An End To The Distance Read online

  “Look, I’m not gonna walk on egg yolks for you like the rest of the team just so I won’t piss you off. Are you good or not? Because if you aren’t I’m here. I’ll be whatever you want me to be; your mother, your sister, your shrink. Whatever. I just need to know if you’re game ready.”

  Kat looked up at Francesca, a glint in her eyes that Francesca detected as terror, angst or both. Kat turned away from her teammate and the two walked in silence. Kat let the calm of the city streets be the sound over the awkward silence she was currently sharing with Francesca.

  “It’s egg shells.”

  Kat quietly said after a moment or two of silence.

  “What?”

  “Egg shells, Frances. And Peyton is coming to the game tonight.”

  Francesca stopped and cocked her head to the side to look at her teammate.

  “Peyton, Peyton? Well fuck.”

  Kat shook her head and lazily placed her hands into her sweatpants pockets before sighing heavily.

  “So sorry if I’ve been more bitchy than my usual self but I am so angry, and happy and nervous as fuck all at the same time and I don’t know how to handle all of that.”

  The two best friends stayed silent for the rest of the walk to the hotel and Francesca didn’t decide to speak until they reached the elevator.

  “Okay."

  Francesca nodded.

  "Okay what?"

  I can work with that now that you’ve explained your behavior but first let me say, Kat, you cannot keep everything to yourself. As much of a hardass you want to be, you cannot stand on this world alone.”

  Kat rolled her eyes and kicked a piece of snow.

  “There are people here for you and you shutting us out will only make your life miserable. Now as for Peyton, I hate to be the bear of bad news--I think that’s how you say it—but Peyton is as important as that little spec of snow falling on the ground. You cannot let her get to you. I totally understand that you’re going through the emotions, that’s normal, but this game is crucial and you and me, we’re the crucial assets to winning this game okay?”

  Francesca yanked Kat’s long mane of hair and smiled.

  “Okay.”

  PEYTON made sure she was running late so she would hopefully get there when the game was over. She had bathed twice, brushed her teeth three times and she now was currently sitting on her bed, pretending to contemplate over which jacket to wear while trying to drown out her sister’s voice from the other side of the hotel door.

  “Peyton come on! Since when have you put so much thought into your outfit! We’re going to miss the pre-game view.”

  Peyton quickly scanned through her suitcases, trying to drown out her sister’s voice while simultaneously making the hardest decision of her life of which sweater would look good on her skin.

  “Fuck…I’m coming!

  Rhian touched her sister’s shoulder, whispering from outside the hotel door.

  “Hey, don’t rush her. If she wants to look good, she wants to look good.”

  “Who dresses to the fucking nines for a match?”

  “Her. She…she wants to look good for Kat.”

  Peyton later opened the door with a huff and waited for her sisters to comment.

  “Well don’t you look pretty.”

  Peyton stared down at her outfit. So maybe she brushed her teeth extra, scrubbed herself until her skin was dry and thought more than five seconds about her outfit not because she didn’t want to be the first one to arrive to the game but because she wanted to look good for Kat. She would never admit that to her sisters. Not even to herself.

  “I wasn’t trying to look pretty.”

  “Why is your hair down then?”

  “My hairtie popped.”

  “Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

  THE three siblings met up with their parents and drove to Friends Arena stadium. Kat had given them nice seats. They were practically on the court. Peyton wasn’t at all pleased with this. She even looked up to see if there were empty nosebleed seats available. Unfortunately the stadium was packed. Her knee constantly bopped up and down and she tore the nails of off her fingers impatiently waiting for the teams to come through the tunnel. A filthy habit she had just developed in the past five minutes.

  “I um, I’m gonna get something to eat. Does anybody want something…besides beer?”

  Her family all answered with the same response of no.

  “Okay.”

