He Shoots, She Scores

Carrie grabbed her phone and dialed a number she knew by heart. Lacey was not only Carrie’s best friend but her sister and she knew that in her times of need Lacey would always be there to help her pick up the pieces.

“Hey I’m thinking it’s an angry music and venting kind of night.” This was a way that Carrie and Lacey had relieved there stresses in the past. They would both sing along off key but it didn’t matter to them they weren’t trying to Impress anyone.

“Wow it only took him a few hours to push your buttons. I might have to kill this kid, but in a way I’m kind of proud of him for getting you this angry. Impressive, for a rookie, that is.” Carrie couldn’t help but laugh, Lacey always seemed to make situations easier to deal with.

“Just get your scrawny butt over here before you make me drag you by your ear.” Carrie joked back.

“No need to waste your energy on me, plus, you’re going to want it for the next time you see him. I will be right over.”

“Yeah this is true. Hey could you maybe bring your muscles with you I have some ….packing to do.” Carrie was not at all ready to come to the realization that she would be leaving her home, the place she had been all her life. Let alone to go live with a guy she just met and was supposed to be getting married to, her fiancée, the word still got stuck in her throat when she tried to say it out loud.

“Packing for what?” The confusion was evident in Lacey’s’ voice but then again confusion was Lacey’s middle name.

“I will tell you when you get here. It’s something I can’t really tell you over the phone you need to be in a safe place when I tell you.”

“Ok? ....Well I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Carrie hung up the phone and went down into the basement to grab some empty totes and cardboard boxes. By tomorrow she would be in a new house with a man who she couldn’t quite stand at the moment. If she was to be told a month ago that she would be living in the same apartment as Nathan Gerbe she would have just blushed at the thought of even sharing a glance with him. Right now she didn’t even want to see his face. It’s funny how things can change in an instant. Carrie Carried up a few totes and boxes up the stairs when she heard a car door close and her dogs ran to the door barking uncontrollably. She didn’t even feel like dealing with them at the moment so she just pushed them out of the way and opened the door for Lacey. They went up to Carrie’s room and plopped down onto her bed.

“So packing… What’s this all about? You’re not planning to run away right because if so I will have nothing to do with that!” Lacey stood up in protest and then smiled and whispered “If you need a place to hide there is always room at my house.”

Carrie just laughed at her best friend she was starting to feel better already. It’s amazing how a friend can make you feel even at the worst times. “I’m not running away, trust me right now it seems like a plausible idea but I know my father would find me so it’s not an option. I just never thought it would be like this you know. I thought I would just one day run into some guy in a store and we would look into each other’s eyes and know it was just meant to be. It sure wouldn’t be like this. How can you go from living a carefree life to being fixed up with your future husband because your parents thought it would be a good idea. I’m gonna find the dummy who decided that arranged marriages was a good idea and strangle him.”
The two carried on for a while as they packed things into boxes. Time was flying by and at about 2:30 in the morning everything was packed into boxes, and the girls were exhausted. In the midst of the packing one of them must have packed up the pillows and blankets from off the bed leaving only a bare mattress. The girls curled up on the tiny bed and feel right to sleep not even bothering to change their clothes. Plus Carrie had packed them away anyways.

With Nate

Nate woke up the next morning around 5:30 after a rough night of sleep. It hadn’t even been a whole 24 hours and he had already made his fiance angry with him. He couldn’t help but think about it all night. He had to make it all right with her but he just had to figure out how to do that. Carrie was different than the other girls that he knew she was stubborn but in a way that made her seem like she was independent and could fight her own way through life. He couldn’t lie, he enjoyed that about her but getting on her good side again might take a little more than just saying he was sorry he had to do something big. Nate dragged himself to the shower and let the hot water wash away his grogginess and wake him up. After a good 20 minutes of just standing in the water he got out and got dressed for practice.

When he arrived at the arena he felt a little better. Being on the ice always brought a smile to his face and he couldn’t hide his excitement to be doing what he loved. To think that it all started with pond hockey was crazy but it was also what made him so grounded and able to do this every day. Nate walked into the locker room and over to his locker. He threw on his padding and his practice jersey, while he was lacing up his skates he heard someone plop down next to him.

“So how’s the whole fiance situation going?” Nate looked up to see teammate and good friend Tyler Ennis at his side. Tyler was the only teammate he told about the whole situation with Carrie, he trusted him and knew that he would be there for him through it all.

“Oh you know just screwing up royally. Just your usual engaged couple.” Nate dropped his head in his hands showing his frustration.

“Well aren’t you the charmer. What did you do?”

“I guess I just thought she was just another one of those girls. But she’s not she’s actually interested in hockey and she’s smart and cute and I feel like I judged her before I knew anything.”

