ELIANA

After a twenty minute drive, my car pulls up at the school's parking lot at my usual parking spot. I turn off the engine and grab my backpack from the backseat then alight the car.

I look around the parking lot and my lips curl into a smile when I spot Ethan's car parked a few metres from mine. I can't help but feel that ache in my heart, the desire to see him.

Without a second thought, I turn on my heels to go find him. Today is an important day to him, to both of us and I want him to know that I have his back. I will always do.

Always.

We have been dating for two damn years now but it feels like yesterday. He's my first boyfriend, my first everything and we have made so many plans together. We have a whole future planned out and I can't wait for it to turn into reality.

A simple house with a picket fence, a dog and two or three kids, him achieving his dreams of being a professional hockey player, fulfilling my dreams of becoming a sport's doctor since I love hockey and I would like to take care of him when he's injured...

My eyes find him across the field. The smile on my face fades away slowly and I crease my eyebrows when I notice he's talking to a redhead, laughing and they seemed to be comfortable around each other.

There's this uneasy feeling at the pit of my stomach. I have never seen the girl and they look so close. I know all of Ethan's friends because most of them are his teammates. Taking a deep breath, I push the feeling away, trying not to allow negative thoughts to get in my head and walk to him.

"Ethan?" I call in a gentle voice and he turns to look in my direction and so is the redhead.

"Eliana?" He responds with a little surprise. Perhaps he wasn't expecting me to show up or something. However, the surprise is replaced with a soft smile. That kind of smile that he always puts on whenever he lays his eyes on me and I relax.

The redhead looks at me from head to toe and she makes a face which I don't care to read since I'm used to those kinds of looks anyway.

I hold her stare, not backing down, "Oh Eliana, meet Tess. She's my mother's best friend's daughter. She transferred to Crescent Hill in senior year a day ago. She hasn't made any friends yet and that's why she's hanging with me. She's my childhood friend too." I turn to look at Tess and nod to Ethan's words in understanding.

Now it makes sense why they looked so comfortable while talking and laughing. There was this familiarity between the two which I couldn't wrap my head around. It felt like they knew each other too well.

"Nice to meet you, Tess." I respond with a smile since I don't want to look rude to Ethan's friend. He has always respected my best friend Zoe and I think it's only fair if I respected his friend too.

"Tess, please meet Eliana. She's the one I have been telling you about. She helps me a lot with hockey." Ethan says and I nod with a smile. Tess goes quiet for a minute but she manages a subtle smile.

"Nice to meet you, Eliana." She says. However, I could tell that she isn't that...happy to meet me.

"I think I should get going. I wish you good luck with your game today, Ethan. I will be cheering for you." She turns her attention to Ethan, smiling at him sweetly then turns to me.

" I guess...I'll see you too, Eliana." The corner of her lips twists into a smile and I nod at her word, smiling back.

She turns around and walks away.

"Don't mind her, she's a little distant when she isn't used to you but once you get to know her, she's a good person. I promised her mother that I would help her get through the struggles of adapting to the new environment. I hope you get it." Ethan explains to me briefly and I nod in understanding as I know the feeling too well.

"How are you feeling? Ready?" I ask, brushing off the Tess topic.

Ethan releases a deep breath, " Hell yeah! We have been training for this particular day!" He says in confidence and the corner of my lips lifts up into a smile.

" I hope you and your team won't disappoint. You need to win the first match so that you can have the advantage over the Hawkers for the remaining two games to present Python in the tournament championship."I remind Ethan and he smiles at me.

"I won't disappoint you, Eli. You have to believe in me." He assures me, cradling my face.

"I believe in you. Don't forget about what I told you. He has weakness on his left side and he experiences tunnel vision too. Use his weaknesses to your advantage. And don't let him know about your weaknesses because he will exploit them and use them to his advantage. You know how it works, never let the enemy find out your weakness." I remind him and he smiles broadly.

"I can't forget about such important information. Have you ever tried being a coach? I heard it pays well. Perhaps you can be Mathew's assistant coach." Ethan jokes, referring to Python's coach. I roll my eyes playfully at his words.

"Well...you can say I learned some tips from the best." I joke back, referring to uncle James.

