When Presley called me earlier to remind me about tonight, she seemed more worried than I am right now. Walking into the arena, instantly I spot my favorite redhead sitting behind the glass and I walk over to her, passing people until I reach the empty seat beside her. The game has just started and Presley looks relieved to see me.
“Hey,” she gives me a quick peck on my cheek. Next to her is an older man, I’m assuming this is her father. “Daddy,” she turns to the man. “Daddy,” she tugs on his sleeve. The man finally turns to look at his daughter. He is older with hard features. His dark brown hair has a few gray streaks at the temple. His thick mustache is perfectly groomed and his brown eyes are a mirror image of Presley’s. “Daddy, this is Levi Carr. Levi,” she turns to me. “This is my father, Benjamin McCarthy.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. McCarthy.” I stick my hand out for him to shake. His grip is strong, but he only nods and says nothing. He turns his attention back to the ice. Maybe this is who McCarthy gets his personality from, I think. Presley looks over to me and just rolls her eyes. I have a feeling this is going to be a long night.
We all watch the first period intently, but once it’s time for the intermission, Mr. McCarthy decides to talk.
“You played in high school with Trevor, correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“My boy tells me you play college as well?” He’s looking at me as if he’s daring me to say yes.
“Yes, sir. I’m the captain of the Roxboro Lions.”
“Roxboro? Why aren’t you playing here? Could you not get on the team here?”
Seriously? “That’s not why, sir,” I smile as politely as I can. “I wanted to attend Roxboro and I received an academic scholarship from them. It has nothing to do with my ability to make this team, which I could.”
“Academic scholarship? Really? What is your major?” He looks at me with more interest now than when Presley introduced us.
“I’m a chemistry major.”
“Chemistry?” Mr. McCarthy seems more intrigued in our conversation. “Are you pre-med?”
“Yes, sir. I would like to work in pharmaceuticals because creating drugs is something that’s important to me. There are a lot of diseases out there waiting for cures,” I add to make it seem more like that’s my main reason behind pursuing this field.
“My, my Presley, a hockey playerand someone with brains. Levi, you know that’s a booming career right now. What position do you play?”
“I play center,” I answer easily. Presley is just sitting here, staring at the ice. She’s quiet the entire time her father and I talk and I wonder what she’s thinking.
“Well, I’m sure that Presley told you that I was a forward back in my day. Yep, I played right here at JWU. I was going to go to the NHL, but I hurt my knee my senior year. So, I just kept my studies up and chose a different career path. Now, I’m going to watch my only son go into the NHL.” He is beaming with pride, but he never says anything about Presley and how he’s proud of her goals. I’m getting the feeling that there is some tension between them.
“If he makes it into the NHL, that will be great. Presley has a good future ahead of her as well. I’m sure you’re proud of both your children.”
“Oh yes, Presley does well in her studies.” Mr. McCarthy says with no enthus
iasm in his voice. Presley still just sits there. “Levi, Trevor will make it, lots of scouts have been talking to him. Any scouts looking at you or do you not want to go to the NHL?”
“I’ve actually been talking with some as well. I attended a camp this past summer at Pittsburgh.”
“Pittsburgh? Well, they seem to be doing well this season. Trevor was talking to the Chicago Blackhawks. Even though I was hoping that he would talk with some New York scouts, but Chicago is a young team that is going places.” I can tell right off that Mr. McCarthy isn’t a Pittsburgh fan. Presley is about to jump in and defend her team, but JWU takes the ice for the next period.
First impression of Mr. McCarthy? Not all that great. He talks pretty much as if Trevor is his only child and Presley is more like one of his son’s friends that he doesn’t care for. They’re twins. Can he really have a favorite out of the two? Based on what I’ve witnessed so far, yes. Presley is doing just as well as Trevor, but her father seems to care less. I can only hope that her mother treats her better than these two.
Chapter Twelve
Presley
Is this game ever going to be over? I’m sitting here as Levi and Dad talk about hockey and school. My biggest contribution to the conversation is a head nod when Levi asks if I’m okay. The majority of the time I stare at the ice. It seems like I’m always invisible when Dad is around. In my dad’s world, Trevor is the star in his eyes, I am just a girl.
As Trevor and his team take the ice, I feel Levi squeeze my hand. His sympathetic smile warms my heart and makes me feel better. Ever since Levi opened up about his mom, I can’t stop thinking how wonderful he is. Levi is nothing that I thought he was or what my brother told me about him. He is caring, sweet, and an incredible person. The fact that he even cares about my feelings right now means something to me.
The three of us turn our attention to the game. My father cheers Trevor on, and I just clap. My father makes his little comments about the other team throughout the second period and I’m thankful that the second intermission is starting. I excuse myself to the ladies room. It isn’t like anyone is going to miss me anyway. I never go to the bathroom. I just stand in the lobby for a few minutes. I need to ease the dull pain in my head that I conclude is the stress of my father being here. When I finally head back to our seats, I see Levi sitting next to my dad now. Just as well, I thought, and I sit in Levi’s seat. I can hear my dad talking about Trevor, the NHL, and my dad’s medical practice. Levi is polite to my father and inserted his comments here and there. I can tell my dad likes Levi and I’m glad. I like Levi and would like to continue to see him. I can’t believe I thought he was going to have any type of underlying plan. I mean he thinks of me as his girlfriend, that is definitely something.
The third period is about to start and I still sit silently, looking at the ice. JWU plays hard and the score is 1-1. I watch the clock tick down to less than a minute, when my twin brother jumps the boards and steals the puck. He skates the length of the ice and shoots the puck, effortlessly, into the net. My dad is shouting so loud, “That is my boy!” I stand and cheer for my brother.
When the final buzzer sounds, we head out. Well, Levi and my dad headed out, and I trailed behind. We are waiting outside for Trevor and my dad is still going on about the medical field and Levi’s future options. Again, I just stand there. I feel Levi put his arms around me. I give him a tight smile. Trevor comes out and my dad wraps him in a big hug.