We've Got This

Two Months Later

Now it was June, and things were, I guess back to normal. Better, even. I told my parents all about him when I got home, and they gave me the same mini-lecture that everyone else had about giving us a chance. Obviously I hadn’t seen Tyler since we left Dallas, but we texted and spoke on the phone all the time; the same went for Jamie, Cody, and Jason.

I had just gotten home from work when my phone started ringing. “Hey Jame,” I said, not even having to look at the caller ID. “How’s life since I talked to you three days ago?” I asked.

“How’s the new big girl job?” was his response, and I smiled.

“It’s not retail, so it’s great,” I chuckled. I had recently started my first full time adult job, and was I loving it. “But you didn’t answer my question,” I added, flopping down on my bed and kicking my shoes off.

“My life has been the same old; so has pretty much everyone else’s,” he replied, but there was something else to his voice; like he wanted to say something else. I even heard him sigh a little bit.

“Spit it out, Benn. What else do you want to say?” I pressed, too tired to deal with his bullshit at the moment. “It’s about Tyler, isn’t it?”

“He told me you guys kissed before you left,” he said, probably expecting to end it with that statement. “I thought you said you weren’t gonna go down that road.”

I sighed. “Okay, first of all, he kissed me. Second of all, answer my fucking question Jamie Benn!” I exclaimed. “I can handle whatever you have to tell me,” I added, softer. After a few moments of silence, I decide to break it with a question I really didn’t want to ask: “He’s seeing someone, isn’t he?”

After a few more moments of silence, he finally replies. “I’m sorry Kiddo.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see it, trying to hold back tears. “I never should have let this happen; letting myself start to fall for him. I guess I should have seen it coming,” I said, voice fluctuating and lip quivering. “I wouldn’t expect him to wait for me or anything like that; it’s not logical,” I continued. “When did this happen?”

“Actually, right after you left. Her name is Ali, and honestly, she could be your fucking twin. I think that’s the only reason he’s going out with her; he’s convinced himself that it’s you, I’ll send you a picture of her after we hang up,” he replied. That gave me a little bit of comfort, but I was still a little hurt; in all of the conversations we’d had since I came home, not once did he mention this Ali chick.

“Well then,” I cleared my throat, toughening up, “thanks for telling me Jame, you’re a good friend. But I gotta go; I have to get ready for softball tonight. “I’ll talk to you in a few days,” I said, going to hang up.

“Wait a minute!” I heard him shout before I could end the call, so I put the phone back up to my ear. “What are you doing the week of the 22nd? That’s a Wednesday,” he asked.

I shrugged. “Nothing but working and softball as far as I know. Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering if, maybe, you would want to be one of my dates to the NHL Awards in Vegas? I always take my sister as my date, but I would love for you to come as well. Show Segs what he’s really missing out on,” he said. I didn’t say anything; I was in a bit of shock, and he seemed to notice. “I could fly you down to Dallas, have you go find a dress with my sister, and then we can fly to Vegas together. I can cover everything; you wouldn’t have to spend any money if you don’t want to,” he added.

“Um, sure,” I replied. “It’s a little short notice, but I can talk to my boss and see what we can do,” I added, and I could practically hear his smile. “But seriously Jamie, I have to get ready for softball; I’ll talk to you later,” I continued before ending to call and climbing off my bed to change my clothes. Right before I had to leave, I got the picture of Ali that Jamie sent me. He was right; she could have been my twin. “Son of a bitch,” I muttered, shutting my phone off and heading out of the house.

To say I was a little distracted during the game was a bit of an understatement. All I could think about was the fact that Tyler had been leading me on for the last two months. We had talked about some pretty personal stuff, and I was beginning to feel like I could trust him, and he goes and pulls this shit? I knew I should have never let myself start to fall for him. I knew I was only going to get hurt in the end.

And I did get hurt. Only in a different way.

It had rained last night, so the outfield grass was a bit wet; I was playing left field tonight. As I was running to catch a fly ball, my foot got caught in a dip in the ground, and my body kept going. I felt a big pop in my left knee, and I could feel it immediately begin to swell. I didn’t necessarily feel any pain though; I was probably in shock. A few of my teammates ran over to check on me and help me up, and I could barely walk on my own once I finally stood up.

Obviously I didn’t finish the game, and my aunt, whose team I play on, accompanied me to the hospital. X-Rays were taken and they showed the worst; I had completely torn my ACL and partially torn my meniscus. There was no doubt I would need surgery. I decided to take a picture of the x-rays and send them to Jamie adding that he couldn’t say anything to Tyler.

