The Hockey Boy

Chapter 16

TY

December 18

"You ready for this?" asked Cal before we entered the guys locker room.

"As ready as ever," I replied firmly. I knew that Easton wasn't watching me in Osseo's hockey rink today. I had looked for him before the game, and much to my surprise, he wasn't in any of the seats.

"You look... weird," said Cal carefully. "Are you upset about something?"

"No, I'm fine," I replied curtly.

"It's Easton, isn't it? You're mad that he's not here."

"No," I said unconvincingly.

"Don't lie to me, Ty," said Cal as he stared straight into my eyes.

"Okay, fine. Surprisingly, I'm a little upset that Easton's not here, but I'll get over it. We're going to win, don't worry. I know that the game has to be my priority, and I'll get my job done. This team is more important to me than anything right now," I told Cal.

"I believe you. Now let's go whup some Osseo Oriole ass," smiled Cal as he slapped my back. I smiled back at him and followed him to our bench.

Coach started giving us his usual pre-game pep talk, but surprisingly, I wasn't paying much attention. I was too busy looking over at the Osseo bench. As I was staring at the bench, Brock Jenson, Osseo's star, caught my eye. He stared at me and gave me an evil smirk before running his finger across his throat in a deathly gesture. Since we had already beaten Osseo this season, I knew Brock would be out for blood, more than usual.

"Hey, Cal," I whispered to my best friend.

"Yeah?" he whispered in reply.

"Watch your back. Jenson's out for revenge," I warned.

"Got it," replied Cal. "I've got your back, Ty."

"And I've got yours," I smiled. Coach finished his pep talk, and it was my turn to speak.

"Okay, team, I know we've already beaten these guys, but we can't get big heads. We have to go into this game thinking we're going to have to play our best to win, which is true. Jenson over there is going to be out for revenge, so watch your backs. We have to stick together as a team and protect each other. If we do that, then we will win, no questions asked. All right, are we ready?"

"Yes!" every single one of my teammates shouted in reply.

"All right, first line out on the ice. Ty, you've got the opening face-off," Coach instructed.

"Got it, Coach," I smiled before skating to center ice. I got into position at center ice and looked up to see who I would be against for the face-off. It was none other than Brock Jenson.

"Ready for Round 2, princess?" smirked Brock.

"As ready as ever. Be prepared for another one in the loss column, Jenson," I spat in reply.

"Be prepared to hurt, Brady. I plan on getting a win tonight, and I'll do whatever it takes,"

"Oh, shut up, Jenson. You're just flat-out sick."

"All right, kids, are you ready?" the ref asked us, and we both nodded. He dropped the puck, and I won the face-off. I passed it to one of the twins and the game began.

Throughtout the first and second periods, the game was tight. Nobody scored because both our team and Osseo were locked in on defense. In the third period, I was ready for something good to happen. My line was on the ice, along with the Hoffman twins defensive pairing, and one of the Hoffman twins had the puck up top. He passed the puck down to Steve, and skated down by the net, hoping Steve would pass the puck to me. He instead passed the puck to Cal, and I skated over to the right side. I was wide open, so Cal passed me the puck and I shot the puck at the goal. It went through Osseo's goalie into the back of the net.

"Yes!" I cheered before skating to my teammates for a hockey hug.

"Nice shot, Brady," said Jase.

"Thanks, couldn't have done it without Cal's pass," I smiled at Cal.

"Hey, no problem, Ty. I just do what I can," Cal laughed.

"You're such a dork," I teased as I whacked the top of his helmet.

"I know," he smiled with a laugh.

I was skating towards the bench when suddenly, somebody backchecked me into the boards, and I found myself lying on the ice.

"Ow," I cried out in pain as I clutched my knee. When I had hit the boards I must've twisted it. "Please, don't let it be my ACL, please don't let it be my ACL."

"Ty! Ty, are you all right?" cried Cal as he skated over to my side.

"My knee," I groaned.

"Here, Ty, I'll help you up," said Cal as he threw my arm over his shoulder and helped me up. I tried putting some weight on my left leg, my bad leg, but I almost fell over. Thankfully, Cal was there to catch me.

"Thanks, Cal. What happened?" I asked.

"Brock backchecked you into the boards. Again. It looked like your knee got twisted funny," Cal told me.

"Dang it," I muttered. "I hope I only twisted something."

"Hopefully. I really hope you only twisted something in your knee. We need you, Ty."

