amorist

two weeks.

two weeks. fourteen days.

that's how long it took grace to get over jackson.

those fourteen days consisted of grace crying, eating her weight in chocolate brownie ice cream, her friends trying to make her feel better, and going to her writing classes.

"i need to get out. let's go to one of those sports games." grace said to her roommates.

"why not a football game? i understand football." ella asked. harley elbowed her in the side, glaring at her.

"right," ella whispered, "how about we go to a hockey game."

grace smiled and raced up to her bedroom to change-black leggings, black and white nike sneakers, and her michigan sweatshirt.

"is that what you're going to wear?" ella questioned. she was wearing jean shorts and a plain colored tube top.

"yeah. it'll be cold there, hence the players playing on the ice. you'll be freezing." grace told her.

"im afraid grace is right el, you'll be freezing to death." harley agreed.

"ugh, i can't even look cute. im trying to get someone to hook up with, but if i go dressed like a bum i wont get anyone." ella whined.

"fine, have it your way. but if you complain that you're cold, neither of us will help you." harley told her.

the three girls left their apartment and walked the five minutes to yost ice arena. they bought three tickets in the student section and made their way to their seats.

grace sat down and watched the players warm up. she knew a few names from the team, hearing people talk about them in class, but she personally didn't know any of them.

"hockeys fun, you'll like it." harley told grace. "it's exhilarating."

michigan was playing bowling green, the first game of the new season. when the time came that the game was going to start, michigan announced the players for michigan.

"number nineteen, brendan brisson!" the announcer yelled, making the stadium go crazy.

grace sat up straighter, looking for the name they just called.

"what was his name? the one they just announced?" grace asked harley.

"brendan brisson. he's a sophomore and a forward." harley told her. grace nodded her head, becoming nervous.

"what's up? you seem, anxious?" harley asked.

"what? oh, nothing. the name sounded familiar. i guess people talk about him in my classes." grace shrugged her shoulders and focused back on the players, mostly on number nineteen.

the game started and grace watched the puck being passed back and fourth between the teams.

a minute into the game, kent johnson scored with an assist from matty beniers.

grace cheered with her friends and the many students around her. harley was right, hockey was fun.

nine minutes later, brendan scored and grace caught a breath in her throat.

it can't be the same brendan.

up on the screen, they showed brendan, and sure enough, it was the brendan who talked to grace.

two weeks ago.

suddenly, grace became nervous. she didn't know why. she was sitting in the stands and he was out on the ice, so why were the nerves coming so soon?

"hello?" ella asked, waving a hand in front of grace's face. she blinked her eyes a few times and looked over at ella.

"we're going to go get food, do you want anything?" she asked.

"no. no, i'm good. thanks though." grace smiled. her two friends left the seats, leaving grace alone.

she pulled out her phone and immediately looked up brendan on instagram. scrolling through his pictures, she made mental notes of where the pictures were taken and who he was taking pictures with.

"we're back." harley said, sitting down next to grace.

"good timing, second half is about to start too." ella smiled.

"period, ella. second period." harley chuckled.

"same thing." ella scoffed making grace smile.

ella and harley put their attention on the game, while graces attention was more towards finding out where brendan was.

either he was on the bench-most of the time, or he was out on the ice-for what seemed like a lot of the time.

the puck was coming down towards the student section side and grace saw brendan fly off the bench and over to the puck.

in just a few seconds brendan was right in front of her, trying to get the puck. front row seats meant that you got to see all the action and hear what the players are yelling.

brendan looked up for one second and saw grace sitting there. he blinked a few times before skating down to the other end to get the puck again.

the game ended almost two and a half hours later, michigan with a dominating win over bowling green, 7-1.

grace followed behind her friends as they tried to leave the arena. it was hard to leave and it was hard to stay behind them.

she eventually lost them in the crowd and she started getting overwhelmed.

when left alone in big group settings, grace got anxious. now was one of those times and she was nervous that she was going to have a panic attack. right here in front of a whole crowd of people.

tears filled her eyes as she tried to push through the many fans attempting to leave the stadium.

ultimately giving up, she found a sign for the bathroom and tried her best to get over there. successfully getting out of the crowd, she glanced back at, hoping that it would all be gone in five minutes.

wiping the tears with the end of her sweatshirts sleeve, grace turned around and was met with a familiar face.

number nineteen. brendan brisson.