Given Time

?32?

"Go, Golden Bears!" Zara screams while Ben whistles with his fingers.

After the celebrations are over, there's less than a minute on the clock. I grip the edge of my seat with my fingers as I watch the puck pass between the two teams as they fight for control over it.

"I think we're gonna win!" Zara squeals.

When the clock gets down to ten seconds, the spectators in the stands start counting down, and the voices ring out across the arena. "Five... Four... Three... Two... One."

The buzzer rings, signaling the end of the game, and our side erupts. We're all jumping and screaming as I watch our team on the ice skate into a huddle, celebrating as well. I lose Tanner in the crowd, but I know he must be so happy right now.

Zara grabs hold of my arm and embraces me in a hug. I laugh as I hug her back. "We won!"

She laughs back and pulls Ben in so we can create our own little huddle. After a while, we release each other, and I notice that some people are starting to leave. I check the time on my watch and read that it's 7:30 p.m. "Ben, you better leave now if you want to pick up Toby from the airport," I shout over the people that are still celebrating.

"Right." He gives Zara and me a quick hug before working his way across the aisle and disappearing in the throng of people.

Zara and I wait for the arena to become empty before we head out ourselves and head to the back to meet Tanner.

The sun is setting in the sky when we make it outside, and I can see the outline of the moon already high in the sky. There's a slight breeze in the air, and I wrap my cardigan around my body to shield me from it.

We decide to sit on the grass to wait for Tanner to emerge from the back exit, and I watch as the spectators slowly walk away from the arena, heading home to celebrate Halloween. The cars in the parking lot thrum as their engines come to life and drive away.

We only have to wait ten more minutes before the exit door swings open, and the players emerge in their regular clothing. The moment I see Tanner, I lift off the grass and run towards him. He drops his sports bag on the floor as soon as he sees me and catches me as I jump in his arms. He crashes his lips against mine and holds me close to his body.

A few of the guys hoot as they watch our embrace, and I'd normally be embarrassed by this, but I'm so damn proud of him that I don't care.

After another minute, I separate myself from him and gaze into his blue eyes. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks, babe."

His eyes travel past me, and he smiles as he spots Zara sitting on the grass. He picks up his sports bag and swings it over his shoulder before wrapping his arm around my waist and walks with me over to her. Zara rises and punches Tanner in the shoulder. "Congrats, man. That was an epic game!"

He chuckles. "Thanks, Zara. I'm glad you girls liked it."

A tall guy with brown hair suddenly appears in front of us and fist-bumps tanner. "I'll see you at the party later, man. The rest of the guys are planning on getting shitfaced, so be prepared."

"Will do."

I shake my head. I guess I'll be looking after a drunk Tanner tonight. But the thought makes me smile. He deserves to celebrate, and it'll be fun seeing what he's like drunk.

We head over to Tanner's gray Mercedes and get in. As the closest place to play on the ice is at the Oakland arena, Tanner has to drive us fifteen minutes back to my dorm, and during the drive, Tanner repeatedly tries to get out of me what my outfit for tonight is. I huff and turn in my seat to face him. "I told you, it's a surprise."

"That's not fair. I want to know if you're coming as a sexy nurse or something."

I hit him on the leg, and he humphs. "I'm definitely not coming as that. But I'm sure you'll like it."

He quickly squeezes my hand. "Good."

When we make it back to Putnam, Tanner gives me one more final kiss, and leaves us to get ready while he drives back to the fraternity house to get ready himself.

Zara grabs hold of my hand and leads me inside. "Eek! Time to get ready."

As soon as we make it inside and climb the stairs to our floor, we both go for a quick shower and then begin to get ready.

When Zara and I went shopping on Wednesday for our outfits, we ended up in a costume store where I found a silver skeleton bodysuit with a bone necklace that will go perfect for the evening. And after spotting a Snow White outfit on one of the hangers, I recalled how I compared Zara to the Disney character when I first met her and told her this. She found it hilarious and insisted she wears it for tonight.

We hop into our outfits and then spend the next hour styling each other's hair, in front of the floor-length mirror. I've gone for some more defined curls while Zara opts to straighten hers and pin half of it up. When that's done, Zara helps me put in my silver contacts for the night and then she pulls her makeup bags out of her drawers and spills them onto her bed.

After she applies her foundation and turns her eyes smoky black, she hands me the bottle of fake blood we also bought at the store. "Can you spread it along the dress? I want it to look like Snow White fought to the death."

I love her twist on the character. "Sure."

I take hold of the bottle and spread it across her dress and wipe some on her cheeks as well. When I've finished, I pop the bottle on the side and tell her to look in the mirror. She twirls in the mirror and smiles happily. "I love it! Thanks, Leah."

"No problem."

"Do you want me to put some of that silver glitter on the side of your face?" she asks, picking the pot up off her bed.

"Can do."

I stand still as Zara applies the glue and then dabs her finger in the pot before patting it on my face. She applies a bit to the lids of my eyes as well to make them pop, and when I look in the mirror, I'm pleased with the results.

"What time is it?" Zara asks as she puts on her red bow headband.

"Not sure." I pick up my phone off the bed and press the sidebar. "It's nine thirty."

"Already? I'd better text Jake to come and pick us up."

While she's busy doing that, I apply some red lipstick and then sort out my purse before straightening the comforter on my bed. When I turn around, I see Zara pouring some green liquid into some shot glasses on her desktop.

"Here you go," she says, handing me one.

I look down at the glass and sniff it. The scent of apple invades my nose, and it smells delicious. We clink our shot glasses together and then down them. My body shakes as I feel the burning sensation travel down my throat. When I open my eyes again, I notice Zara has already filled her glass out again and is holding the bottle in front of me. I hold my glass out as she pours it to the top.

After two more shots, Zara puts the bottle away in her closet, and we put on our black heels before we head outside to stand on the curb to wait for Jake to arrive in his car.

What do you think of the hockey game? Could you picture it? Are you excited for seeing Toby?

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