Chapter 2

Christmas 2000

“Grammy?  Can I go over to the Kaleta’s now?” I begged my grandmother as I skipped around the house after eating my Christmas breakfast.  Dad was working a 24 hour shift, like he normally did on Christmas, so Mrs. Kaleta invited me over to spend the day with their family.

Grammy sighed as she sat in her chair, crocheting a new scarf for the church bazzar.  “Just don’t be a pain, Emma…”

“Grammy, they invite me over every year,” I pointed out.

“I know, and I am grateful for that,” she said with a sad smile.

“I’m going to pack things so that I can sleep over,” I said like it was an afterthought as I started towards the steps.

“Emma, I wanted to talk to you about that…”

“Yes, Grammy?”

“Honey, you are getting older now.  It might not be a good idea for the two of you to have sleep overs anymore.”

I couldn’t really wrap my head around what she was saying.  Patty and I always slept over at each other’s houses, why would our age make anything different?  “Why not?”

I watched as she fidgeted in her chair and looking like she swallowed a sour lemon.  She took a deep breath before she spoke, “Hunnie, as we grow older, boys and girls begin to have different feelings for each other.”

She stopped as a confused look came across my face.  She took another breath and spoke some more.  “Let’s just say, don’t let Patrick ever kiss you…”

I cut her off right there, “Eeew, Grammy! Please! Stop! Patrick would never kiss me!  He has girlfriends for that!” I said, appalled at the thought of Patrick kissing me.  I saw a look of relief pass over my grandmother’s face, almost like she was glad that she didn’t have to explain the birds and the bees to me.  “So, Grammy, I’m going to pack my stuff so that I can sleep over there tonight.  Okay?”

She smiled softly and nodded her head.

Ugh! I never want to hear the words Patrick and kissing in the same sentence again.

Summer 2001

“What the heck are you wearing?!” I yelled at Emma as she came skipping over to my yard in a polka dot bikini.

“What do you mean?  It’s a bathing suit, what do you think it is?” she yapped back with a confused look on her face.

“You barely have anything covering you!” I said, annoyed that some of the boys from my hockey team were gawking at her.  I swear she forgot that she was a girl.  However, looking at her right now, I realized that she was now growing boobs and had a decent rack on her.  This is my best friend.  I know I’m 15 and have kissed several girls, but my best friend was not supposed to look like this!

“What the hell is the difference if you are running around with no shirt on?  Get over it Patty!” she said with a smile as she walked over to our friend Jake and gave him a hug that looked a little more friendlier than I thought it should look.

“Come on, let’s head to the pool,” I growled, annoyed and confused on why I was pissed that my guy friends had seemed to take a keen interest in my best friend.  She’s Emma, she’s not a girl.

Later on that evening we were walking back by ourselves through the park from the community pool when I asked her the question that had been dwelling in my mind the whole day.

“Emma, are you and Jake going out?”

She looked at me with her innocent blue eyes and seemed to blush.  “You can’t tell anyone!” she said in a hushed, excited voice.  “My daddy would whip me into next month if he found out I had a boyfriend,” she confided.

“Oh.”

“Something wrong, Patty?” she asked in a worried tone.

I shook the images of me punching Jake in the face next time I saw him and answered my best friend, “Just don’t let him kiss you,” I said quietly.

She stopped abruptly, crossed her arms and began glaring at me.

“What?” I asked her as I raised my hands, acting like I didn’t have a clue what she was stopping for.

“You kiss your girlfriends.  Why can’t I kiss my boyfriends?” she asked as she put her hands on her hips, giving me unleashed attitude.

“Because you don’t even know how to kiss!” I quipped as I took a step towards her in the twilight.

“And you do?!” she shot back; obviously very annoyed at the fact I pointed out the truth.  Her face was getting all red and her brow was furrowed, making her look like a bratty girl.

