Blades of Love
Chapter Five.
Stacey was awoken by her father when the reached her old house. “Why aren't we at the hospital?”
“Visiting hours are over. We can go and see him in the morning.” her father explained “Your old room is still set up for you.” her father said with a smile, carrying her bag in the house.
Stacey smiled back and breathed in the familiar scent of her home. She smiled and carried the bag up to the room she had grown up in. The room she had gotten her first kiss in. The room she was in when she found out she’d be going to Boston U. The room that her ex Matthew had proposed to her in, but she had told him ‘no’ and then he dumped her. A lot of memories surrounded this room. Most good, but a few bad. She sat her bag on the floor and plopped down on the bed.
This was home. Boston was just her boarding place. She had adjusted to Boston life, but never really felt like she was “home”. Stacey grabbed her phone and saw Tyler’s message from earlier. She took a breath as she dialed his number. It rang twice before he answered.
“Hey, how is your brother?” he asked
“My dad says he is OK, but I haven’t seen him yet. Visiting hours are over…can we talk about something else, though?” Stacey asked, laying down on the bed.
“Okay, sure. What’s your favorite color?” he asked with a small laugh
Stacey smiled to herself “Purple. You?”
“Blue. Other than Chinese what do you like to eat?”
“I like lots of foods, but my favorites are Chinese, salads, seafood, tacos, pizza, strawberries and ice cream.” Stacey laughed
“I love seafood too! Have you been to the seafood place by the arena?” Tyler asked
“Yes! Oh my god…they have the best grilled tilapia.” Stacey swooned
She could almost feel his smile as he replied, “I love the crab cakes.”
“Me too! What kind of movies do you watch?” Stacey asked, twirling her hair.
“Comedies. I like the Scary Movies and anything with Will Smith. For TV shows I like Family Guy and American Dad. You?” Tyler asked
“I like all kinds of movies. My favorite movie is Slap Shot, though.” Stacey told him with a smile.
“You like Slap Shot?! That’s so cool! Well I guess you do play hockey.” he said
“Of course. It’s a requirement.” Stacey laughed
“Oh yeah.” Tyler laughed before continuing “So did you have a good trip?”
“Yeah. The flight here isn’t bad…it’s the flight back that is.” Stacey confessed “I haven’t been home in a while and I feel awful about it. I just got so busy with my life in Boston I forgot all about my life here in New York…I lost a lot of friends when I moved…”
“They weren’t your true friends then. True friends will support you no matter what…well unless you’re like into drugs or something.” Tyler said
“You’re right I guess…a lot of my friends here also disapproved of a female playing hockey. They think it’s too rough of a sport, especially after I got my injury a few years back…” Stacey told him
“What kind of injury did you get?” Tyler asked
“I broke my arm. Got smashed against the boards and it hit weirdly. I was out for a while and it sucked. I’ve also broken my jaw in a fight and two of my teeth are a capped.” Stacey laughed
“Damn. You’re a scrappy one.” Tyler joked with a laugh
“Hell yeah. I beat her ass…Oh shit…” Stacey stammered looking at the time, it was almost 1am.
“What?” Tyler asked, concerned.
“It’s almost 1.…”
“Oh…yeah it is…” he laughed
“I should go to bed. Thanks for talking to me.” Stacey smiled
“No problem. You’re fun to talk to. Have a nice night, Stacey.”
“You too, Tyler.” Stacey replied, feeling her heart beat faster.
“Bye.” he said
“Bye!” Stacey hung up and smiled even more. She hadn’t felt this way since she was with Matt…no…she hadn’t even felt this way with him. She couldn’t explain what she was feeling, but she knew one thing was certain. She had fallen for Tyler Seguin.
Stacey woke up the next morning feeling much happier than she had felt in a while. She looked at her phone and saw she had one new message from him.
Tyler-Good morning. Have a wonderful day. I have practice till noon, but I’ll message you again after lunch.
Stacey-Okay. Have a good practice.
