The Hockey Life
Drama
PART TWENTY-ONE: DRAMA
In Dylan’s P.O.V.
Hockey is my therapy. It always has been and always will be. Today, I would have to depend on it to keep my head up, because what happened at the United Center earlier felt like a punch in the face. However, as I walked into the locker room, my teammates filled the room with their antics and I was already in a better mood.
“Hey, how was practice today, Zuniga?” my teammate Jason asked, already halfway into his practice jersey.
“Yeah, what went down with you and Lena?” asked another teammate.
“Nothing but the usual. That and I found out that she has a boyfriend,” I answered. My slightly heightened mood went back down again. I would need to start practicing to feel better.
“She’s had a boyfriend the whole time?” Jason guessed, appalled at the news.
“No, it just became official today. They’ve been flirting though. I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t expect it to actually happen,” I explained.
“Do you know the guy, then?” he asked, prying further into my personal life. I was used to it though. Anyone who’s ever been on a team before knows that they become your family. After a while, you don’t even care what they know anymore, because they’re bound to find out sometime.
“Yeah, it’s Patrick Kane.” Everyone started talking all at once when I said it, but I didn’t want to talk about it. Chris, the captain of the team, was understanding, luckily.
“I’m here for you if you need me, man,” he said. I nodded and got dressed. A few minutes later we were out on the ice and our coach had us doing drills. I focused on nothing but practice and I put my heart and soul into every save I made and every drill I participated in. Being in goal took a lot of focus, and that focus couldn’t be broken, but eventually it was. About halfway through practice, Jason pointed her out to me. There was a girl sitting at the top of the lowest level of seating. I recognized her as once. Long, wavy, dark brown hair, startling blue eyes, and the same outfit as earlier. It was Lena, and she was looking directly at me. I had to look away. I needed to finish practice. I had to zone back out.
I tried to focus again, but the remainder of practice didn’t heal me the way the first half did. When I got off the ice and began to make my way to the locker room, I tried to avoid Lena, but I couldn’t. She was yelling my name to grab my attention. My teammates gave me cautious looks as they continued on towards the locker room and I stayed where I was, letting Lena catch up to me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to play it cool like nothing was wrong.
“I came to see you practice,” she said with a small smile. It quickly faded as she added, “But I mostly wanted to see what was wrong and make sure you were okay.”
“What makes you think there’s something wrong?” I asked, but I knew that pretending wasn’t an option anymore.
“Come on, Dylan. I haven’t known you for very long, but I know you well enough to figure out that you’re not acting normal,” she said.
“Fine. I was just a little surprised at you and Patrick, I guess,” I sighed.
“Well, I don’t really see how it’s that surprising, after New Years,” she commented. New Years? What was she talking about? Jonathan invited all the interns to his party, including me. I was there, so why didn’t I know what she was referencing?
“What do you mean? What about New Years?” I wondered.
“He was my New Years kiss. He asked me out on a date before I left too. I thought you knew about that,” Lena told me.
“Well, I didn’t. And that really sucks,” I said. I was mad, and I didn’t care if she knew it. I wanted her to know. The truth had to come out sometime.
“Why does that suck?”
“Because I wanted to be your New Years kiss.” I blurted it out, and it couldn’t be taken back, not even after I saw the completely surprised look on Lena’s face.
“You mean…you…like me?” she questioned me, in the softest, most innocent voice.
“Of course I like you! I have liked you, for a while now! Why do you think I flirted with you and wanted your number and talked to you so much throughout the whole internship?!”
“I don’t know…I thought guys did stuff like that with all girls. I mean, some people are just like that with everyone. I’m not good at reading things like that,” she answered.
“Well I’m not like that with all girls. I tried to make it clear, but I guess it didn’t work. I tried to hang around you at the party to guarantee that I’d be next to you at the countdown, but apparently someone beat me to it.”
“Wait. I saw you with another girl. She hung around you a lot. Wasn’t she your kiss?” Lena asked.
“Yeah, she was actually, but it wasn’t my choice. I think she was one of Jonathan’s friends. She kept flirting with me and then she kissed me. She was probably the biggest reason why I couldn’t show you how I’ve felt about you,” I explained, annoyed at the memory. She was nice, but I was about as attracted to her as I was to Puck Bunny, which was not at all.
“Oh. I guess I just assumed she was with you,” Lena admitted.
