Outstanding
he got involved
Jeffrey Scott Skinner was born under the zodiac sign of the Taurus. Despite the fact that he thought the stars’ predictions and horoscopes were a total showmanship, he was thankful for the good things in his life. His parents believed he had been blessed with a remarkable talent and a great arsenal of virtues. After all, most of his childhood friends had miserable jobs and serious struggles with their lives.
Even though Jeff left Canada a few years ago and did manage to start a successful career, some things never changed. For example, every time he was visiting his parents, Skinner’s mom made him take out the trash, to get hands on the dirty dishes and even sometimes- to help her by using his magnificent cooking skills. Being gifted with the ability to prepare French desserts was something Jeff was trying to keep hidden from his teammates. Elias was the only one who was suspicious of his friend’s passion but he never dared to mention it in the Canes’ locker room.
At the age of ten, Jeff met his new neighbor- Clara- and the younger girl became his best friend instantly. The Janes had moved from Vancouver and their little daughter was the most annoying creature Jeff had ever met. He could clearly remember their first encounter; as his mind was flying dizzily, his memory was taking him to the best moments of his life and Skinner felt lifted; he felt free and weightless.
“Sir, take off your shoes, please,’’ the officer said and Jeff was suddenly pulled away from soaring in his old memories.
“Right, sure,’’ he rubbed his eyes lazily and untied quickly the laces of his snickers. Putting his belongings aside, he continued the Raleigh–Durham International Airport’s routine check.
If he had to be completely honest, Jeff had done that a million times; but there was something about the airports and the planes that made the young hockey player extremely nervous; and flying definitely wasn’t his thing at all.
When Savannah-Lily called, Jeff knew that his best friend was in trouble. He was able to reproduce the message which Clara’s roommate had left that evening; he could also associate it with the loss against the Penguins.
“Hey, it’s Jeff,’’ his sweet voice had been recorded to sound every time he was unable to pick up his phone. “In case you can’t reach me, leave a message and I will call you as soon as I can.’’
Jeff was a professional hockey player. Throughout his entire experience on the ice, he had taken rough hits, he had been exposed to concussions as well. Skinner could put up with anything except for the normal things the regular people used to do. He would never admit it, but dealing with the voicemail took him three hours.
“Jeff, this is very important,” a familiar voice rang through his ears. “This is about Clara. You have to come to Dallas.”
If there was one person aside from his family Skinner was willing to do anything for, then this was Clara Jane. And his heart was racing wildly and so did the blood in his veins; every cell in his body was praying to the merciful Jesus and truly hoping that nothing bad had happened to his girl.
The minute Jeff received Savannah-Lily’s call, he immediately grabbed the first clothes he spotted on the floor of his room, stuffed them in his bag and headed to catch the next flight to Texas.
“Tell coach that I am not feeling very well at all. Cover me up this time, Elias, that is really important,’’ he was asking his Swedish friend for a favor, while he was looking for his keys in the kitchen.
Before coping to get a decent taxi, Jeff tripped three times on his way and awkwardly pretended nothing had happened. Fixing his baseball hat and scratching the back of his head, Skinner returned to his mission. He couldn’t screw up; this was not an option.
His hands were shaking as he was getting closer to Clara’s apartment. He had never been to Dallas before; the city was bigger than Raleigh and definitely more crowded. But Jeff knew the reason his best friend came to Dallas was not the beauty of the city, but the fascination she held for a certain hockey player he did not like.
The car stopped in front of an old building in the distant part of the big city; Jeff was surprised of the choice Clara had made for a place to live at; it was awful and judging by its appearance, most probably dangerous as well. If her father knew, he would have dragged her back to Toronto. A part of him felt guilty as he was climbing the stairs to Clara’s flat; he could be accused for letting her go, for not taking care of her during the past six months.
From somewhere came out a muffled cry of a baby while the mix of different and unpleasant scents was attacking Skinner’s senses, leaving him burning with curiosity and denial. Three floors later, he was facing the wooden door of apartment 546 at last, as his lungs were about to give up. Taking a very deep and long breath, he gathered the courage to knock on the old door.
“Come in,’’ Savannah-Lily let him in carefully and locked rapidly after Jeff came in. His eyes wondered across the room and he noticed the lack of luxury he was able to afford in his place and his heart dropped. He was rushing to come to Dallas in order to help his best friend, but at that moment Jeff found out that Clara had been in need of him the day she moved away from North Carolina; the night she met Tyler and the second Savannah-Lily called him. It all had started a long time ago but it had been him who was too blind to see it.
“This is where you live,” he stated with a trembling voice, not believing he couldn’t even see a plain couch in the kitchen. Instead, there was an old fridge and a sink which seemed to be absolutely dysfunctional. This place reeked of misery.
