Chapter 8

Stephanie

“Stephanie, what happened?” he asks slowly this time.

I jerk my arm away from him, and this time he lets go. “There were too many of them. They swarmed us, and we got tripped up in the crowd, okay? They knocked out Brielle’s glucose monitor and scratched her face. She got hurt because of me, and now Aiden’s going to rip me a new one because I let that happen to her. That”s what happened, okay?” My voice breaks, and I hate it. I swallow and look away.

“Stephanie, I—”

A voice cuts off whatever it was he was going to say. “Hart, get over here!”

I glance over and see it’s his coach yelling at him. Sebastian doesn’t even acknowledge him. “Stephanie, look at me,” he says.

But I don’t. “Your coach is calling for you,” I say with no emotion.

“Stephanie,” he says again.

“You’d better go.”

“Stephanie, Baby, look at me. Please.” His term of endearment surprises me, and I look up. He stares down at me. “I am so sorry.” He’s more serious than I’ve ever seen him. “I will take care of this, okay?”

“Hart!” His coach bellows.

I step back. “You better go.” I turn and walk back up the steps. I can feel his eyes burning a hole into my back, but I don’t turn back. I’m confused and unsteady, something I’m not used to feeling. When I get to the top of the steps, I turn and look back at the ice. Sebastian and Aiden are back on the ice. I watch as Aiden slams Sebastian into the boards. I wince and turn away. Yeah, he’s mad. Just before I turn away, I watch as Sebastian slams Aiden into the boards. My eyes widen when Aiden turns on him. Before they can go at it, their teammates slide between them and push them away from each other. I stare, wide-eyed.

“Well, at least they’re not mad,” Brielle says dryly from next to me. She sighs wearily. “Why don’t you go home, Stephanie? You don’t need to stay here for this.”

“Are you going home with Aiden?”

She nods. “Yeah, he said they won’t be much longer. Thanks for bringing me here, Steph.”

“Of course. I would tell you I’m sorry, but—” I smile, trying to lighten the mood.

“But you’re not allowed to,” she finishes. She hugs me. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” I make my way out of the building feeling worn out. I’m glad it’s the weekend. I’m looking forward to having time to do what I love to do in my free time—writing.

The drive home is forever long, and I fight to stay awake the entire way. I’m so thankful when I finally pull into my driveway, though I stare out the windshield for a few minutes before I finally drag myself inside. I warm up soup out of a can for dinner and crash in bed earlier than I normally would on a weekend night, but I can’t find it in myself to care.

The weekend passes both too quickly and too slowly; but I do get some good writing time in, so I feel good about that. Before I’m ready, I find myself back at school on Monday morning. When I pull into the parking lot, I’m shocked to see two police cars. I find my parking spot carefully. As soon as I climb out of the car, an officer walks over to me. “Miss Winston?” I nod. “I’m going to accompany you to the door to make sure you get there safely.”

“Thank you,” I manage to say as I walk next to the intimidating officer. There’s only a small gathering this morning, and they keep their distance as we get close. I find myself incredibly thankful for the escort. “Thank you,” I tell him again when I get to the front door.

“I heard about what happened on Friday. I’m sorry that happened. We’ll have officers on duty the next few days making sure it doesn’t happen again.”

I nod, dumbfounded. He walks away, and I enter the building. “Did you get a police escort too?” Brielle asks, showing up out of thin air.

“Good morning to you too.” I glance back outside again. “That’s crazy. Aiden must have been so upset.” When I turn back around, Brielle is grinning like a maniac. “Tone it down; that’s blinding this early in the morning.”

“It wasn’t Aiden,” she says.

“What wasn’t Aiden?” I ask, confused.

“The police officers, the extra security.”

“The school hired them?” I ask in surprise.

She stops and looks at me. “Are you genuinely trying to be obtuse?”

“Isn’t that like an angle or something?”

She rolls her eyes. “It was Sebastian,” she says in exasperation.

Her words give me pause. “Sebastian hired the officers?”

She grins. “Yep.”

“Huh.” I start walking down the hallway to my classroom.

“Huh? That”s all you have to say about the fact that the man hired police officers for you?” Brielle asks as she hurries to keep up with me.

“He must have felt guilty after all. Good. He should.”

Brielle stops for a moment and stares at me. “Well, yeah he should because it’s his fault that we’re in the mess we’re in. But still. Don’t you think that’s something?”

“It’s something,” I say, not willing to get into it with her. I know she likes Sebastian; he’s friends with Aiden. And he’s not going anywhere in her life, so she needs to be okay with him. I, on the other hand, do not need to be.

“Oh, and how come you didn’t tell me you were going to the game tomorrow night?” She turns to me, eyes wide. “Sebastian said you’re sitting with his family.”

“Sebastian needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.” The words just pop out. “But yeah, I’m going to the game tomorrow night.” I grimace. “And I’m sitting with his family.”

“How did he get you to agree with that? You can’t stand him.”

“I know.” I shake my head. “Chloe.”

“Oh.” She groans. “That explains everything.”

“Yep,” I say, popping the p. “Just call me Brielle.”

She grins and punches me lightly in the arm. “You wish, Bestie. All right; I need to head to my classroom. See you at lunch?” I nod.

