this takes place around august\september 2019, so after the draft and just before the next nhl season
"welcome to your new, second home, ann!" my coach said to me as we pulled into a large, two-story home, "your billet family comprises of the parents, ellen and jim, and their son, luke. they have two other sons, but they're currently in the nhl, so obviously, they don't live at home. it's the off season, however, so they might be around now."
"sounds great." i mutter, feeling nervous to meet my host family.
it's august and i've just moved from calgary to michigan to play for the little caesars u18 girls team in a couple of weeks. it's a huge opportunity and, while i'll miss all my friends and family back home, i couldn't pass this up.
coach and i walked up the front steps and knocked on the door.
a moment later, the door swung open to reveal a blonde women smiling brightly at me.
"you must be ann!" she greeted, "i'm so excited to finally meet you. you have no idea how happy i am to finally have another girl in this house."
her joy was infectious and i couldn't help but smile while she pulled me into a quick hug.
ellen ushered us into the house and guided us through the hallway, towards the living room.
"jim! boys!" she yelled up the stairwell, "ann's here, come meet her."
we sat down on the couch as jim, luke, and quinn joined us.
"i'm not sure where jack is, i told him to be home by now to meet you. gosh, that kid," ellen grumbles.
"ann, we're so excited to have you here," jim said, "quinn's been out of the house for a few years now, but now with jack leaving this season, we felt that the house would be too empty, so we thought why not billet for little caesars? gotta support the club!"
after discussing for a little while about rules and how things were going to work, my coach left, leaving me with my new billet family.
"hey, ann! want to play chel with luke and i?" quinn suggested,
"for sure!" i smiled, following them down to the basement.
it was me versus the brothers. they argued over which team to play with but eventually settled on playing as the ranger. i picked the oilers.
"aren't you from calgary? you're not a flames fan?" luke questioned,
"god, no," i replied, "my mom is from edmonton and she's a huge oilers fan. it's nearly a sin in my house to even mention the flames."
we laughed and started our game of nhl 19.
after awhile, we stopped playing and just sat around, talking and getting to know each other.
suddenly, shouting could be heard from upstairs.
"sounds like jack's back," quinn chuckled.
a look of confusion crossed my face.
"he was supposed to be back, like, two hours ago," he continued, "he always does this and it drives my mom nuts."
i heard the basement door open and footsteps coming down the stairs.
"holy shit, she never lets me do anything," a voice said, as the person entered the room, "it's like: i'm 18, i'm moving out in a few weeks, i should be allowed to do what i want. i just don't understand why i'm even supposed to be home right now—"
"jack." quinn cut him off.
jack finally looked in our direction and noticed my presence. a confused expression dawns his face.