  Peyton ducked through the seats, nearly tripping over her feet, too busy looking for Kat to put one foot in front of the other safely as she walked up the steps. The food line wasn’t very long and Peyton grunted when she got up there. She was hoping for at least a ten-minute wait. Sighing heavily she smiled thinly at the employee as she stepped forward and ordered herself a hotdog. She took her pack of beer and walked back to her seats. It was much noisier and Peyton looked on the court nearly dropping her dog when she saw the Finland team warming up on the court. Peyton scanned the court for Kat. It was hard to make her out. Every person was dressed in the same training gear. Peyton sat down and munched on her hotdog watching both teams warm up.

  When it was time for Finland’s national anthem, Peyton stood up and removed her snapback. She looked at Kat who recited the entire song and when it was over she shook out both of her legs and jumped up and down; a pregame ritual for both of them when they played together. Peyton sat down and watched Kat as the whistle blew. She had gotten better, faster even and seemed completely focused. Peyton adjusted in soft seats and relaxed. There was no need to fret over an awkward encounter with her an Kat while she was playing. For now, she would enjoy the beautiful game.

  WHEN Kat scored, it was just before the ending of the first half. Peyton, her family and the rest of the stadium jumped up all at once and cheered, with a couple ounces of beer spilling in the process. Andrea nudged Rhian’s shoulder in excitement and whistled while Peyton grinned and clapped. Kat raised her fist in the air before all of her teammates tackled her. They jogged off the court and into the stadium. First half was over. Peyton took out her phone and took the time to take a photo of the stadium. Her ears perked up when she overheard the American commentators mention Kat.

  “We’ve seen a lot of fouls this match from both teams. It certainly was expected. HIFK and UST have never exactly played a match clean so to speak. Although, Terranis has been doing well with her behavior on the pitch these last few games. Let’s hope that doesn’t change tonight.”

  “You’d think if Terranis would’ve taken more shots on goal this first half, she would’ve had more in the back of the net than just one, zero lead.”

  “Yeah. I talked to Coach Karten earlier about how he changed the formation playing a 4-4-2 with a diamond in the middle. Terranis and Björn up top, which is probably the reason why Kat isn’t taking as many opportunities as she could. There’s not a lot of communication between the two on the court.”

  Peyton pulled out her phone and searched Kat to see just what type of trouble she was getting into. She saw images of Kat with a black eye from her social media feed along with other disturbing pictures of Kat enraged. Peyton wondered if Kat’s drastic behavioral outrage was because of her but then shook the hopeful thought away as the two teams walked back on the court. Second half began and Peyton focused her sight on the game, reclining in her chair. Everything would be fine, she thought. She’d thank Kat for the tickets, (or get her sisters to.) fly back to America and everything would go back to normal.

  Rhian leaned in Peyton’s ear and whispered,

  “We need to talk about your little girlfriend situation.”

  Peyton’s eyes widen. All sound seemed to cease except for the pulsation of her heart in her ears. She wondered if it was in fact her heartbeat or something else because she could’ve sworn her heart had dropped to her stomach. The sound of whistle came racing back into Peyton’s eardrum so loud that she lunged forward in her seat and made way for the court. Kat was hurt.

  TW
ENTY FOUR

  TEGAN sat on the veranda outside of the cottage and watched the quiet, ethereal scenery in front of her. She had snagged a black beanie from Jasmine’s coat closet as well as a fleece jacket of hers, however she was only wearing boxer briefs on her bottom and argyle socks on her feet that were too thin for her liking if you asked her. Her face paled and her breath hitched as a soft wind picked up and crept in her skin. She was beyond freezing, but she needed to get out of the cabin as quickly as possible before Jasmine woke up. She had scattered around her room, trying to find a suitable pair of pants but most of her suitcases were still in Jasmine’s car and God forbid she walk near that thing and some alarm goes off. So she sat in the biting cold, goosebumps covering her bare flesh, and closed her eyes listening to the satisfying sounds of nature. She squinted her eyes as if it would rid her of the images forever stored in her memory bank of last night’s events but her powers of recall were strong as ever and all Tegan could do was flutter her eyes back open. The water was a deep cerulean wash now and the trees were virescent as ever. Tegan sighed and continued to swing her legs back in forth in the rocker. Even with her eyes open, she could still see the unfortunate events that took place just some measly seven hours ago.

