Fran started cheering, skating around in a circle. She’d just shut out Kyle in a small game of street hockey. "You know Fran, you really gotta stop boasting so much! One of these days I’m going to forget you’re a girl and just beat the hell outta you," Kyle said, obviously the sore loser. Fran skated up to him.
"Not if I beat the hell outta you first!" Fran said, and started smacking him. She was so busy smacking him and laughing at his cries that she didn’t even notice a car pull up to the Hanson house. Kyle noticed, and tried his best to get her off him.
"Taylor’s home!" he yelled. Fran stopped and flipped around, almost losing her balance. Taylor was watching the scene, slightly laughing. She let her mouth drop and skated over to him, jumping on him once she got close enough. The two fell to the ground, her on top of him. He rolled her over so he was on top.
"Oh my God," she whispered. He looked so different, yet he was exactly the same. He smiled at her and took the opportunity to kiss her. Completely forgetting the rest of his family, he deepened the kiss so they were passionately making out on the ground.
"I know it’s been a while but my God!" Kyle said, skating over. "Get a room!" When they didn’t stop, Kyle continued to watch. "Go Taylor!!" Taylor must of heard him, and stopped.
"Oops," he said, opening his eyes and looking down at Fran. She just smiled at him. "I missed you Frenchie."
"I missed you Taylor." He sat up, pulling her with him. His parents were at the door, trying their best not to stare but they weren’t doing a good job. Kyle was standing opposite to them, a slight smirk on his face.
"You know that’s the first time I’ve ever seen Fran act like a girl," Kyle said. Fran blushed and put her face in Taylor’s shirt. "Oh yeah!! I got her to blush! I am the best!" Taylor rolled his eyes. "You coming to the game?" Kyle asked.
"Yeah. When is it?"
"Like in two hours." Taylor nodded. Kyle smiled. "I won’t tell anybody you’re back. They can hear your chant and go insane." Fran let her arms wrap around Taylor’s neck and put her head on his shoulder, trying to look at Kyle. Kyle couldn’t understand it, he’d never seen her hang on Taylor like this before. By the way Taylor’s parents had gawked, it was obvious they hadn’t either. Kyle was sure that this wasn’t a first, so they must not of done this in front of people before. But they seemed comfortable with it.
Zac approached them. "I’m hoping your moment is over so I can say hello," he said. Fran looked up and smiled. "Now you’re not going to kiss me, are you?" Fran stood up and hugged him. She looked at him. The boy hadn’t changed much, he hadn’t even grown, from what she could tell.
"At least I’m still taller than you," she said. He gave her a look and pointed down to her skates, which made her three or four inches taller. She took them off. He stood a good inch over her. "Dammit!" Zac began to laugh, so Fran sighed and turned away, wrapping her arms around Taylor, who had stood when she did. "He’s laughing at me, Taylor."
"Zac, shut up," Taylor said and smacked the boy in the arm. Zac rubbed his arm and gave his brother a look. He walked away, complaining. Fran laughed and turned around, facing Kyle. Taylor put his arms around her waist, and his chin rested on her shoulder. Kyle was still amazed that they didn’t want to let go of each other. He figured it was because they hadn’t seen each other in so long.
"Well I’m going to go home," Kyle said. "You two need your time together, obviously, and I’m saving getting my butt whooped. See ya later!" Fran and Taylor said their byes and watched as he skated off.
"I’m guessing I have to say hello to Sally, don’t I?" Taylor asked, then gently kissed her neck.
"You’re just wanting a reason to get inside and away from the eyes of your family, aren’t you Taylor?" Fran asked. He smirked and let his lips work their way to her ear.
"You know me too well," he whispered. "I missed you, French, I have a reason to want to be alone with you." She smiled to him and picked up her skates before walking him over to her house.
"Taylor!" Sally said, getting out of her seat and walking over to him. "I missed you, little man." He smiled, giving her a hug and kiss. "What the fuck have you been doing?" Sally never ceased to amaze him. She always swore when she had the opportunity.
"What the fuck have I been doing?" Taylor asked, shaking his head. Sally smiled. "Recording, basically. Stuff like that." Sally looked at the way he held her daughter, and nodded.
"Oh, I see what’s going on. Well get out of here, I don’t want to see it." Taylor smiled to her and followed Fran up the stairs. Almost immediately he had his lips on her. It was hours before they stopped.
"Frenchie, you need to get ready for the game," Taylor whispered. She smiled to him, her fingers tracing along his jaw. She didn’t want to go to the game, she was happy right there. In the bed, with him. He took her fingers and gently kissed them. "You are the star player, you know." As much as he didn’t want her to move, he knew she couldn’t just skip a game.
