Acatalepsy; auston matthews

• ten •

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Jessica walked into the Air Canada Center, followed by her father. This was only the second time she had ever been here, the other time being when she interviewed the players with Steve. Jessica knew Steve was already here with Sarah, he was here the minute the doors opened, one of the first in line. She hadn't told her dad that Steve had tickets, instead wanted to really surprise him.

From today onwards she would be the favourite child.

Jessica and her father didn't have trouble finding their seats- which were lower bowl and only a row back from the front -she was shocked by how great the seats were.

Her dad was wearing his Wendel Clark jersey, that he had bought in the 90's, compared to his daughter who was in a Matthews jersey; the difference in generations between the two was clear just from the jerseys they wore.

Jessica sat down in her seat, her father sat down next to her. A moment later Steve returned with popcorn and drinks, "Hey you're here!" Jessica and her father stood up to let Steve pass. That's when her father clued in that Steve's seat was next to his.

"Jessica! You didn't tell me Steve had a ticket!" He dad smiled as Steve sat next to his wife handing her a drink.

"Must have slipped my mind," she shrugged and turned her attention to the rink as warmups began.

Her dad and Steve struck up a conversation while some of the Leafs players started stretching and skating around. Jessica spotted Auston the minute he skated on the ice, after a couple quick laps around the next Auston noticed her. He smiled and winked, skating towards where she was sitting. Her seats were at the Leafs blue line, across from the bench.

Jessica walked down to the row and watched the team warm up. Mitch smiled and waved to her when he noticed her, then got another players attention and pointed to her again. She gave Mitch a look and saw the two players talking until Auston skated by them.

Boys will be boys, she thought and enjoyed watching the team.

Near the end of the warmups Auston skated over to where she was; he was one of the last players on the ice, and there were less people around her now. Auston tossed a puck over the glass to her and she laughed. Some fans nearby were in awe that they were this close to the team.

She noticed a young boy around the age of six sitting in an aisle seat. He had the teams logo on each cheek and his hair was dyed blue, he was wearing a Matthews jersey like her. "Matthews just tossed this puck over the glass, he wanted you to have it because he really liked your hair," Jessica smiled.

The kid was in awe and mumbled his thanks and stared at the puck, wide eyed and amazed. The dad smiled towards Jessica, "Thank you, you just made his day."

She smiled and turned to walk back to her seat; not knowing that Auston watched her give away the puck, which made him smile a little more.

The game was intense. The fans knew how important it was for the team to get a win tonight, going down 3-0 would be bad. Jessica, despite being a die hard Jets fan, was on the edge of her seat for every save she watched Andersen make.

In the second period she jumped out of her seat along with the rest of the crowd when Auston put the team up 3-2. She watched him celebrate, and knew how big that was for him.