The Hockey Life - A Patrick Kane Fanfic

Part Twenty-One - Drama

PART TWENTY-ONE: DRAMA

In Dylan’s P.O.V.

Hockey is my therapy. It always has been and always will be. Today, I would have to depend on it to keep my head up, because what happened at the United Center earlier felt like a punch in the face. However, as I walked into the locker room, my teammates filled the room with their antics and I was already in a better mood.

“Hey, how was practice today, Zuniga?” my teammate Jason asked, already halfway into his practice jersey.

“Yeah, what went down with you and Lena?” asked another teammate.

“Nothing but the usual. That and I found out that she has a boyfriend,” I answered. My slightly heightened mood went back down again. I would need to start practicing to feel better.

“She’s had a boyfriend the whole time?” Jason guessed, appalled at the news.

“No, it just became official today. They’ve been flirting though. I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t expect it to actually happen,” I explained.

“Do you know the guy, then?” he asked, prying further into my personal life. I was used to it though. Anyone who’s ever been on a team before knows that they become your family. After a while, you don’t even care what they know anymore, because they’re bound to find out sometime.

“Yeah, it’s Patrick Kane.” Everyone started talking all at once when I said it, but I didn’t want to talk about it. Chris, the captain of the team, was understanding, luckily.

“I’m here for you if you need me, man,” he said. I nodded and got dressed. A few minutes later we were out on the ice and our coach had us doing drills. I focused on nothing but practice and I put my heart and soul into every save I made and every drill I participated in. Being in goal took a lot of focus, and that focus couldn’t be broken, but eventually it was. About halfway through practice, Jason pointed her out to me. There was a girl sitting at the top of the lowest level of seating. I recognized her as once. Long, wavy, dark brown hair, startling blue eyes, and the same outfit as earlier. It was Lena, and she was looking directly at me. I had to look away. I needed to finish practice. I had to zone back out.

I tried to focus again, but the remainder of practice didn’t heal me the way the first half did. When I got off the ice and began to make my way to the locker room, I tried to avoid Lena, but I couldn’t. She was yelling my name to grab my attention. My teammates gave me cautious looks as they continued on towards the locker room and I stayed where I was, letting Lena catch up to me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to play it cool like nothing was wrong.

“I came to see you practice,” she said with a small smile. It quickly faded as she added, “But I mostly wanted to see what was wrong and make sure you were okay.”

“What makes you think there’s something wrong?” I asked, but I knew that pretending wasn’t an option anymore.

“Come on, Dylan. I haven’t known you for very long, but I know you well enough to figure out that you’re not acting normal,” she said.

“Fine. I was just a little surprised at you and Patrick, I guess,” I sighed.

“Well, I don’t really see how it’s that surprising, after New Years,” she commented. New Years? What was she talking about? Jonathan invited all the interns to his party, including me. I was there, so why didn’t I know what she was referencing?

“What do you mean? What about New Years?” I wondered.

“He was my New Years kiss. He asked me out on a date before I left too. I thought you knew about that,” Lena told me.