"Yeah…you push me too much," she said. She stood, taking the bed sheet with her. It was too cold. He looked up at her, a dazed look on his face. She walked over to her dresser and picked out some clothes to change into. She couldn’t just walk to the game in what she was wearing then. Deciding to tease him, she changed in the bathroom.
"What the? You never change in the bathroom!" Taylor said. Fran smiled to him and closed the door. While she changed he groaned and rolled out of the bed. He was lucky he woke up before they’d missed the game completely. Now they had about a half an hour. If they hadn’t fallen asleep then they’d be there by now. It was obvious that she didn’t want to go.
She walked out of the bathroom and leaned against wall, waiting for Taylor to put on his shoes. She had slipped on hers. They walked out of the room. "Mom, we’re going to the game. See you later," Fran said. Sally barely acknowledged, busy with her magazine. Fran silently wished that she paid more attention. "Actually, I’m just going to skip the game. Taylor and I are going to Vegas and we’re getting married. I stole your credit card." Sally just nodded again and waved them off. "She doesn’t listen."
"One of these days, French," Taylor said, reassuring her. She gripped his hand. "One of these days." They walked out the door and down the street. It would be about ten minutes before they arrived at the rink. The route was so familiar. They’d walked it how many times? Almost surreal.
Fran looked at the rink before going in. Her teammates wouldn’t be able to tease her about Taylor anymore. Now once he got in and yelled out into the hall, they’d all come out…
"French’s gonna whoop some ass…" It was almost immediate. "French’s gonna whoop some ass…"
A mob of teammates ran out the locker room, recognizing the voice. He was bombarded, knocked to the ground by the strong guys. Fran stood by and laughed. It was funny how many times he got hit by them. What a greeting! He was going to go home with bruises. Coach Curtis walked out of the locker room and laughed himself. He had been surprised how quickly he had an empty room.
"Okay! Taylor’s back, great!" he said, cynically. "Now we got a game to play and that boy isn’t even on the team! He’s not supposed to go home with bruises, that’s Fran’s job!" The team reluctantly got off, and Taylor stood, brushing himself off.
"Thank you," he said, rubbing the back of his head. The ground wasn’t exactly soft. Fran was standing away, trying her best to keep her laughter down. Taylor noticed and looked at her pointedly. She noticed that he was about to charge at her, so she squealed and ran to the locker room, Taylor right after her. Kyle was confused.
"Um…did you all hear that come from her mouth or did I imagine it?" Kyle asked. The others nodded, and Coach Curtis grew worried. "I’m telling you he brings out the girl in her. You should of seen them before! They were literally on the ground making out!"
"Fran?" Tyler asked, skeptically. "Making out?" Kyle nodded, understanding the looks on the team’s faces. They’d never even thought of her like actually making out with someone. They acknowledged and teased her because she was female, but couldn’t picture her making out with anyone. She never acted like a girl and now…now she was squealing and giggling.
"Come on, we have a game to play," Coach Curtis said. The team walked in the locker room. Well it seems that Taylor caught Fran, and now they were making out against the wall. Coach Curtis cleared his throat. The two separated, a bit embarrassed but they knew they were going to get caught anyway. "Taylor I think it’s time for you to go to the stands." Taylor nodded, wished the team good luck and left.
"I’ll go get ready," Fran said, walking to her locker room. Coach Curtis made sure to stop her.
"Frances…" She froze, in mid-walk. He had really used her full name? He barely referred to her even as Fran. To him she was ‘my star player’ and ‘my little girl.’ Fran hated when he called her his little girl, it broke back too many memories. A month after her father had been murdered, Coach’s daughter was murdered, by the same person. He took over Fran’s life on and off the ice. He took her in as his daughter. He’d lost his girl and she’d lost her father. She didn’t mind, she loved him like a father, but the memories were to harsh for her to handle.
Fran turned around, slowly. He was going to rip on her or something, in front of the whole team. She could almost hear him scolding her. I’m not losing my star player to Taylor. If you even soften a bit on that ice your ass is off this team. She let her eyes meet with his. He was smiling. "You’re too much," he said, and let her go.
As Fran finished up putting on her padding and grabbed her helmet, Tyler walked in. She looked over and smiled. But he wasn’t exactly smiling. She had a feeling he was going to say what she thought Coach Curtis was going to say. "He’s softening you, Fran." Bingo. "When he’s gone you’re just going to be so upset and miss him so much…bullshit. I know and you know that you are what makes us the number one team. Everyone knows that. I don’t doubt it because I respect you and love you too much to think that you’re too good or anything. But if you even think of softening because Taylor isn’t around then I don’t want to be part of this team anymore. I don’t want to see the Vikings star player Frances Marie Carlston go to shit cause her boy’s gone." Fran stood, putting her helmet on her head.
