5. The Offseason, Part 1

 

The Offseason

Mid July

Jason hadn’t touched a disc since May. This was the first time in years he hadn’t touched a disc in over a month. He’d been invited several times to play casual scrimmages or sub for his teammates’ rec league team. Each time Jason carefully crafted an excuse that allowed him to avoid the event without worrying his friends. The family’s move to the States provided a bounty of such excuses. It was now only two weeks before the move. Madison was a long way away from Vancouver. If the desire was to get there as fast as possible, the trip could be done over 3 long days of driving. However, to limit stress and to attempt to enjoy the trip, Jason’s parents planned for a 6 day voyage. As the house was slowly packed up, growing emptier by the day, it left Jason feeling uneasy to even be there. As much as he could, he got out of the house and explored his hometown while he still could. He would ride his bike for hours, listening to music, returning to his favorite spots, and visiting friends. 

Even in the middle of July, Vancouver remained relatively mild in temperature. On this day in particular Jason found himself drawn towards the neighborhood where Stav lived. There was nothing conscious in his decision to bike towards Stav’s house, but not long after he had left home Jason found himself in Stav’s neighborhood. He figured something was compelling him in this direction and that he should probably try and see Stav. Jason tended to be more introverted and tentative about starting conversations or setting up times to talk. Stav probably wouldn’t care if I just waltzed right up to his door and asked if he was there Jason thought. Lacking the confidence to do so, he pulled out his phone and texted Stav. 

Hey, are you busy right now? Jason kept the message short, simple, and unintrusive. 

Moments later Stav’s reply pinged onto Jason’s screen. Not really, what’s up? 

I’m on a bike ride and ended up in your neighborhood, is it cool if I swing by to say hello? It took Jason several moments to word his message in a way that was satisfying. 

Sure! That sounds great actually! Stav’s reply was far more enthusiastic than Jason was bargaining for. Jason immediately began overthinking the situation. That’s so positive, what if he just wants me to swing by so he can get rid of me as quickly as possible while still being polite? Jason suppressed the thought, pocketed his phone, and began biking the short distance that remained to get to Stav’s house. When Jason arrived, Stav was already in the front yard, radiating with joy. 

“It’s good to see you, I feel like I haven’t seen you all summer.” Stav was already approaching Jason for a hug. 

“Yeah, it’s been kind of a crazy summer.” Jason couldn’t think of anything to say but the obvious. Though as he spoke, he knew he had been avoiding ultimate, and therefore a lot of his friends, all summer. Despite every signal being sent his way saying the opposite, Jason could not shake the feeling that the other players would not want him there. 

“You know you could’ve just swung by and knocked on the door to see if I was here.” As he spoke, Stav moved towards the garage, where he punched in a code on a small panel and opened the door. Once the door was open, he pointed to where Jason should place his bike. The two of them then entered Stav’s house and closed the garage behind them. 

Stav’s house was brightly lit. There wasn’t much sunshine in a northern and coastal place like Vancouver, but Stav’s family made the best of it. On sunny days like today, large skylights and windows illuminated the kitchen and living room without a need for any electric lights. Jason had been to Stav’s house before, but was always taken aback by how bright it felt. 

“Oh, I hope you didn’t have any plans for later, because I told the entire team we were going to be hanging out downtown tonight.” Stav casually told Jason. 

“Oh, uh, yeah, that should be okay.” Jason was entirely caught off guard by Stav’s declaration. 

Stav was already rooting around in the fridge for snacks. “Yeah I figured since you’re going to be leaving soon, we should get together while we could. And cause you’re avoiding frisbee, I thought it’d be better to make this a non-frisbee event just with the frisbee team.” As Stav finished laying out his thought process, he pulled a pitcher of lemonade and a large container of Jello out of the fridge. “You like Jello right?” Stav asked, disregarding entirely the stunned look that was clear on Jason’s face. 

“Yeah, I like Jello” Jason barely managed to form a sentence as his mind kicked into overdrive. “Also, wait, how did you know I was avoiding frisbee?”

“You,” Stav paused as he set down the jello and lemonade and began finding dishes for the snacks, “Are not nearly as transparent as you think you are.” There was another brief pause in Stav’s speech as he turned to look Jason directly in his eyes. “For an introvert who doesn’t speak much, the few words you do say give a lot away.” 

Jason struggled to gather his thoughts and recover from the bombarding Stav had just unleashed upon him. “Why didn’t you pressure me more then?” In the two years Jason had known Stav, he had learned that Stav was a persistent motivator and would seek out people he thought were slacking off. 

Stav scoffed and waved his hand, dismissing Jason’s question “You’ve got a lot going on, I assumed the last thing you needed was someone who wasn’t even your captain anymore pressuring you into doing something you didn’t want to.” Stav’s emotional intelligence continued to confound Jason. Jason immediately knew that had Stav tried to pressure him into playing, he would’ve shut down and pushed ultimate even further away.

