The Hockey Life

PART FORTY-SIX: A PARADE AND A POOL PARTY
As I recalled from 2010, a Stanley Cup win meant not only a summer full of celebration, but a few more specific events. Everyone on the team got a day with the Cup, plus there was the championship ring event, but before any of that was the celebration parade. I was really excited for the parade, because yet another perk of winning the internship was a guaranteed good spot there, plus I got to ride on the bus with Patrick. Of course, Tess would be there too even though she wasn’t in the internship, simply because she was with Jonathan now.
Tess, Dylan and I had to wait a few days for the parade. The waiting seemed endless, despite the fact that it was only a couple days. However, when the day did come, it hi me like a brick. I had gotten into the habit of staying up late and waking up late, but I actually had to get up early to get ready.
“Come on, Tess, we have to get up,” I said when I saw that she was still in bed.
“Five more hours…” she mumbled into her pillow.
“I was expecting you to say five more minutes, but okay then,” I said. I turned on the light and she pulled the blankets farther over her to block out the brightness. I pulled her blankets off her body before she could grab them again. I then grabbed her legs and yanked them. I almost pulled her completely off the bed, but she stopped me.
“If you don’t get up, I’m going to pour water on you,” I warned her.
“Fine, I’m up!” Tess huffed. We both ate a quick breakfast and got ourselves ready. It was going to be HOT, so I stuck to just wearing mascara when it came to makeup and I pulled my long, dark hair back into a ponytail. I put on a charcoal Blackhawks tank top and black, cut off shorts. I used a red headband to keep my hair secure and I decided to go with red Vans. Tess wore a red tank top with white shorts and black Converse. She also put her hair up and she used a black headband.
“Hey, we’re kind of twinning!” I laughed. A minute later, we heard a knock on the door. It was probably Patrick and Jonathan. They told us they’d pick us up so we could go together. As it turned out, it was them.
“You ready to go?” Pat asked.
“Almost. Tess, we need sunscreen!” I reminded her. We put some on and then she tossed the bottle into her purse in case we would need it later.
“Do you have your swimsuits?” Jonathan asked.
“Why would we need those?” Tess wondered.
“Bickell’s having a pool party at his place after the parade,” Patrick said.
“Alright, I’m in,” I said. I grabbed my neon yellow swimsuit and Tess grabbed her neon orange one. We each picked up a pair of flip flops to throw in the car as well and we were off.
When we got there, Patrick and I met up with his family. We took some pictures together and then I found Dylan. I forgot about the fact that he didn’t have a connection with the team like Tess and I did.
“Hey! Which bus are you on?” I asked him.
“Probably whatever bus you’re on. I think Kaner, Johnny and Crow are all on the same one, so we’ll probably be able to ride together,” he decided. Most of the guys knew the drill, so while some leaders of the Hawks organization explained exactly what would be happening, we took some more pictures. I wanted as many as I could get. I wouldn’t let myself forget that this was the chance of a lifetime.
It wasn’t much longer before we had to get on the buses and get going. The guys all put on their jerseys and we started moving. I felt so bad for the team. It was way too warm for anyone to be wearing jerseys, but they had to. They seemed to handle it well, though.
As we started to move through the city, I realized exactly how crazy things were. It was extremely crowded. I couldn’t believe how many people there were, and I knew some of them got up extremely early to get their spots, which was amazing to me. They cheered and held up signs as the buses passed, and Jonathan Toews held up the cup a few times before passing it on the other players. When Patrick got it, he hesitated before raising it up.
“You haven’t even touched it yet, have you?” he asked me. Amazingly, I hadn’t, even with the amount of partying and celebrating with it that had already gone on. I shook my head, and I reached out and touched it. I found Patrick’s name on it and traced it with my finger until I realized that the fans were waiting for him to hoist it. I let him do so and I smiled as we passed a guy who was wearing a shirt that said, “Fear the mullet.” The shirt had a silhouette of Patrick’s profile. I pointed the shirt out to him and he laughed. He was still rocking his playoff mullet now, but luckily his playoff beard was gone. After the parade, probably the day after, he would get his hair cut and the mullet would be gone too. I was actually really looking forward to that. He always looked good with his new post playoffs short haircut.
