Stay Fierce

The walk up the stairs was a hard one. I was carrying my very, very heavy school bag, my heavy swim bag, considering there was two drenched towels in it, one from morning practice and one from afternoon, and I also had the responsibility of bringing my violin home.

About halfway to the apartment, I started to curse Brent and the fact that he chose to live on such a high floor. I mean come on, what’s so wrong with the nice, low number floors?

I knocked on the door since I really didn’t feel like letting go of all the bags to take out a stupid set of keys, and I figured that at least someone would be in the apartment.

The door opened and I was staring up at a tall blonde. Most probably another one of Brent’s team mates.

“Hello.” I mumbled lowly, loosening and tightening my grip on all my bags.

He stared down at me in confusion. “Sorry, you must have the wrong house.”

Bam. The door was closed in front of my face.

My jaw slacked open and my hold on my violin, swim bag, and school bag dropped. They all fell to the floor with a loud thump and I clenched my hands into fists, pounding on the door.

The same blonde opened, looking extremely frustrated now, “Look hun-”

I cut him off by grabbing my bags yet again and pushing past him, stomping to my room.

“Listen chicka, I don’t know who you are, but I have the right to call the police you know!”

I spun on my heel to face the short haired blonde, glaring. “Don’t know who I am? Try Brent’s sister.” I hissed coolly, spinning around and slamming the door to my room before he had a chance to respond.

God. Since when did my brother have such assholes for team mates?

Oh yeah, I thought bitterly, slamming my backpack on the desk, ever since Patty Kane.

A yawn escaped from my lips and I sighed, closing my eyes momentarily and grabbing a hair band, wrapping my wet and chlorine smelling hair into a high messy bun before taking out all of my books. First, Written Oral and Bio. Then, math and AP Human Geo. Lastly, German along with an hour on the violin.

My eyes slipped to the clock and I groaned upon seeing the digits 6:36 PM. When would I get all of this done? And even worse, when would I have time to sleep?

---
A week passed. School wasn’t as bad. It was really nice of Cassandra and Mark to try and include me into their group, but they all had connections to each other. It’s not like the others were excluding me, they were all nice. But they’ve all known each other since just about 3rd grade.

The blonde one, Kris Versteeg I soon learned was his name, apologized. And I accepted. I mean, he wasn’t Kane, that one thing. Secondly, there was the fact that I would’ve probably freaked if someone knocked on my door, and then pushed past me into my friend’s apartment which I was in charge of at the moment.

Today was Saturday, and I huffed my way up the stairs to the apartment after an early morning practice.

I managed to open the door with the key and slammed my bag down onto the ground once I
got in, glancing only to see a couch full of men again.

“I’m not allowed to fucking shave, or eat junk food.” I exclaimed in despair, a growl rising in my throat as I threw myself onto the small couch space in between Jonathan and Troy Brower, yet another one of the many players which the guys that I already knew took the time to introduce me to.

“Hey! Watch your language!” My brother’s voice echoed from the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, scrunching my nose.

Patty Kane looked repulsed, “No shaving? So you’ll be walking around like some manly cavewoman from the pre-historic?”

“Wow, you know your fifth grade science. What an accomplishment.” I remarked dryly.

His repulsed expression fell into a dropped face. “I don’t care what Seabs says about language, you’re a bitch sometimes, you know that?”

A hand smacked the back of his head as my brother walked out of the kitchen at that moment and I held back my giggle while the guys didn’t try to cover their laughter.

“So what’s this I hear about no shaving and healthy food, and how will it affect me?” My brother questioned, turning to me.

I resisted rolling my eyes. “Well, you’ll be saving money on shaving cream, and you’ll have to throw the shit you call food out of your kitchen.”

“Amelie, language.”

“Yes, mother.”

“Don’t get smart with me.”

“Au Leasi ont la capacité d'être intelligent” I retorted in French. While most guys in the room understood what I said, but Patty seemed to be having an issue.

“Stop speaking words I can’t understand.” He exclaimed with furrowed eyebrows, still trying to figure out what I said.

“Of course, Kaner, we shall try to abide by your requests.” Troy managed a straight face the whole time he said that, and the curly haired blonde turned to glare at him.

“Don’t be such an asshole.”

Smack.

“Yet another loss of Patrick Kane’s precious brain cells.” I announced, standing up, grinning fully knowing Brent hit him again because he swore in front of me. But what Brent didn’t know was that Sophia’s dad nicknamed me ‘the Little Trooper’ for a reason; I swore like one.

“That leaves us with about, oh, two.” Ben called back.

I giggled at the guys, who now started arguing amongst each other, and turned to my brother, tapping his back. “So what are you doing tomorrow?” I asked him, getting my hopes up to finally be able and do something with him after about three weeks of being here.

“Practice and then going over to Barker’s for dinner, why?”

All hope inside me faded and I was left with the feeling to frown, but managed to cover it up and at least attempt a smile. “Oh nothing, I’m just asking. I’ll probably be at home all day studying. We already have a German test after a week of school.” Lie. But I guess it couldn’t hurt to study up the stuff I’ve been lagging behind on in school.