 “Thank you for that,” Jason smiled timidly. 

Stav beamed “No worries, no worries, just remember we still want to hang out with you outside of frisbee.” For the next hour, the two sat and talked. Stav had the rather brilliant idea to look up things to do in Madison. The pair was rather amused by the number of activities associated with drinking that surfaced to the top results on search engines. This led the pair to discover that the drinking age in the US was 21, two years older than the standard of 19 in Canada. Stav was more disappointed on Jason’s behalf than Jason was disappointed. 

Learning about the drinking laws in the US caused Jason to realize that he hadn’t even considered american schools for university. Though university was still a couple years down the line, his parent’s move was altering Jason’s life further into the future than he had thought before that moment. As they continued researching Madison and Wisconsin in general, they experienced a mini roller coaster of emotions. The two rejoiced as they learned about the incredible range of food available. Stav gravely consoled Jason for the winters that he would soon have to endure. They became incredibly entertained and invested as they learned about Wisconsin’s dairy industry. 

A few hours passed and night time was rapidly approaching. Their conversations left Jason, for the first time, cautiously optimistic about the move to Madison. Stav was grateful to be able to spend time with Jason before their respective paths diverged. The weather was still gorgeous as the two exited Stav’s house and walked to the nearest bus stop. They took the bus to the closest skytrain station and took the skytrain to where the line ended in downtown Vancouver. Stav and Jason talked joyously for the whole trip. They walked a couple more blocks after getting off the skytrain to where the team was going to rendez-vous. 

Winston was already there, sitting on one of the several public benches in the area. As he heard the voices of Jason and Stav, he looked up and smiled. Winston proceeded to stand up and tower over his two friends. The three stood and talked for a while as they waited for others to join them. Soon the rest of the team filtered in and gathered, ready to take on the world together. Throughout the night, the chaos that follows teenage boys wherever they go in large groups unfolded. They laughed and made fools of themselves together. There were stern looks from some adults, but most that passed by the group throughout the night were amused by the joyful youth. As what proved to be a majestic night wound down, Jason, Stav, and Winston were the last ones remaining. The night had carried them to a small park on False Creek, where large stone steps lead down to the dark water. Dancing lights around the city reflected across the slight waves of the inlet. There was a moment of tender silence where they just sat and enjoyed the company. 

Finally Jason quietly uttered “I love this city.”

Winston nodded and smiled “Nights like these remind you why you love a place.”

Stav softly added “It's always nice to remember what made you fall in love with something.”

Jason eventually returned home and prepared to go to sleep for the night. As he laid in his dark room, his eyes seemed to refuse to shut as Stav’s words echoed in Jason’s mind. Eventually, Jason wrestled his thoughts and reached a place that he could fall asleep. 

↼⇀ ↼⇀ ↼⇀

Jason’s family left Vancouver just over two weeks later. In those remaining two weeks Jason hung out with his friends as much as he could. It was incredibly difficult to finally say goodbye, but thanks to the bountiful optimism of Stav, Jason was able to muster up some hope that he could eventually love Madison. 

Jason spent a large portion of the trip just staring out the window, watching the terrain. Jason watched them weave through mountain passes that eventually gave way to gentle hills, which eventually gave way to flatlands and prairies. Jason could almost feel his heart sink as the flatlands continued to stretch onwards for mile after mile. For the first time in his life, Jason was going to be living somewhere that he could not regularly see mountains. As Jason observed and became dejected by the change in scenery, Stav’s words still rattled around in his thoughts. He couldn’t yet piece together why the idea of remembering why you fall in love with something resonated with him so much. So Jason tried his best to not linger on Stav’s words. 

After 5 days of driving and sightseeing along the way, on the evening of the 6th day, Jason’s family reached their new home. The house was a humble single family house, much like the one in Vancouver. A large maple tree served as the centerpiece of the front lawn, several large coniferous bushes filled other spaces in the lawn. The house itself had green siding and standard asphalt shingles. The weather was quickly growing overcast as a storm rolled in from the northwest. 

Jason and his parents unpacked the car as quickly as possible. Less than five minutes after the last stuff was brought in from the car, rain started sprinkling down. As Jason tried his best to get settled, the rain soon became a full thunderstorm. Lightning and thunder were not particularly common in Vancouver, thanks to the proximity of the Pacific Ocean. This was Jason’s first real thunderstorm, and although the lightning and thunder were unsettling to Jason, it was not enough to phase him. As the storm raged on around him,  Jason fell into a deep slumber, his thoughts drifting away and his body healing from the stress of the day. 

Fin Chapter 5