Teach Me How to Dougie

Holly and I hopped off the T at North Station, entering a sea of black and gold. We were both so excited for this game, which we had just been planning to watch on our TV at home.

I had decided to wear my Tuukka jersey, which I usually wore to games, black leggings, and brown riding boots. I had curled my auburn hair so that it had a little more bounce than normal and had done my makeup so that it brought out my blue eyes. My mom had bought me earrings with little spoked B's on them for Christmas, so I threw those on, too.

Holly was wearing jeans and brown riding boots. She had dark brown hair that was pin straight and fell about midway down her back. She had never been to a game before and didn't have any shirts to wear, so I let her wear my Bergeron shirt and Bruins baseball hat.

We walked through the doors of the garden, now almost completely filled with black and gold. I saw a few patches of blue and yellow, as the Bruins were playing the St. Louis Blues tonight. I pushed my way through the crowd and over to the box office, approaching the window.

The woman behind the counter looked up from her computer. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, please. I'm picking up two tickets."

"Name?"

"My name? Or...?"

She rolled her eyes, clearly already tired of dealing with people tonight.

"No, the name of the person who left you the tickets."

I gulped and looked at Holly, who had just nudged me in the side with her elbow.

"Um, Dougie Hamilton."

The attendant raised her eyebrows, looking as if she didn't believe me. She pushed her chair back from her desk and opened up a file on the table behind her. I was getting nervous because it was taking her a long time. Maybe he had forgotten.

Just as I was really starting to worry, she pulled out two tickets, returned to her seat, and slid them under the glass.

"Enjoy!" She said, in a more enthusiastic tone than before, probably after she realized we weren't lying about who had left us the tickets.

I thanked her and grabbed the tickets. Holly was clapping her hands and jumping up and down as we boarded the escalator to the ticket gates. I noticed that there was a note on the tickets.

*Colby, thanks again for the help. Have fun cheering on your three favorite players.- Dougie*

I smiled at that last part, which Holly noticed. She nudged me as we approached the top of the escalator.

"Where are we supposed to go?"

I hadn't actually looked at where our seats were yet. I looked down at the tickets again, looking over the details. My eyes widened.

"Um, Holly. I think we are in the first row." I couldn't believe it! We walked over to an employee, who confirmed our location. We walked down the stairs and towards the glass, as the players continued warming up on the ice. When we reached our seats, both Holly and I were grinning like idiots. We were right next to the Bruins bench.

"THIS IS NUTS, CHLOE! WHAT THE HELL?!" Holly and I both stood at our seats, faces pressed to the glass as the team warmed up. I saw Tuukka stretching in the crease while the rest of the team ran through drills and stretched. Coach Julien was standing feet away from us, looking as intimidating as ever. I could not believe that this was actually happening. I had been to games before, but had never been up this close.

Just as we were becoming absorbed in the pre-game atmosphere, I saw a familiar face standing across the ice. Dougie was resting after a drill, and just as I saw him, he looked back at me. A grin spread across his face and he lifted his glove in a half wave. I waved back eagerly, smiling just as wide.

I couldn't believe that I had run into Dougie Hamilton in the first place, but the fact that I was now sitting against the glass at a game, in seats he saved for me, watching him play and waving at him was just blowing my mind.

The players left the ice so the zambonis could prepare for game time. Shortly after, the starting lineup was introduced, the national anthem was sung, and the whistle was blown.

Game on.

Notes