Chapter 4: The Hockey Game

After awakening from a short nap Stella and I decided to go get something to eat. I am totally clueless about this time period's cuisine, so I put my trust in Stella to pick food. And that is how I got here...

"Cmon Kenzo try some of the food I promise it's good!" Stella says trying her best to convince me to ingest this horrifying 'food'. The 'food' she is trying to feed me looks like a bread bowl with just hot dogs covered in a yellow sauce.

"Stella, when I say this I need you to be 100% honest with me... Is that a bread bowl with hot dogs covered in mustard?!?!" I ask Stella in pure disgust. Oh lord I hope I am wrong and that isn't what it is...

"You have a keen eye for great cuisine Kenzo!" Stella compliments me. Cuisine? I WOULDN'T CALL THAT FOOD NEVERTHELESS 'CUISINE'!

"Stella, I got bad news for you. I am not eating that 'cuisine'." I tell Stella as I give air quotes to drive my point home.

"You suck Kenzo!" Stella exclaims with a pout.

"Just finish your slop, so we can go shopping..." I tease Stella with an over exaggerated eye roll. I really do need to get new clothes so I'm not just wearing the same thing over and over.

Stella finishes her food and so we head to the shopping center. The shopping center is called Coyote's quarters. I asked Stella if she knew why it was named that since the name stuck out to me for some reason. She ended up giving me a really short explanation about a man who went by the name Coyote, and what he did for the world a few centuries ago. Apparently Coyote was able to single handedly unite most nations of the universe to take down some 'great evil'. No matter how much I ask about the supposed 'great evil' she refuses to explain. And to add to the weird situation every time I ask Stella she seems to become super anxious.

"Here we are." Stella says as we arrive at the shopping center. The shopping center is massive! It looks to be 3 stories tall and it has big glass windows that allow the natural light in. Through the window you can see a big white staircase. It looks to go all the way up to the top floor.

"Wow Stella this is a really nice place huh?" I say in amazement.

"Yeah, Coyote's Quarters is one of Eden's great attractions. It drives a lot of visitors to our city." Stella says with a proud smirk.

"Wow you sure do know a lot about this place. Why is that?" I ask Stella.

"Well my family happened to be close to the family who is in charge of 'Coyote's quarters', so I got to know a lot about this legendary place." Stella explains. What is so legendary about this place? I feel like I am missing a lot of information on why.

"What is so important about this place Stella?" I ask Stella hoping she will explain everything.

"Kenzo what did I tell you?" Stella says in an annoyed tone with an eye roll and a sigh.

"I know I know, but please! You have to remember I don't know anything from this time period." I remind Stella trying to convince her.

"Ugh okay I'll tell you when we get home, but for now let's just enjoy shopping dummy." Stella tells me as she pinches my cheeks and pulls it.

"OW OW OW, okay I understand!" I exclaim in pain from Stella pinching my check.

"Good!" Stella exclaims in a cutesy voice as she gives me a smile. She is so cute I'm gonna melt!!!

Stella brings me around the massive first floor of the shopping center. Passing by shops with things completely foreign to me, and some things that are familiar. Eventually Stella stops walking in front of a store. The store is called "Golden Gate Attire". It is clearly referencing the Golden Gate bridge.

"Here we are!" Stella declares while pointing at the sign.

"What is this store Stella?" I ask Stella in confusion. Why did she bring us to this exact store?

"It's GGA and it's one of the biggest brands ever! It's one of the biggest designer brands ever." Stella explains excitedly. Huh a designer brand? WAIT DESIGNER IS ALWAYS EXPENSIVE.

"STELLA ISN'T DESIGNER REALLY EXPENSIVE?!?!" I ask Stella, bewildered she would take me here just to get everyday clothes.

"I mean for most people yeah, but I have plenty of money to use, so don't worry at all." Stella assures me with a wink. Damn her family must've really been wealthy then.

"Oh okay then let's get to shopping." I tell Stella hesitantly.

After entering the store Stella walked me to the men's section and helped me pick out some nice outfits. I let her pick them since I have no clue what fashion is like in the future, but it ended up being pretty similar to what I would wear before. I guess it make sense if they were trying to go for a low key city style since it is "Golden Gate Attire". My favorite outfit Stella got me is my denim jacket with a white under shirt, and black pants.