“Yeah, well I didn’t assume that you were with Patrick. I guess I should have.”
“Well, you did know from the start that I had a crush on him,” Lena reminded me.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know he was into you! And I didn’t know you guys would actually date! How often do you see an average student date a professional athlete?” I was yelling, even though I didn’t mean to.
“Not very often, I guess. Look, I’m sorry Dylan. I’ve never had many guy friends. I’m honestly usually really awkward around them. It’s a rare occasion that someone actually likes me, so I just figured you only saw me as a friend. I’ve never expected any of my past relationships to happen, and I didn’t really expect my current one to happen either. I didn’t know any of this was coming, and I didn’t ask for any of this. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I swear. If I would have known how you felt, things might be different,” Lena apologized. She was sincere; I could see it in her eyes. But I didn’t know how to react. I had never been so pissed, sad, and conflicted simultaneously in my life. I wasn’t sure what to say or do, so I just avoided everything.
“Well, things aren’t different,” was all I said before I turned and walked into the locker room. I wanted to sound strong when I said it, but my voice cracked somewhere in the middle of the phrase, and I let her know how weak I was. I let her know that I wasn’t some badass that didn’t care and that would just find another girl at some bar and settle for her. Instead I was like a little boy, heartbroken and hopelessly falling for her more everyday, even though she wasn’t falling for me.
In Lena’s P.O.V.
So my suspicions had been confirmed. Dylan had been jealous of Patrick. He actually liked me. I should have known he was into me just as much as he should have known that there was something between Patrick and I all along. I had come to Dylan’s practice to set things right, but he left me hanging on a note that was worse than when I first walked in. I knew it was good that things were cleared up, but at the same time, I liked it better when he was just upset and there wasn’t real proof that it was because of me. Once again, I had to leave even though I wanted to keep talking and make things right. He would cool down and maybe want to have another conversation another day. Hopefully we could return to a good friendship and he could accept my new relationship. Hopefully.
When I got back to my apartment, I felt drained. Tess, as usual, wanted details, though. I wasn’t in the best mood anymore, so I almost forgot that I actually had good news to tell her.
“So, how did everything go? Did you and Kaner run towards each other in slow motion and did he catch you as you jumped into his arms, reunited once again?” she wondered.
“Not exactly, it was a lot less dramatic and completely in normal motion. But he did call me his girlfriend,” I said.
“Well hello there Mrs. Kane!” Tess said loudly, smiling.
“You do know that there’s a difference between a wife and a girlfriend, right?” I asked, being crushed by the bear hug Tess had forced me into.
“So you guys are really together now! You’re his girlfriend, he’s your boyfriend, I should expect articles about it online tomorrow?”
“I wouldn’t be expecting articles, but yes, we’re officially a thing.”
“Well, why aren’t you more enthusiastic, then?”
“Because I found out today that Dylan likes me. He has. He got upset when Patrick called me his girlfriend and left, so I had to track him down at his practice to talk to him. Apparently he didn’t see us kissing at New Years or anything. He didn’t know there was anything between us. We talked about it, but it didn’t exactly end on a good note,” I explained.
“’Lean’ Lena Stratton is in the middle of a love triangle? Damn, this is a big day for you!” Tess commented.
“It’s not a love triangle! It’s one-sided!” I clarified.
“Well, either way, you have two guys into you at the same time. It’s kinda like a love triangle. I know it’s not necessarily good for you right now, but I’m sure you’ll work it out. Just look on the bright side,” Tess said.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Dylan needs time.”
“Exactly. He’ll get over it. But I refuse to get over the fact that you’re in a relationship with Patrick Kane. How did your date go?”
“It was perfect. We had lunch at his place like I said and we just talked and hung out.”
“Oh, so you ‘hung out’. Did you guys ‘hang out’ in his bedroom? Wink wink,” Tess asked, using obvious air quotes.
“No! Will you stop insinuating that I’m a whore?” I asked, slapping her arm.
“I was just kidding! I know you’re not like that, I’ve only known you forever. But seriously though, did it seem like a nice place to spend the night at?”
“TESS!” As entertaining as her sex jokes were, I didn’t even want to think about them. Not to say that I had never ever considered what something like that with Patrick would be like, but I wasn’t at all concerned about it. I still had the rest of day one of our relationship to get through.
