Time Stands Still

Tyler Seguin woke up the next day. He stretched and climbed out of his bed. He yawned and wiped his eyes to get rid of the sleep there. He gazed toward the window at the side, where the sun’s rays leaked in.

He was ready for the day, smiling, still clouded by his tiredness. He knew that he needed to get ready quickly, as he was due to be at the Texas Rangers’ game. He was going to be throwing the first pitch and he had to be there early.

As soon as his memory came to him, he leapt to his feet and dashed into the bathroom, flinging his sleep t-shirt off of his muscular, athletic body.

****

Tyler had been wiping the sweat that was dripping down his face all game. He hadn't expected it to be this hot when it was only September, but even October was hot and sticky in Dallas. It was in the south after all! And Dallas didn’t have a seabreeze. He put the beer he had been swigging from down and into the cup holder, looking back towards the field to watch batters come out from the dugout.

Watching the Rangers play had started to become one of Tyler's favorite things to do with some of the guys on the team. And this year, they had made it farther, into the playoffs. Most of his teammates had gone out of town, after they had lost the first series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to get ready for next season. During the summer in the past, Tyler had either stayed in Boston, hanging with Brad Marchand or gone home, but Boston was no longer welcoming and home hadn't felt like home in some time, so he rallied up some of the guys left in town and grabbed an old glove, ready to watch some ball.

It was the bottom of the fourth inning, and Tyler was surprised that the big screen hadn't shown him, sitting in-between Jamie Benn and Valeri Nichushkin. Normally the announcers were all over the Stars and other Dallas sports teams, whenever they showed up at a Rangers game.

Tyler thought too soon though.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please help us in giving a big round of applause to the players of our very own Dallas Stars. We can't wait to see them return in the 2014-2015 season!"

Tyler looked up to see him and the other four guys he was with stretched out big on the jumbotron. They all gave their normal "we hate doing this stuff" wave and smiled, Val's the biggest of all the smiles. They were done switching batters which meant it was their cue to stop waving since they would no longer be on the big screen. Tyler laid his hand down back on his lap, taking his baseball cap off his head and dragging a hand through his sweaty hair. He looked around the stadium, it was pretty packed full of people wearing Rangers jerseys, almost the same amount of people that came to their hockey games.

Tyler was still looking around at the crowd, when the game continued, below on the field. He was interested to see if there was anyone else there that he knew. Normally Tyler didn't care about other people, who were yelling each others names at baseball games, because, just like at hockey games, that's what they were all about. He never payed attention to his surroundings, just the game, but the head of someone a few rows behind him, snapped his attention in the direction of the mysterious and suspicious person.

Some guy with a black hoodie stared at him. His eyes were piercing dark brown, almost black in color. He wasn’t necessarily mad, just kind of gazing off, distantly or intently at him, lost in his own mind.

Tyler did the same, only to frown. He knew that they must look like fraternity boys. Jamie whistled low next to him, and Tyler looked towards him and immediately knew he was seeing what Tyler was seeing. The guys that were standing at the end of the row had made their way towards the man and his friend, some girl with a bright red “Harvard” tank top on. Tyler almost thought the girl looked like one of those burly Abercrombie models. He had never been a fan of the store, and to put the icing on the cake, Tyler could see a moose on on the right side of one of the guys' shirts. He chuckled to himself, before grabbing Jamie's attention to show him.

Tyler snapped a quick selfie of him and Jamie. He rapidly pulled up his twitter account and posted the picture, with the caption, “at the Texas Rangers game with @jamiebenn14 and the boys. Great steamy day for some baseball!”

Then he typed up another tweet status that read, “Sucks to be a Red Sox fan right now! #Dallas #TexasRangers #Rangers>RedSox”

Ever since Tyler had been traded to the Stars, Jamie had become the new Brad Marchand to him. The second Tyler was off the plane, they were already grabbing lunch and talking about the future they shared for the Stars and how to whip them into shape. It had turned into a good friendship, on and off the ice, and it made the trade ten times easier.

