Fran skated around the ice by herself, in her full uniform. Her helmet hung loosely from her fingers as she kicked the puck around. The game wouldn�t start for another hour or so, and the people wouldn�t be able to come in for another half an hour. She stopped in front of her team�s box. It was the comeback game. She hadn�t played since November.
And Taylor wasn�t there to see it.
It took her months of hard work, surgery and physical therapy to get this far. It was what she had dreamed of every night for seven months. This was what she had to show for it. A Viking�s team shirt, with number 22 and Carlston written on the back. The �C� for team captain on the left shoulder. This was it. Her number one fan, her number one fan of four and a half years wasn�t even there to cheer her on. He hadn�t even called. He knew this was her comeback game, he had to know. She couldn�t bear to not have him there.
Fran slid to the ice and looked around the bare arena. It was so large, and hardly any people came. Taylor was normally among those people. She doubted that he would even be able to come anymore. She�d heard the horror stories of loud, screaming fans and obsessing mobs of people. He couldn�t go anywhere and be safe. That meant increased security over his home. No coming to games by himself and having her be the center of attention. No normal life anymore.
To top it all off, Kyle wasn�t even there. She silently hoped that he was there in spirit, to see her. Kyle, her best friend, wasn�t there and he never would be. They had so much fun together, but they took it for granted. Fran loved Kyle more than she could imagine, and then he had to go and die. Fran�s face remained in her same state of emotion, blank. As much as she wanted to cry, to scream, to throw something across the arena, she couldn�t. All she could do was sit on the ice and watch nothing.
Fran picked up the puck that lay on the ice next to her. Frozen rubber shaped into a circular form. This was her life. This little puck, and the net on the end of the rink. She�d completely forgotten why she loved hockey so much. It was so boyish. She was female. She was the only female in the league, country-wide. Her teammates expected so little from her. Any act of femininity was taken on with shock. Her long blonde hair wasn�t accepted at all. And why was it that she was the only one who could walk into a room and have every single person cringe in fear? When she raised her voice all ran and hid, waiting for her to smack the shit out of someone.
That�s just the way it�s been. That�s just the way I am, Fran thought. And I sure as hell can�t change it now.
"Fran? You out here?" Tyler walked into the ice. Fran looked up, and tugged on his uniform. When he looked down she offered a small smile. He sat down next to her on the ice, immediately putting his arm over her shoulders. "I knew you�d be out here by yourself. What�s with you and doing this?"
Fran sighed. "I used to come out here and think, then Kyle would run out and challenge me to a game. But he�s not around anymore, so I just came out here to think. Will you come out here before every game like he did?" Tyler nodded, reassuring her that he was there, no matter what. "Thanks, man."
"Hey, this is what I have to do. You gonna kick some ass tonight?" She shrugged. "I know Taylor�s not here, I know Kyle�s not here, but I�m here and I want you to beat the hell out of everyone." Fran looked up to him. With all the hell they had been through, with all wounds torn open again at their counseling, he still managed to keep a smile on his face.
"Fine." He stood up, pulling her with him.
"Fran, it�s your comeback game. Put a smile on your face and wait for your adoring fans. Full house tonight, they�re all here to see you." But the two most important ones aren�t. "We�re gonna beat the hell out of the Hawks." The Hawks. Austin. Fran had forgotten about him. He was off in Detroit now. He had caused her pain, unbeknownst to him. Well she had let him know. Maybe the two buddies he came to her party with would be on the team.
"Do you think the two guys are gonna be playing today? The two that were with Austin at my party?" Tyler bit his lip and nodded before looking away. Thinking about the party meant thinking of the accident after the party. The accident that took Kyle�s life. Fran walked off the ice. "Well maybe I can just sit out until the game starts. Ya know, see what actually happens before a game."
Tyler followed Fran back to the locker room. She sat down on a bench and leaned against the wall. Coach Curtis was talking with Matt over something, while everyone else just stood around. How exciting. "Sheesh," Fran said to Tyler. "Now I remember why I started going out there in the first place. It�s boring in here." Tyler nodded.
