Peu Importe la Distance | D. Mercer

CH 3

Liliane walked off her flight at 2:00pm. 2:00pm in Anaheim that is. Liliane wasn't in New Jersey anymore so she needed to get used to the time change.

As she stepped off the plane and into the airport someone was there waiting for her with another person with a camera next to them.

"Liliane Auclair! Your ride is here!" A boy smiles. Liliane doesn't feel like smiling at him so she gives him a polite nod.

"Hey." Liliane says. The camera follows her as she walks up to the boy standing before her.

"I'm your new teammate, Trevor Zegras." Trevor says as he places a hand on his hip with a smile. Liliane nods again as and looks to the camera.

"Did Anaheim really want to make a youtube video out of my jet lag?" Liliane asks. Trevor shrugs.

"It'll be fun. I promise. This isn't my first time picking someone up from an airport." Trevor says as he begins walking, making a motion with his hand for Liliane to follow him. She does even though she'd rather take the camera and turn it off. As her and Trevor walk to the car to take her to her new apartment, Liliane's phone rings.

"Hey, Merc." Liliane smiles. Trevor looks back at her when she stops walking. Liliane's cheeks flush as the person on the other line speaks.

"Baby, it's really late for you. Please get some sleep. I don't want Lindy yelling at me again." Liliane laughs. Trevor opens the door for her to put her stuff in the car as she speaks.

"Yeah, I'll be awake when you call me. Je t'aime." Liliane says before she pulls the phone away from her ear and hangs up. Her frown returns and she hops in the car to take her to her new home.

...

Liliane lays in her bed. She hated being in Anaheim, but she'll have practice tomorrow to distract her from the place with her love. She flips and lays on her stomach on her bed. She has nothing unpacked, but she didn't want to make a home of this place. Her home is in New Jersey, sleeping the day away. He's sleeping when she's awake. It's not right to her.

...

Liliane walks into the Honda Center by herself. Nothing but the feeling of replacement filled her. New Jersey replaced her. She's replacing New Jersey with Anahiem.

"Liliane, right?" Someone asks from in front of her. She looks up from the ground and nods. The man in front of her introduces himself as Greg Cronin, the head coach.

"I'll show you to the locker room. You'll get ready for practice and you can follow around one of the boys today." Greg says. Liliane follows behind him, still having yet to speak to him.

"You've met Trevor, correct?" Greg asks. It takes everything in Liliane to not nod again.

"Yeah." Liliane says. She sounded scared to be here, but Greg didn't question it. He just kept walking and Liliane kept following him.

Eventually, they ended up at the door to the locker room. It wasn't anything special, but it was where she was going to spend one guarantied season, so she appreciated it.

Greg motioned for her to open the door so she did just that. When she took a step in most heads turned to look at her. Trevor's smile beamed and he pointed to next to him where her name was above a stall. She looked around before taking a step in the direction of Trevor.

"This is Liliane. She'll be practicing with us today. Treat her good." Greg said before he walked out of the locker room and, most likey, to the ice. Liliane placed her stuff in her stall and looked next to her where Trevor's eyes were still on her.

"Do you need something?" Liliane asks. Trevor shakes his head, his smile never fading.

"Just excited to have you with us. We're going to be good this year and you're going to help us get there." Trevor grins. Liliane shrugs.

"I'll help the best I can." Liliane spoke. She felt out of place here. She wanted to be back in New Jersey.

"Feel free to follow me or Jamie around this practice." Trevor says. Another boy pops his head out from the other side of Trevor and he doesn't smile. His eyes are gazing over Liliane like he was judging everything about her.

"I'm Jamie." The boy says. He turns back to his own business. Liliane nods and starts getting on her own gear and slipping on her new practice jersey.

...

Liliane ended up following Jamie around instead of Trevor. He didn't try to talk to her and he wasn't around other players all the time. He's also a defensemen so that drew Liliane to him.

The day after practice there was a new post on Anaheim's instagram account. Liliane was the second photo.

"Watch out for the Ducks this season."

Liliane looked at her photo and sighed. She didn't look as sad as she felt, but a part of her looked happy. She was happy because she was playing hockey, not because she was with Anaheim.