crossways: a jack hughes story

chapter 2

"oh hey zoe, i'd like to introduce you to my brother."

i heard those words and my heart rate accelerated faster and faster with every second that passed by.

"this is my older brother, brock". said cara, revealing her other, not as cute brother.

"hi brock, i'm zoe. it's nice to meet you". i said trying to not sound disappointed.

"hey zoe, i'm brock." he said.

dang it. i forgot cole had another brother. where did cole go? is he gonna come up here next? i thought to myself.

"brock just had to see my dorm". laughed cara, and brock just shook his head.

i gave a fake laugh as cara and brock made their way out of the dorm and back down to where i assumed cole was.

a few hours go by, and after texting carly all the details, you get a notification that reads: brockcaufiled19 started following you. your eyes widen as your heart stops for a few seconds. you click on the notification and yep, it's actually brock. you freeze. you ask yourself how did he find your profile, and why he followed you. you decide to follow him back, it would look bad not to, and this could be an easy access to cole.

a couple minutes go by and brock DMs you.

hey you're the zoe from wisco right?

oh no. please don't let him have a crush on me.

you respond with, yeah i am haha.

ten minutes go by with no response back. you assume you've blown it, there's no chance to even be friends with cole. you decide to unfollow cole anyhow, just in case he finds your account too. you can't let them know how much you love hockey just yet.

as you're preparing for the first week of classes, your phone lights up. you assume it's carly, but taking a closer look, it's brock.

i see you're following a lot of hockey accounts. i don't know if you know this, but my brother and i play hockey. ;)

ugh. the winky face, you internally sign to yourself.

your fingers hover across your keyboard, unsure of what to respond with.

cara comes back into the dorm, and you quickly type yeah, haha i love hockey. and press send.

you and cara make small talk, talking about your upcoming classes and how excited and nervous you both are for college life.

the next few months pass by, and you're excelling in your classes. everything is going great, you and brock have become pretty good friends.

you text pretty much everyday, he even gave you his phone number a few weeks ago. you don't think he's developed a crush on you, which is good, he isn't your type anyway.

brock texts less and less recently though, as he's a senior this year and has to go to hockey practice and get ready for the upcoming season.

your instagram has gained a bit of a following. you gained 5,000 followers since brock followed you. fan accounts for cole and brock had found out that brock followed you, and rumors were going around. nothing crazy though, as they have died down.

you received a text from brock that you never thought you'd receive.

would you wanna go to the canadiens home opener game? it's in a few weeks and i think they're the playing the devils, you said you like that team right?

you're in shock. you get to go to a game that both cole and jack play in?!

of course, that would be amazing, wow.

brock explains that he would send all the details when the game gets closer.

a few minutes later, your phone buzzes again, and it's brock. he says,

hey again. so my brother said i should offer you two tickets instead of one lol. normally my parents and i sit behind the bench, so you can sit with me and a plus one haha.

ohmygosh. THE cole caufield told brock to give ME two tickets instead of one. cole knows i exist. omg. you start to have a mini freak out.

oh wow, that's so generous, and yeah i'd love to sit behind the bench. i'll bring my friend carly, she loves hockey as well.

you tell carly about the tickets, and she really wants to go. she has to make sure she can, based on her classes and the flight expenses.

you take a risk and text brock if you and your plus one need to make your own plane arrangements. brock texts back not to worry, the canadiens will fly you and carly out to the game.

you can't believe this is actually happening. the game is less than a month away, and you can't wait to go to the game. you're hoping somehow cole or jack will notice you. you're in doubt because they see thousands of fans every game, how could they notice you? you tell yourself not to think like that, but you're always thinking of the worst.

one month goes by, and the day before the game arrives, which is also carly's fly in day. after carly arrives and you two catch up, it's time to make your way to the airport to fly to montreal. brock's been in contact with you recently, as he's getting a car to take you and carly to the airport. once you arrive at the airport, brock meets up with you and carly. he introduces you to his parents, and you're one more step away from meeting cole. cara couldn't make the game, she said she's seen cole play 'hundreds of times.'

one 5 hour flight later, and you arrive in montreal. brock takes you both to a nice hotel, and you wonder if the devils are staying here.

you and carly settle into your room when you hear a knock on the door. you hope for a second it's jack, but as you look through the peephole, it's brock.

"hey brock" you say.

"hey. so for the game tomorrow, i'm not sure what you guys were planning to wear, but i picked up these jerseys, if you wanna wear them" he hands you a gift bag with the jerseys inside.

you thank brock and close the door. you and carly rush to look at the jerseys. you reveal two cole caufield jerseys.

"oh my gosh" carly says. "we have to wear these"

"yeah". you say, you brought your jack hughes jersey, but you'd feel bad if you didn't wear the cole one, as brock went out of his way to give it to you.

you don't see or hear from brock the rest of the night. he's made plans to meet you and carly in the lobby tomorrow at 6pm, as the game started at 8.

you and carly went to bed around 11, imagining what might happen the next night.