Hat Trick 3: Penalty Shot (29 page)

I wasn’t. I was going with the status quo. I’d been working at the community center non-stop since I was a sophomore, but I hadn’t really considered beyond graduation at this point. Trevor’d made it clear I had a place if I wanted it. I was also thinking of grad school because to do what I wanted long term, a master’s was a must. Eventually there might be a doctorate, too.

I shrugged. “With everything going on, I haven’t done much.”

“I mean, we can really go anywhere.”

“But maybe not a place that would right off pay for grad school. That’s huge. I’d be silly to block you from taking this. You essentially got a scholarship all over again.”

“Yeah. I knew they were happy with me, but it was a surprise to get so much.”

“It’s not surprising to me,” I said while he spun around in his desk chair like an excited kid. “We should go celebrate.”

“Really, right now?”

“Absolutely. This is major. You’ve lined up a job after graduation that comes with a ton of benefits. That just doesn’t happen.”

“No.” He picked me up and hugged me again. “It doesn’t does it?” He held me off the ground and looked thoughtful. “Can we get some ice cream?”

That was out of left field. I figured we might go get hot chocolate or a slice of pie, but ice cream was out of the ordinary unless we were at a hockey game.

“Anything you want.”

He lowered me and got our coats.

“I know it’s weird. But I had a craving for some mint chip today. We can head over to Stucchi’s. And, of course, there’s the all-important hot chocolate.”

I grinned. I slipped on my coat and we headed out. I drove since my truck was parked closer to the building.

“I’m so proud of you,” I said.

“I haven’t taken it yet,” he said.

“You will.” I rested my hand on his knee “There’s no reason not to. I’m telling you not to wait on me. I can start working on my grad school application and get everything in order. I can talk to my advisor about it in the next few days. As for work, at worst my status would stay the same, but given talks I’ve had with Trevor, I can probably get on with more hours, or possibly even full-time. I can talk to him as early as tomorrow. But you should say yes.”

“You’re awesome.”

I shrugged. “Actually, I think you’re the one that’s awesome. It’s been a tricky year to say the least, and you’ve come out of it with a great job opportunity.”

“No, I mean it. Without really considering what this means for you, you’ve jumped in and said yes. This is a minimum four-year commitment between the master’s program and staying on after it, and that’s if I start it right away. Sure, your masters would be two years, too, but then there’s two more.”

“We’ll be together in those four years, so I’m okay no matter what.”

“You know, if we need to move around for you later, I’m game.”

“Of course,” I said, as I parked. “We’ll always make these decisions together. Eventually it may not be just jobs to consider, but where to raise kids, too.”

“Can you imagine us with kids?” he asked as we got out.

“Actually I can. Given the coaching we’ve done in the past year. Or, at least, I can imagine us with teenagers. I think we’d be great dads.”

He stopped me just before we walked into the restaurant. “I think we would be, too. And you’re right, it does put a whole different spin on what we might do.”

“Yeah, we’ll be thinking of things like good schools, making enough money to make sure we can send them to college, and all that other big time stuff.”

Apparently we weren’t the only ones that needed something sweet on a chilly night. The place was busy.

They had mint chip ice cream and Alex got three scoops in a waffle bowl. I had a mix of their peanut butter ice creams and we both got cocoa.

“You going to be okay as the money maker?”

“I guess.” He shrugged. “Does it matter as long as we’ve got the money to do what we want?”

“Probably not.” I didn’t think it was an issue, but I wasn’t the one with the higher earning potential. “But we’ve never talked about it. Almost everything we do is paid for. Sure, we’ve both got money for stuff like this.” I indicated the food on the table, which wasn’t covered by the dining plan. “Realistically though, if you’re working for a big engineering firm, you’ll always out-earn me, unless I got in to a private practice of some kind.”

“Which is not what you really want to do,” he added.

“I don’t think so. I’m always going to want to work with kids, or something very close to that. Maybe teaching at some point, maybe some research, too. But right now I love what I’m doing. And that’s going to mean you’re most likely going to be the one making the big bucks.”