"If anything comes from him being gone it’s going to be that I’m stronger than I was before. I’m not dependent on him, Tyler. Not anymore than I’ve been for years. You know he was what got me out my slump when my father died," Fran said. The thought sprung tears, but she couldn’t cry. She was too tough to cry. That would be proof that she was softening. "If this sends me into a slump—and I know it won’t—then I have you guys. You’ll pull me out of it, Ty, won’t you?" She punched his arm, away from the padding. He gave her a look and rubbed his arm.
"You know I will." She smiled. "Now we have a game to play. Haven’t played them before, Fran. You know what that means."
"Fools," she said. Every time they played a new team, they’d see the girl and tease. Then they’d find out why she was the only one who had person on the team who had their name on their jersey, why she was team captain and why she always had a smile on her face…besides when she checking their ass into the boards. Fran remembered that there was often parents who thought she was too hard on them. What the hell? These are kids here! Get that bitch off the ice!! Remember it’s the female that’s supposed to be the soft one?
They walked back into the main locker room, waiting for the small pep talk. Pep talks were normally to Fran when they played a new team. "Okay, go easy on them. They’re just kids, you know. They may play rough but we know that some people are a bit rougher." He looked pointedly at Fran. "I don’t want to get sued because someone’s little boy got a broken bone because of you guys. Remember that, Fran?"
"I said I was sorry!" Fran immediately said, defending herself. She’d broken a guy’s arm before when she checked him into the wall and the coach almost got sued. She’d gotten a three game probation because of it too. "That bone was weak anyway. I’m sure that kid didn’t drink enough milk."
"Still, don’t break anything. And be careful when you’re checking people, you end up hurting yourself." Fran slumped her shoulders, acting as if she was upset by not being able to hurt anyone. "Fran…" he warned.
"Okay, okay…" she said, putting her hands up in defense. She stood and headed towards the ice, followed by her teammates. "Who’s gonna win?" she yelled.
"We are!!" the team shouted.
"Who’s gonna lose?"
"They are!"
"Who’s going to get doused in Ginger Ale when the game is over?" Kyle added.
"Fran!!"
"Hey!" Fran screamed at them, pushing Tyler from behind her, creating a domino effect. Fran turned around and smiled when she saw fifteen boys laying on the floor, trying to move each other out of the way so they can get up. "I get the spotlight now!" she yelled and walked quickly to the ice, trying her best not to fall. Even years after being on ice skates she still lost her balance while trying to walk to the ice.
"Introducing your Vikings!" an announcer said, once he spotted Fran. She waited for the rest of the team to get over there before signaling to him. He called off a few of the starting players names, and paused before calling hers. It was normally a big deal when she went on the ice. She hated to admit it but they all loved her and she was one of the best in the league. "Okay, it’s your favorite player. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Fran Carlston!" Fran skated onto the ice and bowed before joining her teammates in center ice.
The other team stared in amazement at the spectacle before them. All this…for a girl? Fran noticed the stares and waved. They weren’t far away from each other, but the screaming and the clapping (mostly from Taylor) was enough to block all communication. Once it died down, Fran was able to speak.
"Hi!" Fran said, energetically, waving again. A few of the players waved back, a bit mesmerized. She’d seen a few of them before, but not all of them. She looked over the familiar ones. They seemed to be letting the others know about her. She could hear their warnings.
"She’s a tough one. Avoid her at all costs." She kept her smile, acting more like a little girl than the monster she would become once the puck dropped. "She’ll break your bones."
"Hey!" Fran said, overhearing. Her smile faded and an accusing finger pointed at the boy who had made the comment. "That happened once and I apologized. It was not my fault his arm and the glass didn’t meet in the right way."
The new players grew stiff from her statement. Kyle nudged her and told her it was time to start the game. She shot a warning glance at the team before skating off. She pulled her helmet, not even remembering why she needed it in the ‘little leagues.’ If it was anyone who needed the helmets it was the other team.
She skated to the center ice, her stick horizontal across her bent knees. She looked the opposing man in the eyes. He was new. She’d never seen him before. "Hi," she said, a crooked smile on her face.
"Hi…"
"I haven’t seen you before, what’s your name?" she asked, feeling a bit too friendly for someone she was about to smash into the glass.
"I just moved here from Indiana. I’m Austin." She nodded.
"Well Austin nice meeting you. I’m sorry if I hurt you, it’s just all a part of the game." He was confused. She just smiled and set her stick down on the ice. "Have fun."
The puck dropped and Fran smacked the boy out of the way. He fell onto the ice and she headed towards the goal with complete control. Her thoughts overcame her as she pushed off opposing boys. It’s gonna be a long game.
