Last Chance

"There you are! I was starting to get worried. I seriously thought that Coach was going to leave you behind." Andrea scolded as I took my seat on the bus next to her.
"Sorry, I got tied up at lunch and lost track of time." She looked at me and smiled.
"I'm just happy you made it. Do you wanna catch a movie after dinner? Some of the girls and I wanted to catch the new Brad Pitt flick."
I looked over at Andrea and tried to keep my smile at bay. "Nah, I think I'm just gonna try and actually get a decent night's sleep tonight."
"Fine, suit yourself." She teased. "Did you ever get ahold of Sid?" I contemplated what she asked, not knowing how much I should tell her. I was dying to see him and having her out of the room was the perfect excuse I needed to sneak out. "Yeah, he texted me. We are okay. His battery had died and then he was stuck doing family stuff. I was worrying about nothing."
"See, I told you it was nothing."

Practise was light, we focused on going over some plays for tomorrow's game and I was relieved that I didn't have to push myself too hard, considering I hadn't eaten very much. When I got to the locker room and looked at my phone to see a few messages from Sid.

Sid: Call me when you're done. I need to ask you something.

two minutes later another message.

Sid: BTW did I tell you I love you?

and a minute after that.

Sid: I'm staying in the penthouse. Room 2491.

I actually giggled. He was so cute. I texted him back and decided to wait until I was out of the locker room to call.

Kel: Yes you told me you love me. I love you more. Penthouse? Could ya have been more discrete? Call you soon xoxo

I put my phone back into my bag and jumped into the shower.

*****July 2004*****

I paced the hallway outside the locker rooms. Seriously, how did he always takes twice as long as me to get ready after a game. An inter-league rec shinny league game at that. I had been showered and ready to go for twenty minutes before I saw him saunter towards me. His hair still wet, dressed in a pair of cargo shorts and a black t-shirt. It was then, there, in that moment that he took my breathe away. He was gorgeous. I had known that the things I had been feeling for him for the past few years would probably never amount to anything, I had always for as long as I could remember thought he was cute. But now, he was hot. I scanned him over and wanted nothing more than to run my fingers through his hair. "What are you staring at? I did I forget to do up my fly?" Sid stared down at his shorts. I shook my head.
"What are you talking about, I'm not staring at anything. I'm just shocked that you are finally ready to go."
"Yeah, sorry, we got talking about the game and I kinda got carried away."
"No need to apologize Sid, if you didn't get carried away talking about the game something wouldn't be right. Now let's go before we miss the movie."

**********

The air outside the rink was fresh, and the sun was warm. Figuring I probably had at least another ten or fifteen minutes before everyone would be ready to go I dialed Sid's number and waited for him to pick up.
"Hey you. How was practise?"
"Hey yourself. It was good. For once it wasn't too intense. The penthouse Sid? Really?" I teased
"Umm, yeah. I thought maybe it would be a little more private."
"Well I can't wait to see it. So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked, taking a bite of my Powerbar.
"Uh, yeah, about that. You know this whole situation with Kevin. I just want to make sure that he doesn't get carried away. With you or anyone else."
I groaned. "Not this again. Really?"
"Just wait, hold on Kel. I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. I just want you to promise that if he tries anything that you will notify coach. And if that doesn't work you'll go higher up. I mean like way high up."
"Are you saying you want me to tell Bob about this? Sid, nothing has happened. No way. I'm not doing that. Shit, you are blowing this way out of proportion. Besides, he if the scum bag did ever try to pull a move on me again, I'll be sure to make sure that he doesn't get off that easily ok. Now stop worrying!"
"God I love you."
"Good, and you should know that I've got the situation under control. The girls are going out to the movies after dinner. I told Andrea that I would stay and try to sleep since I didn't sleep last night, although I have no intention of sleeping."
I heard him chuckle. "That's my girl. Meet me in my room at nine?"
"Not a minute later. I promise."

---------------

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to look tired so Andrea wouldn't question my lack of movie going. Dinner was exactly how I had said it would be. Anticipation for the game the next day and discussing plays. I was counting down the minutes until it was done. I sat back in my chair and scanned the room. The banquet room had out of date carpets and cheap wooden tables. I had spent so much time in hotels that I had nothing better to do than scrutinize them when I was bored. I stopped scanning when I saw Kevin. He was in conversation with one of the coaches, but it didn't go unnoticed when he looked up at me and winked. Gross. I finished up my drink and excused myself. Trying to get as far away from him as possible.

Sliding my key card into the lock I was happy to finally be alone for a few minutes. I had an hour to kill before I was going to meet Sid and the waiting was killing me. I turned on the TV and laid on my bed, playing with my phone to pass the time. Angry Birds just wasn't doing it for me so I texted Sid instead.

Kel: What ya doing? Is it nine yet? It's killing me. I'm so bored.

Sid: Come up now, if you can sneak away.

I smiled. Hell yeah I was going to go right now. I was about to write him back when there was a knock at the door. Assuming it was him I giggled and texted him playfully back.

Kel: Wow, you are fast. What did you do, take the stairs four at a time? I'll answer in a sec.

I got up and looked through the peep hole, my heart racing in anticipation. I couldn't wait to see him. My heart immediately sunk when I saw Kevin standing on the other side. Fuck. I closed my eyes and focused on finding a way to get rid of him as soon as possible. I finally put on my best fake smile and opened the door.

"Oh hey Kevin. What a surprise. Nice to see you."
He leaned in the door, hands on both sides of the frame. "Is it? Is it really nice to see me?" He was slurring his words I knew that he had had too much to drink at dinner.
"Of course, it's always nice to see you. Have you been drinking? Can I get you a glass of water?"
"No, no water for me. There is only one thing I want." He reached towards me and tried to pull me into a hug. This was getting way beyond comfortable for me.
"Kevin, I told you, I met someone. We are over. I'm sorry. Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to get ready for bed." I tried to close the door but he had it pushed open before I could move.
"Very funny baby, I know you can't resist the Kevinator." He smiled and flexed his muscles. I felt myself start to gag and quickly turned away from him. "I'm serious Kev. You've got
to go. Go find yourself a little puck bunny or something." I turned to face him and he had let himself into my room and had closed the door. "You're not getting rid of me that easily." He whispered, his tone sharp. He strode towards me, grabbing me by the arms and pushing me onto the bed.
Things had gone from bad to worse and I was having a hard time finding my voice. "Kevin stop it! Get off of me!" I screamed, pushing against him with all my strength. It was no use, he was too strong. I felt him rip my shirt before she started to undo the button my jeans. "Please! Please stop!" I pleaded. "Oh Kelly, if I can't have you, no one can. No one is going to want you after I'm done with you." He growled, his breathe hot on my face smelled of Whisky and cigarettes. Tears rolling down my face, I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to make myself think of anything other than what was happening. I cried out again, begging him to stop. "Stop shouting or this will last twice as long!" He snarled. He was undoing the button on his jeans when I saw my opportunity. He let go of my arm long enough for me to be able to grab his finger and twist. I twisted until I heard a crunch. "Ahhh, you little bitch!" He slapped my face before pushing himself onto me again. I felt the heat in my face where he had hit me and I whimpered. He was still on top of me, when I heard it. The banging, the yelling, I couldn't tell if it was real or not. I closed my eyes as tight as I could, praying it would be over soon, when the weight on my chest was suddenly gone.

There were voices and I heard something break. Maybe the lamp. I tried to sit up and focus my eyes, but Everything was a blur and nothing seemed right. I just wanted to crawl into my bed and wake up and it would all be over. I just wanted it to be over.