The ginger-haired girl ignored Jeff’s disgusted expression and took a step back, pointing the direction for him, “I don’t really know, but I guess she is asleep.”
“When did she come home last night?’’ he asked, lowering the tone of his voice.
“You don’t understand,” Savannah answered, furrowing her thick eyebrows together. “It’s been days since she has been out of the bed. I tried everything, but Clara seems irresponsive. I had no other option and I called you.”
Jeff wasn’t that type of person who could lose his temper easily. There was one time when Mike Humphrey stole his lunch in the middle school, which resulted in Jeff throwing a rock at him. Another case was the game against the Bruins, during which he was filmed swearing at Patrice Bergeron. And he knew that what he was about to see was going be the spark that would ignite the fire of hatred against Tyler Seguin.
Skinner opened the door, trying to take small steps at Clara’s room. It was dark and the windows were covered with blue curtains; this was enough to prevent the sunlight from entering. There was nothing more inside than a small bed, a chair and a cupboard. Jeff felt sick; he was unable to believe what he was seeing; Clara had never been like that.
Her sleeping figure was visible and he noticed a bottle of water right next to her. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he gently put a hand on Clara’s shoulder and started rubbing small circles, trying to wake her up.
“Hey,’’ Jeff said and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was her best friend’s smiling and welcoming face; a warm feeling ran through her spine as she smiled back at him.
“You have a game tonight, you shouldn’t be here,’’ she said with her hoarse voice, drenched with pain. She tried to sound cheerful, but she failed. Jeff’s concerned eyes showed her the truth.
“Well, you are my girl. If you want me to leave, then fine,’’ he started to get up and Clara grabbed his hand forcefully; he had to stay.
Jeff’s laugh died when Clara’s eyes met his. He found the pain and the disappointment within her and leaned down to kiss her forehead. Her hair was a mess, her tank top had stains of something yellow, but to him she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
“I was so stupid,’’ she whimpered and covered her face with her hands, turning around from him. If it already hadn’t been enough, the last thing Clara wanted him to see was how broken and damaged she was.
“I am here now, I am going to take care of you,’’ he whispered and slid underneath the blanket, putting his arms protectively around her. Tyler couldn’t hurt her, not now when Jeff was holding her tightly. Clara buried her nose within his shirt and her loud scream broke the silence of the place. The tension of the air was making it impossible for him to breathe; he was loathing every person who had ever caused pain to Clara and his mind was spinning furiously again.
“He promised, Jeff. He did.”
Jeff had warned her. The night she met Tyler, Clara knew he was hopeless; she knew he was going to break her heart, but she believed he would change. For her.
“Tyler is an asshole, stay away from him,” Jeff said, opening the can of pineapples.
“Your opinion is not wanted or valued, Jeffrey,” Clara replied, her irritated tone was a signal she was not going to have in mind or pay attention to Skinner’s advice.
“I want to protect you. This is a very bad idea and you are being reckless. God, would you listen to something that I say just for once!” he dramatically put the plate with fruits right next to his glass of orange juice on the counter; his small tantrum did not have any effect on Clara.
She should have known; she should have listened. But she didn’t and she had to face the consequences of her decisions. Oh, but how right he was. Clara tried to fly without her wings being developed; she took the fall and Jeff didn’t make it in time to catch her.
“It was easier when we were kids,” he said quietly, causing Clara to stop sobbing for a second and to lift her head up, staring directly into Skinner’s deep eyes.
“Why?” she asked innocently.
“Remember when we got into a fight once over those stupid skates? I brought you a pack of chips and a piece of chocolate cake my mom had baked just for you,” he answered and a small smile lit her face up, as he continued. Of course she remembered that. “It’s just, I wish I would fix the things now with some food and a good movie.”
Clara used the back of her sleeve and wiped her red face, sniffing a few times, “I know how to make this right.”
“Come to Raleigh with me. You have to pull yourself together, so live with me,’’ he offered, his pleading eyes full of emotions.
Jeff grew up with Clara; the things she had on her mind were always something he could predict. And at that moment, he knew what he was about to hear was something that wouldn’t appeal to him in the slightest way.
“You have to promise me that if I move in with you, you will help me at any cost. This includes not questioning my actions and my desires. Do you understand?” Clara said with a heavy voice and for the first time in months, Jeff heard the live pouring out of her.
Perhaps if this time he tried to support Clara Jane, rather than going arrogantly against her, then the things could turn out differently. Maybe if she lived with him, he could change her mind; to convince her to have another point to view- a better one, a reasonable one.
If this was a game, then the player who had started it all was Tyler Seguin. A year ago he decided to mess around with Jeff Skinner’s best friend in spite of the Canes’ player’s warning to politely fuck off. Not willingly involved by the tragic turn of the circumstances, Jeff realized that this decision had been made a long time ago. This time, he was not going to let Seguin get away; Jeff Skinner was going to participate in this game.
