LOVING SOMEONE ⇢ LUIS MENDOZA [1]

one

Hailee Adams had been playing ice-hockey since she was 8 years old and had been a member of The Ducks since she was 12.

She was now 15 and was still close with her friends on the team - Connie Moreau, Adam Banks, Charlie Conway and Lester Averman in particular.

Hailee was playing hockey with Adam on his driveway when Charlie, Jesse, Averman, Connie, Guy and Goldberg appeared.

They told the two that they were back, and they were selected to join the Team USA managed by Gordon Bombay, their coach, playing in the Junior Goodwill Games in Los Angeles, California.

Once they found Fulton, the team met up with Gordon immediately.

"Awesome!" Connie exclaimed as a limo pulled up beside them.
"Can't be from this neighbourhood." Jesse remarked.

"Hey, you guys! I'm Don Tibbles from Hendrix Hockey Apparel. We're your official sponsors. Anybody want a card?" He asked, fumbling around in his pockets.

Hailee and her friends cheered and skated towards the limo. They all jumped into the limo as Gordon got into a separate and more private area of the limo with Tibbles - Hailee was guessing it was business.

***

Hailee loved the feeling of stepping onto the rink. So when she skated on alongside Connie, she couldn't help but smile.

Gordon told them that they were waiting to be introduced to the new members to join the team. If Hailee was being honest, she was extremely excited to meet them, although a small part of her wanted to keep the team as they were.

"So these are the top young players from around USA, huh?" Adam asked as they watched the five new members skate towards them.
Hailee nodded. "I guess so."

"Tell me about my new kids." Gordon told Tibbles.
"That's Luis Mendoza." Tibbles pointed to a tall, tanned boy with black hair and dark eyes. "He's from our Miami club."

Hailee watched the boy skate away from the small crowd of five. His eyes locked with hers, and he smirked. Hailee felt her cheeks heat up as Luis then put his helmet on.

"He's a real speedster - incredible skater! 1.9 seconds blue line to blue line." Tibbles informed Gordon.

"Wow..." Hailee whispered to Connie. "that's fast."
Hailee watched Luis as he skated around the corner of the rink, throwing in spins and fancy footwork to impress Gordon.

"Good looking skater." Connie remarked, looking over at Hailee.
"He sure is." Hailee replied, not taking her eyes off of him.
"Very good looking. What do you think, Guy?" Averman asked Connie's boyfriend.

"Shut up, Averman." Guy rolled his eyes and elbowed Averman in the stomach, making Connie laugh.

"There's one minor problem..." Tibbles began as Luis skated straight into the wall and fell to the floor.
"He has a little trouble stopping." Tibbles said, Hailee giggled.

"I almost had it that time." Luis sighed after his friends helped him up.

"Yeehaw!" One of the new members yelled, making Hailee jump a little. "How is everyone? Y'all ready to play some puck?"

"That's Dwayne Robertson from Austin. He's the best puck-handler I've ever seen." Tibbles commented as The Ducks laughed.
"You mean for his age?" Gordon asked.
"No, I don't."
"I've gotta say... it's pretty impressive." Connie said. Hailee nodded in agreement.