Love in the Shadows ~ Dean Portman x OC

Ch. 11: More Silence

Pov: Morgan Tibbles, July 7th, 1994, Asheville, North Carolina
"TEAM USA WINS THE JUNIOR GOODWILL HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP! WHAT A TURN AROUND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I CANNOT"
I turn off the radio and jump around my room. They won! I immediately forget all the magazine drama and just celebrated with myself, wishing I was back with the ducks
"Mom we won!" I ran into the kitchen
"That's nice Morgan. Can you hand me the steak seasoning?" Not really acknowledging what I just said
".... uh yea sure. here" I hand it to her and walk back to my room without another word. I go back to my phone and try Julie and Connie again. Nothing. They're probably still celebrating. They should. I'm happy for them...

I'm good, thanks...

I look at my photos I have pinned to my picture wall. I see my old team. I see my new team. They seem to genuinely like me. I see my mom and dad at my first concert. I look so happy. Everyone looks so happy

So why is no here?

I need to know why she hates me.

I walk out with a pair of sunglasses and a hat on to protect my eyes. I still remember exactly where her house is. "Em lives 2 streets down and to the left. Big house with the pretty awning you can't miss it!" I remember when I hung out with the team for the first time after school. Em had stayed up all night trying to convince my parents to let me join the team. They caved and I was so nervous to met the team the next day. I ended up making a huge fool of myself but turns out that was the exact moment we broke the ice. They were- are- were my best friends.

I walk up to the house. It looks different. The awning is the same but there's less life to it. The bikes were removed from the front yard. The toys and sprinklers were gone. A new car was in the driveway. It's like they grew up without me.

I hesitate before I knock. Maybe this is a bad idea. Whatever. I knock and no answer. I wait for a bit and nothing. I knock again and I now hear their dog, Chester, barking. Her dad answers the door and looks confused

"Can I help you?"
"Uh yea, it's uh me Morgan. I'm back in town for a while and Em isn't answering my calls so I was wondering if she was home?"
"Oh Morgan! How are you?" A warm greeting. That's nice to hear
"I've been good. Busy but good"
"Yea we were reading the papers. You've gotten into quite a bit of drama lately with the paparazzi and now the whole uh hockey thing"
"Oh yea the paparazzi thing is so over exaggerated and the hockey thing is just plain false"
"Oh that's too bad. You know I went to college with John. If his son is anything like him then you should consider it"
"John?"
"John Banks. Adam's father"
Oh what. That's a new tid but of information
"Oh cool. Anyways is Em home?"
"Oh no, she's at work but you're welcome to stay until she comes back"
"Uh... sure yea. Why not"

I walk in and look around. The family photos have changed so much. Em looks so much older. She's taller than her mom now. She's tanner too and she looks really pretty. Her younger brother, Chris, is almost as tall as her, despite being around 10 now. I sit down on the couch and just take in my surroundings. It's good to be back in a more familiar loving place again.

"You can take off your sunglasses and hat you know. The press can't find you all the way out here"
"Oh this isn't because of cameras. I got a concussion at the last Iceland game. That's why I had to go home early"
"Oh Lord are you ok?"
"Yea it's just so frustrating to not be able to do anything without getting a headache every 10 minutes"
"I got quite a few concussions back in my hockey days"
"Yea"

Then it got quiet. We didn't know what to say.

"Uh how's Chris?"
"Oh he's good. Sprouting up now. Up to here on me!" He gestures to his shoulder. Em's dad is 6'3 so that's one tall 10 year old. "He's training for football next season"
"Oh that's fun"
"Yea the conditioning is really turning him into a man"
"I bet. I remember conditioning for the Goodwill Games. All that padding really makes it hard"
"Oh I bet. So uh why'd you get into hockey in the first place? I remember you hated hockey when you were younger"
"Yea well after the whole paparazzi incident, my dad wanted to take me out of the spotlight and he just so happened to have been promoting Team USA so he signed me up. I hated it at first but the ducks have truly become family to me"
"Well that's nice"