It was a while before Coach Curtis finally stood up and talked to the entire team. "Well, guys, it�s game time. We have Fran back, and the crowd will probably make a big deal about it, but Fran isn�t the whole team. She�s great, and we love her a lot�" Coach Curtis had to pause because of the sudden uproar of cheers. "So that means we�re gonna kick some butt today?" The cheers filled the locker room. The team followed Fran out, right behind her.
"Who�s gonna win?" Fran yelled.
"We are!" responded the team.
"Who�s gonna lose?"
"They are!"
Suddenly everybody paused. It was Kyle�s turn to say something, but he wasn�t there to say it. After much looking around, Tyler finally spoke up. "Who�s gonna get doused in Ginger Ale when the game is over?"
"Fran!"
Fran smiled at Tyler. He just shrugged. Fran appeared to the announcer, still hidden from everyone else�s view. The announcer smiled at the sight of her. She was back. The lights shut off. "Now is the time we�ve all been waiting for! Starting off as our left wing, and the most popular female in the league, Miss Fran Carlston!" Fran went onto the ice, a spotlight following her as she skated around. Cheers roared from the people in the stands.
Fran stopped at center ice, took off her helmet, and bowed. Her long blonde hair swished around and she stood up. The rest of the team was announced, and the lights went back on. The Hawks came on ice, with barely an introduction. Fran put her helmet back on. Fran recognized Harry, the one she�d punched out at school, and a few others that had been among them. She smiled and waved at them.
She was back.
"I am the best, I swear to you, Tyler, I am the best," Fran said, right after getting off the ice. The game had finished and of course, they had won. Playing again made most of everything that Fran had felt just completely decimate. She was great again. She had a smile on her face and light in her eyes.
"And so modest, too. Fran I haven�t seen you like this in forever. I don�t remember the last time you were this happy!" Fran just smiled. "I�m sure you�d be even more happy if the most important person in your life was there, though."
"Tyler, don�t remind me. He said he�d be here for my comeback game but obviously he wasn�t. The next time I see him I�m going to smack him. If his music is more important than his best friend then he doesn�t deserve me. He hasn�t even called me since he left."
"No, Fran, he doesn�t deserve you." Fran smiled at Tyler and went into her locker room. She checked around for the rest of her team, just in case they were ready to douse her then. After pulling off her skates she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, and there stood her team.
"We won, you know what that means," Tyler said. She screamed as they sprayed Ginger Ale all over her. It wasn�t long before they left, laughing. Fran shook her head and quickly took a shower before getting dressed and leaving. Tyler was outside waiting for her. "Hey. Did you take a shower or are you still soaked from the Ginger Ale?"
"I took a shower. I always do. You people are so mean to me." Tyler just shrugged. "I have to go back to the psychiatrist next week. I never really got to tell you how it went. She was nice and all, but I think I hit a nerve when I asked her about her son. She sent me home and canceled all her appointments for the rest of the day."
"Fran, why do you always have to do that? One of these days you�re going to send someone off a cliff. Now when you go there next week, try and apologize to her. Maybe you�ll get something productive done." Fran stopped and looked at him.
"Tyler! It�s bad enough I went through hell in my life, now I have to tell it all to some stranger? I break open old wounds just so some doctor can stamp �crazy� on my file!" she yelled. "I don�t want to tell anyone about my father! I don�t want to tell anyone about Kyle! I don�t want to discuss how I feel about the entire situation. I don�t know what I feel and I personally don�t care!"
"Fran, I know what you�re going through. I don�t want you to do it as much as I don�t want myself to do it. We�re both fourteen years old, we don�t need this kind of crap in our lives. Maybe it�s for the best. Maybe we�ll be able to get over it and go on with the rest of our lives."
"Yeah, but I really don�t want to." Tyler grabbed her hand and pulled her forward so she would walk. "Tyler�"
"Fran, you need to stop whatever you�re doing to yourself. You�re a teenage girl, when was the last time you were at the mall?" Fran gave him a look. "Tell me."
"Last Christmas, shopping for Christmas presents."
"Way too long ago. Come on, we�re buying you some new skates. I hate to go there with you cause I don�t know what you�re going to do. I don�t know if you�re going to become a girl and go crazy or if you�re just going to walk around, but you have no girl friends whatsoever so I�m taking you."
