11:04am, February 12th 2010, Ottawa
“Rose!” I heard my brother Nicolas’ voice snap me out of my thoughts.
I looked up and realized that I was still in a classroom. My teacher looked from my brother to me, who was innocently waiting at the door for me. I had almost forgotten that he was coming to pick me up.
After my teacher spoke with Nick a small amount of time, he finally agreed to let me leave. I had to pack for the Olympics. I was supposed to be there yesterday but of course, Nick had only texted me this morning that he’d arrive in Ottawa today. Everything was happening so fast, almost like I was stuck in a dream.
Nicolas pulled me against him as I left the classroom, and I hugged him back for only a second because we really needed to get going. Once in the hallway; his eyes couldn’t focus on one thing at a time. “You know I really don’t miss this ugly place. Such horrible memories.”
I pushed him off of me, “At least you’re done.”
“You know you could’ve been done if you hadn’t failed 1st grade.” He said and I slapped his shoulder.
“Shut up! It happens to people. I’m surprised I didn’t fail any of my grades in high-school so far.” I said.
“Hey, you’ve only got a few months left at least.” He smiled. “The 2nd semester goes by so much faster, at least.”
“Let’s leave school alone for now. All I want on my mind right now is hockey.” I said, turning away from him.
He laughed, “Oh, of course! You want that gold medal, don’t you?”
“And I’m gonna get it, I can already picture the golden game against the USA. It’s the way it’s always been, and I'm not sure if that scares me. I’ve done plenty of tournaments against that country, but the Olympics is like a completely different game.” I said to him.
“True, and there’s always a chance you could lose, USA is a pretty strong team.” He said.
I pushed him, and he fell against a locker. “You’re supposed to be on my side, man!”
He brushed himself off, and went back towards me. “Jesus, Rose!”
I laughed and continued to walk forwards, trying to run farther away from him so he couldn't get me.
“Hard to believe you aren’t in the NHL.” Nick said, turning a corner at one end of the hallway.
“Yet.” I coughed, reaching his side again.
He looked over at me, “What was that?”
I looked away, brushing my hair back. “Nothing. Nothing, I said nothing.”
He took my arm and stopped me from walking. “What have you been doing behind my back?”
I smiled at how serious he was acting, and of how he didn't seem to have a clue what I meant. It wasn't exactly a secret. “Nothing.”
He looked at me, suspiciously. “Why are you smiling?”
“Cuz your face makes me laugh.” I said and walked off forwards, pushing him away.
A few guys walking pass me in the hallway only snuck a few looks. Those that weren’t shy, wished me luck and stopped to talk with my brother. Nicolas had become pretty popular in the last year. He was going through his third year in the NHL, with the Chicago Blackhawks and already he was invited to play in the Olympics, that’s really saying something.
After a few minutes, Nicolas had not stopped talking. He still knew a lot of people here. He’d only graduated 3 years ago, and he basically knew everyone my age, especially the ones that played hockey.
“You make us proud, Rose!” One of the guys high-fived me.
“Always.” I smiled at them.
Nicolas and I turned around moments later, and walked back towards the exit, away from everyone's earshot. “Whatever happened to that boyfriend of yours you had last year?”
I frowned at him, “I have no idea who you're talking about.”
"During the summer, I thought you were seeing a guy." Nic explained.
I shook my head at him, "I've only had one boyfriend, and that was such a long time ago."
"You're 18, Rose." Nic said, shocked. "You've always been so comfortable around guys."
"But there was something about that guy. That one guy, you know." I said. "I never forgot about him."
"Was he the guy you were with in London?" Nic asked.
"Oh yes," I smiled. "Those good old days."
"And you haven't seen him since?" Nic asked.
"I mean, we've tried to make it work and we're still really good frends to this day, but he's doing his own thing in the NHL and I'm all about the Olympics right now, you know." I shrugged. "I don't really have time for my personal life, and I'm completely okay with that."
Nick smiled over at me, and began to laugh.
“Oh, I still have a few things I need to pack before we leave for the airport. I’ll say goodbye to Aunt Jess at the same time.”
He looked at me, smiling. “Sure, we can head there right now. Our flight leaves in 3 hours though.”
"We'll hurry then." I smiled, and walked towards his car.
“SO what was that thing you mentioned about the NHL?” Nick grinned while saying.
I grinned, “Oh, you aren’t going to let that go, are you?”
“No, might as well tell me now.”
“A lot of teams in the NHL have contacted me and they want me to join their team, that’s all.”
“What? That’s huge!”
“It’s not a big deal, I have to play with them first and see if I could play well with the team. Then they’ll make a decision… and besides that’s months away. They’ll base it on my performance at the Olympics.”
We were standing at the front of the school, and Nick’s car was waiting for us right there, even if it wasn’t a parking area. I shrugged it off and opened the door to the passenger seat.
“Still, don’t you think you should’ve told me before?” He asked me.
I sat down in Nick’s car and looked over at him. “I didn’t tell you because it doesn’t affect you, and besides I might not even be accepted.”
“I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about a girl being signed to the NHL soon. That was you?” He asked.
I smiled, I had to admit it was a really exciting thought. “Yep, I can't believe you didn't know.”
He looked back in front and started the car.
“You have to admit it though, it’d be pretty sick to play against each other.” I grinned.
He smiled, “Okay.”
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