Stacey put her phone in her pocket and headed downstairs. The feint smell of cinnamon reached her nostrils and she breathed it in. “Dad?” she called into the kitchen
“Hi, honey. I thought you might like some breakfast before we head to the hospital.” her dad said pouring her a glass of milk.
“Thanks, dad.” Stacey said kissing him on the cheek, taking her glass and sitting at the table.
“Who were you laughing it up with on the phone last night?” Benton asked
“Well, hi to you too…” Stacey snorted.
“Hi. Now who was it?” he asked
“A friend of mine.” Stacey replied taking small bites of her cinnamon roll
“Oh yeah?” Benton challenged “Just a friend?”
“Yes.” For now. Stacey added in her head.
“Stacey!” Collin exclaimed, running down the stairs and to her wrapping his arms around her.
“Hey, buddy.” she replied hugging him. “Miss me?”
“You know I have! You need to visit more often…”
Stacey frowned “I’m sorry. I know that and any excuse I can think of will not make it better.”
“It’s okay, sis. How is your team this year?” he asked taking a bite of his own cinnamon roll
“They’re ok. A few changes are being made, but we’ll have it all good by the time season starts.” Stacey told him smiling. Collin was her number one fan. He always looked up to her.
“So are you going to tell us who your ‘friend’ is?” Benton asked
“Why do you want to know?” Stacey asked
“I’m just looking out for you, sis.” Benton replied
Stacey shook her head “Tyler Seguin if you must know.”
Collin dropped his roll “TYLER SEGUIN?!?! From the Bruins? Ew.”
“Hey now.” Stacey scolded
“But he’s a Bruin!” Collin interjected with a laugh
Stacey rolled her eyes “He’s really nice.”
“Oh I bet.” Benton teased
Stacey shook her head “We are friends. You ready to go, dad?”
“Sure am. Let’s go.” with that, Stacey and her father headed to the hospital. A few of the nurses recognized Stacey from her previous injuries and from a recent news story on ESPN about Boston U losing A.J. to Notre Dame. They did a small piece on Stacey and how she had “A lot of slack to pick up.” in the words of Jay Harris.
“Stacey!” Kevin said happily as they walked in the room “Come give your brother a hug.”
Stacey walked over to him and carefully hugged him. “How are you doing?”
“Good. Can’t wait to get home. It’s so good to see you. I didn’t know you were in town.” he said sitting up
“I came to see you.” Stacey explained sitting in the chair by the bed
“You didn’t have to. I have Marianna and the boys.” Kevin said. Marianna was Kevin’s wife. She was from Cuba and was a former model. She was absolutely gorgeous with piercing brown eyes and long following dark hair that flowed perfectly on her tanned body. The boys were their two children. Carlos had just turned 7 and Manny was 2.
“True, but I wanted to see you.” Stacey smiled
Kevin smiled back “And it sure is good to see you. You don’t come home often enough.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” Stacey frowned
“Don’t apologize. We know you’re busy.” Kevin smiled. He was always the ‘positive thinker’.
Stacey smiled back and she felt her phone vibrate.
Tyler-Had a minute during lunch and decided to say hi. Hope you are doing well.
Stacey-I am thanks:) At the hospital right now, though…can I text you later?
Tyler-Oh I’m sorry:/ Yeah text me later:) TTYL.
“Who’s the guy?” Kevin asked with a laugh
“What?” Stacey asked confused. Was it that obvious?
“Come on, Stace. I know my little sister enough to now when she is talking to a guy. Now, spill. Who is he? Is he from here?”
“No…he’s from Boston.” Stacey confessed “Well…he is originally from Canada.”
“A Canadian, huh?” Kevin smirked
“Yep.” Stacey smiled “He’s a little younger than me, though…”
“By how much?” Kevin asked
“A year or two. He’s 20, but I think he‘ll be 21 in January.” Stacey replied
“That’s not that bad. Does he go to your school?”
“Uh…no…he’s Tyler Seguin. From the Bruins.”
“Seriously? How’d you meet him?” Kevin asked
Stacey blushed a bit as she repeated the story of getting lost in the arena and him helping her find the bathroom. Then how he found her on Facebook and how they started messaging and texting. She also told him how they had talked on the phone last night, but she left out the part where she turned him down for a “date” so she could go to New York.