"What happened to Brock?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah, about that, I skated over here while the Hoffman twins went to go get Brock," Cal said hesitantly.

"What happened to him after that?" I asked, curious.

"Brock Jenson had to go to the locker room because his nose was broken, and the Hoffman twins got thrown out. Brock got thrown out, too, by the way."

"Cool, except for my knee. Let me try skate on it," I said as I tried to put weight on my leg.

"Whoa, there," said Cal as I almost fell again. "Don't try that again."

"Fine," I grumbled as we reached the bench.

"What's wrong, Brady?" Coach asked me.

"My left knee. I hurt it, but I think I just twisted it. I can't put any weight on it," I told him.

"You're going to the hospital for an MRI. If there is any damage to any of your ligaments, we want to know as soon as possible," he ordered.

"But, Coach, I want to stay for the end of the game," I pleaded.

"No, you have to go now. It's better that you get yourself taken care of. I'm sorry, Ty, but you need to get better as soon as possible, and that can only happen if you know what's wrong. This team needs you, Ty. Now go, please. Your dad's waiting for you."

I left without another word.

***

An hour and a half later, I had learned that I had not torn any major ligaments in my knee, I had only tweaked my MCL slightly. The doctor told me that I should stay off of my knee for the next week, then limit my minutes on the ice for the week after that. The week after that, I could play my normal minutes in games and practice.

"How are you feeling, Ty?" Dad asked worriedly.

"I feel great, Dad," I smiled.

"Why are you so happy?" he asked confusedly.

"Dad, I only tweaked my knee. I'll only be out for a week, really, two weeks if you count my week of limited minutes. This could've been a lot worse. I could've actually torn my MCL or even my ACL. I'm glad I just tweaked my MCL," I explained.

"I'm glad you're happy. I just worry about you is all."

"I know, Dad, but I'll be okay. Everything is going to be all right. I just hope that this little injury doesn't interfere with getting a full ride," I said.

"It won't, Ty. You're a good hockey player and the colleges see that. You'll get a free ride, no doubt in my mind."

"Thanks, Dad. Oh, and Cal told me that we won the game. My goal was the winning one," I smiled.

"That's good. I'm glad you guys won. I still can't believe that Jenson kid actually slammed you into the boards for no good reason for the second time this season," Dad said as he shook his head.

"He just doesn't know how to control his anger, Dad. I'm just glad he didn't do more damage."

"Me too," Dad agreed.

"Let's go home now. I'm pretty tired," I said with a yawn.

"Okay, Ty, we can go home. As soon as we get home you need to start icing your knee, all right?"

"Yes, Dad, I listened to the doctor. I'm going to do everything I can to get better."

"That's my girl," Dad smiled proudly.

When Dad and I got home, Jake was there in his Audi waiting for me. "Are you all right, Ty?" he asked worriedly. "I saw you take that hit. It looked pretty bad."

"I didn't tear anything, I just tweaked my MCL," I explained. "I just have to stay off of my knee for a week and then I can be back on the ice with limited minutes."

"I'm glad you're all right," Jake said as he hugged me, then kissed my head.

"I'm glad you cared enough to come see how I was doing," I smiled.

"Ty, you have no idea how much I care about you. I know you would do the same for me if I got hurt in one of my games," Jake said.

"Yeah, you're right," I replied. From behind me, my dad coughed, a sign that he wanted to be introduced to my new boyfriend. "Oh, Jake, this is my dad. Dad, this is my boyfriend Jake Herrington. He's the star of the basketball team."

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Jake greeted as he shook my dad's hand.

"Oh, so this is the famous Jake Herrington," said Dad, almost disapprovingly. "I'm glad I finally got to meet you."

"Yeah," Jake said awkwardly. Dad was being very cold to Jake, and I knew it was because he wanted me to be dating Easton. "So, I guess I'll be going. See you in school," he said as he climbed into his car.

"Dad, did you really have to be rude to him? I know that he's not Easton West, but he's a good guy and I like him."

"Ty, I don't know. Something's off about that boy, but I don't know what. I'm sorry, but I just flat-out don't like him," said Dad firmly.

"Really, Dad, really? Just give him a chance, please. I really like him and he's good to me. He's a great athlete and a fairly decent student. He even cared enough to come over to see how I was even though we just started dating."

"Fine, I'll give him a chance, but that doesn't mean I have to like him," Dad huffed before going into the house.

"Just because I'm not dating Easton West doesn't mean my boyfriend's a bad guy," I muttered to myself before using my crutches to get inside the house.