Tyler and Jamie had always made fun of fraternity guys whenever they would see them in a club or even at a game. They always thought they were so superior to everybody else, and since Tyler never had the chance to join a frat he never got what the big deal was.

Well that counts you out, Tyler's conscious hissed to him, before telling his arm to move and grab the beer that was in the cup holder. Much to Tyler's disapproval, the bottle was empty.

"I'm going to grab another," Tyler said motioning towards the glass, "Anyone want anything?"

Tyler grabbed all the bottles the guys had held up in the air and walked from their third row seats all the way to the concessions stand. There were a few people that whooped and cheered, but Tyler didn't know if it was for him or if something even remotely interesting was happening in the game. He didn't turn around to find out.

The lady looked at the four beers glasses and went towards the fridge to grab new ones, while Tyler pulled some cash out of his wallet. He threw in some peanuts, just in case he needed distraction from the hottie sitting in front of him.

"$25.50 please."

Dang, Tyler thought, Stadium food gets pricier and pricier every season.

It wasn’t that the four beers and peanuts broke his wallet or anything, because not even much could break his wallet. Except a plane, maybe. He quickly paid for the drinks and snacks and dipped his head respectfully, saying, “thank you.”

Tyler walked in silence back toward his seat, he occasionally looking over at the bizarre man, seeing his eyes in the sunlight, as he watched the game settled out in front of him. He was smiling now, as was the girl. She noticed him staring and tried her hardest not to blush, and sometimes she would look towards him in hopes of catching him staring, but every time he turned his head quickly back towards the game.

Tyler was at row six. He gave his buddies a nod, when he reached his row. They smiled back at him. Once Tyler got situated into his spot again, giving each of the guys their drinks, Jamie spoke, "You took a long time. What happened?"

Tyler was staring at the back of the two young adult’s heads, when he answered, "Nothing happened, I just -- the line was really long."

****

The game had gone by slow. It was the top of eighth and the game started to get a little interesting. The sun had started to settle, slowly but surely, and the heat started to lower.

The bases were loaded, with two outs on the board. The Rangers were down, and getting these players onto home would get them into the lead, and probably keep them there for the rest of the game. The crowd was riled up, everyone having had way too many drinks to spare themselves the almighty boring game until this inning. Everybody was on their feet, cheering and screaming, chanting weird things, occasionally doing the wave.

At one moment, he wasn’t sure how it had happened, but he caught everyone looking at him. He looked down, in puzzlement, only to see a ball in his hands. He was grinning largely, but also looked at the red mark the ball left. He winced, but nevertheless smiled.

Tyler looked towards Jamie, once the crowd had stopped cheering and returned to the game, he said, "Do you have a sharpie?"

Jamie bent his brows in confusion, but put his hands into his pockets to check. And of course Captain Jamie Benn kept a sharpie around like it was a necessity. Tyler snatched it out of his friends hand, mumbling a ‘thank you’ and started writing.

The game had ended with the opposing team winning, but the last two innings were worth the first seven.

Tyler glanced behind him again, looking in the direction of the couple. As he looked harder, he saw that the man with the hoodie had unzipped his jacket. (Tyler wasn’t sure why he was wearing the thing in the first place, given the heat!) On the blue colored shirt, underneath he saw the words “Boston University” scribbled across the chest area.

He really thought he recognized the man. And he was so tempted to go over and talk to him and find out, but he left with his friends, before Tyler could do anything.

And that was when his phone buzzed. He read the newest text message. Another threat. From the same anonymous number. “Clever tweet, calling out the Red Sox. Only losers campaign against losers. Make an effort to win, Segsy. Because right now, you don’t deserve the crown, and you know it. You’re not the REAL king.”

He glanced around wildly, looking to see if anyone was watching him. His heart raced in his chest. He was gradually becoming frightened. He was ashamed to say it, but he needed help. But he didn’t want the HDA’s help. He wanted someone else’s.

Someone who was incognito. Someone who was hidden and wasn’t “out there.”

His phone buzzed again. An explanation message came from the number, it said, “You’re not worth all the fame you have. You don’t deserve to be in the NHL!”

Tyler slumped lower in the seat. What was going on? Who was threatening him like this?