Queen II Barzal

Chapter Nine: Tyler

 Uncle Ethan and Aunt Shreya stayed at the hotel overnight. They came back to our house in the morning. Mom and Dad left early and Ethan and Shreya were supposed to babysit us.

"Tyler," Ethan woke me up. "You have a game today, right?"

"Five more minutes," I put my face under the covers.

"Does Barzy let you get away with that?" He asked.

"Yes," I lied with my eyes shut.

"Damn, he's weak," Ethan mumbled. "Wake up, Tyler,"

"Fine," I got up and brushed my teeth when Ethan left the room.

I slid on my jersey and went to Riley's room to wake him up.

"Yo, Riles," I said. "Wake up,"

No response.

"Riley," I said. "We're leaving in ten minutes, you better get your ass downstairs,"

He took the pillow from under his head and threw it at me.

"You get your ass downstairs," He said. "I'm staying,"

"Uncle Ethan said that you're coming," I said. "Just come, please,"

"I'll be down soon," He said.

I went downstairs to fill up my water bottle. Uncle Ethan handed me a granola bar for me to eat before the game.

"Is Riley still sleeping?" Aunt Shreya asked.

"He said he'll be down in a minute," I told her.

"We're gonna take him straight to his game after yours," Ethan said.

When Riley came down and got his things together, we piled in Ethan's truck to go to my game.

Both Riley and I played pretty well and we both got a goal. After Riley's game, Shreya and Ethan had the pleasure of meeting Steve.

"Who are you?" Steve asked Ethan and Shreya.

"I'm Ethan Thomas," Ethan said. "I play as a centerman for the Hurricanes,"

"The hockey team?" He asked.

"Yeah," Ethan said.

"Cool," Steve said.

"Hey, Steve, you played great today," Riley's teammate Clayton came up to him.

"Thanks," Steve said. "You kinda sucked in the first few minutes, though,"

I saw Uncle Ethan furrow his eyebrows and roll his eyes.

"Kids," He mumbled.

Steve has been known for being somewhat of a jerk to basically everyone. Sometimes, even Riley. I tried to tell Riley, but he's too stubborn to realize it.

The next weekend was my tournament. I was so excited to go with my dad. I packed my bags and left them by my door as I went to school.

The best feeling was being taken out of school early for a hockey tournament. It was late into my Friday and now I wouldn't need to take my math test. I'm not too bad at math, but still, at least I don't have to take it today.

I was taken out of my English class and Dad already had my bags in his car. He was waiting in the front office for me and took me to the car.

"You ready for this?" He asked. "It's a big tournament,"

"I was born ready," I smiled and looked at him.

He gave me a hug before we went to the car. Zack's mom saw us and waved as she came up to the car.

"Are you going to the tournament too?" She asked.

"Yeah, we're on our way," Dad told her.

"See you there!" She waved as we left the school parking lot.

We got to the hotel and I met up with Finn and Zack. It was starting to get late, so Dad went to get us all some food before we went to bed. Honestly, I wasn't going to sleep tonight. Hockey tournaments are the best, there's no mom to tell me when my bedtime is.

"Alright, Tyler, you should probably get to sleep before the game tomorrow," Dad told me in the hotel lobby as I played UNO with the guys.

Well, there's no Mom, but of course, there's Dad.

"Can I finish the game?" I asked.

"Fine," He said.

I purposely kept drawing cards so I wouldn't have to leave. The guys caught on and did the same.

"Are you serious?" Dad asked, catching on as well.

"The game isn't over until we have no cards left," I said.

"Looks like the deck is running out," Dad said, pointing to the middle deck with only a few cards.

Crap, I didn't think of that.

I started throwing out my cards, not wanting the game to end. We spent a good five minutes finishing off the game. Max lost, throwing his cards in the middle of the table.

"Aw, shit," He said. "You guys are such cheats,"

I rolled my eyes, knowing he was directing his resentment to me. I always win at UNO, not because I cheat, but because I'm so freaking awesome.

I eventually went to my room with Dad. He let me have the bed while he took the pull-out couch. I stayed up watching college basketball but eventually fell asleep.

We ended up winning the first game but losing the next two. I scored one of my best goals that day, which I was super proud of. Dad taught me how to do the shot in between his legs, the shot that he's the most famous for. I didn't do exactly that, but I put it between my legs to beat a defender. Once I was in the clear, I took a wicked slapshot that hit the back of the net.