I'm currently sitting in a room with all my teammates as Mr. Tibbles pulls red fabric off of a large rectangular shape. "Da-Na!" Mr. Tibbles shouts as he reveals a Wheaties box with Team USA on it. We all "ooh" and "aah" over it when we see ourselves.

Dwayne, who's standing over on the side with his black cowboy hat on his head, smiles and says, "Hey ya'll! That's us!"

"Duh, we know," Fulton responds as I roll my eyes, stuffing my hands into my black jeans, which I had paired with white converse, a dark grey tee, and a red, grey, and black long-sleeved flannel. Dwayne shrugs as everyone laughs at Fulton's comment.

Mr. Tibbles ignores the exchange and continues. "Today, it's a Wheaties box. Tomorrow, it's video games, actions figures, lunchboxes, the sky is the limit," he lists. "Now, just to make sure everyone knows who you are, try on one of these." He holds up a red, white, and blue jersey with stars on it and "USA" printed on.

Everyone once again exclaims how cool and awesome the jerseys are, just like they did with the cereal box. "Brought to you by those wonderful people at Hendrix for all your hockey needs," Mr. Tibbles adds, promoting himself. "Fulton, there you go. Coach. C'mon everybody, take your own. I'm not getting out everybody's." he says as we begin to crowd around the box.

I manage to grab mine, which says "Portman 16", my original number from Chicago. I glance at Charlie, the only one not grabbing his jersey, and he's talking to Coach. He seems upset, but I don't want to eavesdrop, so I walk away with my jersey in hand.

***********************************************************************

"Ancient Greece was the beginning of Western Civilization," Miss McKay walks up the grass as we listen to her lesson, sitting on various blankets and logs in our Team USA track suits. "See in Greece, they didn't have professional sports or Wheaties boxes. So, the athletes competed for another reason. Anybody?"

I'm sitting next to Charlie on a wooden picnic table, along with Fulton and Goldberg. "Falafels?" Goldberg takes a shot at the question, earning laughs from everyone.

"You wish, Goldberg," Connie says, turning, and smiling at Guy, who is obviously next to her on two tree stumps.

Miss McKay shakes her head. "Charlie," she motions to him, as he lowers his hand from the air.

"Pride," he responds.

Miss McKay nods at his statement. "That's right. The various city-states waved their flags and wore their home colors proudly.

"Did America always dominate?" Fulton asks. I roll my eyes. Could he be any dumber?

Everyone groans, while Dean says, "That's a good question." His earrings reflect the light, another thing I wish he hadn't gotten, besides his tattoo.

Miss McKay sits down on a different picnic table. "No, America wasn't around back then. Don't forget that compared to other countries, America is still young. Still forming its own identity. America's a teenager, just like you."

"Like us?" Jesse asks. His voice is saddened, like Miss McKay's words have touched him deeply. That is a great way of explaining America, in my opinion. It makes me happier to represent our country when it's compared to us.

"You bet," Miss McKay responds. "A little awkward at times." You're telling me. "But always right there on the verge of greatness."

***********************************************************************

After our lesson, we're skating down the road, following Coach on a four-wheeler. "I don't know, but I've been told!" He shouts in a bad military accent.

"I don't know, but I've been told!" We repeat.

"Team USA's gonna win the gold!"

"Team USA's gonna win the gold!"

"Listen up, and listen good!"

"Listen up, and listen good!"

"We're all headed for Hollywood!"

"We're all headed for Hollywood!"

"Sound off!"

"One, two!"

"Sound off!"

"Three, four!"

"Bring 'em on down!"

"One, two, three, four!"

*********************************************************************

I bounce in my seat as the plane touches down in California. We're here! We're finally here! I gather my things from under the seat and from the overhead compartment as Julie and does the same. I sat with her since Dean has ignored me since the locker room incident.

We get off the plane, and I'm relieved to be back on the ground. We are plied into vans, and we are driven to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the games are held.

Once everyone arrives, Mr. Tibbles guides us through the entrance, while we gasp at the beauty of it all. I catch Dwayne glancing at me every occasionally, but we haven't spoken since he told me he liked my laugh. I don't know why he'd like my laugh, considering it sounds like a someone's being choked, since it's all breath and no sound.

An announcer is heard over the speakers placed throughout the area, and he mentions us and our arrival. I tune out the talking, since he sounds like every single sports announcer ever on TV. Seriously, these people need some originality.

We enter the building, where we're immediately ushered into a locker room for our game against Trinidad. We're the second-place team at the moment, and Trinidad is tenth, so it shouldn't be a tough game.

We throw all our gear on and head out onto the ice, where Trinidad is practicing in tie-dyed jerseys. The referee blows the whistle, and I'm on the bench at the beginning.

Once we win the faceoff, everything goes uphill for us. We're winning 7 to 0 in the third period, and I'm on defense in the game after scoring a goal.

Connie gets the puck and flies towards Trinidad's goal, shooting and scoring. I see the bench go crazy, especially Guy, who jumps up from his seat immediately. We all skate and hug Connie, everyone getting smashed together in the process.

Jesse comes onto the ice, after getting trash-talked by someone in the stands. Jesse has the puck and is skating down the ice. Right before he reaches the goal, a Trinidad player dives and takes him out, sending him flying into the goalie. Jesse stands up and shoves the player, and the ref pulls him away. He gets sent to the penalty box for two minutes, where the same boy from the stands is bothering him again.