I dropped my towel and bag and looked down at her.  Over the past year, I had finally hit my growth spirt and had grown several inches taller than Emma.  She still was not used to this height difference and I could tell it made her uncomfortable.  I smiled lightly as I lifted her small chin up towards me and moved closer to her face.  She stopped breathing, and so did I.  I actually have no clue what prompted me to do this, but I wasn’t going to stop now.  I leaned in and left my lips brush hers gently.  She kissed me gently back, but I decided to take it a step farther and slipped my tongue into her mouth, tasting the chocolate of the M&M’s we shared a little bit ago.  She was hesitant and kind of awkward about it, but I enjoyed her lips anyway.  She pulled back first and pushed me backwards, hard by throwing her palm into my chest.

“Patrick Kaleta, you are such an asshole!  Don’t ever think of kissing me again!  That was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever done,” she yelped and then promptly stomped off towards our houses. 

I could swear I saw steam coming from her ears.  I should have been annoyed that she basically called me disgusting, but instead I stood there with a proud smirk on my face, knowing that I wanted to kiss her again someday.

September 2006

I was just as nervous for Patrick as I was for me on my first day at the fire academy.  I sat in the stands and folded my program into a fan and then unfolded it just to start over again.  A hand reached out and stopped me with a pleading squeeze.

I looked up to find Sandy, Patrick’s mom, with a furrowed brow and a look in her eyes that was begging me to stop.  “Emma, please.  He’s going to be fine.  How is it that you can run into burning buildings with no fear, but become a panicky wreck when watching him play?  You’ve been to enough of his games over the years and you mean to tell me that you still haven’t been able to control your nerves?”

“I’m sorry mom, it’s just this is his first pro-game.  I’m so excited and nervous for him at the same time that I don’t know how to deal with it,” I squeaked out quietly.  “All the years of training together and now he’s finally reaching his dream,” I said, reflecting on all the hours we spent since we were old enough to start a normal physical training routine.  I worked out along side of him because I wanted to become stronger and to give me an edge in my soccer playing in college, and now in my career as a firefighter.  Plus, I was still bitter that I stopped growing and he grew taller than me.  However, Patrick was still short compared to many of the other hockey players he played against.  He was only 5’11”, but what he lacked in height he made up for in strength.  Patrick was ripped and trained himself to be a fighter.  He was a gritty player who was out on the ice for hits and he performed his role perfectly.  I on the other hand was still able to kick his ass every now and then when we wrestled.  He really didn’t stand a chance against me.

I was excited to see Patrick play, mainly because I hadn’t been able to watch him on the ice in the last several years since he played for the OHL.  I was able to see him only 10 times due to the fact that I didn’t have a car and my school schedule did not allow me run off.

It was a big deal when Patty moved to Canada to play hockey.  I always cheered for my best friend and he was always at my games supporting me.  It was the trade off between the two of us.  However, that was basically impossible when he left.  That was the 1^st time that Patrick had ever seen me cry.

End of Summer 2002

I found her sitting in the corner of the tree-house; hugging her knees to her chest and her face was buried onto knees.  I could hear her sniffles as I climbed up the ladder.

“Emma?” I called out quietly.

“Go away, Patrick,” she hiccupped.

I crawled across the floor and sat cross legged across from her as I placed my hand on her cold, bare feet.  “Emma, please don’t be mad at me.  You knew this was coming…”

“Just because I knew it was coming, doesn’t mean I can’t wish that you would stay here and finish out school at St. Francis and play hockey for them,” she sputtered out quickly as the tears seemed to come harder.

I took a deep breath to tell her for the 100^th time how this was the opportunity of a lifetime, but she already knew that because we had talked about it so many times.  So instead I said, “Emma, things won’t change.  You are always going to be my best friend.  Mom bought me a cell phone so that I will be able to call them and you as much as I want.  Plus, they already promised to bring you along with them for a couple games.”

“It won’t be the same,” she said as she wiped her tear stained face on the collar of her t-shirt.

“I know,” I said quietly.  “I’ll be home as soon by the end of May and things can go back to normal.”

She snorted, “Sure, okay.  It will never go back to normal, Patrick.”  She was now looking straight into my eyes, with a serious adult look that scared me.

“What is going to change?” I asked her innocently, still wondering what on earth could change between us.

