The Life of a Hockey Sister

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

I walk into the lobby and turn in the locker room key. I turn, and notice Jon is sitting at a table talking to Matt. I walk over,

"Hey Matt, Hey Jon how's the ankle?" I ask putting my hands on his shoulders. He looks up at me and smiles,

"It kills," Jon says meekly.

"Unfortunately, he's not allowed to take the pain medicine anymore and it's not working out so good." Matt tells me, "Anyhow I'm going to head to the locker room, you need to elevate your ankle." Matt says pulling over a chair. Jon obediently props up his ankle. Then Matt leaves, Jon cranes his neck and when we can't see Matt anymore he puts his foot down."

"Jon you need to elevate it!" I say pushing on his shoulder.

"Aw come on," he says reaching for my hand, "It's not that big of a deal." I pull my hand away and go and sit across from him.

"Yes, it is, don't you want to heal faster?"

"It's only a mere 2 months," I like the light feeling between us and of course he has to ruin it. "You look like you were having fun out there on the ice." I decide I should just get this conversation over with instead of putting it off.

"Speaking of that Grant told me we have hit a snag? Mind informing me?"

"Yeah Grant told me he already told you everything. Are you mad?"

"A little, considering we just started dating and you can't seem to trust me." I say.

"That's not true! I totally trust you, I don't trust Brian." Jon disagrees.

"We're strictly friends! He knows that, he even met you!" I complain.

"Yeah I know," Jon says shyly.

"He said that you were burning a hole through him while we were playing. This might shock you, but he respects the fact that I'm seeing you. He said he's not even in the position for a relationship."

"Then why did he ask you out?" Jon counters.

"Get over it! Why does it matter?! I said no, isn't that the important part?" I ask growing irritated.

"Well, I'm sorry that I like you so much that the idea of competition makes me kinda nervous." Jon admits.

"Jon what happened to taking it slow?" I ask, "I'm 14 I don't need pressure on dating." He just kind of looks at me, "I don't even know how this works, this is my first relationship. I know you already had one with that Brittany girl, but this is new for me. How are you making a huge jump like this anyhow” I ask starting to become a little bit insecure, “Brittany was a top-notch cheerleader, me though? All I know how to do is shoot a puck." I say sadly. He sighs,

"Because a cheerleader isn't my style and I figured that out. I broke it off with her remember?"

"Not really, but I'll believe you." I say smiling a little.

"I get what you’re getting at though, that I need to take it slow. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable by flipping out."

"So, can we move on now?" I ask hopefully.

"Yeah," I glance at his foot,

"You need to elevate your ankle." I say. Jon sighs,

"I already have Matt drilling me on that please don't start too." he begs.

"What do I have to do to get you to elevate it?" I ask.

"Nothing, I don’t want to." he says getting up.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to roam around," Jon says grabbing his crutches.

"Why don't you just chill?" I ask.

"Why don't you just join me?" he counters.

"Because I'm tired," I whine.

"Please?" Jon begs using a puppy dog face. I laugh,

"That's the most pathetic puppy dog face ever!" I say getting up.

"It worked though!" he says smiling.

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is the point?" 

"I don't know, but it's not the point." I say.

"Yeah whatever," Jon starts to go faster and stumbles.

"Don't fall," I say flatly. He laughs,

"Yeah it would be a shame if I got hurt, wouldn’t it?" Jon says sarcastically.

"I'm glad we see eye to eye on this." I say laughing.

We find the team doing stretches by the locker room. We just pass by, we keep going and find a puck on the ground. We glance at each other, I dart off and grab it.

"Hey not fair! I'm crippled!" Jon whines.

"Here take it, I got one yesterday." I say handing it to him, I look at his hands holding his crutches. I yank the puck back, "Never mind I'll carry it for you." We walk quietly for a little bit longer, then I notice that his cast is blank. "Hey none of the team has signed your cast."

"Nope, wanna be the first?" he asks.

"Sure, I feel so special!" I say jokingly.

"You’re very special, you deserve to always feel that way."

Him saying that results in an instant smile and I wanna give him a hug. So, I go up and wrap my arms around his chest. Since he's holding his crutches he can't return it, so he just rests his head on mine. I just stay there for a little while until I hear a bunch of laughing, clapping, and whistling. I quickly pull away and see the team running by. I feel my face turn beet red. Jon just looks at me and smiles. After they all run through I start to walk back to the lobby.

"Ang, slow down!" Jon begs.

"I'm so embarrassed!" I say. He pokes me in the leg with his crutch and I stop.

"Why?" he asks.

"The boys saw us hu-"

"Who cares?" Jon asks, "As far as they go they’re just our team."

"Your team not mine until next year." I correct.

