The Hockey Boy

Chapter 2

TY

November 10

"Yes, I am," smiled Easton as he reached out to shake Cal's hand. "And who are you?"

"I'm Calvin Hampton. I play hockey for the Blaine Bengals," smiled Cal as he shook Easton's hand.

"Blaine, huh? I'm from Andover, so I don't like people from Blaine," Easton joked with a charming smile. "And who might you be, pretty girl?"

"None of your business," I said sassily as I reached down to pick up the hockey stick I had dropped.

"Ooo, feisty," laughed Easton. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, if you haven't noticed, I'm getting some replacement hockey sticks. My i***t friend over there broke my last one at practice today," I snapped.

"Well, I think you have the wrong brand of stick," said Easton as he took the Bauer out of my hands. He handed me a different hockey stick and said, "I personally like this brand better than Bauer."

I looked at the stick and rolled my eyes. "Really, the Easton V9E? Easton sticks are crap compared to Bauer," I said as I tossed the stick back to Easton. "Bauer's my brand. Always has been, always will be."

"Feisty and stubborn," Easton laughed.

"Whatever, at least I'm not cocky," I defended.

"How do you know I'm cocky? You don't even know me."

"Oh, I do know. Whenever we played your school, our rival, Andover, you'd act like you were the best player on the ice even when you weren't. I made you look like a pee wee player when I scored on you three times my freshman year," I smirked.

"Wait a second, you're not..." Easton started.

"Oh yes I am," I smirked. "I'm Ty Brady, nice to meet you."

"But I thought you were a just a guy with long hair!" Easton exclaimed.

"No, I'm definitely not a guy. My full name is Tyra, but I prefer Ty. I am a pretty good hockey player, though," I said. "As soon as I tried out for the girls hockey team in 7th grade, they knew I wouldn't fit in with the girls team because I was too big and strong. Instead of having me play on the girls team, they sent me over to play with the guys. By freshman year, I was starting varsity."

"Wow. You are pretty good hockey player. I remember you," complimented Easton as he scanned my tall, wide frame.

"Just as you should," I smiled. "Now quit checking me out, I don't like the obnoxious, arrogant type." Then I tried to grab some Bauers, but Easton stepped in my way.

"I wan't checking you out!" protested Easton. "I just didn't know an eighteen-year-old girl could be this tall."

"Oh, really? Have you seen college basketball players? You are exactly the type of person I thought you were," I said as I rolled my eyes. "Now move, I have to get home soon."

"Seriously, just try the V9E. It's amazing," he said as he tried to hand me the stick he was holding.

"Um, no. The one time I did use an Easton I ended up breaking the thing in half five minutes into the game. I never turned from Bauer ever since."

"Come on, just give it a chance. This Easton is amazing, just like the one you're looking at," Easton said, flashing me a dazzling smile.

"Jerk," I muttered under my breath. "Now move."

"No."

"Fine, I'll take the Easton," I said.

"Which one?" flirted Easton.

"The stick, you moron," I spat. Calvin gave me a strange look. He knew that I never played hockey with a stick other than a Bauer. What Calvin didn't know was that I had plans other than hockey for this stick.

"I knew you'd come around," said Easton as he handed me the V9E.

"Whatever, now move. I need some Bauers, too. I buy more than one stick at a time otherwise I'm in here at least four times a week," I said.

"I'm not going to move. You need to broaden your horizons. Choose a few different types of sticks. Try a Reebok for all I care," said Easton.

"Easton, I am the best high school hockey player in the state of Minnesota, maybe even the dang country. I know what type of hockey stick works for me, you don't. Now move!" I yelled as I lost my temper.

"No," Easton smirked. "While we're at it, would you guys like some autographs?"

"No, thank you," I said through gritted teeth.

"Uh, yeah, I'd love an autograph!" screeched Cal like a little kid on Christmas.

"i***t," I muttered.

"Ty, just take the autograph. Your dad will love it. Please?" Cal begged.

"Fine, I'll take an autograph," I grumbled. Easton went back to the back of the store for a few minutes. When he returned, he held two signed pictures of him from draft night. He handed one picture to Cal and the other to me.

"Thank you," said Cal. When I didn't say anything, he elbowed me in the side.

"Thanks," I muttered as I handed my picture to Calvin. "So, anyways, I have to get going, so I'm just going to grab my Bauers and leave."

"No, try something new," said Easton. And he thought I was the stubborn one!

I had had enough of this hockey player's jokes. I grabbed the Easton V9E with both hands and smiled at the arrogant jerk. "Hey, Easton, have you ever gotten a black eye before?" I asked innocently.

"No, I haven't, surprisingly. Why?" he asked.

I reared back and hit his face with the hockey stick as hard as I could, breaking the hockey stick in two pieces. "Asshole," I said simply.

Cal and Harold both looked at me in shock. I never hurt people on purpose unless I'm playing hockey, where it's necessary. They also know that I never swear, ever.

"Ouch!" yelped Easton as he grabbed his eye.