The day passes quickly. At the end of the day, a police officer escorts me to my car again. There’s a smaller crowd now, though. I think they’re starting to get the idea that they’re not going to get a chance to talk to me.

The next morning, there are even fewer people gathered at the school. I’m still escorted inside, but I have hope that this means it’s settling down and everybody can get back to life as usual. I haven’t been blind to the side looks I’m getting from my associates. I really want things to get back to normal.

After school, Brielle meets me in my classroom. “Are you ready for tonight?” she asks.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I tell her without looking up from my laptop. I finish what I’m inputting and close my laptop. “Are you going tonight?”

“No. I’m tired, and Aiden wasn’t too keen on me going by myself after last Friday.”

“I’m sorry, Bri. You could have gone with me.”

“Oh, I know,” she says, waving me off. “But you’re going to be with Sebastian’s family.”

“I could have still driven in with you.”

“I’m exhausted; I just want to watch the game from home tonight.” Her eyes widen. “I should have thought about going in with you, though, so you didn’t have to go by yourself.”

“I’m fine. I just want to get tonight done and over with.”

She nods. “I get that; I’m hoping you have a good time. His family seems very nice.”

“Have you met them?”

“No, but I always see them on camera, and I’ve seen them from time to time after Sebastian’s game.” She shakes her head.

“What?” I ask warily.

She grins. “They’re a loud, crazy bunch.”

I grimace. “So like a bunch of Sebastians?” I ask, not really liking the way this is going.

“Yep. Exactly.”

I groan, and she laughs. “It’s okay. Maybe it won’t be as bad as you’re thinking.”

“It will probably be worse.”

She pats my shoulder. “You’ll make it through. Just remember why you’re doing this.”

“Because I’m an idiot?”

She scowls. “No, so you can get your life back. So people don’t show up carrying signs and calling you...well, what they were calling you.”

I sigh. “I hate hockey.”

She laughs. “You’ll be fine.”

When I stand up, she looks at my outfit. “Please tell me you brought clothes to change into.”

“Nope.”

“Stephanie,” she practically wails.

I laugh; I can’t help it. “What?”

“Remember, how I make you dress for hockey games?”

“Yes, and you’re not going with me, remember?” I grin and grab my bag. “I didn’t feel like bringing clothes to change into. Besides, I dressed down.”

Brielle shakes her head, like she can’t deal with me. “That’s not dressing down, Stephanie. You’re still wearing dress pants.”

“Yes, but I’m not wearing a blazer,” I point out. “Or heels.”

“You’re wearing black dress pants, boots, and a dressy sweater. You don’t look like you’re going to a hockey game,” she points out.

“I happen to love this sweater, so whatever you’re doing isn’t going to work.”

She just shakes her head. “I don’t know how to deal with you.”

I laugh and blow her an air kiss. “Wish me luck on this opportunity to get rid of all my unpleasant company.”

“Good luck,” she calls out after me.

After stopping to grab a coffee for the ride, I settle in. I’m glad it’s not a super late game seeing as it’s a weeknight and I have school tomorrow. When I get to the stadium, it’s crazy. I finally get through the line and to a parking spot. Then I make my way inside along with the hundreds of other people trying to do the same thing. I don’t know how anybody enjoys this. By the time I make it inside and get my ticket from the box office, I’m ready to come out of my skin. The arena is packed. I haven’t been to too many games, and I haven’t been to one yet this season. I forgot how crazy it gets in here. I look down at my ticket again and make my way down the steps, trying to find the right row. I stop at what I think is my row, and I hear somebody shout my name from behind me. I turn and see several people waving at me. The man on the end steps out into the aisle.

“Stephanie?” he asks. I nod. “I’m Sebastian’s dad—Lou,” he says, putting out his hand. And just like that, I freeze up. I somehow manage to put my hand out. He shakes it before motioning me towards the row. “This is my wife,” he says, loud enough to be heard over the music. “Kelly.”

A short woman greets me with a smile. “Hi, Stephanie. It’s great to meet you.” She gives me a warm hug, and I let my arms hang awkwardly.

“You too,” I manage to say.

“Come on in. We left a seat in the middle open for you.” She points to the middle of the row.

It’s then that I notice the entire row of people all decked out in the dark green of the Green Thunder. I also notice that every single one of them—whether adult or child—is wearing a jersey with number 85 on it. I feel completely out of place in my dress pants and sweater. I don’t even let my mind dwell on the fact that Bri tried to warn me. I start making my way to my seat. “Hi Stephanie, I’m Kristin. I’m Sebastian’s sister-in-law.” I shake her hand. “And this is Keith, my husband and Max our son.” I shake more hands and move towards the middle. I finally manage to get to the middle of the row where there are two empty seats. I sink into the second one.

“Hi,” a woman next to me says.

I turn to her and force a smile. “Hi, I’m Stephanie.”

She smiles. “I know. I’m Tina, Sebastian’s older sister.”

I shake her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

She looks down at my outfit and smirks. “Not a hockey fan, huh?”

I grimace. “Uh, no.”

She grins. “That’s okay. Don’t worry. My brother’s got you covered.” I get a bad feeling when she bends down and picks up a bag and hands it to me.