Brent nodded, really caring less, but Troy overheard me, “Why are you taking German when you’re so fluent in French?”

I shrugged, “Guess I wanted to try something new. More credits for college. Four languages pays off in the future.”

“Four?”

I nodded, noticing the full attention was on our conversation now as everyone settled down from their fight on Patty’s low brain cell count. “French as my main, English, Now German, and I know my fair share of Russian.”

“Why don’t you just take French class? Easy credits.” Patty shrugged.

I rolled my eyes, “Because I don’t want to turn into a moron like you.”

“Amelie!” My brother stressed.

“I’m sorry mother; I’ll try and be on my best behavior. But this thunk of pineapple is making it quite hard for me.”

“Thunk of pineapple?” Jonathan questioned.

“It looks bad and smells bad.” I reasoned, giving a good long knowing stare at Patty.

He turned red and grabbed the pillow closest to him. I bolted from there, running to my room while laughing like a crazy maniac, the guy’s booming laughter following me.

“How is that piece of pure hell brought from Satan himself related to you, Seabs?” I heard Patty asking with obvious distaste.

“I just don’t know.” Was my brother’s answer, and the last thing I heard before closing the door to my room and grabbing some nice clothes to change into. I wasn’t wasting my Saturday looking like a hobo and sitting closed up in some stuffy apartment.

**&&**

“I miss you sooo much you guys. There’s nothing to do here.” I exclaimed into the phone, walking down one of the most crowded sidewalks here. Back in Canada, you were the only one on the sidewalk. Here, about my whole home town’s population of 5,600 was on one sidewalk.

“Where did you go again?” Sophia absentmindedly asked.

I huffed out and let Josh take care of this one; it was a three way call anyway.

“Chicago, Sophia, Chicago.” He stressed.

She made some sort of agreeing noise “Right. The one by one of those lakes, right?”

I resisted smacking my forehead, and by the groan Josh made, I could tell he felt the same way.

“Yes, that’s right babe.” I spoke in a tone of voice that would suggest I was lecturing a four year old.

She was about to say something, but was cut off by Josh, “So Amelie, how’s the swim team there?”

I thought over my answer for a moment, “It’s big.” I finally concluded.

“Well, we know that, what else?” Sophia cut in.

I pressed the phone closer to my ear since the noise of the huge crowd was making it a bit hard to hear. “The girls are bitches and I’m hated. You already know that.”

“Give me their names and addresses; I’ll be right on it.”

I laughed out loud at the sound of seriousness in Sophia’s voice, and I was also a bit nervous. If she ever did get to Karissa and the others, she wouldn’t resist punching them.
What can I say? She’s a true Canadian.

“How’s the high school there? Your swim team?” I pressed, turning the attention over to Sophia.

“Meh. You already know that I also made Varsity too, nothing much. Oh, I did beat out their best breast stroker though.”

“But she doesn’t hate you.” Josh concluded.

“Nope.” She popped the ‘p’, “The girls here are actually really nice. We’re like a damn family here.”

“I wish.” I mumbled, “There’s Mae though. I told you guys about her, right?”

“Yeah.” Both of them chorused.

I took in a deep puff of breathe before letting it out. “I’m thinking I should probably start walking back to the apartment.”

“Where are you anyway?”

“Yeah, seriously,” Sophia continued after Josh’s question, “The background sounds like there’s a mob ready to attack or something.”

“Chicago, Sophia. I’m just walking around while Brent’s gone.” I told her in between my laughter, actually turning on the sidewalk and making it past an extremely slow walker.

“Are you sure you should be out in a city like that alone, Am?” Josh questioned, obvious worry in his tone.

I rolled my eyes, “I’m fine, mother.”

“You’re being such a pussy, Josh.” Sophia cut it.

“Well excuse me if I’m just worried about my best friend.” He shot back.

Pretty soon both of them got in a fight and I rolled my eyes, seeing the apartment building appear in front of me. “Alright guys, I’m at home. Talk to you soon. I love you!”

They both called out their goodbyes through the phone and I laughed, taking it away from my ear and pressing the end call button, stuffing it into my pocket and taking out the house keys instead.

The place was empty. As expected. I sighed loudly and bit my lip, looking around. It was four o’clock on a Sunday. Tomorrow would be the start of another week, and I had nothing to do.

Walking to the fridge, I opened the freezer. A grin rose on my face at the sight of a whole carton of ice cream, but it dropped just as fast as it came. I wasn’t allowed any shit food during the swim season; and I’m pretty sure ice cream is considered shit food.

Growling to myself, I went and opened the fridge. Nothing but junk food. How do professional hockey players eat shit all day?

Slamming the fridge door, I stomped to the couch and threw myself onto it, fixing my body into a weird and tangled position.

I don’t know how long I lay there, staring at the blank TV screen. But once the door opened, my eyes didn’t even wander over to check who it was.

“Oh, hey kid.”

I glanced over lazily, seeing Patrick Sharp standing there, looking surprised.

“Hi.” I mumbled back, still not moving, my glance now back on the blank TV.

“You seem to be, uh, having fun.”

I made a noise at the back of my throat and he laughed, “Seabs left you all alone?”