"Alright time to check out!" Stella says in excitement as she grabs my wrist and drags me to the cashier. Her excitement for shopping has not lessened at all during this shopping trip.

"Oh hey Stella!" The girl behind the counter exclaims.

"No way is that you Sarah? It's been so long, how are you?" Stella asks Sarah. Sarah? Huh I wonder how they know each other.

"I'm doing great! Hope you are too!" Sarah exclaims.

"I'm doing amazing Sarah! What have you been up to?" Stella asks Sarah.

"Oh nothing much just working, but it seems like you've been up to something." Sarah says in a smug tone as she averts her gaze to me. What does she mean by that?

I look over to Stella in confusion looking for an explanation, but for some reason her face is red like a tomato. Did I do something wrong? I'm so confused...

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT SARAH!" Stella yells as she slams her hand on the counter.

"Oh really now? Alright I guess I'll believe you." Sarah says in a sarcastic tone with a shrug.

"IT'S TRUE!!!" Stella yells with her face still red as a tomato.

"Alright, so are those the clothes you wanna get?" Sarah says as she points to the clothes I'm holding.

"Yeah we will be purchasing these today." I tell Sarah with a friendly smile. I hand her the clothes and she starts to scan them one by one.

"Alright then that'll be about 650 dollars." Sarah tells Stella after she finishes scanning the clothes. 650!?!? THAT'S SO MUCH FOR A FEW OUTFITS!!!

"Okay here you go." Stella says as she hands her a black credit card. That looks a lot like an American express, and if it is that means she is really really wealthy.

After Stella paid for the clothes we left the store and we decided to go buy some hockey gear like we discussed earlier. While Stella is driving us to the ice rink I realize something interesting about her car. It has the Lamborghini logo on the steering wheel and seats.

As we arrive at the ice rink memories flood in. This looks like San Jose ice center, but with a sign that says "Eden Ice Center". Stella and I head inside of the rink and as soon as we enter almost immediately to the left there is the pro shop. This layout is just like San Jose so far. Stella without a second thought drags me into the pro shop.

"Excuse me sir can we get some gear?" Stella asks the guy behind the counter who is about to sharpen some skates.

"Yeah look around! If you have any questions just ask." The worker tells me and Stella.

"Thanks beauty." I say as I head to the skates section. Alright my skate size is a 10 so that's the most important thing at the moment.

I pick up some top of the line Vapor skates, and ended up getting myself the rest of my gear all the same Vapor line. For the helmet I got the newest Re-Akt helmet. For my stick I chose two top of the line Nexus sticks. After picking all my gear I go back to Stella who has finished picking her stuff too. While she pays I really wanna take a quick look around the rink.

"Hey Stella, while you pay can I go look around the rink really quick?" I ask Stella.

"Of course Kenzo, but before you go, what sharpen do you want?" Stella asks me. I normally get 7/16ths, so I will just go with that.

"Just 7/16ths. Alright I'll be back Quick I promise." I inform Stella as I leave the shop.

After walking around the rink it is very clear to me that it is almost the exact layout of Sharks ice, but just with a couple extra sheets of ice. They must've used the same exact blueprints that Sharks ice used.

Once I finished checking out the rink I decided to head back to where Stella is. She was just waiting for me with two hockey bags full of gear 4 hockey sticks.

"Oh Stella let me help you with that!" I exclaim as I head over and take both the hockey bags. One of them on each shoulder.

"Thanks Kenzo! The cashier told me there was a Christmas themed pick up game going on right now. We should go." Stella informs me. Pick up? Huh that does seem like a really cool idea.

"Yeah I'm so down for some shinny!" I exclaim in excitement. I wonder how hockey will be nowadays.

Stella and I head to the grey rinks locker rooms, and she goes into the women's locker room and I go into locker room 3. As soon as I enter the locker I see about 15 or so guys putting their gear on.

"What's up boys?" I say with a wave as I head to one of the open stalls and set my gear down. I'm sitting next to this guy who looks to be in his late 20s, maybe early 30s. He kinda reminds me of some of the pros I used to play with in summer league.

"What's up bro! You're a new face here. What's your name bud?" The guy next to me asks.

"My name is Kenzo Higgins." I say as I shake the man's hand.