"Tyler I don�t want to go to the mall! For all we know I could meet up with someone from another team and get into a fight and have to leave. That�s why I never go to public places where fighting isn�t allowed. I�ll just end up getting kicked out and banned or something like that."
"No complaining, Fran. We�re going to the mall." Fran glared at Tyler. It was weird how that boy worked. He pulled her forward. "Let�s go." She smiled and brushed her drying hair behind her ears. The mall wasn�t very far away from the arena, so Fran didn�t have to worry much about any strain on her legs. As long as they didn�t walk around for very long, she would be alright.
Fran didn�t realize how many people went to the mall after the hockey game. Her entire team and half of the other team were there, including the majority of the audience. It was strange how the Hawks and the Vikings were sworn enemies on the ice, yet at the mall they were the best of friends. Well, except when Tyler and Fran were there.
"Good game, Fran," said a few adoring fans that had passed. "We�re glad you�re back." It wasn�t long before a crowd had developed around Fran, consisting of her team, the Hawks, and many fans. They were all talking vividly, when a few teenage girls walked up to Fran.
"What�s this line for?" one of them asked. Fran looked at her strangely. "Well that line down there is for the Backstreet Boys, what�s this one for?" Fran looked around.
"There�s no line here. It�s just a whole bunch of my friends. Who are the Backstreet Boys?" Fran asked, nonchalantly. The girl, who Fran had just realized was strewn with Backstreet Boys wear, nearly had a heart attack.
"Oh my God, you don�t know who the Backstreet Boys are? What kind of girl are you? The BSB are the finest people I have ever seen! Nick is mine�" As she finished the others chanted off who they had �claimed.� Oh God I just hope this isn�t what Hanson fans are like, Fran thought, as she stared at them wide-eyed. She pulled Tyler over to look at them.
"Do you guys like Hanson too?" Fran asked, hoping they didn�t. They nodded. She let out her breath.
"Oh my God yes!" What does God have to do with this? "Taylor is the finest person I have ever seen!" Fran bit her lip and looked at Tyler. Tyler was busy laughing. Fran thought about what this girl was saying.
"But didn�t you just say that the �BSB� are the finest people you have ever seen?" The little blonde chick paused from her obsessing and had to think. Fran was ashamed to have blonde hair as she looked at this girl. The girl looked up at Fran.
"I�m confused�" Fran burst out laughing, and the girl just stood there, trying to think. The other girls got defensive.
"Don�t laugh at her! I can understand why she�s confused," said a different girl. She was brunette. So it�s definitely not the hair color. Fran tried to hold in her laughs, and looked over the girls. They couldn�t be teenage, as she had first thought. They had to be around ten, maybe eleven. It was hilarious.
"Okay, I have to meet these �fine� boys. How old are they?" Fran asked. Basically the entire line was pre-pubescent girls with spaghetti strap tank tops trying to show off the boobs they didn�t have. The girls� eyes lit up at a chance to share their knowledge.
"Well there�s Nick," said one, and for emphasis pointed to the blonde cutie on her shirt. "He�s seventeen. AJ�s nineteen, Brian�s twenty-two. Howie�s twenty-three, and Kevin�s twenty-five." Fran looked at them skeptically. There were these little ten years old girls running around, confessing their love to people twice their age? It was actually rather funny.
"Alright, you�re in love with people in range of seven to fifteen years older than you?" Fran asked. "Well that isn�t pedophilia if ever I had heard it!" Fran turned to Tyler, who was telling everyone of the little wonders he had just seen. "Tyler, get over here!" Tyler walked over.
"What�s up?"
"Of all days to take me to the mall, you had to pick today. We have pedophilia on our hands. There�s twenty-year-olds in this little band. Look out at that crowd, how many twenty-year-olds do you see in there?" Tyler looked over at the pre-pubescent girls and laughed. "My thoughts exactly. I don�t know how the cops looked this one over. I have to meet these people, and you�re coming with me."
"I�m not going to meet some put together boy band!" Tyler said. "Bad enough we have to live through Hanson�" Fran gave him a warning glance. "I�m sorry, but they do get annoying after a while." Fran glanced at the girls and lowered her voice.
