Jessica walked into the Bell Centre after a hastle with the arena security, who wouldn't understand that she wasn't a fan. But rather, the daughter of Team Canada's head coach, Benoit Groulx.
She rolled her eyes just thinking about the moment, but shook it off at the sound of a whistle which made her jump a little. Jessica laughed at herself, hoping nobody noticed and hesitantly walked up into the stands to take a seat.
"HUSTLE BOYS! LETS GO!" Her father yelled, causing her to smirk. She had heard that tone of voice plenty of times in the past, and it felt good that he wasn't talking to her for once.
She could tell the practice was coming to a close since her father was talking to the boys who were huddled around him. Jessica began to exit the arena, almost as soon as she arrived, knowing that they would be leaving soon.
She made her way to the dressing rooms and leaned against the wall beside the door to wait to greet her father.
The players suddenly appeared and filed into the dressing room. They all gave Jessica a look as they walked by and she responded with a slight smile.
Finally her father walked into the hallway. Jessica let out a sigh of relief, straightening herself out for him. She hadn't seen him in so long, with him being away coaching in Gatineau. It was a breath of fresh air seeing him again.
"Hey Jess, I'll just be a couple minutes, then we can go." He said before walked into the dressing room and shut the door.
She growled, going to take a seat back in the stands. Though she was happy to see him, Jessica wan't too thrilled about having to spend her winter break with her father. Away from friends, most family and the familiarity of home.
And from her five minutes since arrival, it was already proven that she wouldn't even be spending too much time with him either.
-
Jessica boarded the team bus behind her father after a meaningful reunion. As soon as she got on, she began to recieve stares from the guys again. She looked away, uneasy with the looks, and turned towards her father, to sit by him. Though he was already sat beside another man.
"Dad."
"Oh, sorry honey, I need to speak with Dave here. But there is an empty row behind us." He said, pointing to the seats behind them.
"Okay." She replied, trying not to sound too dissappointed.
Jessica hesitantly made her way to the row, taking a seat beside the window. She took out her headphones and began to listen to her music.
Midway through her first song, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
She turned and looked up at a pretty attractive boy. He had a fluffy pile of hair on his head and thick ass eyebrows.
"Hey, mind if I sit here? There are no other seats." He asked, looking around.
"Sure."
He shrugged off his jacket and looked back to the guys, yet again.
"I'm Brayden, whats your name?" Brayden said when he turned back around, leaning towards Jessica.
"Jessica." She smiled and took an earbud out of her ear.
"Cool.. So, what are you doing here? Just curious." He asked as he leaned back into the seat.
"Groulx is my dad, and I'm supposed to be spending some time with him during the tournament." Jessica shrugged. He looked taken aback, which caused her to question him.
"I'm just shocked that he made you." She laughed. This Brayden guy was pretty interesting to her.
"So what position do you play?" Jessica asked, suddenly becoming interested in him and the conversation.
"Forward, do you play?"
Jessica shrugged, "Maybe."
"Holy shit you so do! You need to play me later." Brayden said quite loudly and caused a few heads to turn.
Jessica shushed the boy, not wanting any attention on them. She wasn't interested in getting to know the boys after past experiences. Hockey boys were nothing but trouble. It was surprising to her that she was even making good conversation with Brayden at the moment.
Though maybe it was a sign that things wouldn't be so bad after all.