In Dylan’s P.O.V.
Hockey is my therapy. It always has been and always will be. Today, I would have to depend on it to keep my head up, because what happened at the United Center earlier felt like a punch in the face. However, as I walked into the locker room, my teammates filled the room with their antics and I was already in a better mood.
“Hey, how was practice today, Zuniga?” my teammate Jason asked, already halfway into his practice jersey.
“Yeah, what went down with you and Lena?” asked another teammate.
“Nothing but the usual. That and I found out that she has a boyfriend,” I answered. My slightly heightened mood went back down again. I would need to start practicing to feel better.
“She’s had a boyfriend the whole time?” Jason guessed, appalled at the news.
“No, it just became official today. They’ve been flirting though. I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t expect it to actually happen,” I explained.
“Do you know the guy, then?” he asked, prying further into my personal life. I was used to it though. Anyone who’s ever been on a team before knows that they become your family. After a while, you don’t even care what they know anymore, because they’re bound to find out sometime.
“Yeah, it’s Patrick Kane.” Everyone started talking all at once when I said it, but I didn’t want to talk about it. Chris, the captain of the team, was understanding, luckily.
“I’m here for you if you need me, man,” he said. I nodded and got dressed. A few minutes later we were out on the ice and our coach had us doing drills. I focused on nothing but practice and I put my heart and soul into every save I made and every drill I participated in. Being in goal took a lot of focus, and that focus couldn’t be broken, but eventually it was. About halfway through practice, Jason pointed her out to me. There was a girl sitting at the top of the lowest level of seating. I recognized her as once. Long, wavy, dark brown hair, startling blue eyes, and the same outfit as earlier. It was Lena, and she was looking directly at me. I had to look away. I needed to finish practice. I had to zone back out.
I tried to focus again, but the remainder of practice didn’t heal me the way the first half did. When I got off the ice and began to make my way to the locker room, I tried to avoid Lena, but I couldn’t. She was yelling my name to grab my attention. My teammates gave me cautious looks as they continued on towards the locker room and I stayed where I was, letting Lena catch up to me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to play it cool like nothing was wrong.
“I came to see you practice,” she said with a small smile. It quickly faded as she added, “But I mostly wanted to see what was wrong and make sure you were okay.”
“What makes you think there’s something wrong?” I asked, but I knew that pretending wasn’t an option anymore.
“Come on, Dylan. I haven’t known you for very long, but I know you well enough to figure out that you’re not acting normal,” she said.
“Fine. I was just a little surprised at you and Patrick, I guess,” I sighed.
“Well, I don’t really see how it’s that surprising, after New Years,” she commented. New Years? What was she talking about? Jonathan invited all the interns to his party, including me. I was there, so why didn’t I know what she was referencing?
“What do you mean? What about New Years?” I wondered.
“He was my New Years kiss. He asked me out on a date before I left too. I thought you knew about that,” Lena told me.
“Well, I didn’t. And that really sucks,” I said. I was mad, and I didn’t care if she knew it. I wanted her to know. The truth had to come out sometime.
“Why does that suck?”
“Because I wanted to be your New Years kiss.” I blurted it out, and it couldn’t be taken back, not even after I saw the completely surprised look on Lena’s face.
“You mean…you…like me?” she questioned me, in the softest, most innocent voice.
“Of course I like you! I have liked you, for a while now! Why do you think I flirted with you and wanted your number and talked to you so much throughout the whole internship?!”
“I don’t know…I thought guys did stuff like that with all girls. I mean, some people are just like that with everyone. I’m not good at reading things like that,” she answered.
“Well I’m not like that with all girls. I tried to make it clear, but I guess it didn’t work. I tried to hang around you at the party to guarantee that I’d be next to you at the countdown, but apparently someone beat me to it.”
“Wait. I saw you with another girl. She hung around you a lot. Wasn’t she your kiss?” Lena asked.
“Yeah, she was actually, but it wasn’t my choice. I think she was one of Jonathan’s friends. She kept flirting with me and then she kissed me. She was probably the biggest reason why I couldn’t show you how I’ve felt about you,” I explained, annoyed at the memory. She was nice, but I was about as attracted to her as I was to Puck Bunny, which was not at all.
“Oh. I guess I just assumed she was with you,” Lena admitted.
