The Best is Yet to Come

Nicole's P.O.V.

"NICOLE, NICOLE, NICOLE, WAKE UP!!" Screamed little Zoe Dupuis while jumping on my torso.

"What?" I grumbled.

"You and daddy have practice. The first game of the season is tonight!" She said sitting still.

"Oh ya that's tonight. Thanks for the wake up call." I said sarcastically, not that the 6 year old picked up on it.

I'm staying at the Dupuis residence because I'm playing on the same team as Pascal. Ya, I play for the Penguins. I got called up from playing juniors in Quebec about a week ago, so this is the first practice I'll get with the team.

I quick ran a brush through my hair and put on my official team shirt and sweatpants before I padded my way down to the kitchen where there was a mixture of eggs and coffee wafting from. The kids four kids and I sat at the table while they asked me all the questions they possibly could.

"How old are you?"

"I'm 20"

"Are you nervous?"

"A little bit"

"Don't be. You'll do fine just go out and make sure the other team doesn't know what hit them," Said Pascal walking in the kitchen, " you ready to go?"

"Ya sure, let me grab my tennis shoes first."

We arrived at Consol and Pascal was causally walking around saying 'hi' to guys like Sid and Geno while I was over here freaking out, getting dressed was really no big deal, we ran some drills and when it came to playing on the corners the guys were going extremely gentle on me. After practice though is where the whole locker room situation got awkward.

"Nicole, is there anything you'd like to say? You know about being the only female on the team." Coach asked after we got off the ice.

"Ya. Ok 2 things, 1: just cause I'm a girl doesn't mean you have to be gentle. I wouldn't be playing at this level if I was fragile. I'm considered an enforcer, so don't think I'm gonna break if you touch me. 2: in the locker room you don't have to be so damn shy, I've played hockey since I was 5, you're not gonna show me anything I haven't seen before."

And at that moment half the guys dropped their towels and the other half turned an ungodly shade of red.

When we arrived home again I did my normal pre-game routine, shower, lunch, nap, and then at about 4:30 we left for the arena. The game against the Devils was going smoothly, going into the second we had a 2-0 lead, guys on the other team weren't treating my like I was easily breakable, but the tensions were running high all night. Finally when someone took a nasty run at Sid I did what I had to do, I stood up for my captain.

"That was a dirty hit, asshole!" I said grabbing onto his collar.

"Oh, you wanna go? Oh wait you might break a nail." He said.

"Let's go! And just remember, it's be the guy who hits the girl, or be the guy who gets beat up by a girl." I said throwing the first punch.

He landed a couple good ones on me ultimately giving me a minor black eye and a busted lip. But I won the fight when I threw a solid hit to his cheekbone and he lost his balance causing him to fall on his ass.

After the game I was sitting in my stall icing my hand when they handed out the rock. It promptly went to the first star of the game, with the 3-0 shutout, Marc-Andre Fleury. I was sitting in my post game clothes at my stall when my defensive partner off the game, Olli Maatta came and sat next to me.

"You fight good." He said being all awkward, "I like you. Not like, like like you, just there's something different about you, and I like that, what I'm saying is,"

I cut him off saying,"Dude, save your self now before you say something you regret."

"Oh um ok. Anyway uh, I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that he walked away. Damn, he's got a nice ass.

Notes

This story is based off the 2013-2014 season, so I'll try to keep the events in order.