"I can't debate about it." He raises his hands in surrender since it's the truth. Uncle James used to be one of the top hockey players in the country. However, his career ended a little early because of a serious knee injury. He retired early and decided to become a coach to stay connected to hockey. My heart tightens when I give it a thought. He's one of the reasons why I would like to be a sport's doctor...

"My team and I are going to give it our best." Ethan's voice cuts through my thoughts. My attention shifts to him and I see the fire burning in his eyes.

The corner of my lips curls into a smile. I dart my eyes around the open field and my eyes easily finds him. He's kissing a girl, grabbing her arse.

'I hope you're ready, dear brother.' I say in my head, the smile broadening.

ELIANA

The time that we have been all waiting for is finally here!The silence at the rink arena is so loud, the tension thick in the air that I can breathe it.

Both captains of each team are at the centre of the rink, staring intently at each other for the face off, their hockey sticks ready in their hands as they wait for the referee to drop the puck.

Ethan is wearing a red jersey which is the colour jersey of his team with his name boldly written at the back. On the other hand, Jackson is wearing a blue jersey with all the hockey gears, holding the hockey stick tightly in his hands as if his life depends on it.

Taking a deep breath, I try to calm my racing heart. Zoe sitting beside me realises my nervousness and she reaches for my sweaty hand which is resting on my lap, giving it a gentle squeeze.

I turn my head to look at Zoe and she smiles at me. She's wearing a red jersey which matches mine and both have Ethan's name at the back to show support to my boyfriend.

My lips tips up into a smile, squeezing Zoe's hand back as I silently acknowledge her support. The whistle goes off and we both turn our heads to the rink. The crowd starts to cheer and the game countdown officially begins.

My breath catches in my throat when I realize that Jackson has the upper hand. He's in charge of the puck, skating towards the python's goalie, his movements are smooth on the ice as he tries to make his way to the net, ducking Ethan who tries to take the puck from him.

"Damn it! Jackson is so smooth with his moves on the ice. I wish I was the puck that he's tossing around the rink." I hear a girl behind us giggle and I roll my eyes at her words.

"Don't listen to them." Zoe tells me and we turn our attention back to the rink as we continue to cheer but...my heart stops beating for a second as I watch the puck slide on the ice and hits the Python's goalie net.

The crowd chants Jackson's name as if it's some type of sweet melody, the girls screaming on top of their lungs as they wave the blue pompoms in the air, showing off the blue jersey they're wearing with his name on it written in white thick ink. Hard to miss.

Jackson skates backwards from the python net after scoring then turns around and faces the girls shouting his name. He drops on his knees, sliding across the rink with his hands spread wide and head tilted up, cockily celebrating his team's victory with his teammates.

It feels like time is moving in slow motion, the cheers becoming a distant noise as I try to wrap my head around what was going on because it happened so fast. I raise my head to look at the score board and blink just to make sure that my eyes aren't playing some dumb game.

HAWKERS has a score of one while PYTHON is still zero in one minute and fifteen seconds.

"No..." I whisper under my breath, hard for me to grasp reality. I turn my gaze at the rink and I don't miss the smirk behind Jackson's helmet.

Ethan has his grip tight on the hockey stick and I can tell that the score of the Hawkers team stung him more than it did to me. I can see the disappointment and nervousness on his face as he comes off his shift and Jasper, his substitutions jumps on ice.

"It's just the start of the game, Eli. I'm certain Ethan will fire back." Zoe whispers in my ear in encouragement. I nod hesitantly, managing a small smile and try my best to be optimistic.

The whistle goes off and the referee drops the Puck at the center. This time pythons are quick to take the puck and the crowd starts to cheer again.

The game continues and the atmosphere at the rink becomes heated with each passing second. Both teams are determined to emerge the winners, not giving each other time to breathe.

It has already been thirteen minutes into the game but...pythons haven't scored yet.

Ethan and Jackson are back on the ice for the third time after coming off the shifts. Hawker's defenders are quick on their feets, blocking each time Ethan and his team try to score.

When I'm about to give up on the fourteenth minute of the game because it's about to take a break for the first round, Ethan takes the puck that Jackson blind pass to his right winger and pulls one of those drills from my uncle's tips, slap shooting the puck past Hawker's defence into the goalie.

