Zoey Fitzpatrick was use to going the extra mile for a boy. So waiting four the four a.m. flight into Toronto on a Friday morning in Boston was normal. As she stood in the large Logan airport she noticed how artificial everything looked, bathed in fluorescent light.
"Now boarding flight 1-B-9-3 to Toronto, Canada in gate B33." A gentle voice sprang from nowhere. Zoey snapped out of her daze and raced to reach the gate on time. As she power walked in scuffed riding boots down the hall business men of all ages clad in the same Brooks Brothers' suit past by her. 'Great' she thought. Zoey had officially joined the illustrious and classy group of frequent 'business class' flyers. She pressed on.
She made it to the departures gate in hair length of time. Being the final passenger to board the commercial jet flight she had no difficulty making her way to row two, seat B. She noticed that two A was a rather bulky fellow and seat C was the size of a Dallas Cowboy line backer.
"Umm…Excuse me?" Her tiny voice stirred the slumber of two A and C. They looked up at the petite young woman with raised eyebrows. "That's my seat." She spoke and pointed to the seat in the middle.
Two C was the first to rise, giving her access to the middle seat. Of course she would have the middle seat she thought to herself. She stuffed her purse under the seat in front of her and slid into her seat. She noticed in the pale light coming from the airplane that both two
A and C were sporting Maple Leaves fan shirts. Two A caught her staring at his shirt.
"Best team north of the 49th parallel." He joked. Zoey smiled.
"Are you a fan of Hockey?" Zoey asked. Two C turned towards their conversation.
"You don't recognize us?" Two C questioned. Zoey shook her head. Both two A and C laughed. Zoey felt a little embarrassed and off balance at that moment.
"Why you're looking at the two star players of the Toronto Maple Leaves." Two A spoke with a proud smile.
Zoey was still confused.
"I'm Joe Nabisco." Two A pointed to himself. "And this is—"
"Matt Wallace." Two C or Matt stuck out his hand. Zoey held out her hand in return.
"Nice to meet you both. Sorry if I'm not as enthusiastic about hockey as your regular fans are. I'm from Texas; no one plays Hockey in Texas. It's all about football." Zoey spoke with an amused voice as she recalled all of her hometown glory.
"What is a Texas gal doing in Boston on a flight to Toronto?" Joe pronounced gal with a fake southern drawl.
"This Texas gal goes to school in Boston." Zoey responded, copying Joe's accent, pronouncing gal the way only East Texas can. "But her boyfriend lives in Toronto." She spoke with a coy smile.
"I see." Matt said in an understanding tone. Seeing how Zoey was affected by the term 'boyfriend' Joe switched the subject.
"So tell us the truth." His voice seemed serious. "Does everybody in Texas where ten gallon hats and cowboy boots?" Zoey couldn't help but laugh.
The one hour flight was spent talking about Texas and Hockey. Joe and Matt took the time to try and explain the basic rules for Zoey. She had a hard time following along. Zoey had never really had an appreciation for the sport until she met an actual dedicated player. Their commitment was so deep she couldn't help but admire such a sport. When the jet finally landed Zoey asked both Joe and Matt to sign her plan tickets. They happily agreed. She had no idea what compelled her to ask but she felt that it would be important.
At baggage claim Zoey looked for a familiar face. Standing in the back with well kept short blonde hair and porcelain baby blue eyes was Jasper, her boyfriend. She quickly ran over to where he was standing and planted a giant kiss on his cheek, stealing a hug in the process.
"I missed you so much!" She whispered in his pierced ear. Zoey scrunched her nose. She hadn't remembered Jasper with a gauge. She played with the large gauge in his ear. "When did you get this." She asked in a teasing voice. Jasper had his arm around her waist, and was holding her tight until she asked.
"A couple of months ago." He pecked her cheek and neck. "I thought I texted you about it?" He replied.
Zoey was about to respond when an annoyed voice called.
"Come on J the prince is doubled parked." Zoey looked over at the disgruntled guy standing a little further away from Jasper.
"Who's that?" Zoey asked. She quickly let herself down from Jasper's grasp.
"My roommate, Derek." He calmly replied. "Come let's get your luggage." Zoey let Jasper lead her off to the carousel of luggage, but she kept Derek in the corner of her eye out of suspicion.
"Derek had light brown hair tossed about his head in a somehow stylish bead head. His eyes were brown. He was tall, much taller than Zoey. She felt taken aback by his boyish good lucks.
Jasper had been useless in getting Zoey's luggage. As a struggling musician Jasper had no upper body strength and received many of his Recommended Daily Intake of nutrients from instant noodles. Zoey ended up having to lift the giant suitcase herself. They made their war back to Derek when it finally hit Jasper.
"Oh Derek this is my girlfriend, Zoey Fitzpatrick. Zoey this is my roommate and band mate, Derek Venturi. There official introductions take care of." Zoey and Derek quickly shook hands. Derek noticed that she had dainty hands. The type that princess like his step-sister Casey had. They were even manicured; Zoey noticed that Derek had large manly hands firmer than Jasper's. Derek looked up into her ice blue eyes.
"Nice to meet you." Zoey chimed.
Derek quickly went to work, putting on the charm. "That's what they all say." Derek joked. Zoey let go of his hand and let out a laugh, "Ha!" before putting her hand over her mouth. Her outburst had been rather loud. She looked over at Derek and Jasper with panic.
"Sorry about that. It's just I've never met anyone with such a cocky introduction." Zoey looked at Derek in disbelief. 'Is this guy for real?' She thought. Derek raised one eyebrow and smirked.
"That's because you never met anyone like me." He was exuding confidence.
"Does that really make girls like you?" Zoey retorted. Accepting the challenge, Derek smirked.
"No I don't need to speak for girls to like me." He felt victorious.
Zoey had a million comebacks in her arsenal of fire. But through out her small confrontation with Derek she noticed Jasper was inwardly freaking out. Despite being her boyfriend, Jasper had never seen this side of Zoey before. So although she did not want to lose the fight, Zoey remained the sweet-cute-girlfriend to keep Jasper.
Zoey blushed in answer to Derek's comment and gently turned toward Jasper. She leaned into his ear and whispered, "I'm a little embarrassed about how knowledgeable your roommate is." Jasper looked up at Derek and frowned.
"I swear Zoey, I'm not like that." Zoey chuckled inwardly to herself. No Jasper was not 'like that.' Jasper had been reading Hemmingway since he entered teen-hood, which gave him full right to school Zoey on everything involving existential and modern literature. His idea of a date consisted of going to coffee shops and listening to attention craving people puke poetry while on something. But he was a semi-nice guy. So who was better? Cocky assholes like Derek or condescending assholes like Jasper. Well at least Jasper dressed nice.
"I know." She smiled sweetly as he pulled her in for a close hug. Derek looked on at the couple with disgust. He made a whipping motion with his right hand before he turned and made his way to the prince.