I’m waiting for A.J’s plane to land. Carl is laughing because I can’t sit still. “Calm down, tiger. The plane isn’t going to land any faster if you keep doing that”, he says. “I know. I’m just really excited to see him”, I reply. Finally, A.J texts us that his plane landed. We drive to where we were to pick him up. A.J is standing there when we arrive. I’m the first one out of the car. I run into my boyfriend’s arms. “A.J! I haven’t see you in forever”, I say, looking my boyfriend in the eye. He is wearing a Michigan sweatshirt and jeans. As always, he is wearing his hat backwards. “You look good in that”, I tell him. He smirks at me as he hugs me. He looks at my outfit and smiles. “You could have worn that Michigan jersey I got you”, he teases. “I wear that jersey every time you play”, I counter. He hugs me again. “Blue is a great color on you”, he says, tilting my chin up so that he can see my face. I try not to laugh when I see Carl waving at us. “Come on, mister. Carl is waiting for us”, I say, grabbing A.J’s hand. He gladly follows me to the car. Carl gives him a hug. “Seeing that sweatshirt makes me want to go back to Michigan”, he says in a complaining tone. A.J smirks at Carl as I try not to smile. The two shoot teasing remarks at each other as I say a “Hail Mary” and two “Our Father’s”.
“It’s been too long since your last visit, A.J”, I say as we’re driving home. My boyfriend smiles and squeezes my hand. “I know. I’ve just been busy. Do you have a game this week”, he asks. “Yes. Mine is on Wednesday. Carl’s game is tomorrow”, I reply. Carl looks at me in the mirror. I can tell by his face what he wants me to tell A.J. I take a deep breath. “A.J, I haven’t told you this yet, but something is going on between Carl and big Crosby, and me and little Crosby…” I tell him everything, including the post I’d seen on twitter that morning and my conversation with Chad. When I am done, there is silence. “You’d better be on your guard, Lizzy. Anything could happen”, A.J finally says. I nod. “Have you seen anything posted on twitter or facebook since you checked this morning”, Carl asks. “I haven’t been on either of them since I checked”, I reply. I take out my phone and check twitter first. I read a conversation between Crosby and his sister: Little Crosby ‘Have you heard that Carl Hagelin’s younger sister has a boyfriend? He’s a hockey player’. Older brother: ‘No, I haven’t heard that. Is he an NHL player’? Little Crosby: ‘No, he plays in college at Michigan’. Older Brother: ‘What is his name’? Little Crosby: ‘A.J Treais. He’s a junior’. Older Brother: ‘Has he been drafted into the NHL’? Little Crosby: ‘No.’ Older Brother: ‘I figured that. She has a brother in the NHL already. She doesn’t need another person that she knows playing in the NHL’. Little Crosby: ‘Her boyfriend might not be playing in the NHL, but there’s a person that used to play for Michigan, the same time older Hagelin was playing, that was drafted by the NHL. He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators’. Older Brother: ‘Yes, I know who you are talking about. I’ve read conversations between Hagelin and his friend’. I angrily read the posts out loud. “What?! I can’t believe that Crosby would read conversations between me and Louie. That is mean”, Carl exclaims, quite angry. I have tears in my eyes, tears of anger and sadness. I pound the seat with my fist. “I’m so mad! I hate the fact that both brother and sister Crosby would do this”, I say. “You’d better be on the lookout, Carl. Crosby has been spying on you and Louie”, A.J warns. Carl looks at him through the rearview mirror. “You be careful too, buddy. He could be spying on conversations between you and Lizzy”, he says.

