadow appear. I looked up to see Adam towering over me. he was already tall enough without his skates, so you can imagine he's pretty tall with them too.

"oh hey." I said, blushing. "you ready?" he asked "yeah." I said as I tied off my other skate and stood.

I lost my balance and stumbled into his chest. he had his hands on the sides of my arms to assure I didn't fall. I kinda stood there against his body for a moment. I stayed a little too long.

"wHATs GOInG ON HeRE?!!?!" hollered Luis. "nothing she jus-" started Adam. "I fell! he caught me before I hit the floor! calm down!" I yelled, cutting Adam off. "yeah!" said adam backing me up. "you shut your mouth rich boy! shut up before I punch you in your crap-lousy faCE!" yelled Luis as he started to walk towards us.

"what's the problem?" I heard someone say. the three of us turned around and saw Dean standing there. "nothing!" I said as I started to tear up and barged out of the locker room.

I could hear footsteps behind me. I didn't know who's they were, but I didn't look back.

just as I made it down the hall, I felt a hand on my shoulder. it turned me around and I was face to face with Luis.

he pulled me in and kissed me right on the lips. that was my first real kiss; Luis has tried to make a move before, but chose a crappy time to do it for real.

after few seconds, I pulled away from his lips and immediately slapped HIM right across HIS crap-lousy face.

"you need to chill!" I said, crying. I was way too sensitive. "I'm so sorry, Hallie. I don't know what has gotten into me! I need to quit being so goddamn overprotective." he said.

I could see the regret in his eyes. I stood there for a moment and wiped my tears. "apology accepted. now go apologize to Adam for saying his face is crap-lousy." I said.

just before he entered the locker room, I stopped him. "Luis, thanks for the first kiss, it was nice. but you deserved the slap in the face." I giggled.