Frozen in Ice

Chapter 47

Luke's POV

The rink was close enough for me to walk and I was appreciative of that. Belinda offered to come with me but I told her that I was fine. I made sure that I had everything in my bag and headed out. Cameron was waiting for me just inside the doors and he smiled when he saw me.

"It's good to see you. Did you have a good trip?" he asked.

"Yeah, Belinda and Richard seem nice," I added.

He nodded and I followed him deeper into the arena. I knew that the first place that we were going to be going was the equipment room and I was right. I got introduced to the equipment manager called Hugh.

He looked me up and down and started asking me about my gear. I had pretty much always organised my own gear and it was weird telling someone else about what I liked. I kept it pretty simple so he had gear for me and I then followed Cameron into the locker room.

"You must be Luke. I'm Mitch, the captain," one of the guys said.

I shook his head and looked him up and down. I knew that he was a right winger and he was about my height with light brown hair and the same coloured eyes.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you," I said.

He smiled and Cameron disappeared out of the room leaving Mitch to introduce me to everyone else. I couldn't seem to remember many peoples' name but I had to quickly change for practice anyway.

It felt weird pulling on a different coloured jersey before I headed out to talk to Coach. He was already waiting for me in the ice.

"Crosby, it's good to meet you," he started.

"You too," I added.

"So I just going to try you with a bunch of different players to see what works," he warned.

I nodded and he called everyone together. I felt a little bit on the outside because I didn't know anyone yet but I knew that that could and hopefully would fade with time. Most of the drills were familiar and I don't know why but I was surprised that I could keep up.

Coach kept his word and I pretty much ended up playing with every other forward. I think that Mitch and Dan fitted well together and Coach seemed to be pleased with our line. I followed everyone back into the locker room and took a seat in my stall as I slowly stripped my gear off.

"Crosby, do you want to come hang out with us?" Mitch asked.

I looked up at him and nodded. It would hopefully help me remember a few more people's names. I listened to the conversations going on around me and figured out there was about six of us going around the Mitch's place to play video games.

Mitch's billet family wasn't home so we all headed down into the basement where there was a TV set up. An NHL16 tournament was set up and I took a set on the floor as a couple of guys grabbed remotes.

Mitch sat down beside me and smiled at me.

"How are you finding it so far?" he asked.

"Training wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I can't remember many names yet," I admitted.

"Names are hard. You are a good player so it isn't surprising that you didn't find training really hard. You fit in well," he smiled.

I nodded and we both turned our attention to the game that was going on. Everyone was chirping everyone else and it was funny to listen to. After about ten minutes I managed to remember everyone's names. There was Jackson, Dan, Adam, Ryan and Noah as well as myself and Mitch here.

After a few minutes of watching I was handed a remote and told that it was my turn to play and I was playing against Noah. I hadn't spent a lot of time playing the game but some of my old friends were obsessed with the game so I had played before.

I wasn't good enough to beat Noah but I managed to hold my own. I handed the controller off to Adam and re took my seat on the ground. I could feel myself relax as I listened to everyone else.

Mitch disappeared and appeared a few moments later with food. The games got paused and we all started to eat.

"So Luke, how do you like Flint?" Jackson asked.

"I arrived around eleven last night and all I have done today is go to training so I have no idea," I said.

"So, you are from Pittsburgh?" Adam asked.

"Not originally, I'm originally from Denver," I said.

The guys nodded and they started to ask more questions about me that I was willing to answer.

"How come you didn't get drafted into the O because you are a really good player?" Mitch asked.

"I've moved too much for any scouts to really come and look at me."

"How many places have you live?"

"Including here about eight, I think," I said simply.

They all looked at me and I nodded.

"It's a long story and I don't really want to talk about it," I added.

They respected that and the questions moved away from where I had lived to what I liked outside of hockey. The team was really good at welcoming me and I felt right at home with them.

"How did your old team take it when you said that you were coming here?" Ryan asked.

"They hated me so I think that they were glad to get rid of me," I said.

The food was finished and the games were started back up again. I played a couple more times and even managed a couple of wins but I was more comfortable watching and just talking. Mitch's billet family came home and I got introduced to them since they already knew all the other guys.

I headed home later as people started to head home as well. Richard and Belinda were sitting together in the lounge, talking quietly about a crossword that they were doing.

"How was your day?" Belinda asked when they noticed me.

"It was good. I hung out with some of the team as well and they were really nice," I added.

They both nodded and I headed into my room. I had a couple of messages from Brynn, Justin, Dylan and Jamie. I replied to all of them and called Jamie because I wanted someone to talk to and he was the most adult person I had in Pittsburgh.

He answered on the second ring and when he realise that it was me he turned it onto speaker phone so that Alex could hear as well.

"How was your day?" Jamie asked.

"I had my first training," I started.

"How was it?" Alex interrupted.

"It wasn't too bad. I managed to keep up and hung out with some of the guys afterwards," I finished.

"What are they like?" Jamie asked.

"They are really nice and they have welcomed me. I start at school tomorrow," I added.

We talked for a while and they were both good to talk to and they kept me calm. I hung up and I felt relaxed about tomorrow.

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The Wise One