"Higgins huh? Well with that last name you got big shoes to fill." One of the guys across from me jokes. Big shoes to fill? Are they referencing my father? If so then they'd be correct if it was anyone else. I am the best hockey player of all time, so I don't need to fill anyone's shoes. I own the shoes.

"Trust me I'll have no problem filling those shoes." I claim as confidently as I can seem. I can't let them think I'll just let them underestimate me.

"Oh we got a bit of a hotshot huh? Well we will see! This skate is gonna be all over the place. We have some current NHL players, an AHL player, 2 ECHL players, some ex juniors guys, and then some people who played youth or started in beer league." The man next to me explains. Seems like a very wide variety of skaters.

"Well I like to think of myself as one of the top players in the world." I tell everyone.

"Unless I am living under a rock I don't think anyone's ever heard of you bud, so I would say slow your roll." One of the older guys tells me with a laugh. Is he mocking me? Does he think I am going to suck? Well I will show him.

After that I started to get dressed. As I was getting dressed I learned that the guy next to me is a NHL player. He has been in the league since he was 18 years old. And I was actually wrong about my assumption of his age. He is actually only 21 years old. I learned his name is Al Martin. Something really sticks out to me about his name. It is the exact same name as someone who got drafted into the show a few years before me. Maybe he is a descendant of him or something.

Once I finished getting dressed I left the locker room to get on the ice. Right outside the locker room waiting for me was Stella. She was holding what looked to be a jersey, but ugly sweater themed.

"Here ya go Kenzo I forgot to give you the jersey. Today is a themed skate so I thought we could have some fun with our jerseys." Stella says with a grin. That is actually really cool of her. I take the jersey and throw it on.

"What a tarp!" I exclaim as I burst out laughing.

"It looks good on you Kenzo." Stella compliments me. It does? She has no reason to lie to me.

"Thank you Stella!" I thank Stella with a goofy grin.

"No problem." Stella says.

We hop on the ice and start to warm up. We are on the colors teams. Al happens to be on the other team, so I will be able to see how good he really is. From the feel of it hockey gear hasn't changed all too much except for getting lighter and more comfortable. From the looks of it we have a ref today. A ref for pickup? I guess it is a pretty high level of shinny. As for Stella she seems to be getting her bearings again. She looks to be a very good skater, just rusty with all the hockey aspects.

I skate up to Stella and tap her on the shins with my stick and ask "Did you continue to skate even after quitting hockey?"

"Yeah I continued to skate a lot because it's a good skill for combat since some planets are almost pure ice and tundra." Stella explains. A good combat skill? Well I guess I'm in luck then since I was regarded as one of the best skaters in the NHL.

"Oh I guess that makes sense. Wait a minute, did you say other planets?!?!" I ask in confusion as what Stella said hits me. Different planets? I guess this is the future so it shouldn't really surprise me, but still. Wait a minute that was mentioned when they explained AE, but I didn't know to what depths that went.

"Yeah dummy we have colonies all over space and there is a lot fighting some of those colonies. I have friends who have moved to different planets to live, but a lot stay here since it's the most established planet since it has a massive head start." Stella enlightens me with information. Wow I guess that does make sense, but it is still so shocking. "But enough of that lets get to playing some hockey. I can't wait to see how good you are. I heard you said you were 'one of the top players in the world', so can't wait to see hotshot." Stella teases. Is she making fun of me? No I doubt she is, but still it seemed like that. But Stella is the one person who wouldn't do that so I trust she didn't mean it that way.

"You're right Stella, and I'll show you how good I am." I tell her with a wink.

I skate over to center ice after we finish our warm ups. Waiting for me at center ice is Al. I'm guessing he's also a center, so I will be taking the face off against him.

"Hey Kenzo you ready?" Al asks me. Am I ready? Hell yeah I am ready!

"Yes I sure am." I tell Al confidently. All of a sudden the ref blows the whistle to mark the start of the game.

Everyone lines up for the face-off. The ref checks that both goalies are ready, and after the goalies confirm they're ready he starts to get ready to drop the puck. I'm looking at the puck in the ref's hand. He lowers his hand which means he's going to drop it. He throws it down towards the ice. I track the puck down and when it's a couple of inches off the ice I bat it out of the air to the defense. It goes to the right-side defender named Kyler. Kyler skates the puck down the right side of neutral ice. Kyler enters the offensive zone. After getting about half way into the zone he realizes he doesn't have a play so he curls towards the boards to give us time to get into position. I skate into the zone and after his curl I'm open for the pass near the slot, so I yell for the pass. Naturally Kyler sends the pass, but he accidentally passes it over my stick. Because of this the puck is in the left corner, so I go to retrieve it. While I do this a defense man on the other team pressures me which cuts off my direct lane to the net, so I decide to go behind the net. As I am going behind the net the idea to do a Michigan comes to mind.