His grin said he was on the verge of laughing. “This conversation sounds like we should be about ten years older. I don’t really care who makes the money. All that matters is that we take care of each other, and whoever becomes part of our family.” He paused, letting everything sink in. “You’re really okay if I accept?”

I took his hand. “Yes. If you want it, do it.”

He took a massive bite of ice cream, which I was pretty sure would give him some brain freeze. “I thought about that on the drive home. I’ve loved what I’ve been doing and the people I work with. And it’s for sure not bad getting the post-grad work paid for, especially since I doubt I’d go for a PhD.” He finally made a scrunched wink with his left eye indicating brain freeze had set in. “I’ll get an appointment with my advisor tomorrow to make sure I’m not missing something.”

“Good idea, just to make sure it’s a good deal.”

“Here’s another thought,” he offered. “Maybe we start looking for a place now, sooner rather than later. I want to stay in the dorm until the season’s over, but after that we could move.”

My heart did a flip. It’s not like getting an apartment together was a surprise, but the idea of making it a reality was pretty rockin’.

“I like that. The sooner we start looking and find a place, the less we’ll have to worry about come finals and graduation.”

“Exactly. I wonder what we can afford around here?”

“I suppose we should start figuring that out even sooner.” I lifted my cocoa mug. “Cheers to the future.”

“Cheers.” He clanked his cup against mine.

We were barely into our last semester, and we were starting to plan the next phase of our lives. It was a great end to what started as a regular weeknight.

Rainbow High had known since last week they weren’t making the playoffs. Too many losses, albeit close ones in the early part of the season, was something they ultimately couldn’t recover from. They’d bounced back to where they were winning as much as losing and with today’s final regular season game turning out to be a win they ended with an even record. As a coach, I was thrilled for the team. They’d come a long way fast.

The team was celebrating, however, as if they were headed to the playoffs. Coach Rapp made it possible for us to use one of the boxes at Yost for the end of season party, which included passes for skating during the public session if anyone wanted to. Some of the parents decorated the space and by the time the team rolled in it was set for a great time.

This was the first time I’d seen the majority of the parents together since the first game. There were always some parents present, but they’d turned out in force for the final game. The party was open to the team, their significant others, parents, coaches and other close supporters.

The room was filling up nicely as parents and team members arrived. Alex, most of the other coaches, and I got here ahead of the team to help do final setup. I was doing some final testing on the microphone at the podium as Scottie walked up.

“Hey, Coach Simon,” he said. He sported one of the new Rainbow High T-shirts he’d made up with his dad that he’d given to everyone in the locker room before the game. They mimicked the jersey design we had, down to emblems on the side. The players all had their names and numbers on the back too. These weren’t cheap T-shirts by any means and it was very cool Scottie and his dad had gone to the effort of making them. “I was wondering if I could say a few words at some point.”

“Of course,” I said without hesitation. “You’re the captain and the inspiration behind the team, so by all means an end of season speech from you is more than okay.”

“Cool.” He looked around, as if to see who might be listening in. Only Danny and Sara were anywhere near us. “So can you tell me, are we going to exist next fall?”

Given the discussions Alex and I’d had the past few days, we knew we were staying in the area. He’d accepted the EdgeTech offer. I’d told Trevor I wanted to stay on and he and I were talking about the various options. I’d have that nailed down by the end of the semester.

“You can tell everyone if you want, or I can. Alex and I are staying here for the next few years.” A big smile broke out on his face and he worked to control his enthusiasm. “If the team wants us, we’re in. We’re not sure about the other coaches yet, but we’re here for sure.”

He jumped forward and hugged me. I figured he’d be happy, I didn’t realize he’d be quite this happy. After his performance on the team this year several coaches had been circling him already, regretting their mistake from tryouts.

“That’s awesome,” he said. “A lot of us were worried we’d simply be back in the pool next year. I think we may have a lot of people to choose from to fill any open spots. Word is that we’ve got a rep as a good team to play for since we all get along, support each other, and don’t have a coach that screams at mistakes.”

