Changing on the Fly
Hello
“That Bitch!” Ciara said punching the couch.
“Ciara, what is it?” I asked worried about what had suddenly made her so angry. She turned her phone on speaker and replayed the message.
“Hey Ciara, it’s your mother, I was just calling to let you know that I am in Pittsburgh and I am so proud of you honey. I always knew you would make it to the NHL. I am coming to your game tomorrow night and I can’t wait to see you. Good luck, I love you.” With that the message ended.
“Oh C this is great! We can finally meet your mother! This is exciting.” Max said excitedly, it was obvious that Ciara hadn’t told him about her mother, which is really weird considering how close she is with Max.
“Hey Max can you leave us to continue to talk things out.” I said after a few moments of silence.
“Uh” Max paused. “Sure, call me C, if you need a ride home or anything.”
“Will do” Ciara said her voice slightly off.
“You didn’t tell Max about your mother?” I asked once Max was out of my house.
“No, I haven’t told anyone here. Only a few people know the real reason why my mother left.” Ciara said leaning back on the couch taking a couple deep breaths.
“So why did you tell me?”
“I feel like I can trust you.” She paused. “Also I have been needing to tell someone about her and I haven’t told you the complete truth either.” She paused again collecting her thoughts on whether or not she was going to tell me the full truth.
“It’s ok, C, you don’t have to tell me.” I said as comforting I could be, without being awkward. But I am a very awkward person so I wasn’t doing a very good job at it.
“I need to tell someone.” Ciara said before she started with the situation. “When my parents split my dad got custody of us, however we would visit my mom every other weekend and Wednesdays. Though during the weekends spent at my mother’s she wouldn’t take me to my hockey games or practices. So my father would pick me up from my mothers and then bring me to my hockey games and practices before bringing me back. My mother got upset with that because she didn’t condone me playing hockey, so she started dwindling down the visits. Finally she had enough and just packed up and left without any warning. She didn’t tell anyone at all, when we went over for our scheduled visit all that was left in her apartment was a note for me.” Ciara pulled out a battered piece of paper from her purse and handed it to me.
Dear Ciara,
I hope you are happy for breaking up this family. It is completely your fault. People may tell you that it is not your fault but it is all a lie. Girls should not play hockey! It is not proper or right. You won’t be able to play past high school that’s if you are able to play in high school. You have absolutely no hockey skill what so ever. I you’re your life sucks worse than mine did when I had to deal with you.
Mom
“Ciara” is all I could say after I read that she just looked down. “Your mom has no reason to be in your life.”
“I know. Even though my father, sister, and brother repeatedly reminded me that it was not my fault my mom was a bitch and split our family apart I still believed her.” Ciara explained. “I even quit hockey for a little while because of her. I thought that was the only way to get her back but when she didn’t return my Dad convinced me to continue to play hockey to prove her wrong.”
“Now look where you are.” I told her pulling her into a hug. “You are lighting up the highlight reels.”
“Yeah” Ciara murmured into my chest. We just stood like that for a few minutes while she calmed down.
“Do you want to watch a movie and get food?” I asked.
“Are you sure, I feel like I have already took too much of your time, you probably have a date tonight.” Ciara rambled.
“Nope, no date, plus I could use some company.” I smiled at her.
“Ok if you are sure.” She said.
“I am.” I said as I walked into the kitchen to grab some take out menus. “What would you like for dinner?”
“Pronto’s” Ciara stated quickly.
“Buffalo Chicken Wedgies?” I asked my mouth instantly watering.
“It’s like you are inside my head.” Ciara replied and called Pronto’s before I had a chance too. “It will be here in a half hour.” She said once she hung up.
“Good, I am starving.” I said as I took a seat on the couch throwing the unused take out menus on the coffee table and turned on the TV to the Miracle.
*87*87*87*87*87*87*87*87*87
“We are witnessing greatness here tonight folks.” The announcer John said during the second intermission.
“You are completely right, John, Blysma decided to change Hartmann to a winger and put her on the same line as Crosby.” Jack stated. “Before today Blysma wouldn’t have even thought about changing the lines to put those two together. Especially since there were rumors of trading Hartmann, since the captain and her weren’t getting along.”
“By the way they are playing today you would never had guessed that.” John stated. “Just take the four goals the pair got in the first and second periods. When Crosby and Hartmann are passing back and forth they are not even looking where the other person is it is like they know exactly where the other is.”
“Now let’s take you back to Eric and Aiden for the third period.” Jack said before the camera went to Eric and Aiden.
“Hold onto your seats, the third period is about to begin.” Aiden began. “The puck drops and Crosby wins the face off. Hartmann and Crosby are against Marc Staal and Giradi. Crosby passes the puck to Hartmann, Hartmann passes it back to Crosby, Crosby gets past Giradi now it’s just a 2 on 1. Gooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllll!”