"Here goes nothing." I say to myself as I get the puck on my stick and score lacrosse style. I did it I hit a Michigan!!! I immediately celly by skating to my teammates celebrating. As I am celebrating I see Al pass by us and I yell out in excitement "How bout that Al?"

"It was pretty nasty dude!" Al compliments. Looks like people are realizing I'm the best, and that's a good thing!

"So do you believe me now?" I ask Al.

"Mmmh I'm gonna have to see a little more." Al explains. A little more? I can do that no problem!

The rest of the first period passed and I finished with 3 goals total, and the goals were the Michigan I scored and the other two were dangles then snipes. Al finished the period with 2 goals and they were pretty impressive, but don't compare to me at all if I'm being honest. In the few mins we get during periods Stella waves me over to talk to her, so naturally I skate over to her.

"Hey Stella." I say in a happy voice.

"You're doing so good!" Stella compliments me.

"Oh thank y–" I try to thank Stella before being cut off by her.

"But you're being an asshole..." Stella says to me seriously. Me being an asshole? I'm not an asshole at all, she is wrong.

"I'm not an asshole at all Stella what do you mean?" I question Stella.

"Kenzo for the short amount of time I've been your friend you haven't been close to being an asshole. So what's going on?" Stella asks me with a tone of concern. What's going on? Nothing is going on, I just know my worth!

"Nothing." I tell her bluntly.

"Okay well I'll force it out of you after this game." Stella says annoyed. Get it out of me? There isn't anything wrong I already told her.

After the conversation with Stella the game started up again. I finished the game with a total of 7 goals. I absolutely showed everyone on that ice that I am the best! After the game in the locker room right before hopping in the shower Al talked to me and told me "You did good out there dude. I guess you weren't lying!". After my shower I head out of the locker room and Stella and I walk to the car. It was an awkward walk, nothing was said at all. After I put our stuff in the car I go to sit in the car, but it's locked. Stella tells me "Before I let you in you have to agree to talk with me dummy." with a pouty face.

"Okay Stella I promise to talk with you about whatever just please let me in." I agree to Stella's conditions. She unlocks the door as soon as I agree, and I sit down.

"So what's wrong Kenzo?" Stella asks me. Nothing is wrong I don't know why she keeps asking...

"Nothing is wrong Stella..." I state.

"Don't give me that Kenzo, I know something is wrong. You're not like that as a person I can tell something is off. I don't know if it was hockey or if I did something, but please tell me." Stella begs for an answer.

"I only showed that I'm the best. What's wrong with that? Do you not believe me?" I question Stella.

"I understand wanting to prove to people that you are skilled, but you don't have to be arrogant about it!" Stella tells me as she raises her voice. Arrogant? I'm not arrogant at all!

"I'm the best, so I just act like I'm the best!" I respond to Stella.

"Why do you insist on people knowing you're the best at hockey? It's just a sport..." Stella asks in confusion. Just a sport? Not at all hockey is what makes me who I am. It's the most important part of me! I would be nothing without it, so her saying it's just a sport pisses me off!

"It's not just a sport Stella! It's who makes me who I am! It's the most important part of me! I would be nothing without it!" I exclaim.

"What do you mean you'd be nothing without it?" Stella asks me.

"Back in the time period I am from I was the 1st overall draft pick for the NHL. My dad was a hockey legend." I explain. "My whole teenage life, I was never a social person. I'd have one or two friend's that would leave me in a couple of months. As a kid, I was only seen as the son of the hall of fame NHL player Cole Higgins. In elementary school, I was always the fastest and the smartest I had what felt like to be a million friends. It was like I was in first place in the race of life, but as the years went on, people became smarter, got more friends, and people started to hate me for no reason. Eventually, I folded under the pressure, I faded into the middle of the crowd, and I just gave up on everything. I would show up to school less and less in 7th grade, and this continued into high school until I eventually graduated. For the past 6 years, all I've done is just put my whole life into working out, online school, and playing hockey. So that is why hockey is so important to me!" I elaborate further. I've never told anyone this, so why am I telling her? I am so confused.