  Tegan had pulled away from Jasmine, her eyes dark with lust and her lips parted, soft, rapid breaths escaping from them. She had muttered something incoherent before running to her room and locking the door behind her. Several expletives were muttered into her pillow that night and not under the circumstances she wanted them to be. Jasmine’s temerarious behavior had sent Tegan so deep into shock; her initial response was to run. The first time Jasmine shows her any type of endearment and she runs away? Jasmine probably spent the entire night building her walls with a thicker, sturdier substance, vowing to never again let them back down.

  “Hey,”

  Jasmine’s voice, as husky and velvet as it was, startled Tegan. Tegan looked up to see her leaning through the doorway barefoot with just trousers and a checkered flannel on. Her arms were folded across her chest to contain her warmth and her face was still printed with her pillow as if she just had woken up.

  “I made coffee. Come inside.”

  Tegan followed Jasmine inside to the kitchen and took a seat at the stool her coffee was placed in front of while Jasmine’s back faced her as she fixed herself a pot of tea on the stove.

  “Where’s your pants?”

  Jasmine chuckled quietly, turning to face Tegan, leaning her elbows on the counter.

  “Uh, in your car.”

  “And why is that?”

  Tegan raised her mug to her lips and took a lengthy swallow, preparing her next words carefully.

  “Uh, we never got the suitcases out...We had to carry in the tree.”

  Tegan reminded Jasmine.

  “Oh. Right.”

  Jasmine turned around just when her pot started whirling and poured the hot liquid into her cup, closing her eyes as she took her first sip.

  “So I know it’s early but the earlier we get there, the better.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Just get dressed.”

  Jasmine reached in her drawer and threw Tegan the keys to her truck.

  “Here are my keys. You’ll need your pants for this.”

  AS Jasmine drove, she tapped a mindless beat with her thumbs against the steering wheel. Tegan sat plastered in the passenger seat, fearing that if she showed any sign of life, Jasmine would strike up a conversation with her about last night. She figured staying still would deny her presence. The ride was exceedingly silent. Such tension filled the air, it made Tegan want to scream. She stuck her tongue in her cheek, staring at Jasmine using her peripheral vision. She might as well get it over with so her and Jasmine can at least enjoy the rest of their Christmas break before they never speak to each other again.

  “I’m s—”

  Before Tegan could get a word in, Jasmine cut her off with a drawn out assessment of nature.

  “You know, it’s absolutely beautiful out here. Still to this day it’s astonishing the many things Mother Nature can do.”

  Tegan turned to look at Jasmine who was smiling off into the distance. She seemed completely unaffected by last night. Tegan rolled her eyes. The walls were back. Tegan had worked so hard to tear them down; it was going to take forever to do it again. She sulked back in her seat and stared out the window. The snow began to fall heavily and Tegan counted the snowflakes to distract her mind from having an anxiety attack.

  Jasmine tightened her grip on her steering wheel. Her soft humming turned more into a groan as time passed. The events from sat night were still etched into her brain. She was upset, angry, and embarrassed. She paused for a moment, deciding which response she was feeling the most.

  Anger it was.

  Jasmine’s jaw was set and her eyes narrowed. She was sure her grip on the steering wheel was going to tear off the expensive leather, yet she held it tighter. It was everything in her power she could not to demand an answer for Tegan’s foul behavior last night. The one time she lets her guard down and Tegan runs away? Fucking fine. Tegan was right, the walls were back and were thicker than ever.

  “We’re here.”

  Jasmine breathed.