“We’ll have to see how many we lose,” I said. “A few guys are going to age out for sure. We will be choosy though. Attitude will matter as much, if not more, than how they play.”

“Rainbow High must stay a no jerk zone.”

“Agreed,” I said as we pumped fists. “Let me finish getting this set up. I want to get the remarks over with so we can have fun. You’ll be up after I’m done.”

“Thanks, Coach Simon. Oh, and you should announce the news about next season.”

I nodded as Alex and Trent arrived, bringing in two boxes of stuff that the coaches had chipped in for. They placed them on the table next to the podium.

“I guess we should start,” I said to the guys. “Where’s Hillary?” I looked out into the crowd and saw her. Luckily she caught my eye and I waved her up. She squeezed Mimi’s hand as she came forward.

I stepped up to the mic. “Hi everyone. It’s great to see so many people here to celebrate the end of Rainbow High’s inaugural season.”

I paused for a round of unexpected applause, which was led by Coach Rapp and Scottie’s dad, and quickly matched by the rest of the people in the room. I was glad we limited attendance because this room was near capacity.

“When Alex and I took on this project we weren’t sure how it would turn out. We didn’t know if we’d be able to make coaching work. We didn’t know if enough players would want to be on the team. We didn’t know if the team could be a success. Well, we made it work with the help of some of our best friends,” I indicated the folks standing with me, “Danny and Trent were in it from the beginning and Joey and many others from the Wolverines pitched in, too. If you would all stand. Please show your appreciation for these guys.”

Another round of applause and hoots from the team.

“None of this would’ve worked without the tireless commitment of one person. Hillary agreed to take on the administrative tasks of league communication
and
being with the team for every practice and every game. She stepped in when the Wolverines were practicing or traveling. She stepped in when Alex and I had to drop out completely for a few weeks. She was the bedrock that made the team function. Please give her a big thank you.”

As I’d hoped, the crowd’s roar was larger for her than it was for anything else I’d said. Scottie even made his way up with a bouquet of flowers. I’ve no idea where he pulled those out from, but this kid was on his game today as the team captain. Hillary looked overwhelmed, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for because the team would’ve collapsed without her.

“Of course, coaches are nothing without a good team to work with. The twenty-one person roster came together as a mix of senior players who’d been on the ice for years, some midlevel players, players returning to the game after some time off, and newbies. Very quickly everyone banded together as a unit and vowed to help each other play better and to always have each other’s backs on and off the ice. I couldn’t ask for more as a coach.

“There’s a trend these days of everyone getting an award for participation. And while participation is good, making progress in the game is even better and every one of you made progress this season in one way or another. We’ve got several awards to hand out. The first, as voted on by the players themselves, goes to the team MVP. Scottie, come on up here and get your award.”

Alex gave me the first award out of our boxes. With Mimi’s help, along with one of her graphic designer friends, we’d made certificates emblazoned with the Rainbow High logo and a team picture all inside a rainbow frame.

Scottie was blushing as he approached and he accepted it with a bow and a curtsy. “Scottie, I know Alex and I have thanked you privately for asking us to be a part of this, but we want to thank you publicly as well. We’ve had a great time working with you and the team.”

Alex leaned forward to the mic. “Exactly, what he said. Thanks, Scottie.” They did a fist pump across the front of the podium.

We quickly went through the rest of the awards we had, which covered everything from best defensive player, best offensive player to most improved in both of those categories to awards for most improved overall player. The coaches all worked diligently to figure out where everyone excelled, which was made easier by Hillary’s detailed record keeping throughout the season.

“So, to wrap up. There’ve been questions about the team’s future. I can announce here that Rainbow High will continue next fall with Scottie as captain. Alex and I will continue as coaches, even more hands-on than this year since we’ll be graduates. Any players who want to return will be welcomed back automatically.” Scottie made a loud hoot and led the applause. I worked to get them quieted down since Scottie still had things he wanted to say. “We’ll get information out to everyone well ahead of fall tryouts. So I’m going to turn things over to Scottie now.”