One in 2330 ~ Connor Bedard Love Story

Prologue

~'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life~

~*~*~

As the final buzzer went off, that was it. We had beaten Sweden 8-7 in overtime, giving us the bronze medal. The moment was bittersweet though because once I returned home, I knew the best thing that had ever happened to me would end. I'd have to go back to playing in the women's league, where no one could meet my level of excellence, come close to besting my records or even remotely come close to challenging my skills.

My name is Sophie Amelia Tkachuk, younger sister of Matthew, Braeden, and Taryn Tkachuk. I grew up with my siblings in St. Louis, Missouri and even lived three doors down from the Hughes Brothers, Quinn, Jack and Luke.

With my father being such a prominent figure in the NHL, it was only natural that my siblings and I got into the sport as well. Taryn ended up going the field hockey route, but Matthew, Brady and I stuck to the classic ice hockey. That was also how the three of us befriended the Hughes Brothers.

I was four years old and Matthew, Brady and I were playing road hockey one day when we saw the Hughes Brothers walk up to us and ask if they could join.

"Sure," I shrugged, tossing the three of them sticks, not thinking much of it at the time. Little did I know, it would lead to a life-long friendship.

My brothers and I bonded with the Hughes Brothers that day and we'd been friends ever since. Almost every day after that, both of our parents could almost always find the six of us hanging out, playing every version of hockey imaginable. Whether it be ice hockey, field hockey, road hockey, if we could find a way to turn it into hockey, that's what would happen.

Despite me being eight years younger than Matthew, six years younger than Brady and Quinn, four years younger than Jack and two years younger than Luke, they all made me feel included. They never acted like I wasn't as good as them- 'cause I most certainly was- never thought that just because I was a girl, I was weak. They treated me like they did each other.

Over the years, as we all grew up, the six of us got a lot more into hockey. Matthew had already been drafted into the NHL to the Calgary Flames and Quinn and Brady were soon to be drafted as well. I had always dreamed of playing with my brothers in the NHL, but I had come to terms with that a long time ago. It sucked because I had trained so hard to get to where I was, but it would all be for playing in a league that was less advanced than I was. I could hold my own against any guy my age or older and even my brother had admitted that I was better than them, but I would never get the chance to play with them because of my gender.

"I'm gonna miss you, Matt," I said, giving him a hug as he was about to board his flight to the land of snow.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Soph. And, hey, if any of the boys give you any trouble, give me a call and I'll fly down from Calgary and knock some sense into them, yeah?" Matthew suggested and I chuckled.

"I'll be sure to do that," I smiled.

Two years later, Brady and Quinn were drafted into the NHL as well, both to Canadian teams. With Matthew, Brady and Quinn all in the land of maple syrup, it was just Jack, Luke and I left. Although that would be short lived as well. Jack and Luke would be drafted soon as well, and then it would just be me. I'd come to terms with the fact that I would never get to carry out my childhood dream, but it still hurt. Seeing the people you grew up with and loved follow out the dream that you always had hurt for sure, but it was their dream as well, so I had to support them the entire way.

The worst part about not being able to play with my brothers and friends was that since I was a woman that played pro hockey, I was restricted to the women's league. I wasn't saying that the women in the league weren't talented, they were amazing! It's just since I had lived with Matt, Brady, Q, Jack and Luke my whole life, I felt like I needd more than the league I was in. Like I could do more, or have more of a challenge if I was in a more advanced league. It was frustrating because every time I would try to get my teammates to learn a trick or drill that I would have normally done back in St. Louis with the guys, none of them would have any idea what I was talking about.

I thought I was going to be stuck with an entire league of people that were way below my caliber for the rest of my life. That was until I got the one phone call that changed my life.

~*~*~

A/n:

I had to change the first paragraph of the prologue because I realised that I messed up which World Juniors I was talking about.

Please tell me what you think of this so far, because I'm internally panicking right now.

I'm planning on publishing the next part today and just so you guys know, the next few chapters are going to be about Sophie's journey leading up to June 28, 2023. Connor doesn't appear until Chapter Ten if I follow the outline that I've made for this story.

I do apologise, for I know this says "Connor Bedard Love Story" and I promise that will happen, but I do need to get a good base for Sophie before I can introduce Connor into the story as Sophie's background has a lot of stuff in it and it's too much to explain in brief paragraphs throughout the book. It's just easier for me to write it now then later.

I do hope you understand and I hope that you continue reading this book as it would mean the world to me if people actually like my writing.

-Skylor