finding permanence

15: Sam

I'm glad to finally have Rydell back home because there's so much that I want to tell her. But that'll have to wait until after she sorts everything out with Scott.

"So, what's your game plan here?" I ask as we sit on the stands waiting for the hockey game to start.

"I'm just going to wait until I see an opening and walk up to him. Not really sure what I'll say though. Like 'hey I know you haven't heard from me in a week, sorry I had to watch my shitty grandpa be put 6 feet under and was too mentally exhausted to come back so I decided to stay with my family for a bit so that they could help me glue the broken pieces of myself together'," she says in one breath.

"You're rambling Ryles." I can tell she's nervous. "This whole week Scott has been nagging me. I swear, he came by the apartment like every single day to see if you were back. Trust me, he's going to be happy to see you. And once you explain the situation to him, he'll understand."

"You're right. I know you're right. I just feel bad for not keeping him in the loop." She looks so defeated.

"You needed time to process everything that happened, and that's not something you need to apologize for, Rydell." I wrap my arm around her shoulder. "You went through some pretty heavy shit, Scott will want to help you with it, and I think you should let him. You two are good for each other."

"Thanks Sammy."

As the game starts, Scott plays like total shit the entire first quarter. So bad that we are down by two. I swear, I won't have a voice tomorrow with all the screaming I've done.

Scott skates towards the locker rooms and Rydell shoots up, "Maybe if I talk to him, he'll be more focused." I nod my head at her in agreement as she walks towards Scott's direction.

As I scan the rink, my eyes lock with Max's who raises his eyebrows in silent question of Rydell.

I just shrug my shoulders. I'll tell him later. Max turns back to the team huddle, probably to go over game plans.

I jump a little at the feeling of my phone vibrating in my back pocket. I pull it out to see an unknown number. Usually I would ignore it, but I'm sitting here waiting for the game to start back, so I answer.

"Hello?" I say as soon as I hit the accept call button. When I hear no response I talk again, "Hello, anyone there?"

I hear sniffling on the other side of the phone, "Listen, if you aren't going to say anything, I'm hanging up." I'm started to get annoyed.

"Wait," a feminine voice finally answers. "Is this Samantha Drawings?"

"Sam, yes this is she. May I ask who's calling?"

"I-," the woman on the other line pauses for a second. "You go to Daxton University." Who the fuck is this?

"Listen lady, I'm not particularly comfortable with disclosing that information until you tell me who you are," I respond.

"I'm- I'm. Nobody, sorry for wasting your time." And with that, the line goes dead.

Well, that was fucking creepy. Oh god, what if I have a stalker.

The only person who I could possibly guess that was is my birth mom, Anna. But she wouldn't reach out after 15 years, would she?

I erase the thought from my brain because that's not even really something that I want to think about.