I finally got out of the hospital. Only Connie and Coach were there for my homecoming. Tomorrow, I have to go meet my therapist, Bethany Foxworth. Connie and I decide to watch movies for a while. I make popcorn and settle down on the couch. My arm casually slips around Connie while she digs her hand into the bowl. She does't seem to mind since she lies her head on my shoulder. It always feels so peaceful with her.
The next morning, Coach drives me to the building where she is. We walk inside and find out where she is at. Coach drops me off at the room and, after taking a deep breath, knock on the door. ''Come in.'' a cheerful voice calls. I open the door and walk inside. It's a fairly large room. There are many bookcases filled with books and one of those couches you always see on those therapy shows on TV. A tall women with long, curly brown hair is sitting at her desk. She wears glasses and a thoughful expression on her face as she watches me.
''Hello, you must be Charlie Conway, I'm Bethany Foxworth. Welcome.'' she said. ''Hi Mrs. Foxworth.'' I said. ''Oh please call me Bethany. Sit down Charlie.'' she told me. I sat down on the couch and she took the chair next to it. ''So Charlie, tell me about yourself.'' she said.
''Well what do you want to know?'' I asked. ''How old are you?'' she asked. ''I'm 17 and I'm in Junior year. I'll graduate next year.'' I told her. She scribbled down something on her notepad and looked at me again. ''What do you do in your spare time?'' she asked. ''I play hockey and hang out with my friends.'' I told her. ''Who are your friends?'' she asked. ''My entire hocky team.'' I reply. She writes something down. ''Can you tell me about them?'' she asked.
''Well sure. See I grew up with most of them. The rest came on the team when we played in the Junior Goodwill Games. There are 12 of them. I grew up with Guy, Averman, Goldberg, Adam, Fulton, and Connie. Julie, Dwayne, Luis, Russ, Ken, and Portman all came on the team afterwards.'' I told her. ''Tell me about each of them.'' she said.
''Well Guy Germaine and I met when I was five. Some big kid and his friend were pushing me down on the playground and Guy ran over to help me. Together we were able to push them both down and run away. We were best friends ever since.
Les Averman and I meet when he was getting picked on the same kid and Guy and I went to his rescue. We all became the three muskateers.'' Bethany wrote down some more stuff and nodded her head, urging to continue.
''Greg Goldberg and I met when he moved to Minnisota and tried out for our golie. Though he does suck, we became fast friends.
Adam Banks was a hawk player when we were little and our teams we sworn enemys. On a technacality, Adam became a duck and the two of us became best friend. Jessie wasn't too happy with it.'' I said. ''Who's Jessie?'' asked Bethany.
Jessie was my friend since we played as District Five. We grew up togehter. After the goodwill games he moved away. He wasn't too happy that I became best friends with a hawk.
Fulton Reed was a kid who stuck up for us when the hawks would pick on us. Coach discovered his hockey ability and pretty soon he was on the team.'' I told her.
''Ok How about the newer kids?'' she asked me. ''Julie is our best golie. She can stop any puck and is very fast in the net. She is an amazing player.'' I said. ''You sound impressed'' Bethany stated. ''Julie is like a sister to me. I'll always be impressed with her talents.'' I told her.
''Luis Mendoza is a great speed skater. He's the fastest on our team. Dwayne Robertson is the best puck handler we have though he is a bit of a show off. Ken Wu used to be a figure skater but now he's a pretty good hockey player.'' I said. She scribbled more stuff down. ''So who's Russ?'' she asked.
Russ Tyler was an annoying kid who would not stop insulting team USA. He challenged us to a game on the courts one day. When Adam's arm got injured during a game, I brought Russ in to help. Adam got better so I helped Coach out so that Russ could play. I was a crappy player back then anyway.'' I told her. She laughed a little. ''Dean Portman is our other bash brother. Him and Fulton rule the ice and can knock anyone down.'' I told her.
''Who's Connie?'' she asked. A small smile came to my face as I thought of Connie. She took notice. ''Connie is the girl next door in my life. She and I have been best friends my whole life. She is the only one I haven't snapped at.'' I told her. ''Why do you think that is?'' she asked. ''I don't feel angry around her. I feel happy and peaceful. She makes me smile all the time.'' I told her.
''Who is Coach?'' she asked me. ''Gordon Bombay became our pee wee coach when he had to have commuity service. Pretty soon him and I became great friends. He was like the dad I always wanted. Him and my mom dated.'' I told her. ''Really what happened.'' she asked. ''He got into the Minors and never called. She moved onto James. They got married, he cheated they divorced. I would have loved to have seen Coach and mom together but that's never going to happen.'' I said.
''What can you tell me about your mom?'' she asked. ''My mom was my greatest fan. She supported me in everything I did and made sure I had a good education. She came to every hockey game no matter how much we sucked and taped my games when we were in Goodwill. She was so proud of me when I got into Eden Hall. I always liked making her proud.'' I said.
''Well Charlie, that's all the time we have today. I'll see you soon.'' Bethany said. I said goodbye and left. I arrived home and Coach looked up from the couch hopefully. ''How did it go?'' he asked. ''It was ok.'' I said heading to my room. ''You've got a visitor waiting for you.'' he told me. Puzzled, I went to my room and saw Connie waiting for me. ''Hey Spaz, how did therapy go?'' she asked me. ''It was ok. We talked about all the ducks, Coach, and mom.'' I told her, lying down on the bed.
She flopped next to me and said, ''So what did you say about me?'' she asked. ''That you were the most annyoing person I ever met.'' She glared at me and tackled me as I started laughing. She rolled off me and said, ''Well your annoying.'' I laughed. ''Yes I am.'' I told her. We watched the little TV in my room for a while when I noticed she was being really quiet. I looked down and discovered she was sleeping. I sighed. She looked so beautiful in her sleep. I new something was changing between us. Whenever I thought of her, I instantly cheered up and a smile came to my face.
We couldn't be anything more then friends though. I was too messed up for anything more. I shut off the TV and drapped an arm over Connie. She turned on her side and snuggled up into me, her head under my chin, her hand on my chest. I pulled her closer, settling for the comfort I felt aroud her. I kissed her forehead lightly. ''Sweet dreams Cons.'' I whispered before drifting off myself.