  Tegan removed her stuck forehead from the window and looked through the windshield to see a large building with flashy neon lights coming through the doors.

  “What is this?”

  “Ice Carving Festival.”

  Before Tegan could respond, Jasmine had already put her truck in park and was halfway to the door. Tegan rolled her eyes and almost had to sprint to catch up with Jasmine’s wide gait. She tugged on her scarf, tightening it around her neck as a soft drift began to pick up.

  There were laser lights of all hues resting on the ground, camera men running around everywhere and huge blocks of ice in the middle. The show inside was going to start in a couple of minutes, and it was crazy. However, Tegan was completely immune to chaos. She was too busy focused on all of the different ice sculptures of the Easter Egg, the Maple Leaf, and even a sculpture of Santa Claus and his reindeer.

  “Whoa.”

  Jasmine bit back a smile, as she made it her focus to stay angry at Tegan.

  “Come on. The real show is over here.”

  JASMINE and Tegan walked around the large building, settling in a comfortable silence, their fingers slowly touching as they walked and gazed at the many ice sculptures. Tegan would quickly pull her hand away, fearing that Jasmine would pull away first. Before Tegan could apologize, a green and red light scanned her face. The show was beginning. Crossing her arms, Jasmine managed to simultaneously watch the show and Tegan’s facial expressions. She had seen the festival three times in a row before now but didn’t mind seeing it a forth if that meant Tegan being with her. Colorful lights poured into Jasmine's dilated pupils as she settled into a pensive mood. Of course she was angry. Just not at Tegan. Jasmine’s rooted choler was towards herself. Jasmine had steel walls that were created, strengthened, and perfected over her life span, making them impenetrable to anyone’s touch. Tegan loved herself and others so wholly. Jasmine just wished she could do the same.

  Tegan tucked her arm in between Jasmine’s to hold it, and rested her head on Jasmine’s shoulder as she watched all the carvings float past her. Jasmine, pulled out her desolating thoughts, jerked at the sudden contact but soon relaxed and placed her head on top of Tegan’s, a small smile resting on her lips.

  “You like it?”

  Jasmine whispered.

  “I love it.”

  “JESUS fuck it’s freezing.”

  Tegan spoke into the frigid air. She stood by the door, her arms bundled underneath her chin as she tried to contain her shivering to a minimum. Jasmine removed her jacket and threw it on the hook before walking in the back of the cabin. Tegan wasn’t sure if to follow or not so she stood by the fireplace, twiddling with her fingers.

  “How’s that thumb?”

  Jasm
ine yelled from the bathroom. Tegan looked down and rubbed softly against the cut.

  “Pretty good.”

  Jasmine came back into the room with a bandage and alcohol.

  “Losing tendons isn’t attractive. Come here.”

  Jasmine motioned Tegan to sit on the couch next to her and to hold out her hand. She unwrapped the sticky band-aid before applying alcohol on the tender wound. Tegan hissed and tried to pull away but Jasmine had a firm grip on her entire arm. Jasmine looked up at Tegan to see her face wincing in pain and quickly put a gauge around her finger before pressing her lips softly against Tegan’s thumb. Tegan loosened the muscles in her face and retracted her arm slowly from Jasmine’s grip.

  “There. All better.”

  Jasmine whispered. Tegan cleared her throat, rubbing the spot on her thumb where Jasmine’s lips just were. Jasmine rubbed her thighs with her hands before patting them.

  “I um, I’ll make something warm.”

  “I’ll help this time. I promise not to get cut.”

  Jasmine smirked to herself on her way to the kitchen. Tegan shooed her out of the way and knelt down to grab a small sauce pan from underneath the kitchen counter.

  “Aren’t you tired of the same Cinnamon Apple Spice tea every single day?”

  Jasmine raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow stared at Tegan with a bemused expression.

  “What is this? An advertisement...No, that’s why I drink it."

  “Not today. We’re making hot cocoa.”