"Oh Kenzo, I am so sorry... I didn't know you went through that. But the thing is the way you explain it makes it seem like it's you're only redeeming feature." Stella says.

"Yeah because it is my only redeeming quality. Without it I would be all alone..." I explain in a defeated tone.

"Kenzo, that is just wrong! I really liked you even before I knew your hockey skills! You're kind, funny, and caring. You took me home when I was drunk off my ass and made a deep connection with me without the hockey stuff!" Stella tells me.

"You're wrong because if you were right then I wouldn't have lost all my friends and life would've been good!" I fire back.

"Did you ever think that you were pushing people away because of the preconceived notions you had?" Stella asks me. Preconceived notions? It was just the truth... right?

"They aren't preconceived notions Stella! People just had it out for me." I explain to Stella.

"Kenzo you need to stop thinking people only see you as your fathers son! That's causing you to over compensate isn't it? That is what I mean by preconceived notions... you think people only see you as your father's son so you try to prove you should be seen as your own person. But this only makes things worse since people already see you as your own person!" Stella tells me.

"You're wro-" I try to tell Stella before she cuts me off.

"Kenzo it's been rough hasn't it. It's okay I understand what you're going through, trust me Kenzo... and I want you to know you're doing great." Stella says to me. As soon as she said I'm doing great I busted out into tears.

"It's been so rough! I just wanted to be seen as my own person. I wanted my parents to be proud of me and I wanted my friends to like me, so I put my all into hockey. I eventually got lost in it all..." I exclaim while balling my eyes out.

"It's okay Kenzo everything will be alright." Stella affirms me as she embraces me.

'I just don't feel enough..." I tell Stella in between sniffles.

"You are enough even without hockey Kennedy." Stella affirms me once again. Kennedy? She called me Kennedy for the first time since we first met. I can feel even more tears welling up.

"You called me Kennedy..." I state in awe.

"Yup I sure did, but this is only a once in a while thing so enjoy it dummy." Stella teases me. She hugs me tighter and starts to stroke my hair. I feel so comforted right now... the most I have in years. Almost like it was second nature I start bawling my eyes out even more.

"Stella I'm so sorry." I apologize.

"It's okay Kenzo I understand. All I ask is you talk to me when these feelings arise again because I want to help you through them." Stella expresses. Talk to her about it? I mean I guess I do feel better after talking things out.

"Okay I promise Stella." I promise Stella.

"Okay well I'll drive us home, but I need to get groceries so just get comfy." Stella tells me as she starts to back the car out of the parking spot.

"YETH MA'AM." I joke with a funny salute.

About 5 minutes into the drive while listening to Stella's music I fall asleep. The next thing I know is Stella wakes me up.

"Wake up sleepy head." Stella states as she shakes me awake.

"I'm awake..." I reply half asleep.

"Uh huh suuure. Just go inside and go to sleep in my bed. It is pretty late already so just call it a night." Stella suggests with a smile.

"Good idea Stella." I say with a dumb smile. I walk into the house and go to Stella's room. I immediately get under the sheets and drift away to sleep.

After sleeping for a bit I get awoken by Stella coming into the room.

"Oh hi Stella." I greet her half asleep.

"Hey Kenzo, do you mind if I sleep in the same bed as you tonight? We don't have any other rooms ready for you right now." Stella asks me. IN THE SAME BED AS ME?!?! Suddenly I'm wide awake.

"ARE YOU OKAY WITH THAT?!?!" I question Stella. My face is so red I can feel it's really warm.

"Yeah, have you never shared a bed with a girl? And don't worry we won't do anything risky unless you want... NO IM JUST JOKING HAHA." Stella teases me. Oh she is trying to embarrass me!!! Time to act cool

"I'm okay with it." I say with a smile as confident as I can.

"Okay then." Stella says with a smirk as she gets into bed. I am in bed with a really pretty girl right now. I am losing my mind!!!

All of a sudden Stella hugs me and tells me "I know it's been rough for you so let me comfort you a little.". Her embrace makes me so comfortable, so I don't protest it. I feel like all my worries are gone. I fall back asleep within minutes.