I sit next to Jace at the Mighty Ducks table the next day only because he asked me to. It feels awkward, sitting at a team table that I'm not part of. I can feel Sofi's glances at me.
"And what about our other new teammate?" Koob asks, looking down at Jace and I. "Anything you'd like to say down there, Jace?"
"What? Like all my hopes and dreams for how this is going to be the greatest summer of my life with my new besties? No," Jace replies.
"Jace," I say, looking at him.
"What? I'm just being honest."
I roll my eyes. "Yeah, and rude. They're trying to be nice, okay? Drop the attitude. You might enjoy this summer for once without your dad pressuring you all the time."
I'm aware that the others are still watching us while we're talking and I know Jace isn't happy that I'm bringing his dad into it.
"Sure," Jace says, shaking his head.
"And, sorry, who are you?" Koob asks me.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Evelyn. My parents work here. I'm friends with Jace so I hang out with him. I didn't mean to bother anyone by sitting here today, it just gets kinda boring sitting in my parents' apartment. I can leave if you need me to."
"Oh no, you're fine," Maya says. "Do you play hockey?"
"I used to. Not anymore though."
"Why not?" Sofi asks, raising her eyebrows.
"Um, well, my dad taught me how to play when I was five and I played until he passed away when I was nine. I just didn't want to play anymore after that. Then my mom remarried and her and my step dad both got jobs here and I became friends with Jace."
Jace scoffs. "Yeah, best day of my life."
"You better believe it," I say, smiling. "You're lucky you have me."
"Yeah, I know, you keep telling me that," Jace says, smiling at me.
"I think that's the first time I've seen him smile," Koob whispers to Maya. Sofi's eyes flick to me again.
Alex comes over to the table with a big box and they all start talking about how much Nick's moms love him or something that I'm not paying attention to. He opens the box and a bunch of balloons fly out and he says something about everything for an awesome birthday party.
"Oh, your birthday is coming up?" I ask Nick.
"Yeah. It's going to be awesome."
I smile. "Well happy almost birthday."
He smiles back. "Thanks Evelyn."
Coach Alex's plan to delete the schedule email and instead they would be working outside is... interesting. I don't underestimate her as a coach but her way of doing things is certainly something I've never seen before. She reminds me of how my dad used to act when we practiced in the summer. Doing fun exercises in the backyard. But Alex's are still more laid back than my dad's. Or what I imagine he would be making me do if he was still here coaching me.
At one point, Alex sees me sitting against the tree by the field, watching them. Jace is over near me, talking about random stuff I'm barely paying attention to.
Alex jogs over to us. "Hey, Jace. Who's this?"
"Oh, this is my best friend, Evelyn," Jace says. I smile at her. "Her parents work here and she has nothing better to do. She usually watched me practice with my dad, so we didn't think it would be a problem with you."
"But if it is, I can totally leave," I add.
Alex smiles. "No, no, no. It's fine." She turns back to Jace. "You wanna get in on this?"
"No, you guys are good," Jace says. "I'm soaking in the sunshine."
"Okay," Alex says unsurely, walking away.
"You know she's just trying to help, right?" I ask Jace.
"Yeah, I do. But it's not worth it. Nothing can help me at this point."
"Sure. But seriously, you should really try this summer. You aren't with your dad this time, and Alex isn't pressuring you to even play at this point. Why can't you just try?"
Jace shrugs. "Maybe I will at some point. But not right now."
"Okay, your choice."
Practice breaks for lunch.
"Coming with us? Can't say no to lunch," Alex says to Jace, who stands up. He never joined in any of the activities, just stayed sitting next to me.
"Yet here I am. Defying the odds," Jace says, walking away. I gather my stuff and get up to follow him.
Coach Alex stops me. "Hey, do you know what's really wrong with him?"
I look after Jace. "Um, well, I don't know if it's really my place to tell you that..."
"Um, yeah, I totally get that," Alex says. "But I really want to help him, and I don't know how to do that if I don't know what's wrong."
"Okay, I guess, I'll tell you the basis of what happened last summer," I say, rubbing the back of my neck.
"Thank you, so much. I just really want to help him," Alex starts.
"Yeah, I get it. Anyway, last summer at the summer showcase, right near the end of the game, Jace got the puck and he ended up scoring on his own goal. He had a breakdown, which he says caused the glitch in his shot. And he blames it on the pressure from his dad. Which I agree with. Since then, he hasn't really liked playing hockey. Or anything that has to do with his dad."
"Oh," Alex says. "I would never have guessed it was his dad. But, thanks for that. I know it's not your place to tell me but I thank you so much. I don't mean to hurt your friendship with Jace so I hope that doesn't happen."
"Yeah, uh, me too. Um, just one piece of advice about trying to help Jace. Don't push him too hard. He'll come around when he wants to. But if you push too hard, it'll remind him of his dad and he definitely won't like you then. So, please promise me that you won't do that."
"I promise," Alex says, smiling. "You're a good kid Evelyn. Jace is really lucky to have you."
I smile back. "And I'm lucky to have him."