“Do you like him?” Kevin asked
Stacey nodded “Yeah, I do. He’s just so sweet and funny and I can talk to him about anything.”
Kevin smiled “Then go for it, sis. Good luck!” Stacey smiled back, hugged Kevin and for the first time, she actually wished she was in Boston. With him.
After a few more hours, Stacey and her father headed home. Stacey went up to her room, closing the door, laying in bed and grabbing her phone sending the text to Tyler.
Stacey-Hey:)
Tyler-Hey! How’s your brother?
Stacey-He’s good:) Thanks for asking.
Tyler-No problem…so when are you coming back to Boston?
Stacey-I’m not sure yet. The season starts at the beginning of October in three weeks, so hopefully before then.
Tyler-…Hopefully?
Stacey-I’m jk. I’ll be back in two days. LOL.
Tyler-Good…hey listen…can I call you? There’s something important I have to tell you.
Stacey felt her heart drop. What did he have to tell her? What was so important that he had to call. Did he have a girlfriend and he felt bad about cheating on her? Did he know that she liked him, but didn’t return her feelings? Stacey gulped and replied
Stacey-Sure.
Her phone rang seconds after she replied, she picked up the phone and breathed “Hey.”
“Hey. Are you ok? You sound upset…” Tyler said
“I’m ok. What’s up?” she asked, trying to stay calm
“Well…as you know…the NHL is going to be locked out…and…well…I may as well tell you this now…I wanted to in person, but I’m going to be gone when you get back and I won’t be back to Boston for a few days after you and I can’t wait that long.” he rambled
“What is it?” Stacey could already feel the lump rising in her throat.
“I like you, Stacey.” he blurted out. “I like you a lot and I want to be more than ‘just friends’ with you, but…”
“But what, Tyler? I like you too…a lot…and I want to be more than friends with you…” Stacey replied, feeling her heart race.
“I’m going to be moving to Switzerland until the lockout is over.”
“Visiting hours are over. We can go and see him in the morning.” her father explained “Your old room is still set up for you.” her father said with a smile, carrying her bag in the house.
Stacey smiled back and breathed in the familiar scent of her home. She smiled and carried the bag up to the room she had grown up in. The room she had gotten her first kiss in. The room she was in when she found out she’d be going to Boston U. The room that her ex Matthew had proposed to her in, but she had told him ‘no’ and then he dumped her. A lot of memories surrounded this room. Most good, but a few bad. She sat her bag on the floor and plopped down on the bed.
This was home. Boston was just her boarding place. She had adjusted to Boston life, but never really felt like she was “home”. Stacey grabbed her phone and saw Tyler’s message from earlier. She took a breath as she dialed his number. It rang twice before he answered.
“Hey, how is your brother?” he asked
“My dad says he is OK, but I haven’t seen him yet. Visiting hours are over…can we talk about something else, though?” Stacey asked, laying down on the bed.
“Okay, sure. What’s your favorite color?” he asked with a small laugh
Stacey smiled to herself “Purple. You?”
“Blue. Other than Chinese what do you like to eat?”
“I like lots of foods, but my favorites are Chinese, salads, seafood, tacos, pizza, strawberries and ice cream.” Stacey laughed
“I love seafood too! Have you been to the seafood place by the arena?” Tyler asked
“Yes! Oh my god…they have the best grilled tilapia.” Stacey swooned
She could almost feel his smile as he replied, “I love the crab cakes.”
“Me too! What kind of movies do you watch?” Stacey asked, twirling her hair.
“Comedies. I like the Scary Movies and anything with Will Smith. For TV shows I like Family Guy and American Dad. You?” Tyler asked
“I like all kinds of movies. My favorite movie is Slap Shot, though.” Stacey told him with a smile.
“You like Slap Shot?! That’s so cool! Well I guess you do play hockey.” he said
“Of course. It’s a requirement.” Stacey laughed
“Oh yeah.” Tyler laughed before continuing “So did you have a good trip?”