"Sorry, Harold, put that on my tab along with five of these Bauers," I said pointedly as I grabbed a handful of the Bauer APX2s. "You can put whatever Cal wants on my tab, too."

"Uh, thanks, Ty," said Cal quickly as he grabbed a few Reebok RIBCORs. "You really don't have to pay for my stuff."

"That's okay, Cal, I've got it. Thanks, Harold," I said. "Bye, Easton."

Easton took his hand away from his face and smiled at me. You could already see the bruise forming around his eye. "Later, babe. Hope I see you around."

I just rolled my eyes and walked out to my truck. I threw open the door to the backseat and tossed my sticks in there. Cal did the same. As soon as both of us were in the Chevy, Cal yelled, "What the hell was that? I can't believe you just assaulted a professional hockey player. Dude, he could press charges!"

"He won't press charges, Cal, that would mean he'd have to admit he got beat up by a girl," I smiled.

"How can you be happy about this!" Cal shouted.

"He got what was coming to him. He'd just better be glad it was me and not Mikko Koivu. I'm sure if he acted like that in front of the team, his captain would whip him into shape," I laughed. Mikko Koivu, the Minnesota Wild's captain, was a no-nonsense type of hockey player. If Easton had acted like that in front of him, he would no longer be alive.

"Can you blame him for being a little cocky? He's fitting into the pros very well, and the team is twelve and two so far. At this rate, they could be the number one seed for the playoffs. Oh, and why'd you pay for my hockey sticks? You know I can pay for my own stuff!" Cal shouted. Calvin's dad had just lost his job last month, and he hasn't found one since. Now Cal and his family were struggling to pay the bills.

"Cal, I know you don't like handouts, but I think your parents' money should be spent on food and paying the bills. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, but you've been my best friend forever. If I was in the same situation you are, you know you'd do the same thing."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Cal mumbled. "I just don't think your family should be paying for my expensive hockey equipment."

"Cal, you have no reason to feel bad," I said.

"I know, it just doesn't feel right. I don't care how much money your family has."

"You're a good person, Cal, if taking hand outs doesn't feel right to you, but you're my friend, and I just want to help you out," I stated.

"Thanks, Ty. I'm just scared that I won't be able to go to college next year."

"Cal, you're a great hockey player. I'm sure you'll get a full ride somewhere," I said.

"Do you really think so?" he asked.

"I know so," I replied.

"But I'm not nearly as good as you!" he protested.

"You know that's not true," I tried to say, but Cal gave me a look. "Okay, I'm a good hockey player, so what?"

"So, I'm sure you've been contacted by plenty of colleges."

"Yeah, I have," I admitted.

"Who?"

"Boston College, Michigan State, Penn State, North Dakota, and the U to name a few," I said.

"Wow, the U has contacted you? That's your dream college!" exclaimed Cal.

"Yeah, I'm going on a visit there in a few weeks," I said.

"That's cool."

"Yeah, I'm really excited. In the email, they said I could maybe practice a little with the team!"

"Cool! You'll get to meet all the hockey guys!" exclaimed Calvin.

"Uh, Cal, they're going to let me work out with the girls team, not the guys team."

"What!" he yelled. "But you'll kill all of them! You're probably taller and bigger, well, more muscular than all of them!"

"Cal, I'm still a girl. The NCAA probably won't let me play on a guys college team," I explained.

"Well that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life," said Calvin.

"Cal, I'll still get to play hockey, and that's all I care about," I said as I pulled into my driveway. "Now when we get in my house, show Dad the autograph. We'll probably stay out of trouble for being late."

"Sounds good. I hate getting yelled at by your parents," said Cal.

"Man, you're at my house way too much. My parents almost treat you like their kid," I laughed.

"Whatever, let's just get inside. I'm starving," said Cal.

"Cal," I said, stopping him.

"What?"

"Whatever you do, don't mention me hitting Easton in the face, okay?"

"Fine, whatever," he replied.

"I'm serious. My dad loves Easton West. He'd probably kill me if he heard that I assaulted him."

"Whatever, I just want spaghetti," said Cal as he walked into my house.

"Where have you kids been?" questioned Dad as soon as we entered the house.

"Uh, we were just talking to Easton West down at Total Hockey," said Cal as he handed my dad one of the signed pictures.

"No way! He's down at Total Hockey?" Dad asked.

"Yeah," I muttered.

"And you got to meet him?" Dad asked.

"Yeah," I muttered again.

"What's he like?"

"He's an obnoxious-" I started, but Cal cut me off.

"He's great, a really nice person. Ty and I loved meeting him. Before we left, he said he'd maybe see us later," Cal rushed, giving me a look.

"Yeah, what Cal said," I said, plastering a fake smile on my face. It's not like I whacked the guy in the face or anything, I thought to myself.

"We'll tell you all about it while we eat," Cal said.

"Sounds good. Who's hungry for some of my world-famous spaghetti?" asked Dad.

"Me!" chimed Cal and I together.