“Everything, Patrick!” she said with a huff.  “What won’t change?!  You are moving several hours away from here.  I won’t be able to hang out with you whenever I need to get out of the house and away from my dad.  Who is going to work-out with me?  Who is going to come to my games?  How am I going to watch your games?  Who is going to be my best friend?!” As she asked the last question, she buried her face back into her knees and sobbed.  It was a terrible sound and my heart was crushed.  I didn’t know how to handle her tears.  Boys don’t cry.  On a normal day I’d punch her in the arm and tell her to get over it.  Unfortunately, today was not the norm.

“Emma, we don’t need to always live a block away from each other.  I will always be your best friend.  If you need to get away from your dad, you can still go to my house and call me from there.  My mom and dad said they will still be going to your games.  As for watching mine, you will just have to listen to mine on the radio or catch them at my parents on their satellite.”

“I wish I was a boy.”

“Why?”

“So I could play hockey and move away from here…”

“Then I wish you were a boy too, but I think you’d look funny with boobs.”  I grabbed her hand in mine and squeezed it.  After several minutes she looked up and a small smile came across her face.  I knew things would be different, but I also knew that Emma would still be my biggest fan, as I would be hers, no matter how much time we didn’t get to spend together.

Back to September 2006

The crowd went crazy when the Rochester Americans took the ice for the first time of the season.  I stood up and screamed with the best of them, watching as my best friend skated out onto the ice, looking up into the stands and smiling at me.

After the game, Sandy, Tom and I waited for Patrick down by the locker room.  I was talking to Tom, Patrick’s dad, when he came up behind me and picked me up, causing me squeak with surprise.  He put me down and I promptly turned around so that I was facing him and jumped up, wrapping my arms and legs around him and squeezing him hard as he left out a groan of air.

“Good Lord, Emmy!  How am I supposed to breathe with you leaching on me?!” he choked out.

“Oops! Sorry!  Glad to see you are still a weakling,” I said happily while I jumped down and poked him in the stomach as his parents laughed at our little exchange.

“Glad to see you are more of a man than some of my teammates,” he said as he squeezed my nicely toned biceps with his large hands.

“You’re just jealous,” I said as I stuck my tongue out at him and stepping back so his mom could hug him.

I heard a commotion coming from the locker room door and looked over to find a couple guys from the team barreling out into the hallway.  As soon as I looked up I found a guy, with thick golden hair and beautiful hazel eyes, stop as soon as he took notice of me.  A goofy looking guy with straight, dark hair wasn’t paying attention and slammed right into the back of him, making Goldie-lox almost fall on his face.

“Jesus, Booth! What the hell are you stopping for?” the dark haired guy chirped, causing the trance to end.

“What?! Sorry, man,” he said as he walked over to us, looking at me up and down.  I just looked down at the ground and pretended to pay him no attention as he laid his arm around Patrick’s shoulder and whispered something into his ear.

“Oh, Mom, Dad, this is my friend, David Booth.  He’s from Michigan and is also new to the team.  He was drafted by the Florida Panthers.  And this is Drew Stafford; he was drafted by the Sabres, like me.”

Sandy and Tom both shook Drew’s hand and then “David’s” as I was still staring at the floor, feeling his eyes burning a hole in the top of my head.

“And who is this quiet person standing here?” David asked with some humor in his voice.

Patrick snorted because he of all people knew I was the last person on this earth to be quiet.  “This is Emma, my best friend.”

“Ah! The elusive Emma…” David said, smiling broadly at me as he reached out his hand for me to shake.

I looked up to find him still staring at me intently, causing butterflies to fly around in my head and stomach.  I’ve met a fair amount of Patty’s teammates over the years; many of them have been very good looking and too often I’ve been hit on by them.  However, Mr. Booth was definitely holding my interest for the moment.

“You and Stafford want to come along with us for dinner?” Patrick said, obviously clueless to the looks that David was giving me.

“Definitely,” the both said in unison.  It was settled and off we went, with Patrick dragging me along to go along in the car with him and the boys.

“Emmy, how long are you staying here?” Patrick asked me once we climbed into the back seat of Drew’s tiny Toyota Camry.

“I’m here until your parent’s leave I guess.  Mom said she wanted to leave by tomorrow afternoon because she has something with church,” I said as I tried to remember what they said as my brain was spinning out of control.  I had already caught David looking into the passenger side mirror, staring at me.