“Yeah. The flight here isn’t bad…it’s the flight back that is.” Stacey confessed “I haven’t been home in a while and I feel awful about it. I just got so busy with my life in Boston I forgot all about my life here in New York…I lost a lot of friends when I moved…”
“They weren’t your true friends then. True friends will support you no matter what…well unless you’re like into drugs or something.” Tyler said
“You’re right I guess…a lot of my friends here also disapproved of a female playing hockey. They think it’s too rough of a sport, especially after I got my injury a few years back…” Stacey told him
“What kind of injury did you get?” Tyler asked
“I broke my arm. Got smashed against the boards and it hit weirdly. I was out for a while and it sucked. I’ve also broken my jaw in a fight and two of my teeth are a capped.” Stacey laughed
“Damn. You’re a scrappy one.” Tyler joked with a laugh
“Hell yeah. I beat her ass…Oh shit…” Stacey stammered looking at the time, it was almost 1am.
“What?” Tyler asked, concerned.
“It’s almost 1.…”
“Oh…yeah it is…” he laughed
“I should go to bed. Thanks for talking to me.” Stacey smiled
“No problem. You’re fun to talk to. Have a nice night, Stacey.”
“You too, Tyler.” Stacey replied, feeling her heart beat faster.
“Bye.” he said
“Bye!” Stacey hung up and smiled even more. She hadn’t felt this way since she was with Matt…no…she hadn’t even felt this way with him. She couldn’t explain what she was feeling, but she knew one thing was certain. She had fallen for Tyler Seguin.
Stacey woke up the next morning feeling much happier than she had felt in a while. She looked at her phone and saw she had one new message from him.
Tyler-Good morning. Have a wonderful day. I have practice till noon, but I’ll message you again after lunch.
Stacey-Okay. Have a good practice.
Stacey put her phone in her pocket and headed downstairs. The feint smell of cinnamon reached her nostrils and she breathed it in. “Dad?” she called into the kitchen
“Hi, honey. I thought you might like some breakfast before we head to the hospital.” her dad said pouring her a glass of milk.
“Thanks, dad.” Stacey said kissing him on the cheek, taking her glass and sitting at the table.
“Who were you laughing it up with on the phone last night?” Benton asked
“Well, hi to you too…” Stacey snorted.
“Hi. Now who was it?” he asked
“A friend of mine.” Stacey replied taking small bites of her cinnamon roll
“Oh yeah?” Benton challenged “Just a friend?”
“Yes.” For now. Stacey added in her head.
“Stacey!” Collin exclaimed, running down the stairs and to her wrapping his arms around her.
“Hey, buddy.” she replied hugging him. “Miss me?”
“You know I have! You need to visit more often…”
Stacey frowned “I’m sorry. I know that and any excuse I can think of will not make it better.”
“It’s okay, sis. How is your team this year?” he asked taking a bite of his own cinnamon roll
“They’re ok. A few changes are being made, but we’ll have it all good by the time season starts.” Stacey told him smiling. Collin was her number one fan. He always looked up to her.
“So are you going to tell us who your ‘friend’ is?” Benton asked
“Why do you want to know?” Stacey asked
“I’m just looking out for you, sis.” Benton replied
Stacey shook her head “Tyler Seguin if you must know.”
Collin dropped his roll “TYLER SEGUIN?!?! From the Bruins? Ew.”
“Hey now.” Stacey scolded
“But he’s a Bruin!” Collin interjected with a laugh
Stacey rolled her eyes “He’s really nice.”
“Oh I bet.” Benton teased
Stacey shook her head “We are friends. You ready to go, dad?”
“Sure am. Let’s go.” with that, Stacey and her father headed to the hospital. A few of the nurses recognized Stacey from her previous injuries and from a recent news story on ESPN about Boston U losing A.J. to Notre Dame. They did a small piece on Stacey and how she had “A lot of slack to pick up.” in the words of Jay Harris.
“Stacey!” Kevin said happily as they walked in the room “Come give your brother a hug.”