A few seconds after I sent the picture my phone started to ring. I already knew it was Jamie, but I decided to play dumb when I answered. “Hello?” I asked, in a pleasant voice.

“Holy shit, are you okay?!” he exclaimed. “Tell me exactly what I was looking at; I’m not the best at reading x-rays,” he added.

“You were looking at my completely torn ACL and partially torn meniscus. And yes, I will definitely need surgery,” I replied. “And I said don’t tell Tyler because he doesn’t need to know; he didn’t tell me about Ali, so I’m not telling him about this,” I added.

“How are you going to hide it if you see him though?” he asked.

“The swelling will eventually go down, and I’ll just have to be really careful, that’s all. It’s not like I have to have surgery right this second; I can wait awhile if I want to,” I said. “I’ll be okay for Vegas. Like I said, I just need to be careful and not put too much stress and shit on it.”

“Alright well, I hope you feel better soon. Keep my updated; I won’t tell Segs, but I’ll probably tell Demers and Eaks. They’ll want to know you’re okay,” he replied.

“Alright, that’s fair. Oh! I forgot to tell you, I’m getting a tattoo!” I exclaimed. “I heard him gaping, trying to think of a response, but I wanted to leave him hanging. “Anyway, I’ll talk to you later Jamie,” I said and I hung up on him. Shortly after I was released to go home, but not without some crutches and a big-ass brace on my leg.

Once I got home I checked my phone, and I had a new text message.

Tyler: How was the game tonight?

Me: It was alright, we won 10-5. Nothing special.

Tyler: I’d say that’s pretty special; you guys are still undefeated this season, right?

Me: Yeah, we are. I can’t believe you’re still paying attention to that haha. Anyway, I’m beat. I’m going to bed. Ttyl.

And with that I went to bed, not even waiting for a response; I wasn’t really in the mood to talk to him at the moment, for obvious reasons.

When I woke up the next morning, my knee was twice the size it was supposed to be, and the pain was so excruciating that I had to call off work; something I absolutely hated doing, especially seeing as I just started the job a few weeks ago. But, luckily for me, my boss totally understood and was okay with it, and she even let me take the few days off that I needed for Vegas.

Obviously I spent all day in bed; I couldn’t bend my leg if I wanted to, let alone walk, even though I got crutches form the doctor. Mom was even nice enough to stay home from work to take care of me. Tyler texted me a few times, but I didn’t reply; he was under the impression that I was at work anyway, so it didn’t matter.

Around the time I was supposed to be getting off work, Tyler actually called me. I didn’t really want to talk to him, but I didn’t want to raise suspicions that I knew he wasn’t telling me something. So, with a big groan, that Mom noticed and then left the room, I answered my phone. “Hello?” I answered, as pleasantly as possible.

“Hey Shorty! Long time, no talk,” Tyler replied happily. “How’s it hangin’?”

“Same old. Just got off of work, so nothing exciting to report,” I chuckled, rolling my eyes. I really didn’t want to talk to him right now, let alone think of him…ever again.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. Hey listen, what are you doing the week of the June 22nd?” he asked.

I immediately knew he was going to invite me to Vegas, and my blood started to boil. But I couldn’t let that show, so I tried to control my anger as best I could. “Oh, my parents and I are going on a little vacation,” I replied nonchalantly, proud of myself for being able to sound so calm. “Why do you ask?”

I heard him try to conceal a small sigh, and I smirked. “Oh, no reason. I was just gonna ask if you wanted to come down for a visit,” he said, but I could tell he was lying. The 22nd was too specific a date to mean anything other than the NHL Awards. “Hey, I gotta go, but have a great vacation!” he exclaimed.

“Wait, will I not hear from you for the rest of the month?” I asked, curious.

“Obviously I’ll try and shoot you a text when I get a spare minute, but I’m gonna be really busy for the next few weeks,” he replied. In my head my initial thought was that he would be busy with Ali and keeping her a secret from me.

“Alright, well, I guess I’ll leave sending the first text to you then,” I said. “I’ll talk to you when I talk to you Tyler.”

“Okay, have a great trip, beautiful!” he said, and I internally scoffed before ending the call.

Shortly after, Dad came into my room and helped me off my bed. “Ready for your first tattoo, Kiddo?” he asked.

“Super ready!” I exclaimed, trying to walk out of the room and out to the car, but not getting very far before I couldn’t move on my own anymore. Then Dad came up behind me with my crutches, giving me a look as he handed them over before we headed out.

Notes