"Stop talking bad about your best friend," she warned. He smiled. "I can�t say much about them because these little losers are going to find out and beg me for an autograph. Come on, we�re going to go. I think Steve might be over there." Steve was a referee at the arena on his free time. He was normally a cop, and had to leave the game early to go take care of something down at the mall. Fran just figured out that he would be handling this.
"Fine, just to see Steve. But if these girls bombard me then I�m leaving." Fran agreed and they walked over to the line. It was pretty long, but seemed to be moving quickly. "So, what do you plan on saying to your shrink next week? If I were you, I wouldn�t want to go back."
"I don�t know what I�m gonna say to her. I have a whole week to think about it. I think we�re going to get more into what happened to Kyle and everything. We didn�t get into anything last week, but I just figure it was the first time." Tyler nodded, as Harry stepped up. The girls looked him over, which made Fran laugh.
"Good game, Fran." He held out his hand. She gave him a strange look and turned over his hand. Tyler looked over and groaned. "What might you be doing?"
"Looking for the catch. You don�t talk to me, much less shake hands with me." He just shrugged. Fran looked up his sleeve and pulled out a pocket knife. "What�s this?" she asked. He only shrugged. "You were going to cut me, weren�t you?"
"Hey, what�s fair is fair. You don�t play fair so neither do I." Fran cut part of her arm and gave him back the pocket knife. He looked at her strangely. Fran smiled.
"Oh my God! Help!" Fran screamed. A cop ran over. "He�s trying to kill me!" The cop looked over her arm and the knife in his hands. Almost immediately he had him in cuffs. Another cop took her out of the line and bandaged up her arm. Tyler stayed with her.
"What happened?"
"Well me and him have been rivals for some time. We had a hockey game today. He came over and told me �good game�. I shook his hand and before I knew it he had sliced my arm with his knife." Even though she was lying, those were his intentions. The cop believed her. He kept Fran and Tyler behind while everyone else finished with their autographs. When the last person was finished, the guys in the band came over.
"Hey," said one of them. Fran looked up and recognized him from the girl�s shirt. He was Kevin. "Are you alright? What�d that guy do?" Fran smiled and explained the story to them. She got a lot of sympathy and actually got to spend time with them. Tyler sat back and watched, a sly smile on his face.
"So you know our main competition?" Kevin asked. Fran nodded.
"Yeah, I�ve known them for years now. Taylor�s my best friend. Well aside from Tyler over there, who�s looking as bored as bored can be." Tyler yawned and waved. "I dragged him here, he didn�t want to come."
"That�s no good!" Brian said. Tyler just rolled his eyes. "Well fine, then we�ll have to talk about something you like." Fran laughed.
"Unless you like hockey, you�re stuck," she said. They just shrugged and turned back to Fran. "Yeah he�s good friends with Taylor too. I haven�t seen or heard from them in a while. They just hit it big and everything, so of course they�re really busy."
"Yeah, we�re getting up there."
"You got a pretty big crowd out there. Too bad they�re all ten years younger than you." They just shrugged. "I shouldn�t talk much, I�m fourteen. I�m not all that far away from them. Tyler, wake up." Fran smacked him and he jumped. "You�re being rude."
"I�m sorry, I�m just tired. You know how I get after games." Fran nodded and turned back to the five guys.
"We had a hockey game today, we�re part of a local league. They�re pretty intense, and Tyler played the whole game. But then again so did I, so Tyler don�t complain." Tyler only shrugged and shifted in his chair. "It�s harder on me cause I�m the only girl in the league and everyone knows how tough I play." Fran noticed Steve in the corner, chuckling. "I heard that, Steve."
"I�m sorry, but you do play tough." Fran just shrugged, trying to look innocent. Steve took this as an invite to join the conversation. "Just today she sent someone to the hospital." The guys looked back to Fran, wide-eyed.
"Hey! He had it coming!" Tyler started laughing. "Don�t start Tyler, I am staying with you." Tyler smiled. Fran looked over to the five guys. How strange that they didn�t want to be as close to her as they had before.