Stacey walked over to him and carefully hugged him. “How are you doing?”
“Good. Can’t wait to get home. It’s so good to see you. I didn’t know you were in town.” he said sitting up
“I came to see you.” Stacey explained sitting in the chair by the bed
“You didn’t have to. I have Marianna and the boys.” Kevin said. Marianna was Kevin’s wife. She was from Cuba and was a former model. She was absolutely gorgeous with piercing brown eyes and long following dark hair that flowed perfectly on her tanned body. The boys were their two children. Carlos had just turned 7 and Manny was 2.
“True, but I wanted to see you.” Stacey smiled
Kevin smiled back “And it sure is good to see you. You don’t come home often enough.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” Stacey frowned
“Don’t apologize. We know you’re busy.” Kevin smiled. He was always the ‘positive thinker’.
Stacey smiled back and she felt her phone vibrate.
Tyler-Had a minute during lunch and decided to say hi. Hope you are doing well.
Stacey-I am thanks:) At the hospital right now, though…can I text you later?
Tyler-Oh I’m sorry:/ Yeah text me later:) TTYL.
“Who’s the guy?” Kevin asked with a laugh
“What?” Stacey asked confused. Was it that obvious?
“Come on, Stace. I know my little sister enough to now when she is talking to a guy. Now, spill. Who is he? Is he from here?”
“No…he’s from Boston.” Stacey confessed “Well…he is originally from Canada.”
“A Canadian, huh?” Kevin smirked
“Yep.” Stacey smiled “He’s a little younger than me, though…”
“By how much?” Kevin asked
“A year or two. He’s 20, but I think he‘ll be 21 in January.” Stacey replied
“That’s not that bad. Does he go to your school?”
“Uh…no…he’s Tyler Seguin. From the Bruins.”
“Seriously? How’d you meet him?” Kevin asked
Stacey blushed a bit as she repeated the story of getting lost in the arena and him helping her find the bathroom. Then how he found her on Facebook and how they started messaging and texting. She also told him how they had talked on the phone last night, but she left out the part where she turned him down for a “date” so she could go to New York.
“Do you like him?” Kevin asked
Stacey nodded “Yeah, I do. He’s just so sweet and funny and I can talk to him about anything.”
Kevin smiled “Then go for it, sis. Good luck!” Stacey smiled back, hugged Kevin and for the first time, she actually wished she was in Boston. With him.
After a few more hours, Stacey and her father headed home. Stacey went up to her room, closing the door, laying in bed and grabbing her phone sending the text to Tyler.
Stacey-Hey:)
Tyler-Hey! How’s your brother?
Stacey-He’s good:) Thanks for asking.
Tyler-No problem…so when are you coming back to Boston?
Stacey-I’m not sure yet. The season starts at the beginning of October in three weeks, so hopefully before then.
Tyler-…Hopefully?
Stacey-I’m jk. I’ll be back in two days. LOL.
Tyler-Good…hey listen…can I call you? There’s something important I have to tell you.
Stacey felt her heart drop. What did he have to tell her? What was so important that he had to call. Did he have a girlfriend and he felt bad about cheating on her? Did he know that she liked him, but didn’t return her feelings? Stacey gulped and replied
Stacey-Sure.
Her phone rang seconds after she replied, she picked up the phone and breathed “Hey.”
“Hey. Are you ok? You sound upset…” Tyler said
“I’m ok. What’s up?” she asked, trying to stay calm
“Well…as you know…the NHL is going to be locked out…and…well…I may as well tell you this now…I wanted to in person, but I’m going to be gone when you get back and I won’t be back to Boston for a few days after you and I can’t wait that long.” he rambled
“What is it?” Stacey could already feel the lump rising in her throat.
“I like you, Stacey.” he blurted out. “I like you a lot and I want to be more than ‘just friends’ with you, but…”
“But what, Tyler? I like you too…a lot…and I want to be more than friends with you…” Stacey replied, feeling her heart race.
“I’m going to be moving to Switzerland until the lockout is over.”
3/3/13