The adopted Czech hockey player

Ch. 1

-----Isabel's POV-----

Anna Holubarova moved to Lake Placid, New York in late May. She is a Foreign exchange student from Kladno, Czech Republic. She will be a Freshman at NorthWood Prep, just like me. But she didn't come here for NorthWood's academics, she came here for the girls hockey team. Anna got noticed by my dad and she got invited to play hockey here. Anna has been here for about a month now. She has already settled in nicely.

Oh whoops, I forgot to introduce myself. Hi, my name is Isabel Stephens. But everyone calls me Iz for short. My family is hosting* Anna. And when I mean my family, I mean my mom, my 2 older twin brothers, Max and Aaron, and me. My dad is Ray Stevens, he is the 1st line right winger for the Montreal Canadiens. Yes I know that Montreal is a 3 hour drive from Lake Placid, but the Habs is the team that drafted my dad in the 2004 draft. But we rarely get to see my dad because a week before training camp starts my dad leaves for Montreal. Then there is the pre-season, then the 82 game season starts on Oct. 1, then if the Canadiens make it the the postseason then that's 2 more weeks that my brothers and I don't get to see our dad. So my dad rarely is home. But my dad does FaceTime us when he has a day off or after practice.

Now back to Anna's situation.

Anna is actually a really good hockey player. Out of all the years that I have been playing hockey and have been captain if my teams, I have never seen the talent that Anna has. She is on the 1st line as a Right Winger. Which seemed like she kind of knew what she was doing but not really because it was a little new for her. Here's how it went down.

When she arrived to our house, she looked a little dazed about how big my house was and the thought of her having her own room. But I reminded her that my dad was a hockey superstar. When I got to her room, she muttered something in czech that I couldn't make out. Then I showed her how our bathroom links both of our rooms together. Then I left Anna, so she could settle in and that if she needs any help, don't be afraid to ask.

When I walked into my room I closed my bathroom door as well as my bedroom door and went straight to my Mac book pro. When I got to google, I looked up Anna's name, and the first thing that I saw were articles about how she was the leading goal scorer at the private school that she attended back in Kladno. But the one thing that surprised me the most was that she just didn't play on the girls team but played on the high school girls ice hockey team. But then I read something about how if she had stayed in Kladno, she would have been invited to play on the high school guys ice hockey team.

I had just exited out of Safari and turned off my Mac Book Pro, when someone knocked on my bathroom door. I got up out of my chair, and went over to open the door when I found Anna on the other side with a weird look on her face. She tried to say something, but we both knew that her English wasn't that good.

"Isabel, I have question about how to turn tv on." Anna finally spitted out.

"You can call me Iz. Yeah, I will show you. Follow me." I said as I went to her room and grabbed the remote with her sitting next to me on the bed.

"What you press?" Anna asked again in her thick Czech accent.

"This is how I turn it on. First I turn on the box, then I turn on the tv, then you have to wait a couple of seconds for the screen to show up. Then to change the channel. You just simply hit the guide button and hit the volume button to turn it up or down. Then to turn it off, you just do the same thing." I said as I handed her the remote "anything else?"

"Um... Do You know when we get our schedule for school?" Anna asked

"I think it's early August. But I will give you a little tour of the campus because my brothers are juniors. So I know my way around." I answered

"Ok. Do you know if NorthWood has a class for students like me?" Anna asked again

"Um, no but I will ask my mom about how you are going to learn English." I said when my mom called our names for dinner.

"Ok. I hope it's you" Anna said as we went downstairs to the dining room.

After dinner, Anna asked if she could be excused from the table. She got up, took her plate and her utensils and placed them in the sink. Then she went up to her room. When my mom and I finished eating, we took our plates to the kitchen and staring to clean off the table and wash the dishes. The I found the perfect time to ask my mom who is going to teach Anna English since NorthWood doesn't have ESL classes.

"I talked to the principal yesterday and we thought that I would be a good idea if it was you that taught her." She answered

"Why me?" I asked

"Because we both know that you will be nice to her and that you actually like helping people." She replied

"Ok. I guess I'll do it. We should we start?" I said

"Give her a couple of days to get settled in. Aw well as to get used to the house and the town. Just make sure that you are always with her when you leave the house." She told me

After the dishes were done, I went to my room and looked at my phone. I saw that I had abut a dozen texts from some of my teammates that didnt go on summer vacation. They said that they would like to meet Anna. I replied to them saying that they will have to wait until tryouts. But then I got a text from coach saying that she needs to meet Anna and I for lunch tomorrow. I replied: cool. When and where? She replied: Main St. Pizza and pasta, noon. I replied back: we'll be there. Want us to bring money? She replied: yeah.

I got up from my bed and went to Anna's room when I saw that her bathroom door was closed. I knocked on the door and I heard her saying come in. When I opened the door I saw that she had completely decorated the walls with posters of Jaromir Jagr and some other European and Canadian hockey players. She had put pictures up of all her teams and the championships that she won on a poster board that was in her room. I was completely dazed, when she started saying my name repeatedly.

"Uh, yeah sorry. Nice posters." I said

"Thanks. Sorry I wasn't sure if I was allowed to do this, so I did it anyway." Anna said

"Anna, have you seen my room yet? I came in here to tell you that coach wants us to meet her at Main St. Pizza and pasta tomorrow for lunch. Don't worry I know where it is and I will pay for you. After all my dad does play in the NHL." I said

"Ok. Haha. I feel right at home now." Anna had said

"This is your house anyway because you are going to be living here until we graduate in 4 years." I told her

"Ohh really I am staying here until then? That's awesome. But is it okay with your dad? Does he know about me?" Anna said

"Heck yeah. He was the one that said that you can stay. He's seen you play. I am just glad that there is another girl in this house." I said

"Oh really!! Awesome!! I might need more clothes though." Anna said

"Don't worry my mom and I will take you shopping." I said as I looked at the clock on Anna's desk.

"Oh we should be going to bed soon. Tomorrow is a big day." I said as I headed to my room

"Ok, goodnight" Anna shouted at me through the bathroom

"Night" I shouted back

Since Anna doesn't know that much English, it was pretty much my duty to get teach her and it has officially begin. She may not know that I am teaching her English just by talking to her but I think it's starting to work because she is getting better at it already. But I think that this will be more of a bonding time because I know that Anna will need a friend when School starts in no more then a month. It will give us some time to get to know each other better.

* host home is when a foreign exchange student comes to your country to your school and you are letting them live in your house.

I hope y'all like it so far. FYI, the names in this story are made up. NorthWood prep is an actual school in Lake Placid. Ray Stephens however is not a real name. But the Montreal Canadiens are a real NHL team. Nickname is the Habs.