After the ride through the streets of Chicago, we all got off the buses and got ready for the speeches. First there was a video, and then the members of the organization spoke. Then the players got their chance to talk. That was always the fun part. I recalled the famous rap by Kris Versteeg at the parade in 2010 and I hoped there would be another funny speech like that.
Sure enough, the players surprised everyone. Kaner announced that the championship belt was going to Crawford, and Corey went up to the podium to receive it and say a few words. He definitely expressed a vocabulary that nobody expected, not even his teammates.
“F*cking rights, Chicago! Biggest bunch of beauties in the league, f*ckin worked our nuts off for this trophy! No one will ever take this away from us, we’re the champs!” he yelled. I glanced at Dylan and started cracking up. That drunken speech was definitely the highlight of the parade and rally.
At the end of the rally, Chelsea Dagger was blasted and confetti rained down on the players and the fans in the streets. Once it was over, Dylan, Tess, and I met back up with the team. It was time for the pool party, which made me feel relieved. I was sweating, so I knew the players had to be dying of heat.
When we all got to Bickell’s place, I was amazed by how great it was. I should have expected that by then, but I always forgot that hockey players had the ability to live in nice places.
Tess and I changed into our swimsuits right away and we heard whistles from the single guys on the team when we walked out to the pool.
“You guys better watch yourselves,” Jonathan said as he placed a protective arm around Tess. Patrick did the same to me.
“You don’t need to be so protective, they’re just messing around,” I told him.
“I’m not always so sure about that. You aren’t around them as much as I am,” Patrick reminded me.
Once everyone had arrived and we were all settled, Bickell started grilling burgers and hot dogs. Meanwhile, the rest of us were focused on cooling off. I had planned on going in the pool relatively quickly, but I went in a little sooner than I had planned.
“Hey Lean, look at Bicksy’s neighbor’s dog,” Patrick said as he pointed to the house next door. I loved animals, especially dogs, so naturally, I looked. However, before I even had a chance to find a dog, I felt a push and I hit the water. Of course he would push me into the pool. He was such a gentleman. Not. And I wasn’t going to act like a lady, either. When I came back up to the surface I blinked the water away from my eyes and I swam to the ladder.
“You think that’s funny?” I asked as I caught him still laughing.
“Yeah, I do, actually,” he smiled.
“You’re gonna get it,” I warned him. I ran after him, dripping wet with pool water. He was running pretty fast, but Tess helped me corner him. We forced him over to the pool and we both pushed him in. This time we got to laugh at him as he hit the water.
“Really? You had to team up on me?” he asked when he came back up.
“Well, yeah! That’s girl code,” Tess said as she high-fived me.
“What about guy code?” Patrick asked as he looked around at his teammates.
“She’s your girl, you can fight your own battles,” Sharp said.
“Thanks for the support, Sharpy.”
After that, everyone started filtering into the pool, although I wasn’t sure if it was because they really wanted to or if it was because they were afraid of getting pushed in and they wanted to be safe. Either way, once the food was done, people immediately started getting out. We all were really hungry, and the grilled food and finger foods that were being served were amazing. I was pleased to find out that sushi was on the menu. That was to be expected at Bickell’s parties.
After eating, I spent most of my time playing pool volleyball and pool basketball. The rest of the party was definitely fun, but it made me tired. I was relieved when I got home and I was able to just relax on the couch. I fell asleep really early that night, which was unusual for me. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. It was probably good for me to get to bed at a normal time for once. I think I needed that. After all, the summer had just begun. There was plenty more in store for me.

Notes

Hey guys! I'm really sorry if it took a while to update. I first started posting this story on Wattpad, and that's the website I mainly put my stories on. Apparently I only updated this story on there last time and I got distracted when it came to updating on here. I'm sorry about that! Anyways, I hope you like the chapter. I'll try not to forget to update next time! :)