More Than Meets the Eye

Alex ran into the Wells Fargo Center as she was pulling her long brown hair into a ponytail. She was running a little late for the dance practice that the ice girls had scheduled last minute. Speeding up she quickly turned the corner and ran into a solid body. She finished securing her hair before slowly looking up. Standing before her was the brand new captain of the Flyers wearing his signature smirk.

"Alex, what brings you to the rink?"

"Don't play stupid Claude, it isn't flattering."

Claude's hand flew up to his heart. "I'm hurt Alex!"

"Well that's too bad but I think you'll move on," Alex commented before trying to passing the overly dramatic ginger. Claude stepped to the left and blocked her getaway. "Can you please move? I'm already late!"

"Hmm, I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Where do you go when you aren't coaching the ice girls? You never tell any of us."

"I do have another job Claude. I have other friends and I sure as hell have better things to do than spend my time with you. Move!"

"I like a challenge Alex. I'll figure you out."

"I dare you!" Alex said before waving and pushing past him. She made her way down the long hallway and into the room that the girls were meeting in.

"Alex! We thought that you weren't going to make it," Casey, one of the ice girls said upon noticing her arrival.

"I'm here, I got ambushed by Giroux in the halls."

"He came in here looking for you right before we were supposed to start," Vicki added.

"Of course he did," Alex sighed before throwing down her bag.

"You know, if Giroux showed as much interest in a girl as he does in you, most girls would be flattered," Casey said to Alex as she grabbed her water.

"I never wanted Claude to become my border-line stalker. I've dealt with enough guys just like him to know that I never want to do it again. Guys like that will cheat the first chance they get."

All of the girls stared at Alex. She had never shared that much about herself willingly. Alex was a very private girl. He parents had a horrifying divorce when she was a teenager and with that she became a closed book. She worked three jobs to put herself through school, the coaching job being one of them. She got along quite well with the girls but they weren't the people she called on a rainy day when she was felling depressed about the way her life had worked out.

"Let's start before we waster anymore time!" Alex exclaimed before motioning for the girls to get ready.

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Alex sighed as she dropped her keys on her counter. It had been a long day. She had gone to school for three hours in the morning before running to her job at an outlet clothing store near her house. Then after her four hour shift that ended at 3 she ran to the book store that she worked at part time during the week. While working her three hour shift she received a text from Casey asking her if she could show up to a practice at 7. Why not? It's not like she wanted to go home and sleep. instead she ran a two hour practice and made it home by 10. Luckily she didn't have to work at the bar tonight. That would have been too much for a day.

Alex grabbed a beer from her fridge and walked over to her couch. She turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels. She finally settled on a rerun of Friends. Halfway through the show she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

Text From Jay
'Do you want to meet for drinks?'

Alex rolled her eyes at her phone hoping Jay would get the point. Jay had been her friend for 12 years before she got too drunk on St. Patty's day and made out with him. From that point on Jay thought that he could use her as a booty call. She decided to ignore her texts. Jay had been using her for long enough. In fact, half of the guys she knew had been using her for far too long. The depressing fact was that she let them.

When Alex felt these feelings coming on, she knew she had to do one thing. She pulled her phone out again. She scrolled through her contacts before selecting one, she dialed the number and waited.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end said.

"Mackenzie, I need to talk."

"You're feeling it again aren't you?"

"How did you know?"

"I've known you since we were in diapers. I know exactly what you went through when your mom packed up your things and left your dad with you. I remember how you handled that."

Alex sighed. Her past was not something she looked back on fondly. "I just can't believe how off course my life has gotten."

"I know. But if we knew exactly how our lives were going to go, then there wouldn't be any joy in living them."

"I guess."

"Hey, don't be down on yourself. Let's meet for drinks. The usual place."

Alex glance at her clock in the kitchen that read 11:30. "Sure, be there in twenty."