I'm brought off the ice as Dean ties his bandana and Fulton pulls on his skull hat-scarf thing. They bump hands and jump on the ice, not without a roll of my eyes. They run people over, sending them onto the ice, while the fans go crazy. Dean scores, and the two take bows in front of the people watching. Everyone cheers as they get called by their Mr. Tibbles-given nickname, the Bash Brothers.

I'm sitting next to Adam on the bench when Charlie turns to him, "Hey, you've got a girl in the stands?" I wiggle my eyebrows at them, causing Charlie to laugh a little.

"Scouts, man, look at them," Adam responds, making both of us turn to look where he is. It's true, there are scouts in the stands, taking notes in fancy leather playbooks.

"Don't worry about scouts, Adam," I reassure him, as Charlie nods in agreement. "Just play your best." After I say that, I turn back to the game, where Trinidad steals the puck and scores. The Trinidad team goes crazy as drum music plays in the stands.

Connie gets the puck at the end of the game and handles it nicely, dodging Trinidad players left and right. She passes it to Kenny, who skates behind the goal and scores after ducking under someone's legs.

The game ends, the score 9 to 2. We all huddle, Coach in the middle of us all. "Alright! Way to go!" Coach says, as we cheer on our victory. "That wasn't a game, that was a statement!"

***********************************************************************

A few hours later, after we've all showered and changed, we head to some interview for our team and Coach.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Team USA hockey," Mr. Tibbles says into the microphone as we stand on a platform with Coach. Everyone claps as we shift around in our tracksuits, smiling at some of the people with cameras. "And the man chosen to lead them to the gold, Gordon Bombay." Another round of applause sounds as a white polar bear comes up and takes a picture with us.

"Hello everybody! It's great to be here," the Hendrix bear says as cameras snap all around. Mr. Tibbles motions for him to come down, and he obliges, walking away waving. "See ya kids!"

"Team USA, how does it feel competing on an international level here in Los Angeles?" an interviewer with blonde hair asks.

"Love it!" "Feels good!" "Great!" We all voice our own opinions into the microphone, ignoring Coach completely.

"Coach Bombay, the Vikings from Iceland are the heavy favorite. Their coach is already guaranteed victory. How are you going to handle them?" a stern woman with a brown bob asks.

Coach steps up closer to the microphone. "Uh, hard work. I think our team is ready to go up against the best in the world. We're not worried about them. Iceland may be tough, but we're Team USA and we're going all the way." We all cheer in agreement as Mr. Tibbles gives Coach a thumbs-up, and starts pulling Coach off the podium.

A man in a black suit, with slicked-back hair surrounded by tall, burly boys and one blonde woman speaks up from the back. "Team USA's going down! That's where you're going!" We all look at each other as we take in this man's words. "See you on the ice, Bombay!"

Coach glances at Mr. Tibbles, who frowns and says, "That's Stansson. Coach of the Iceland team. He's the well-known type."

"Stansson?!" Coach exclaims quietly. "From the NHL!? Wolf 'The Dentist' Stansson is coaching? You didn't tell me that!"

Coach leaves the podium as some of us step off and some of us stay behind. "That guy's a dentist?" Kenny asks in shock as Stansson is ushered from the interview, saying something about "freedom of speech".

"That was his nickname," Charlie explains to us. "He played one year of pro. He collected more teeth than goals."

I pipe in with a, "He even punched out his own coach!" A fun fact about Mr. Stansson I felt like they should know.

"I heard they ran him out of the league and the country," adds Julie, squinting at the retreating team.

"That's his team!" cries Kenny. "Those guys are huge!" I place a hand on his shoulder and nod as we step down off the podium, away from the Iceland team.

Coach runs off with Mr. Tibbles, leaving us to ourselves. We are brought to our dorms, and told to pick our roommates.

Obviously, Julie, Connie, and I decide to share a room, while Dean and Fulton room together. I'm still mad at my brother, considering he still hasn't apologized. Goldberg, Kenny, Luis, and Dwayne pick a room, a strange match-up in my opinion, while Charlie, Adam, Guy, Jesse, and Averman take the last room.

We haul our luggage to our rooms, and us girls get to unpacking right away. I choose the bed nearest to the door, in case I need to make a break for it for some reason. I take my folded clothes and place them in my dresser, since each one of us gets our own.

I decide to change out of this hideous tracksuit, and into something more my style. No offense, I love this country and all, but this fashion taste is bad. I slip into the bathroom and change into light-wash jeans, a white and grey baseball tee, and my white converse. I pull my hair into a messy bun, and smooth out my clothes.

When I exit the bathroom, I'm greeted with Connie and Julie waiting for me. I raise an eyebrow at their eagerness. "I'm slightly concerned," I say, while Connie grins at me and Julie rolls her eyes.

"We just want to go get some food," Connie, explains, while Julie lets out a laugh.

"Yeah, right," She argues. "You just want to go see your boyfriend." Connie shoves Julie as I shake my head at their behavior.

"Okay, let's go," I respond, making Connie squeal, and run out of the room, us following behind. I glance at Julie, who is rolling her eyes once again. I point to Connie who is skipping down the hallway towards the staircase. "If I ever get that way over a boy, please slap me."

"Will do," Julie replies.