"I need to use the restroom," Ash said right before their meal came. She ducked for the ladies' restroom, and Jade was very surprised to hear a voice beside him.
"Hey baby. What are you doing alone in a place like this?" a girl asked, approaching Jade and placing a hand on the back of Jade's chair. Jade turned around to face the girl and gasped. She was so hot, with her short black hair slicked back and wearing a letterman jacket. Jade fell to mush at the mere sight of her.
He just couldn't help it when it came to hot girls, even though he knew that he was on a date. Plus, Jade knew he couldn't cross a girl or something bad could happen.
"Hi!" Jade said, failing to stifle a giggle.
"What does a girl think she's doing leaving someone as beautiful as you all alone here?" This girl was imposing. She had to play some sport. She looked back for a moment. Perhaps she's trying to impress her friends, Jade thought.
"Well, you are kind of...cute, I guess? But come on...this isn't the time." Just as Jade was pleading with this other girl to go away, Ash returned from the restroom. She saw Jade and another girl. And she was steaming.
"How dare you!" she growled. "I take a nice boy on a date and some opportunist girl decides to steal him?"
The other girl turned around. "Well, you can't just leave someone this gorgeous sitting there all alone! That's not ladylike!"
"Well I'll show you what's not ladylike!" Ash barked, and being the hothead that she was, she charged headlong at the other girl. Suddenly, in the midst of a nice Mexican restaurant, a full-on brawl worthy of a lucha libre competition erupted. Diners and waiters backed off as the two angry girls went at it. Unfortunately for Ash, it did not go well; the other girl was simply stronger than she was, and she found herself at the bottom.
"Cut that out right now or I'll call the cops!" bellowed a woman in a suit and tie, who had to be the general manager. Ash and her combatant, not wanting to spend the night in the county jail, split off. A humiliated Ash left the restaurant in a huff and drove away, leaving Jade without a ride and in an awkward situation. As if nothing happened, the other girl took Ash's seat and decided to make this date her own.
"Well well... you deserve better than that angry daughter of a bitch, anyway," she smiled as she began to dig in to the chicken enchilada that Ash had ordered for herself. "I'm Cait."
"I'm..." Jade giggled again. He was pretty impressed with this girl. "I'm Jade," he replied very shyly.
"And since your date bailed on you, I'd be happy to take her place," Cait smirked. "How about you come with us after dinner?"
"Us?"
"Yeah, a couple of my friends are here. They're sitting a couple of tables over." Jade looked over to see two other girls walking toward their table, dressed in flannel tees and with neat, short cropped hair. "Jade, I'd like you to meet Mallow and Hale." They had bottles of beer in their hands and were smiling. He realized that he might not have a choice but to accept their offer.
"Oh...uh, alright," Jade hesitantly accepted.
"Nice, Cait!" Mallow grinned, giving her a high five. "I knew you could do it." She leaned in and whispered something to Cait, which was met with a nod of agreement and a bigger smile on Cait's face. Jade nervously ate his salad, wondering what in the world Ash's abrupt departure had gotten him into. Now he was stuck with three girls he didn't know and was going to have to spend time with them. Are girls this...territorial?
Every fan in the arena knew that a two-goal lead is the most dangerous advantage in hockey. Yet again, that proved true in Seattle.
Even without Kath Tremblay and Nat Ogilvy, the Avalanche had scored two goals in the final five minutes to tie the game, deflating the Kraken crowd that, up until now, had been raucous all night. After three periods of regulation, the Kraken and Avs would need overtime to settle the score.
In the five-minute extra period, Scowcroft and her counterpart, Jorr Buckingham of Colorado, rose to the challenge and stopped every shot that came their way. Halfway through the period, a hard Colorado shot ricocheted off the pad and over the glass, where Sam Gomez eagerly caught the puck. Five minutes were not enough, and the game went to a shootout in front of a sold-out crowd and hundreds of thousands watching on TV.
In the shootout, it was Buckingham who cracked, allowing in three shots compared to Scowcroft's one. The Kraken had eked out a thrilling win at home over their division rivals!
On the drive back to Shan's place, Nicole and Sam chatted. "So I heard you went on a date last night?" Sam asked.
"Yeah! It was so nice. Jonatha is so cute, and I can't believe how lucky I got."