“Aiden did you see that move? Staal is still confused, Hartmann just took him back to school with that, but she couldn’t have done that move without the help of line mate Sidney Crosby.”
“This game was absolutely crazy; the Crosby Hartmann Duo was unbeatable!” John said after the game ended the Penguins winning 8-0, 6 of the goals coming from Hartmann and Crosby. “Jack is down with Crosby and Hartmann now.”
“That was a great game you two had today.” Jack opened up his interview. “Ciara how did it feel playing wing?”
“It felt normal, I used to play wing until my sophomore year. It was like I was going back to my roots.” Ciara answered honestly.
“Sidney, how did it feel playing with Ciara on your line?” Jack asked.
“Wonderful, Ciara has an amazing set of skills that just become even better because of her work ethic. She and I have great chemistry on the ice that it was easy to adjust to the change.” Crosby said shooting looks over at Ciara throughout his answer.
“Speaking of chemistry, it was rumored that you two weren’t getting along in the locker room, but now it seems completely the opposite.” Jack stated.
Ciara looked at Sidney not knowing how to go about this interview but Sidney knew exactly what he was doing. “C was getting along with me just fine, I was just having trouble adjusting to her.” Sid paused. “Not because she is a girl playing hockey but because she is just like me. Her work ethic, her ability, her attitude, everything I just didn’t realize it until recently.”
“Interesting.” Jack stated before closing off the interview.
*87*87*87*87*87*87*87*87
Once Ciara and I made it to the locker room cheers broke out. Jordan came up to Ciara lifted her up and spun her around. “Holy crap guys, you should have been friends since the get go and we could have been undefeated.”
“Hell yeah now we stoppable!” Geno cheered.
“Geno, buddy now we are unstoppable.” I said slapping him on the back.
“Well Ciara and Sid, you two are the shit.” Flower said coming over to us.
“No Flower, you are the shit, you are the one that got the shut out.” Ciara congratulated Flower.
“Fine the three of us are the shit.” Flower said raising mine and Ciara’s hands like we just won the fight.
“Who wants to celebrate?” Geno asked causing all of us to raise our hands. We quickly got changed and headed to the family and friend waiting room to grab Vero before heading out. However Ciara stopped dead in her tracks, I looked to where he gaze was fixed and saw a woman that looked exactly like Ciara but older and less muscular.
“Hello, Ciara.” The woman said.
“Hi, mom.” Ciara said bitterly.
“Ciara, what is it?” I asked worried about what had suddenly made her so angry. She turned her phone on speaker and replayed the message.
“Hey Ciara, it’s your mother, I was just calling to let you know that I am in Pittsburgh and I am so proud of you honey. I always knew you would make it to the NHL. I am coming to your game tomorrow night and I can’t wait to see you. Good luck, I love you.” With that the message ended.
“Oh C this is great! We can finally meet your mother! This is exciting.” Max said excitedly, it was obvious that Ciara hadn’t told him about her mother, which is really weird considering how close she is with Max.
“Hey Max can you leave us to continue to talk things out.” I said after a few moments of silence.
“Uh” Max paused. “Sure, call me C, if you need a ride home or anything.”
“Will do” Ciara said her voice slightly off.
“You didn’t tell Max about your mother?” I asked once Max was out of my house.
“No, I haven’t told anyone here. Only a few people know the real reason why my mother left.” Ciara said leaning back on the couch taking a couple deep breaths.
“So why did you tell me?”
“I feel like I can trust you.” She paused. “Also I have been needing to tell someone about her and I haven’t told you the complete truth either.” She paused again collecting her thoughts on whether or not she was going to tell me the full truth.
“It’s ok, C, you don’t have to tell me.” I said as comforting I could be, without being awkward. But I am a very awkward person so I wasn’t doing a very good job at it.
“I need to tell someone.” Ciara said before she started with the situation. “When my parents split my dad got custody of us, however we would visit my mom every other weekend and Wednesdays. Though during the weekends spent at my mother’s she wouldn’t take me to my hockey games or practices. So my father would pick me up from my mothers and then bring me to my hockey games and practices before bringing me back. My mother got upset with that because she didn’t condone me playing hockey, so she started dwindling down the visits. Finally she had enough and just packed up and left without any warning. She didn’t tell anyone at all, when we went over for our scheduled visit all that was left in her apartment was a note for me.” Ciara pulled out a battered piece of paper from her purse and handed it to me.
Dear Ciara,
I hope you are happy for breaking up this family. It is completely your fault. People may tell you that it is not your fault but it is all a lie. Girls should not play hockey! It is not proper or right. You won’t be able to play past high school that’s if you are able to play in high school. You have absolutely no hockey skill what so ever. I you’re your life sucks worse than mine did when I had to deal with you.
Mom
“Ciara” is all I could say after I read that she just looked down. “Your mom has no reason to be in your life.”