“Well the first thing you did wrong was think we all know that never ends well.” Tyler chuckled enjoying his own joke. Nate rolled his eyes at him and he stopped getting back to his serious self.
“Dude, you have something special right here how many times do you actually meet a girl who you can be yourself with. We would all be lucky to be in your situation well minus the whole arranged marriage thing, that’s a little rough.”

“Yeah I know that’s why I want to make it up to her I just don’t know how.”

“Well I know you will come up with something and whatever it might be I’m here to help just let me know what you need. But we got to get out there and practice.”

“Ok let’s go, hey do you think you could actually help me with something after practice.”

“Yeah no problem what did you need?”

“I have to move Carrie’s stuff over to my apartment and I might need you there to relieve some tension.”

“Yeah, no problem”

“Thanks Enzo”

They finished getting ready and headed off to practice. Nate hopped onto the ice, loving the feeling of his skates scrapping against the smooth surface. Nothing could take his joy away that is until he looked up and saw Derek across the rink. A small frown played at his lips and he knew he had to talk to Derek he just didn’t know how to put it. He made his way across the rink rehearsing the conversation in his head but he couldn’t figure out a way to tell Derek to back off without causing tension between them.
“Hey Roysy, can we talk?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Well you see….um...well...it’s about Carrie… the thing is…”

“I know where you’re going with this” Derek cut Nate off in his struggle to not let the conversation become awkward, which he was failing to do. “I get it you like her I mean why wouldn’t you she seems like a really great girl and she’s a real hockey fan. If I were you I wouldn’t let this one go.”

“Wow well that was easier than I thought, but how did you know that?”

“I saw the way you looked at her it was obvious to all of us, and I might have read it wrong but she seemed really interested in you I mean even my charm wasn’t working on her and it never fails.” Derek smiled in his cocky way.

“Hey, thanks man. I just hope this doesn’t affect us in anyway.”

“No not at all were teammates we have to work together. But you better treat her good man she’s a good girl, I’m sure you will make her happy though.”

“Yeah I sure hope so.” Nate mumbled as he skated off and carried on with practice.

After practice Nate and Tyler made their way over to Carrie’s house where they were greeted by Carrie’s mother. She let them into the house and told them that the girls were sound asleep upstairs. They took a seat at the table to wait for the girls to wake up.

“So can I get you guys anything to drink.” Carrie’s mother offered, trying to make her future son-in-law feel as comfortable as possible.

“No thanks” Nate and Tyler said in unison.

“Well if you want anything else just let me know. So if you don’t mind me asking what is happening between you and Carrie it usually takes a lot to get her this upset.”

“You see I made the mistake of misjudging her hockey knowledge and I was proven wrong, really wrong. I just don’t know how to fix things.”

“Oh I see now, yeah Carrie is very knowledgeable when it comes to hockey I can see why that would upset her but all you have to do to get back on her good side is to tell her you messed up tell her you were wrong and just be honest with her. Just letting her now she was right will make her feel better about the situation.”

“Thanks, I will defiantly do that. I can admit that I was stupid to jump to conclusions. Plus if I’m going to marry her we both have to be happy. I can start with moving those boxes into the truck and letting her sleep.”

Nate and Tyler made her way up to Carrie’s room and began to quietly move boxes. They were on the last box when Carrie stirred in her bed. She lifted her head to see Nate with his back to her lifting up a box from her floor.

With Carrie

Even though she was mad at him Carrie had admit Nate was extremely cute even from behind. She heard someone walking up the stairs and quickly put her head back down in her own embarrassment. Then she heard a voice that didn’t belong to either one of her parents, it seemed familiar but she couldn’t figure it out and then it was gone along with Nate. She turned towards Lacey who was knocked out as usual. She shook her and she just grumbled and rolled over.

“Lacey! Wake up.”

“Ugh no thanks.” She mumbled almost inaudibly.

“Lacey you need to get up now. I’m not sure if I’m right but I’m pretty sure that Tyler Ennis is in my house.” With the mention of his name Lacey quickly turned over anger and excitement crossed her face as she slowly woke up.

“You’re not playing games with me right. Because if so I’m might just have to hurt you.”

“No I’m serious I could have swore I just heard his voice.”

Lacey jumped up off the bed and raced for the bathroom. Carrie rolled onto her back and laughed at the sight of her best friend flailing out of the door. She hoped for her sake that he was really the voice she heard because if it wasn’t Lacey would come after her and even with her small stature that girl could get scary. Carrie sat up on her bed and dangled her feet over the side. She glanced around the room and for once it looked big but also at the same time small like it was closing in on her. She was leaving the place she had known so well and moving in with a guy who she barely knew besides the information on the back of his hockey cards. It was the beginning of a new life, one she never thought would be possible, and not to mention she was supposed to marry someone who was not exactly what she had expected. The only question that was running through her head was why was this happening to me?