He hadn’t meant to see the hockey game. Really, he hadn’t. The ticket had been laying in the street, half-covered by newspaper and the other unmentionables of a New York City sidewalk, and, lacking anything better to do, he pulled out his phone, found the location, and watched a hockey game.
Did he know what was happening? No. Did he particularly care about one side or another winning this bizarre sport? Absolutely not. Did Varian manage to remain unaffected by the energy of the crowd and the passion of the players? Nope. Even as he couldn’t understand every boo or cheer the people around him let out, it was impossible to let himself not get swept up in it.
Perhaps the most passionate of all was the girl, sitting a few rows down. She knew what was happening, Varian decided, and during the 17-minute break between periods, he walked over to the girl. “Hi, I’m Varian,” he began, knowing full-well that people like to know who they’re talking to. “You seem to know a great deal about all this. Any chance for a crash course? Just a brief one. Enough so I know when something bad happens.”
Riley turned her head to greet the boy approaching her. She was visibly excited, her hair stuck to her face and the red and blue stripes she’d painted on her cheeks were starting to smear. Typically, she dragged Joy or one of her other siblings to games with her, but they were all busy and she wasn’t about to miss a game, so she was here alone. She smiled, patting the seat next to her, as Varian asked for some Hockey 101. “Riley,” she replied, thrusting her hand out to shake his. She appreciated someone who wanted to learn, and someone who could admit they were lost.
“Alright, so those guys in red and blue, as I’m sure you know, are the Rangers, that’s who we cheer for. Black and gold are the Bruins, we cheer for them to lose. Each team can have six players on the ice at a time, two defenders, a right wing, a left wing, a center, and a defender - but don’t worry, a first timer doesn’t need to keep those straight.” She gave him a wink. “If you look, you can see the lines on the ice, the big red one in the middle is the center line and then the two blue ones divide the rink into three sections. The middle section is the neutral zone, and the circle in the middle is where the game starts. The outer two sections are attacking/defending zones. Basically, all they have to do is get the puck into the goal and they score a point. Three periods, twenty minutes each, whoever has the most points by the end wins.”
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