“I know. Even though my father, sister, and brother repeatedly reminded me that it was not my fault my mom was a bitch and split our family apart I still believed her.” Ciara explained. “I even quit hockey for a little while because of her. I thought that was the only way to get her back but when she didn’t return my Dad convinced me to continue to play hockey to prove her wrong.”
“Now look where you are.” I told her pulling her into a hug. “You are lighting up the highlight reels.”
“Yeah” Ciara murmured into my chest. We just stood like that for a few minutes while she calmed down.
“Do you want to watch a movie and get food?” I asked.
“Are you sure, I feel like I have already took too much of your time, you probably have a date tonight.” Ciara rambled.
“Nope, no date, plus I could use some company.” I smiled at her.
“Ok if you are sure.” She said.
“I am.” I said as I walked into the kitchen to grab some take out menus. “What would you like for dinner?”
“Pronto’s” Ciara stated quickly.
“Buffalo Chicken Wedgies?” I asked my mouth instantly watering.
“It’s like you are inside my head.” Ciara replied and called Pronto’s before I had a chance too. “It will be here in a half hour.” She said once she hung up.
“Good, I am starving.” I said as I took a seat on the couch throwing the unused take out menus on the coffee table and turned on the TV to the Miracle.
*87*87*87*87*87*87*87*87*87
“We are witnessing greatness here tonight folks.” The announcer John said during the second intermission.
“You are completely right, John, Blysma decided to change Hartmann to a winger and put her on the same line as Crosby.” Jack stated. “Before today Blysma wouldn’t have even thought about changing the lines to put those two together. Especially since there were rumors of trading Hartmann, since the captain and her weren’t getting along.”
“By the way they are playing today you would never had guessed that.” John stated. “Just take the four goals the pair got in the first and second periods. When Crosby and Hartmann are passing back and forth they are not even looking where the other person is it is like they know exactly where the other is.”
“Now let’s take you back to Eric and Aiden for the third period.” Jack said before the camera went to Eric and Aiden.
“Hold onto your seats, the third period is about to begin.” Aiden began. “The puck drops and Crosby wins the face off. Hartmann and Crosby are against Marc Staal and Giradi. Crosby passes the puck to Hartmann, Hartmann passes it back to Crosby, Crosby gets past Giradi now it’s just a 2 on 1. Gooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllll!”
“Aiden did you see that move? Staal is still confused, Hartmann just took him back to school with that, but she couldn’t have done that move without the help of line mate Sidney Crosby.”
“This game was absolutely crazy; the Crosby Hartmann Duo was unbeatable!” John said after the game ended the Penguins winning 8-0, 6 of the goals coming from Hartmann and Crosby. “Jack is down with Crosby and Hartmann now.”
“That was a great game you two had today.” Jack opened up his interview. “Ciara how did it feel playing wing?”
“It felt normal, I used to play wing until my sophomore year. It was like I was going back to my roots.” Ciara answered honestly.
“Sidney, how did it feel playing with Ciara on your line?” Jack asked.
“Wonderful, Ciara has an amazing set of skills that just become even better because of her work ethic. She and I have great chemistry on the ice that it was easy to adjust to the change.” Crosby said shooting looks over at Ciara throughout his answer.
“Speaking of chemistry, it was rumored that you two weren’t getting along in the locker room, but now it seems completely the opposite.” Jack stated.
Ciara looked at Sidney not knowing how to go about this interview but Sidney knew exactly what he was doing. “C was getting along with me just fine, I was just having trouble adjusting to her.” Sid paused. “Not because she is a girl playing hockey but because she is just like me. Her work ethic, her ability, her attitude, everything I just didn’t realize it until recently.”
“Interesting.” Jack stated before closing off the interview.
*87*87*87*87*87*87*87*87
Once Ciara and I made it to the locker room cheers broke out. Jordan came up to Ciara lifted her up and spun her around. “Holy crap guys, you should have been friends since the get go and we could have been undefeated.”
“Hell yeah now we stoppable!” Geno cheered.
“Geno, buddy now we are unstoppable.” I said slapping him on the back.
“Well Ciara and Sid, you two are the shit.” Flower said coming over to us.
“No Flower, you are the shit, you are the one that got the shut out.” Ciara congratulated Flower.
“Fine the three of us are the shit.” Flower said raising mine and Ciara’s hands like we just won the fight.
“Who wants to celebrate?” Geno asked causing all of us to raise our hands. We quickly got changed and headed to the family and friend waiting room to grab Vero before heading out. However Ciara stopped dead in her tracks, I looked to where he gaze was fixed and saw a woman that looked exactly like Ciara but older and less muscular.
“Hello, Ciara.” The woman said.
“Hi, mom.” Ciara said bitterly.
♠ ♠ ♠
Sorry it took so long. Hopefully the next one wont take as long to get out! Enjoy :)