"No, ours, come on you know I'm right." he says. I start to walk away but he grabs me pulling me into him.

"Stop, the teams still running!" I say playfully pushing him away.

"So?" Jon says catching up to me. 

“Jon, come on, you honestly want all of your teammates seeing you being all mushy?" I ask.

"If I get to hug you then yes." he says. Not the reaction I was looking for.

"Okay well since I'm planning on trying out next year I don't want them seeing us being all mushy." I say.

"What does it matter?" Jon asks. I sigh,

"Since I'm a girl I'm expected to be obsessed with the mushy stuff. I have to keep a strong image, so I can be taken seriously."

"How about I just hurt anybody that doesn't take you seriously?"

"That won't help my strong image and you’re not supposed to be my bodyguard you’re supposed to be my boyfriend. I'm strong and I can fight my own battles and you know that. You’re not that mean anyways."

"I know but as your boyfriend I'm supposed to protect you."

"Well if you stick up for me on the ice more than you do anyone else you'll be the one in need of protection."

"Is that a threat?" he asks sitting down at a table.

"No, it's a promise." I say taking the seat across from him.

"Yeah right,"

"Yep, I am right!" I say smiling.

"Not what I meant," Jon says rolling his eyes as he hands me a sharpie, "Wanna sign my cast?"

"Sure," I say moving closer to him and taking the cap off the marker. I go ahead a sign it, Angie. I glance at the clock, "We only have 25 minutes until the game starts."

"You ready to head in?" he asks. I slowly stretch and get up,

"Sure," We get up and start to head in. Jon heads towards the steps and hands me his crutches.

"What are you doing?" I ask. He puts his hands on each set of rails and looks at me.

"Going up to take stats," Then he starts hopping up each step. I slowly follow behind him.

"Why didn't we just sit in the handicapped section?" I ask.

"Because," Jon says finally reaching the top, "I'm not handicapped."

"You're right, you’re crippled." I say handing him his crutches.

"Shut it," he says smiling. I look up and notice another flight of stairs.

"Jon why don't we just stay here? There's still a whole flight of stairs to go." His eyes widen at the sight of the stairs, but he just hands me back his crutches.

"I'm going up, you can join me if you want." I sigh and follow him as he continues to hop up. After we finally get up there, Mike and one of our defensemen Tyler run over.

"Hey Man," Tyler says patting him on the shoulder, he glances at me. "Man, if I would have known you got Angie's help I would have taken the broken ankle." he says jokingly. I roll my eyes,

"You are so stupid," I tell him handing Jon his crutches.

"Thanks Angel," he says taking them. I glare at him, but he just smiles smugly.

"Oh, Grant sent a message." Mike says joining the conversation, "He said that if he ever sees you hugging his baby sister again you’re dead." My eyes get wide,

"Please do not say he called me a baby!"

"Oh yeah, don't even address the part that he said he'd kill your boyfriend!" Tyler says laughing.

"Ang, calm down." Jon says heading over to the stat area.

"You helping Angie?" Mike asks distributing stat sheets.

"If you need it,"

"Of course, Mike needs help." Tyler says joking. Mike glares at Tyler, the tension between seniors and freshmen. Mike hands me a sheet,

"3rd line," he tells me. I take it and settle in for the game.

Our team quickly takes the ice and before we know it the puck drops. Someway somehow Grant's line is starting lineup again which is weird since it's mostly a freshman line. Grant wins the faceoff and passes it to Max on wing. Max however isn't ready and doesn't receive the pass. The other team, I have no clue who they are, gets the puck.

"Who are we playing?" I ask.

"Um, I think St. Noel." Tyler answers. 

I notice Jon reaching for my hand. I quickly put my arms over my head and stretch. I look at him and offer a smile and he just rolls his eyes. I start laughing, putting my arms back down. I turn my attention back to the game. Just in time too, Grant just got slammed in the back of the head. The refs call the penalty and Grant slowly gets back up. He looks rather shaken. He slowly skates back to the bench, I search the crowd and find my parents. My Mom looks rather nervous, but my Dad looks calm. I'm a little nervous but not that much, I hope he didn't get a concussion.

"He definitely got rocked." Tyler says to me.

"Yeah," I say quietly.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Jon says.

"I'm not concerned," I say. Honestly, I was more concerned over Jon when he was hurt than I am now over Grant. I would never tell Jon that though.

"Really?" Tyler asks, "You’re not concerned if your only brother gets hurt?" Everyone looks at him dumbfounded.

"What are you talking about?" Mike asks, "Did you forget about Drew?"

"Oh yeah," Tyler says thoughtfully.

"You’re a genius," I tell him sarcastically.