“Are you okay?” Patrick asked me as he looked at me with a worried glance.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, trying to smile at him to reassure him.

“Long tour in the city?”

Work.  If I focus on work, I can think clearly.  Good God Girl, get a fucking grip already.  You are here to be with Patrick.

“We had a worker (A/N: Fully involved structure fires) on both of my night shifts.  One was an abandoned row home; the other had a young family in it.  I felt really bad for them,” I said as I thought about carrying the little girl out of the building.  She had been trapped in her bed room and I found her while doing my primary search through the house.  I had thought I was going to die and not make it out of the house, but my heart went out to the little girl as she clung to her teddy bear and I knew I had no other choice but to push myself.  She officially was my first “save,” and the guys rewarded me by pinning me with my first medal of honor.

“Is that the one where you saved that little girl?” Patrick asked, 100% paying attention to my words and effectively pulling my from my thoughts.

“Yeah.  How did you know?” I asked as I turned to face him.

“Mom called me.  I’m a little bummed you didn’t call me about it,” he said as a look of sadness crossed his face.

“I guess I just didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary.  I was doing my job,” I said, shrugging it off.

“What is your job?” David asked from the front seat.

“She’s a firefighter for Buffalo City,” Patrick answered for me as his look changed to a proud one.  “She was just promoted the other month to a full fledged firefighter, the first one from her probation class.”

“Wow, that’s really awesome,” both David and Drew said.

I could feel myself blushing as I smacked Patrick for bragging about me.  He just shrugged his shoulders and began talking with the guys about the game, leaving me to my thoughts as we drove to the restaurant.

During dinner at least a dozen stories were passed around the table about Patrick and me growing up together.  David seemed to take most interest in these topics, but I hardly noticed as we relived the memories through the stories.  It was good to talk about the old days and reminisce about the things we used to do.  Making me realize again how much I missed spending everyday with Patrick, like we did when we were kids. 

After dinner we said goodnight to Patrick’s parents and headed out to a club that was down the street from the boys’ apartment.  Even though Patrick and I had been in the same grade throughout school, I was actually a year older than him.  (My dad had enrolled me in school a year late because of everything that happened when my mother left.)  I was worried that Patty wouldn’t be able to get into the clubs, but it was quickly realized that everyone thought he looked older than he was due to his large muscle mass.

“I see your muscles have paid off…” I remarked, whispering in his ear as we walked over to the bar.

He just looked at me and smiled my favorite smile as he shrugged his shoulders and mumbled something about how his muscles have paid off in other ways too.  Of course I socked him in the stomach, only to find that his rock hard abs.  I grabbed my hand right away to rub it from the initial sting.

“Maybe you’d be interested in going to the gun show with me?” he said with a cocky smile that I’ve only seen him use when flirting with girls.

“Maybe you forgot that we used to swim naked in the baby pool when we were kids…” I reminded him with a smile as I pushed at his shoulder, actually making him lose his balance.

We walked over to the bar and downed a couple shots in celebration of the boys turning pro and me getting promoted.  Before I knew it, I was already feeling tipsy and found myself out on the dance floor with David.  He had me pulled closely to him and I had no problem wrapping my arms around him and breathing in his heady scent.

“So is there anything going on between you and Kaleta?” he asked as he breathed into my ear, causing me to shiver at his will.

“He’s been my best friend since grade school.  Nothing more than that,” I answered honestly.

“Good.”

“Good?”

“Would you be willing to come out here and visit just me next time?”

“Um, why would I do that?” I stupidly asked, ready to completely smack myself in the head for being so naïve after the words came out of my mouth.

I felt David laugh lightly before he spoke.  “I’d like to take you out on a date, Emma.”

“Heh. Um, sure.”

“Um, sure?”

“I mean yes, I’d like that a lot,” I said as I felt myself blushing again.

“I’d like that too.  You are beautiful Emma.”  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his lips were on mine.  His kiss was semi-demanding, but I enjoyed it and kissed him back with the same passion. 

I'd like to say that my mind was 100% focused on him, but somewhere deep in my soul I heard the nagging voice I always heard when kissing a guy... What about Patrick?