Echo

Tyler:

So it's been awhile since that first night Nicole and I met and things have been going great, but many people think that I'm some rookie who only cares about partying and having fun. But they are all wrong, I love hockey and I'm so great full to be playing in the NHL, but people just keep takin things I say and do the wrong way. 

Nicole really had been there for me though. I know almost any other girl would have given up on me, but Nicole has stuck with me through everything. This weekend is the road trip where we bring our dads, but I'm not as excited as my teammates. I went to Nicole's apartment after practice to hangout. I went inside and she was making lunch. "Smell amazing, what are you making?" "Pasta, your favorite." "Yes! I've been craving pasta all day." I walked over and hugged my girlfriend and kissed her. 

My girlfriend 

It feels great to actually be able to call a girl that. "So, are you excited for the dads road trip this weekend?" She turned and looked at me after she strained the pasta. "Um, not really. I had to talk to coach about that today." I got up and walked over to the coach,  Nicole quickly came over and sat down next to me. "Why did you have to talk to coach?" I let out a big sigh as I turned off the tv. Nicole sensed something was up and she grabbed my hands. "Ty talk to me." 

"It's my dad okay, he isn't coming this weekend. And it's not because he's dead or sick or anything like that, it's because he doesn't care." I started to get mad and I could tell it made Nicole nervous. "What do you mean Tyler?" She rubbed my arm to try and calm me down but it did nothing. "My dad left me, he left my family. I was fourteen when he decided to abandon my family.  I've hated him ever since!" I shot up off the couch startling Nicole. 

"He just left us, he left me to be the man of the house. It was so hard watching my mom break down when she found we had nothing left. We came home from one of my games and the house was trashed, anything worth taking was gone. He wiped every bank account clean, my mom was left with barely enough money to support us and I couldn't do a thing. The only thing I wanted to do was find my dad and kill him!" 

Nicole sat with tears rolling down her face as she watched me pace back and forth trying to get rid of the anger. "Tyler." "The worst thing is he would send her checks that he said were only to be used for me to play hockey and nothing else. I really didn't want to play, but my mom signed me up every year and used my dads checks to pay for it." The tears were flowing and I didn't care anymore because if Nicole stuck by me before I know she will stand by me    after I tell her this.  

"And when I asked her why she kept signing me up she said 'Tyler, you are going to make it someday and I want to see you make it, and once you've made it you won't have to worry about not having enough money for clothes or food or gas or whatever, honey you will make it there.' and I believed her and she was right, and that's why I get so upset when I can't play because all those years  leading up to juniors and even when I played juniors, it was all for my mom, not me or anyone else, just her." 

I looked at Nicole and saw the tears falling from her eyes, I was so mad I just needed to get out of there before I blew up. "Nicole I'm sorry, I'm just, I need to go." I went toward the door, but Nicole stopped me. "The only place you need to be right now is here okay?" She wrapped me in a hug as I fell to the floor crying.  "I'm sorry you have to deal with this stuff Nicole." "Tyler, I wouldn't trade you and your problems for any other guy." "Oh Nicole." "Yeah Ty?" "I'm not hungry anymore." "Okay." We both laughed as we sniffled and wiped the tears from our cheeks. 

Nicole really does seem like she could be in this relationship for the long run, let's just hope I don't mess it up.