"I know right," Grant's not out for the rest of the period. When the period ends I start to get nervous. Jon notices,

"I'm sure he's fine Ang." he says. Tyler gets up,

"I'll go to the locker room and check things out." he offers.

"Okay,"

Usually in hockey you're not even that likely to get hurt. Everyone thinks you're prone to get injured. Honestly, it's not any more dangerous getting checked than it is getting tackled in football. It just happened to be that the St. Noel kid took a cheap shot and Grant's paying for it.

"I hope he didn't get a concussion." I say softly. Jon takes my hand,

"I'm sure he'll be fine." I smile taking my hand away from him.

"I'm going to go talk to my parents." I say leaving.

"You just got rejected man!" I hear Mike tell Jon as I leave. I can't help laughing. When I get to my family I can tell Mom's going crazy.

"Hey Tyler's checking things out for us." I tell them. Mom looks relieved, well barely.

"Good, but I'm sure everything's fine." Dad says putting his arm around Mom.

"It's probably a minor concussion if anything." I say.

"Since when have you been a doctor?" Drew jokes. I shoot him a look and he knows to shut up.

"How was shinny?" Dad asks.

"Fun, it was just me and one other kid, so we just ran drills and passed." I tell him.

"Cool," Dad says dismissively as Tyler walks down the steps,

"Hey, Grant say he's fine, but Matt won't let him play. He's undressing now."

"Thanks Tyler," He starts heading up the stairs, "Hey Tyler!"  I call after him. He looks back,

"Yeah?"

"Can you cover for me?"

"Yeah, sure." 

"Thanks!" I say turning to my parents, "I'm going to go walk a little bit." I say quickly leaving.

I go on a little walk to the locker room. Grant has to be lying about being okay because if he was there's no way he would let Matt tell him to undress. I go and find the teams going out to take the ice. I offer a smile and they say hi as they go out. A little later Grant comes out all dressed up.

"Hey Big Brother," I say. He stops,

"Angie, what are you doing?" he asks.

"You got a concussion, don't you?"

"I'm fine,"

"Whatever, then why aren't you on the ice?" He's silent. Grant knows that I get him better than anyone. Even though we fight we're as close a siblings can get. 

"Yeah I probably do, but it's minor." he says.

"Head pounding?"

"Honestly the room's spinning a little bit."

"Why didn't tell Matt?"

"Are you kidding? It would be forever until I got to play again!"

"You gotta tell someone!" I tell him.

"No Angie please! I'll be fine, Mom and Dad won't let me play until like Spring!" I sigh,

"Fine!" He pulls me into a hug,

"Thank you so much!" I pull away,

"I gotta go finish stats."

"I'm coming too." We walk upstairs, and I go over and find Tyler with my sheet.

"About time you come back!" he teases. I take my sheet and look at it,

"You only had 2 shifts!" I tell him.

"2 shifts you didn't have!" I go and sit next to Jon. Grant follows me like a lost puppy.

"You okay man?" Jon asks Grant. Grant laughs,

"You know how Matt is, anything he feels uncomfortable about you get sat for a week." Jon laughs,

"Yeah true, but I doubt Coach will let him do that."

"You never know," I mutter.

"What?" Jon asks with a smile.

"She said nothing," Grant says crossly. I don't feel like fighting with someone with brain damage, so I keep my mouth shut. Jon looks at me suspiciously,

"You're going to let him talk to you like that?" Jon asks amused.

"Apparently," I mutter.

"Since when?" Jon asks.

"Since always," Grant answers for me. Now I want to slap him.

"Whatever," I say turning my attention to the game. Before we know it the game's over the score 6 them 4 us. As soon as the game's over Grant leaves. The others follow, and Jon turns to me,

"Okay I want your answer not Grant's, since when have you let him walk all over you?"

"I didn't feel like arguing with him." I say defensively. 

"Doesn't mean you can't defend yourself." Jon tells me.

"Don't worry I've handled Grant for 14 years," I say a little harshly.

"Alrighty then," Jon says a little put off.

"Hey if Grant does or says anything weird at the hotel can you tell me?" I ask.

"Weird how?" Then he puts the two together, "Wait is this about his head?"

"Look I'm just worried as his sister. I shouldn't be." I assure him.

"I'll keep in touch okay?" Jon says trying to ease my worry.

"Thank you," He looks at me with a weird smile.

"Can I have a goodbye hug?" he asks. 

"Maybe," I say getting up. He gets up and grabs his crutches, "You know if Grant sees us you're going to be dead." I joke.

"It's worth it," I go over and give him a hug. Wrapping my arms around his chest and he sets his head on mine. After what felt like a lifetime but was probably more like 5 seconds I push away.

"Come on, I'll help you get down the stairs." I tell him. He hands me his crutches and starts to hop down each step taking them one at a time.