“Yeah, well I didn’t assume that you were with Patrick. I guess I should have.”
“Well, you did know from the start that I had a crush on him,” Lena reminded me.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know he was into you! And I didn’t know you guys would actually date! How often do you see an average student date a professional athlete?” I was yelling, even though I didn’t mean to.
“Not very often, I guess. Look, I’m sorry Dylan. I’ve never had many guy friends. I’m honestly usually really awkward around them. It’s a rare occasion that someone actually likes me, so I just figured you only saw me as a friend. I’ve never expected any of my past relationships to happen, and I didn’t really expect my current one to happen either. I didn’t know any of this was coming, and I didn’t ask for any of this. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I swear. If I would have known how you felt, things might be different,” Lena apologized. She was sincere; I could see it in her eyes. But I didn’t know how to react. I had never been so pissed, sad, and conflicted simultaneously in my life. I wasn’t sure what to say or do, so I just avoided everything.
“Well, things aren’t different,” was all I said before I turned and walked into the locker room. I wanted to sound strong when I said it, but my voice cracked somewhere in the middle of the phrase, and I let her know how weak I was. I let her know that I wasn’t some badass that didn’t care and that would just find another girl at some bar and settle for her. Instead I was like a little boy, heartbroken and hopelessly falling for her more everyday, even though she wasn’t falling for me.
In Lena’s P.O.V.
So my suspicions had been confirmed. Dylan had been jealous of Patrick. He actually liked me. I should have known he was into me just as much as he should have known that there was something between Patrick and I all along. I had come to Dylan’s practice to set things right, but he left me hanging on a note that was worse than when I first walked in. I knew it was good that things were cleared up, but at the same time, I liked it better when he was just upset and there wasn’t real proof that it was because of me. Once again, I had to leave even though I wanted to keep talking and make things right. He would cool down and maybe want to have another conversation another day. Hopefully we could return to a good friendship and he could accept my new relationship. Hopefully.
When I got back to my apartment, I felt drained. Tess, as usual, wanted details, though. I wasn’t in the best mood anymore, so I almost forgot that I actually had good news to tell her.
“So, how did everything go? Did you and Kaner run towards each other in slow motion and did he catch you as you jumped into his arms, reunited once again?” she wondered.
“Not exactly, it was a lot less dramatic and completely in normal motion. But he did call me his girlfriend,” I said.
“Well hello there Mrs. Kane!” Tess said loudly, smiling.
“You do know that there’s a difference between a wife and a girlfriend, right?” I asked, being crushed by the bear hug Tess had forced me into.
“So you guys are really together now! You’re his girlfriend, he’s your boyfriend, I should expect articles about it online tomorrow?”
“I wouldn’t be expecting articles, but yes, we’re officially a thing.”
“Well, why aren’t you more enthusiastic, then?”
“Because I found out today that Dylan likes me. He has. He got upset when Patrick called me his girlfriend and left, so I had to track him down at his practice to talk to him. Apparently he didn’t see us kissing at New Years or anything. He didn’t know there was anything between us. We talked about it, but it didn’t exactly end on a good note,” I explained.
“’Lean’ Lena Stratton is in the middle of a love triangle? Damn, this is a big day for you!” Tess commented.
“It’s not a love triangle! It’s one-sided!” I clarified.
“Well, either way, you have two guys into you at the same time. It’s kinda like a love triangle. I know it’s not necessarily good for you right now, but I’m sure you’ll work it out. Just look on the bright side,” Tess said.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Dylan needs time.”
“Exactly. He’ll get over it. But I refuse to get over the fact that you’re in a relationship with Patrick Kane. How did your date go?”
“It was perfect. We had lunch at his place like I said and we just talked and hung out.”
“Oh, so you ‘hung out’. Did you guys ‘hang out’ in his bedroom? Wink wink,” Tess asked, using obvious air quotes.
“No! Will you stop insinuating that I’m a whore?” I asked, slapping her arm.
“I was just kidding! I know you’re not like that, I’ve only known you forever. But seriously though, did it seem like a nice place to spend the night at?”
“TESS!” As entertaining as her sex jokes were, I didn’t even want to think about them. Not to say that I had never ever considered what something like that with Patrick would be like, but I wasn’t at all concerned about it. I still had the rest of day one of our relationship to get through.
@hockeygirl07
Thank you so much! :)
11/1/14