“Do you want to play a game, A.J”, I ask, looking into his soft brown eyes. He grabs my hand and smiles. “How about a little later? I just want to talk for now”, he answers. I give him a smile as we head for the couch. “Anything you want! You’re my guest, after all”, I say, tilting my head up at him. We talk about many things. I tell him about seeing the Empire State Building and about going to see the Statue of Liberty. I tell him about MSG and how every time I go inside, I get chills down my spine. “It’s like I’m sitting in a legend”, I explain. A.J tells me about everything that is going on at home. “Erica had a baby”, he says. I sit up straight and squeeze his hand. “Oh, that is wonderful! Was it a boy or a girl?” “A girl. She named her Clementine”, A.J replies. Erica Treais is my boyfriend’s sister. “Who does she looks more like: Erica or Bradley”, I ask. A.J smiles. “I can’t say. She has Erica’s eyes and mouth. Her nose is exactly like her dad’s”. He pulls out his phone and pulls up a picture. “That is Clementine”, he says, handing me his phone. “Oh! She is so cute”, I squeal. A.J smiles as he takes his phone back. “I know. I got to hold her before I left yesterday. She is so quiet. She’ll let anybody hold her”, he says. We talk about kids for a little longer. Suddenly, I gasp. “A.J, I have to go call one of my friends. She told me she needed to talk to me. Do you mind if I go do that real quick”, I ask, wincing a little. A.J places a hand under my chin and gently tilts my head up. “Go ahead. I don’t mind”, he says. I give him a tight hug before I run up the stairs.

A.J sits as he watches his girlfriend run away. – I love her. She is one of best things that had ever happened to me. She is so beautiful, every time I look at her, chills run down my spine- he thinks to himself. Suddenly, his phone goes off. It is a text from one of his best friends and teammate, Lindsey Sparks. “Hey, man. How is it going over there”. A.J smirks a little as he sends a text right back. “Good. Lizzy was so happy to see me”.

A few minutes later, I come back down the stairs. A.J turns to look at me. “What happened”, he asks, looking at my face. “One of my teammates, Jackie, is really upset. Her boyfriend just broke up with her”, I reply, shaking my head. A.J takes my hand as I sit down. “Why did he break up with her? She is an amazing person”, he asks. “She told me he found another girl. Says that this girl had been stealing looks at him for months”, I say. A.J gives me a tight hug. “Invite her over”, he says. I stare at him, surprised. “Why? I thought this was our time. I love Jackie, but I wanted some time alone with you”. A.J hugs me again. “It is our time. But, when one of your friends is having a breakdown, or is really upset, you need to hang out with her”, he says. I sigh and rest my head against his shoulder. He kisses my cheek. “How about this: invite her over. If she says yes, tell her to give us 30 minutes alone. Both of us can set a timer. Tell her to set one, too. When her timer goes off, have her call you”. I smile and hug him. “You’re so sweet, A.J! I’ll go call her right away”, I say. He hugs me back. I push myself off of my boyfriend and run up the stairs.

“I’m glad she was happy to see you”. That was the text A.J read from his friend, Lindsey. A.J smirks as he replies. “Sure you are! You just like texting me about my girlfriend”. Two seconds later, it seemed, Lindsey sent a text back. “No I don’t, hot shot. She is your girlfriend. I’m just saying, she is cute”. “I know she is! She is beautiful”.

I run to open the door for Jackie half an hour later. I give her a hug. She cries into my shoulder. I lead her to the couch and sit her down. I sit next to her, gently holding her hand in mine. “Jackie, do you mind telling us what happened? I know that he’s got some other girl, but tell us the story”, I say softly. At once, Jackie pored out the entire story. She was crying when she finished. I held in her in a tight hug, while A.J offered to get drinks for us. “Aw, that’s sweet of you! I’ll have water and Jackie will have a coke”, I reply, looking into my boyfriend’s brown eyes. He smirks at me over his shoulder. Jackie looks at me. “Your boyfriend is sweet… and cute”, she whispers into my ear. I smile. “How did you meet him”, Jackie asks. I blink, surprised. “Jackie, you just lost your boyfriend. It’s going to break your heart if I tell you about mine”, I say. Jackie shakes her head as A.J hands her drink over. “It will be good for me. I’m interested to hear”, she insists. “A.J was Carl’s teammate at Michigan. When A.J was a freshman, Carl was a junior. I met him after one of the games. Carl, Erica, Louie and I were walking to our cars. I saw A.J sitting on his truck bed. I walked over. We talked for a while.” A.J continued the story. “She came to practice the next day. I invited her over. She agreed, and we met at my apartment. We talked for over two hours”. Jackie smiled. “That is usually the way relationships start”, she says, teasing me. I glare at her while she and A.J try to hold back their laughter. Suddenly, my phone goes off. It’s a text from Carl. “We’re stopping at Wendy’s. Do you want anything”? I think for a minute. “Yes, a hamburger and fries. No lettuce or tomato”. I get a smiley face from Carl.