William's POV- January 2017
Auston looked at Mariana.
"You could have warned me what I was getting into"
She laughed and filled three mugs with coffee. I reached for the mug closest to me and took a big gulp. Esmeralda had class until 4PM, so Auston was spending the day with us.
"Did meeting Esmeralda's family not go well?" I asked.
"No, it went great. Her brothers are just really intimidating"
I looked at Mariana who nodded as she spread Nutella on her waffle.
"Her brothers are as intimidating as George and dad are with Adrian"
Yesterday I had formally met Mariana's dad, and he was actually really nice, at least to me. He was a lot more strict to Adrian than he was with me. Part of it had to do at the fact that Mariana had made her dad promise he'd be nice to me. It had been a while since my last panic attack, and I was really thankful for that. Adrian does come off as a dick to some people, but that might be because of the language barrier. Some blame the tattoos, others blame his resting bitch face. Lorenzo joked around last night that Adrian would fit great with the Kings because he shows no emotion like head coach Darryl Sutter and starting goaltender Jonathan Quick.
"But Lorenzo and George like Adrian, they just do that to mess with him" I stated.
Mariana wiggled her eyebrows as she took a sip of her smoothie.
"Wait, so you're saying they actually like me?"
She smiled.
"I never told you this, but"
She pointed her perfectly manicured nail at him.
"They're a bit pissed at the fact that Esmeralda didn't tell them sooner, but Jon and Mat approve of you"
He smiled.
"That's reassuring"
He looked at me.
"How did meeting Mariana's family go?"
"I have yet to meet her mom, she's in Mexico or something" I replied.
He nodded.
"George wasn't there last night, so that was a bummer" I admitted.
"Answer the question Willy"
I smiled.
"It went real well" I answered.
"You have a step sister, right?"
Mariana nodded.
"Sophia"
"She's really nice" I stated.
Auston grinned.
"Did she feed your ego?"
"Oh yea" I said.
I shrugged as they both laughed.
"Food was real good" I added.
Last night was great, I got to eat yummy food with the people that Mariana loves. I also got a chance to catch up with an old teammate.
"So what are you two doing today?"
"We were supposed to go to Disneyland but we had to accommodate you" I told him.
I smiled.
"Remember that one favor I owed you?" I asked.
He frowned and looked at Mariana who was laughing.
"So when do you have class?"
"I've got class all day tomorrow, Will is heading to New York"
"Without Mariana, so thanks for that Auston" I said.
"You can't stay another day?"
"She's got class all day tomorrow" I told him.
"Who's taking you to the airport"
"Sophia" I answered.
"She's dating your ex-teammate, right?"
"Yeah, they met during his first year in the AHL" I replied.
He had just started dating her a little before last years World Juniors. I got injured at that World Juniors and if I had not gotten a concussion I would have probably never met Mariana.
"Esmeralda was telling me that she used to be a legit elite gymnast"
Mariana nodded.
"Yeah, Soph was one of the last gymnasts to beat Simone Biles in the All-Around"
Whether you followed gymnastics or not, you knew who Simone Biles was.
"What exactly happened, if you don't mind me asking"
She sighed.
"Sophia is one of the strongest person's I know"
I knew Sophia was a top gymnast at the Junior level.
"Imagine being at the prime of your career when your shoulder and back start to hurt, but your coach tells you it's only in your head. You compete your first senior competition and you win, and no matter how much your arm hurts you have to show no emotion because that shows your competition you're weak. Your dad also hides the fact that he has cancer from you because he doesn't want you to worry"
So there was a chance her father wasn't around anymore.
"The media keeps telling you that you're a shoo-in for a spot on the 2016 Olympic team, 3 years away. Then one day everything begins to crumble, you're practicing your beam routine when you feel a snap on your shoulder. Your coach tells you to get up, but you can't hear him because you're screaming. The ambulance comes for you and you wake up the next day with your arm pulsing. You've had surgery and you're out for the rest of the season, and possibly half of the following season. The first thing to comes to your 16 year old mind is, how am I going to make the Olympic Team? Your dad tells you that everything will be fine, and he tells you that he's proud of you. How would you react that a week later you go wake him from his nap and find him unconscious on the floor?"
I did not like where this story was going.
"Remember, you only have one working arm. You scramble to call your mom, and just as the phone rings you touch your dad and realize he's freezing cold. Does your shoulder really matter now? Not really"
To lose a family member like that must be horrible, I wouldn't wish that upon anyone.
"Your mom answers the phone and just hears you screaming that dad's not waking up. She can't just drive there, she's a 4 hour flight away almost 1,470 miles away. When she gets there 5 hours later she finds you holding your dad. Your soaked in your own blood because your stitches opened, but you could careless about that. You have to get surgery and after that you bury your father. Your mom leaves you alone so you can say your goodbye with dad, and you promise him you will make him proud. Your mom packs your whole life and moves you to California where she lives with her boyfriend. Imagine crying every night as your mom's boyfriend holds you, not to tight though because you're still recovering from your surgeries"
I looked at Auston who was slowly shaking his head.
"You think about quitting, but you have to keep your promise. You get the movement back on your arm, and you begin training again. You compete as a level 10 because you're no longer considered an elite gymnast. Your so called friends from the gymnastics world, they don't speak to you anymore. You can literally count the number of friends you have with one hand. Your parents always told you that school came first, so for once in your life you put gymnastics second. You find out that two of the top gymnastic NCAA Division I programs want to recruit you and you go look at the program. It's not until you're at UCLA with the gymnastics team that you laugh for the first time in over a year"
She smiled as reached for a napkin and wiped her face.
"Esmeralda wasn't the only one that had a shitty ending to her elite career"
Auston nodded.
"At least Esmeralda got to accomplish her goal and go to the Olympics"
Mariana nodded and glanced at me.
"Let's clean your face up"
I took the napkin from her and wiped my face.
"So what do you want to do today?" I asked.
Auston looked at Mariana.
"We could go to Disneyland, Esmeralda does have a pass so she could just meet us there"
She turned to look at me.
"Do you want to go to Disneyland?"
"I'm down" I admitted.
She smiled.
"Well then let us finish eating and then change"
Auston nodded finished off his waffle. He stood up and excused himself to make a phone call.
"Remind me to give Adrian a tight hug the next time I see him" I told her.
I finally understood why George, and Lorenzo were so protective when it came to Sophia. She had been through hell and back, but her smile would have never given it away. I guess those loneliest are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. The most damaged people are the brightest. All because they do not wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do.
A/N: Chapter 1 and 2 of my Adrian Kempe story were posted. Only 8 more chapters left of this story.