“What are you going to do?”
“I will ruin him,” Clara replied simply.
Even though Jeff left Canada a few years ago and did manage to start a successful career, some things never changed. For example, every time he was visiting his parents, Skinner’s mom made him take out the trash, to get hands on the dirty dishes and even sometimes- to help her by using his magnificent cooking skills. Being gifted with the ability to prepare French desserts was something Jeff was trying to keep hidden from his teammates. Elias was the only one who was suspicious of his friend’s passion but he never dared to mention it in the Canes’ locker room.
At the age of ten, Jeff met his new neighbor- Clara- and the younger girl became his best friend instantly. The Janes had moved from Vancouver and their little daughter was the most annoying creature Jeff had ever met. He could clearly remember their first encounter; as his mind was flying dizzily, his memory was taking him to the best moments of his life and Skinner felt lifted; he felt free and weightless.
“Sir, take off your shoes, please,’’ the officer said and Jeff was suddenly pulled away from soaring in his old memories.
“Right, sure,’’ he rubbed his eyes lazily and untied quickly the laces of his snickers. Putting his belongings aside, he continued the Raleigh–Durham International Airport’s routine check.
If he had to be completely honest, Jeff had done that a million times; but there was something about the airports and the planes that made the young hockey player extremely nervous; and flying definitely wasn’t his thing at all.
When Savannah-Lily called, Jeff knew that his best friend was in trouble. He was able to reproduce the message which Clara’s roommate had left that evening; he could also associate it with the loss against the Penguins.
“Hey, it’s Jeff,’’ his sweet voice had been recorded to sound every time he was unable to pick up his phone. “In case you can’t reach me, leave a message and I will call you as soon as I can.’’
Jeff was a professional hockey player. Throughout his entire experience on the ice, he had taken rough hits, he had been exposed to concussions as well. Skinner could put up with anything except for the normal things the regular people used to do. He would never admit it, but dealing with the voicemail took him three hours.
“Jeff, this is very important,” a familiar voice rang through his ears. “This is about Clara. You have to come to Dallas.”
If there was one person aside from his family Skinner was willing to do anything for, then this was Clara Jane. And his heart was racing wildly and so did the blood in his veins; every cell in his body was praying to the merciful Jesus and truly hoping that nothing bad had happened to his girl.
The minute Jeff received Savannah-Lily’s call, he immediately grabbed the first clothes he spotted on the floor of his room, stuffed them in his bag and headed to catch the next flight to Texas.
“Tell coach that I am not feeling very well at all. Cover me up this time, Elias, that is really important,’’ he was asking his Swedish friend for a favor, while he was looking for his keys in the kitchen.
Before coping to get a decent taxi, Jeff tripped three times on his way and awkwardly pretended nothing had happened. Fixing his baseball hat and scratching the back of his head, Skinner returned to his mission. He couldn’t screw up; this was not an option.
His hands were shaking as he was getting closer to Clara’s apartment. He had never been to Dallas before; the city was bigger than Raleigh and definitely more crowded. But Jeff knew the reason his best friend came to Dallas was not the beauty of the city, but the fascination she held for a certain hockey player he did not like.
The car stopped in front of an old building in the distant part of the big city; Jeff was surprised of the choice Clara had made for a place to live at; it was awful and judging by its appearance, most probably dangerous as well. If her father knew, he would have dragged her back to Toronto. A part of him felt guilty as he was climbing the stairs to Clara’s flat; he could be accused for letting her go, for not taking care of her during the past six months.
From somewhere came out a muffled cry of a baby while the mix of different and unpleasant scents was attacking Skinner’s senses, leaving him burning with curiosity and denial. Three floors later, he was facing the wooden door of apartment 546 at last, as his lungs were about to give up. Taking a very deep and long breath, he gathered the courage to knock on the old door.
“Come in,’’ Savannah-Lily let him in carefully and locked rapidly after Jeff came in. His eyes wondered across the room and he noticed the lack of luxury he was able to afford in his place and his heart dropped. He was rushing to come to Dallas in order to help his best friend, but at that moment Jeff found out that Clara had been in need of him the day she moved away from North Carolina; the night she met Tyler and the second Savannah-Lily called him. It all had started a long time ago but it had been him who was too blind to see it.
“This is where you live,” he stated with a trembling voice, not believing he couldn’t even see a plain couch in the kitchen. Instead, there was an old fridge and a sink which seemed to be absolutely dysfunctional. This place reeked of misery.
The ginger-haired girl ignored Jeff’s disgusted expression and took a step back, pointing the direction for him, “I don’t really know, but I guess she is asleep.”
“When did she come home last night?’’ he asked, lowering the tone of his voice.