I nodded. “I’m spending my precious Sunday lying on a couch because of him.”

There was a pause and silence. Then he spoke up. “How bout you tag along with us?”

My eyebrows furrowed and I lowered my legs down, sitting up straighter, “Us?”

“My girlfriend Abby and I.” He clarified.

“I don’t wanna be the third wheel, that’s too awkward.” I cautioned, scrunching my nose.

He laughed, and was now standing closer to the couch, “Nah. We really had no idea about what to do anyway. Maybe a stroll around Millennium Park or something.”

I nodded, springing up and running around him, slipping on flip flops and fixing my t-shit and shorts. “I am so ready.”

He laughed again and dangled his keys from his hand. Patrick led me outside to what was his car and I slid into the front seat. The girl in the passenger’s seat twisted around to smile at me. I was stunned by her beauty. Her hair was a natural dirty blonde, and she wasn’t wearing much make-up, but she was beautiful. Her eyes were a light blue, and her smile was full.

Patrick slid into the front seat, turning to her with a grin “You’ll never believe this, babe. I went to get my cell phone, and look at what I picked up on the way.” He teased.

She laughed, twisting around to look at me again. “I’m Abby.”

I laughed, “Amelie.”

“She’s Seab’s sister.” Patrick cut in while starting the car.

“Ah, so you’re the one the guys have talked about. I’ve heard about your multiple tell offs to our beloved Patty Kane.” She had turned around to face the front again, but her eyes met mine in the mirror above us.

I cracked a grin, “He’s just so easy to tell off, it’s impossible not too.”

She winked at me, “Explains why the guys have taken such a liking to you.”

I flushed a little and she must have noticed, because she changed the subject.

“So I hear you’re a swimmer.”

I nodded, looking out the window, a blush rising to my cheeks again. I never liked it when attention was brought to me for things like swimming. “Yeah.”

“It’s a bit surprising. You know, a Canadian and swimming...” She trailed off teasingly.

A grin stretched across my face, I was really starting to like her already. “My parents weren’t too excited about the whole ‘I wanna swim’ thing when I was 6, but they’ve supported me no matter what.”

“Your parents are traveling now, right?”

I nodded politely, “Yeah.”

“That’s so cool; I wish I could do that. It’s like a dream. Traveling Europe, going to Greece, traveling around the world.” She sighed, and I couldn’t help but feel relieved about the fact that she noticed I wasn’t too keen on talking about the subject, and instead took the conversation down another path.

“Yeah, you know, I wanted to go with them, but then there was the whole ‘you need to go to school’ and the ‘you need to at least graduate high school’ ugh.”

Abby and Patrick both laughed. From my spot in the back seat, I could see Patrick’s hand slide from the steering wheel to meet Abby’s which was resting on the hand rest in between them.

They were so in love with each other, and anyone who took a single glance at them could tell. Smiling absentmindedly, I looked out the window again, propping my chin up on my fist.

The drive was a short five minutes. Abby opened her car door and stuck one foot out, but she turned to look back at me with a full straight-toothed smile, “I love this place. It’s so gorgeous, especially in late summer come on!”

She got out and I opened my door. As soon as I stepped out of the car, Abby grabbed my hand in hers and pulled me along, chatting excitedly about how much she loved this park, and how she would love walking through it twenty times a day, even own an apartment with a perfect view of it.

“But I can’t.” She sighed sadly, “Work gets in the way too much.”

I bit my lip, nodding, not really knowing how to reply.

Patrick came up from behind us, “How about some Ice cream?”

I bit my lip and turned to glare at him. Looking surprised and mildly offended upon seeing my glare, he stared back at me, “What?”

“I can’t have ice cream! Our coach banned us from shit food.”

Patrick pursed his lips, his eyebrows furrowing, and Abby burst out laughing.

“Lemonade then?” He questioned.

I thought it over, and eventually nodded, “Lemon’s fruit, right?”

Abby nodded slowly, “Sure. Let’s go with that.”

“Three lemonades it is then.” Patrick confirmed, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and wandering off towards the lemonade stand.

Abby sat down on a bench and I sat down next to her. She looked around the park, and turned back to me smiling and pointing at something. I let my eyes follow and my eyebrows furrowed upon seeing the object.

“What’s a random metal ball doing in the middle of the park?”

She laughed lightly, “It’s not some random little ball, Amelie. It’s the bean. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of the bean before!”

I shrugged, “I’ve been in Chicago for about a month, and I’ve spent about a good ¾ of it swimming, the rest either at home or being a loner and doing my homework.”

Abby laughed again, a light bell-like sound, “Oh come on! It’s amazing!” She stood up, grabbing my hand in hers and pulling me up. She looked around for Patrick and upon seeing that he was making his way over to us, she waved him over, motioning him to walk faster.

“Hey.” He kissed her swiftly on the lips and handed her one of the lemonades.

I thanked him as he handed me one too, and put the straw to my mouth, taking a sip.

“Honey, can you believe that this girl hasn’t yet experienced the bean?” Abby’s eyes locked with Patrick’s.

Grin’s stretched over both of their faces.

I gulped, “So I’m guessing it’s time to experience the bean?”

“Oh. Yes.”