> "Hey girl!" that Austin boy said, taunting her. There was a minute and ten seconds left in the third period. He kept the puck in front of him, skating towards her. A large welt was forming on the side of his face when she had smashed him into the glass. Fran rolled her eyes and skated towards him. She reached out her stick to trip him, only to have him smack her skate. She ran into him, losing her balance. The power of the impact sent her flying, and she landed hard on her right leg. Her face met the ice, and her left skate sliced her shin. A few cracks and a snap sent pain throughout her entire body. She held in her screams and her tears, even her facial expressions.
Fran scowled at the boy and hit him as hard as she could with her skate, sending him into the boards, knocking him out. She tried to stand up, but the pain in her leg stopped her from moving in any way. A hush fell over the crowd, and the game stopped. A trail of blood ran from the slit in her leg to the ice. Kyle saw that she wasn’t about to get up by herself, not from the things he heard when she hit the ground. He made his way over.
A ref skated over and stopped by her. Another attended to the passed out boy by the boards. He was out cold, so a few players carried him off the ice. "Are you alright?" he asked, and upon seeing the blood immediately withdrew his question. Suddenly, Kyle grew very afraid. "Let’s get you out of here. Can you walk?" Fran nodded and tried to get up.
"No, you can’t," Kyle said and scooped her off the ground. The silent crowd suddenly let out a gasp. Kyle carried her back to the locker room, leaving a trail of dripping blood on the way. Coach Curtis walked back in and the game resumed, once the blood was cleared, of course. Taylor almost immediately showed up, worried.
Kyle set her down on a bench. She removed the padding on her leg. Her ankle was bruised and a sign of a bone was almost popping out of the skin. Coach Curtis gave her an ice pack for the large red mark on her face and fished out the first aid kit. By then the game was over and the team walked back into the locker room. They stood around the room, against the lockers, watching.
Fran winced, biting her lip. "You did a good job on that, Fran," Coach Curtis said, dressing the large slit in her leg. She adjusted the ice pact that was at her face. "I don’t think you should play tomorrow, or the rest of the week at that."
"No I’ll play," she said, and winced again. Taylor stood aside from Coach Curtis, shaking his head. "It should be fine by tomorrow. Maybe if I just stay off it today…"
"You’re not playing tomorrow. You can’t even walk on it." She gazed hopefully at her coach. "No. You might be out for a couple games with this. I saw how you landed on it, if you play you just might make things worse." She put her head in her hands, resting them atop her other knee. It wasn’t exactly what she needed.
"I can walk on it," she demanded, and stood up. Once she put her weight on her feet she winced again and fell into Taylor’s arms. "Dammit!" Taylor sat her back down on the bench. The team watched from around the room, worrying about her.
"Fran, you could of broken it, I don’t want you playing, I don’t want you even walking. I mean look at this, there’s a bone there that shouldn’t be there." Tears sprung to her eyes as she gazed to her teammates. She removed the ice pack from her face, revealing a forming bruise on her cheek. Kyle was staring intently at her leg, wondering and worrying.
"D-do you think I can still play in the Christmas Tournament?" Fran asked, hopefully. The Christmas Tournament was everything to her. Scouts for the MVP of the year were at the Christmas Tournament. Fran had won it four years in a row, and was hoping for five. From the looks of it now…
"I don’t think so. If you broke it then definitely no." A tear slid down her face and quickly she wiped it away. She was softening…she couldn’t be softening!! "I have a pair of crutches in the other room, could you get them for me, Taylor?" Taylor nodded and ran off into the other room. "Cheer up, kid, it’ll be fine soon." Coach Curtis ran his finger lightly down her nose. "Just a couple of games, think of it as a probation." She weakly smiled. "I’m driving you and Taylor over to the doctor, we’re getting this checked out today."
"Alright." She gazed over at Tyler and Kyle, who were still staring intently at her, as was the rest of the team. She gave a small smile to them and waved. They waved back, a sense of dread coming over them. She was in pain. She was clearly in pain.
"You knocked out Austin," Coach Curtis said. "They took him to the emergency room in an ambulance." Fran smiled widely. "That’s not something to be proud of, you better expect a lot of shit from them."
"Just concentrate on me," Fran said, the large grin remaining. "We’ll think about him later." Coach Curtis rolled his eyes and looked over her leg again. It looked pretty damn bad.
"Does it hurt?" Coach Curtis asked. She looked back over to him as Taylor walked out of the other room with a pair of wooden crutches. She shook her head, trying to hide the pain in her eyes.
"No."
"There’s no sense in lying to me, Fran. Does it hurt?" Fran stiffened, and sat up straight, putting the ice pack back on her face. Her eyes clouded over so he couldn’t read the emotions anymore. She gave him a stern look.
"No."