Explosions

Snow fell gently outside Charlie’s window when she woke up late that December. She would need to leave soon to go pick up her family from Andover to make their way to East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Patriots were playing the Jets at one, and her dad had gotten tickets from a friend at work.

She’d been in Boston for three weeks now. Her family had helped her pick out a small house just west of Boston, and it took her thirty minutes to get to work, barring there was no traffic. She always left early, though, and made it on time. The one-bedroom house was quite a change from J.J.’s four-bedroom. It was cozy, and it had a fireplace – her favorite feature as the weather grew colder.

Everyone in the Celtics organization was terrific to her. She picked up learning very quickly and was on her own after only a week. She had met most of the players by Christmas, so she got a feel for what all their personalities were. Charlie was fitting right in in Boston again, and she couldn’t be happier.

The Texans were on their way to the playoffs if they could hold on the next two weeks. She watched them every Sunday religiously. They had lost to the Bills, and then lost again to her Patriots. She knew that loss had to sting extra to J.J. A win against the Colts, however, put them back in the running. They were on top of their division so far.

Charlie had missed Thanksgiving and her first chance to go see June. She spent Christmas with her family, at least, and for the first time in a long time, she felt at peace. They had gathered around the tree, laughing and drinking, and for the first time in forever, the Elliott family was happy. Charlie had dreamt of this her whole life. She hadn’t imagined it being this late in her life or without her brother, but here it was.

Charlie had grown quickly attached to Amir Johnson, a power forward for the Boston Celtics who did a lot of work in the Boston community. She would help him and his girlfriend organize benefits for children of low-income families and sick kids in the hospitals around the city. He did a lot of work to help keep teens out of gangs and drugs, and it was through the latter that she found him.

She had spoken to the families about the impact of drugs in the community at two of his benefits just before Christmas. The first was difficult. Kyle had died only just over a year ago, and she was unprepared for the wave of feelings that hit her. The second benefit, she was better able to control her emotions. Some of the teens had questions for her, and she answered them as honestly as she could. It had been awhile since she had done any sort of charity work, and she had missed it.

Charlie pulled up to her parents’ house, and they came out holding only a handful of items. Jim climbed into the front seat and handed something to Charlie. She furrowed her eyebrows, but he smiled.

“We found it while we were going through a couple of your old boxes,” he said.

She held up the small bundle, and she smiled as the white number 12 revealed itself over the mesh navy blue fabric. She leaned over and kissed her father’s cheek, and he chuckled.

“Where would a Patriots girl be without her Tom Brady jersey?” he said.

“I’ve been looking for this for a long time,” she replied. “Thank you, Dad.”

Olivia climbed in wearing a Patriots stocking cap and sweatshirt, and their mother was wearing her Julian Edelman jersey. She grinned at her daughter and touched her shoulder gently.

The drive to MetLife Stadium was just over three hours away, and it was filled with mindless chatter from the four of them. Her dad was very interested in when they would all be getting tickets to a Celtics game. Wendy had rolled her eyes and asked about how her work was getting along, though she had just heard about it under a week ago. Charlie humored her and explained her new projects to her family.

Olivia had told Charlie a year ago that she wanted to move to the Midwest after she graduated. Graduation came this past May, and Olivia had decided she needed another year to think about it. At Christmas, she’d revealed she would be studying abroad in London for six months, starting after St. Patrick’s Day in March. Charlie had become so proud of her sister. Olivia had graduated with a degree in behavior and health. She had already interned at a social services building in Boston, where she was currently working. She had decided to further her studies by seeing another country’s work as well.

The Elliotts sat fairly close to the tunnel where the players entered and exited the field, but Charlie’s eyes had been drawn to the other side of the stadium. Ryan, unknowing of her presence in the stadium that day, laughed and joked with his teammates. He threw for three touchdowns, and she looked on as he kept perfectly on pace with her precious Tom Brady. She laughed to herself, thinking how ridiculous this whole situation was.

The Patriots fans made themselves heard when the game went into overtime. They had elected to kick, essentially giving the Jets a head start in what should have been an easy win. Charlie knew it wasn’t so, though. Ryan had had the best year of his career with the Texans, and he was having an even better one with the Jets. The Patriots had been in trouble since they walked into MetLife that afternoon.

A touchdown pass from Ryan to Eric Decker sealed the deal. The Jets had won, and the crowd around them erupted. Her family was devastated, and Jim turned to leave. Wendy stopped him, seeing Charlie’s eyes fixed on Ryan.

The cheers and applause seemed lost to Charlie. She stared at Ryan, his smile breaking through the crowd of football players. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest. She watched him laughing with his teammates. He gave his post-game interview. Time was slowing down by the second, and she saw him approaching the tunnel with a couple other players.

“Ryan!” she found herself shouting.

Everything surrounding her seemed silent. She was sure he couldn’t hear her. The noise around her was deafening, but she shouted again. Olivia put her hand on Charlie’s shoulder, but Charlie brushed her off and pushed toward the edge of the tunnel.

“Ryan!” she shouted again.

She stuck her hand over the edge and yelled it again.

He looked up, and he stopped dead in his tracks. She felt her heart skip a beat, and he handed his helmet to his teammate. He reached up and took Charlie’s hand. He smiled at her. Brandon Marshall, walking a few feet behind Ryan, stopped and looked up. He smiled and whispered something to another teammate.

“Charlie!” Ryan shouted. “Charlie, how are you here?”

“I got the job!” yelled Charlie. “Ryan, I got the job!”

She leaned over the rail to see him better, and she watched as two other players got underneath Ryan. He shook a little, waiting for them as they hoisted him up. Olivia and Wendy stood behind Charlie. Charlie put her hands on Ryan’s face. He smiled and held her hand. He pressed his forehead against hers.

“Charlie,” he said, laughing slightly. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

She brought her lips to his. He put his other hand on the back of her neck, and she smiled as he kissed her back. She could feel the heat coming from his body. She felt eighteen again as cameras began flashing. She ran her fingers through his hair and rested her hand on his chin. She felt him smile again as he kissed her yet another time. She felt him shaking slightly, and she knew his teammates were getting restless below.

She hovered there a moment as his teammates set him back down. He stared up at her, smiling and still holding her hand. She gripped his hand tighter as he moved away.

“Charlie, I”-

She couldn’t hear him. He was lost in the crowd of media and Jets staff. Some of the cameras were pointing at her as she touched her lips and smiled.