“You don’t understand,” Savannah answered, furrowing her thick eyebrows together. “It’s been days since she has been out of the bed. I tried everything, but Clara seems irresponsive. I had no other option and I called you.”
Jeff wasn’t that type of person who could lose his temper easily. There was one time when Mike Humphrey stole his lunch in the middle school, which resulted in Jeff throwing a rock at him. Another case was the game against the Bruins, during which he was filmed swearing at Patrice Bergeron. And he knew that what he was about to see was going be the spark that would ignite the fire of hatred against Tyler Seguin.
Skinner opened the door, trying to take small steps at Clara’s room. It was dark and the windows were covered with blue curtains; this was enough to prevent the sunlight from entering. There was nothing more inside than a small bed, a chair and a cupboard. Jeff felt sick; he was unable to believe what he was seeing; Clara had never been like that.
Her sleeping figure was visible and he noticed a bottle of water right next to her. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he gently put a hand on Clara’s shoulder and started rubbing small circles, trying to wake her up.
“Hey,’’ Jeff said and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was her best friend’s smiling and welcoming face; a warm feeling ran through her spine as she smiled back at him.
“You have a game tonight, you shouldn’t be here,’’ she said with her hoarse voice, drenched with pain. She tried to sound cheerful, but she failed. Jeff’s concerned eyes showed her the truth.
“Well, you are my girl. If you want me to leave, then fine,’’ he started to get up and Clara grabbed his hand forcefully; he had to stay.
Jeff’s laugh died when Clara’s eyes met his. He found the pain and the disappointment within her and leaned down to kiss her forehead. Her hair was a mess, her tank top had stains of something yellow, but to him she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
“I was so stupid,’’ she whimpered and covered her face with her hands, turning around from him. If it already hadn’t been enough, the last thing Clara wanted him to see was how broken and damaged she was.
“I am here now, I am going to take care of you,’’ he whispered and slid underneath the blanket, putting his arms protectively around her. Tyler couldn’t hurt her, not now when Jeff was holding her tightly. Clara buried her nose within his shirt and her loud scream broke the silence of the place. The tension of the air was making it impossible for him to breathe; he was loathing every person who had ever caused pain to Clara and his mind was spinning furiously again.
“He promised, Jeff. He did.”
Jeff had warned her. The night she met Tyler, Clara knew he was hopeless; she knew he was going to break her heart, but she believed he would change. For her.
“Tyler is an asshole, stay away from him,” Jeff said, opening the can of pineapples.
“Your opinion is not wanted or valued, Jeffrey,” Clara replied, her irritated tone was a signal she was not going to have in mind or pay attention to Skinner’s advice.
“I want to protect you. This is a very bad idea and you are being reckless. God, would you listen to something that I say just for once!” he dramatically put the plate with fruits right next to his glass of orange juice on the counter; his small tantrum did not have any effect on Clara.
She should have known; she should have listened. But she didn’t and she had to face the consequences of her decisions. Oh, but how right he was. Clara tried to fly without her wings being developed; she took the fall and Jeff didn’t make it in time to catch her.
“It was easier when we were kids,” he said quietly, causing Clara to stop sobbing for a second and to lift her head up, staring directly into Skinner’s deep eyes.
“Why?” she asked innocently.
“Remember when we got into a fight once over those stupid skates? I brought you a pack of chips and a piece of chocolate cake my mom had baked just for you,” he answered and a small smile lit her face up, as he continued. Of course she remembered that. “It’s just, I wish I would fix the things now with some food and a good movie.”
Clara used the back of her sleeve and wiped her red face, sniffing a few times, “I know how to make this right.”
“Come to Raleigh with me. You have to pull yourself together, so live with me,’’ he offered, his pleading eyes full of emotions.
Jeff grew up with Clara; the things she had on her mind were always something he could predict. And at that moment, he knew what he was about to hear was something that wouldn’t appeal to him in the slightest way.
“You have to promise me that if I move in with you, you will help me at any cost. This includes not questioning my actions and my desires. Do you understand?” Clara said with a heavy voice and for the first time in months, Jeff heard the live pouring out of her.
Perhaps if this time he tried to support Clara Jane, rather than going arrogantly against her, then the things could turn out differently. Maybe if she lived with him, he could change her mind; to convince her to have another point to view- a better one, a reasonable one.
If this was a game, then the player who had started it all was Tyler Seguin. A year ago he decided to mess around with Jeff Skinner’s best friend in spite of the Canes’ player’s warning to politely fuck off. Not willingly involved by the tragic turn of the circumstances, Jeff realized that this decision had been made a long time ago. This time, he was not going to let Seguin get away; Jeff Skinner was going to participate in this game.
“What are you going to do?”
“I will ruin him,” Clara replied simply.