I scream Ethan's name, jump from the bench and hug Zoe tightly. All the supporters of PYTHONS are screaming and cheering. Zoe hugs me back and I feel tears burning in my eyes.

"We did it!" I say in happiness when we pull back from the suffocating hug.

I watch with a big smile as Ethan glides across the rink, obviously mocking Jackson who has an unimpressed look on his face. I want to jump over the boards and join Ethan with his team in the rink to celebrate together but hold back the urge to because it's dangerous.

_______

A FEW MINUTES LATER

After a fifteen minute intermission from the second period, the players walked back to the rink, looking energetic and fired up for the third period.

The second period was so competitive, both teams defended strongly and there was no goal scored. The Hawkers almost scored against the Pythons but...the puck hit the metal goal posts.

Zoe shouts Ethan's name at the front bench and he turns to look at us. I flash him a big smile and he smiles back at me. I can see the nervousness behind the red helmet no matter how hard he tries to mask.

I mouth 'I love you. You have got this!' at him and he smiles back at me, and walks to the centre of the rink for the face off before the third period begins.

The air inside the arena feels hot as Ethan and Jackson face each other, fire burning in their eyes, both of them so ready.

I suck in a deep breath, crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. Zoe whispers words of comfort which I don't quite catch since my full focus is on the rink.

The whistle goes off and the games start officially. Jackson is fast to take the puck but Ethan snatches it before he could shoot to the python's goalie with the help of his left winger.

The game gets intense with each passing second and the tension increases in the air.

I hold my breath as Jackson skates his way to the python's goalie but the referee blows the whistle because it's an offside...

The game continues, each team player taking breaks when necessary and coming back energetic. It feels like the game is taking forever, my heart skipping a beat each time a Hawk's player tries to score. Nervously, I raise my head to check the clock and realise there's three minutes remaining for the game to end and I'm not sure if Pythons will be able to score before the final whistle blows to call off the game.

Zoe screams beside me, shouting Ethan's name and when I turn my attention to the rink, he's celebrating with his teammates.

"Python! Python!" The crowd is cheering and a big smile spreads across my face, the score feeling surreal. I check the score board and that's when reality sinks in.

He did it!

My boyfriend did it!

The game continues after the short celebration and I hold my breath for a moment. Hawkers try to score a second goal but...the whistle goes off after fifteen minutes are over.

Zoe jumps in my arms, celebrating the win of pythons as though she's one of the players.

"He won against Jackson." I whisper under my breath.

"I told you!" Zoe says in happiness, blinking tears and has a big smile on her face.

"I need to go and congratulate him for winning. I want him to know how happy and proud I am of him!" I say, wiping a single tear that had trailed down my cheek using the back of my hand.

"You have to! Don't forget to pass my congratulations to him too. He deserves a big kiss." Zoe jokes and I roll my eyes at her words, laughing.

I turn around, pushing through the crowds as students exit the Arena.

"Sorry," I apologise to a blondie when I step on her white sneakers but she gives me a dirty look and looks pissed off. She's wearing a Hawker blue jersey and there's no doubt she's one of the many disappointed fans.

Well, it's not my fault her team lost. They should blame it on Jackson and his teammates.

I release a breath when I finally step out of the school's arena and head over to that one direction, happiness and excitement bubbling inside me, half walking and half running.

A big smile spreads on my face when I enter the python's locker hallway. I can't help it but envision how tightly I'm going to wrap my hands around Ethan and kiss him passionately for winning against Jackson.

I don't care if he hasn't taken a shower and he's still sweaty. I like it even more when he's still in his hockey outfit. The hallway is full but I manage to push my way through the crowd.

When I'm a few steps away, I dip my hand inside my skirt pocket and pull out a red velvet box which I have been hiding from him the whole day because I didn't want him to know about it as it would ruin the little surprise.

I'm not sure about how Ethan will react once he sees what is inside the box but, I hope he'll like it.

I hold the little box tightly in my hand, my heart racing fast in my chest, searching for that one person that I'm so excited to see.

My eyes find him-and the red head childhood friend but...the smile on my face fades away as soon as I realise what's going on.