In Drummer Heaven

The Hockey Player

"Come on." I say as I pull Tommy through the Blackhawks arena.

"We're going to get in trouble." He says and I roll my eyes.

"We are not." I tell him as we make it to the service elevator.

"Were you one of those troubled teenagers that my mom warned me about?" Tommy wonders with a laugh.

"Not in Chicago. New York, definitely." I say and his eyes grow.

"Should I be scared?" He wonders as we ride the elevator.

"Do you trust me?" I ask and he kisses my forehead.

"Not as far as I can throw you." Tommy laughs as the elevator stops.

We end up in the attic, it's dark and dusty but I know where I'm going. We walk for about five minutes until I see the hole in the floor with an ladder leading down. I crawl down the ladder and step onto the top of the jumbo-tron. Tommy follows me and stands beside me.

"Where are we?" Tommy wonders and I smile.

"Look down." I say and his eyes grow. "Not scared of heights are you, T-Bone?"

Tommy looks down and sees the ice rink beneath us. I sit down and look around.

We used to sneak up here when we were in high school. We'd watch the Blackhawks practice then turn around and go to the game later that night. This was our spot and no one else ever came here. We used to like being up here because everything else looked so small.

I had three best friends when I moved here in the ninth grade. I was always one of those girls who hung around with guys more than girls because there was less drama. My friend group was Derek, Emerson, and Ken. Emerson and Ken were cousins and Derek was their best friend since about kindergarten. I don't quite know why they befriended me, we were all in the same home room and loved to piss off our home room teacher.

They invited me to go ice skating one day after school and Amy told me that I had to make friends and that I should go. At that point I was never in skates before in my life and the three of them were all hockey players. So it was a lot of me falling on my ass and them holding me up. I didn't have skates so Emerson dug around in his attic until he found an old pair of his skates that would fit me. This became our ritual until I learned how to stake, the boys made it their mission to teach me how to skate and by January I could skate perfectly. Even after I learned to skate we went skating together regularly.

By the end of the tenth grade Derek and I were dating and it was great. I mean we were always together anyways. We were together five months when I told him I was moving out to Los Angeles and for obvious reasons he didn't understand that at all. We got into a big fight over it, he didn't want me to go and I left anyways. I haven't talked to him or Emerson or Ken since I moved.

Tommy sits down beside me but he's still looking around.

"Every really does look so small." He admits, I grab his hand and knock my head into his shoulder.

"I used to come up here with my friends, we used to watch the Blackhawks practice." I explain and he smiles.

"How am I not surprised?" Tommy wonders as I play with his fingers. "You ever miss it here?"

"I don't miss school if that's what you mean but I miss going to the Blackhawks games and I miss Amy. I mean I missed her having two babies." I admit. "If I could go back in time I'd still go to LA, I'd still chase my dream because I got lucky and my dream came true."

"I got lucky twice in this life time." He says and I look up at him. "I was lucky when my band made it and I was lucky when I met you."

"I love you." I say and sit up straight so I can kiss him.