Grace Gillman 

"Grace, I think you're being overdramatic."

I looked at my best friend through the monitor of my computer screen and shrugged. She was right. Giving my father the silent treatment was a little childish, but he wasn't the one who had to move across the country a month into his senior year of high school. He wasn't the one who had to give up his hockey captainship and leave everything he ever knew behind. If I weren't the captain of Minnesota's best girls select team, then maybe I would have felt differently about all of this. But leaving home felt like a chunk of my heart had been torn out. And my hockey girls? I couldn't even express how angry I felt about leaving them.

"I know he thinks he knows what's best for me, but I think I should be the one to decide that. And your parents were totally cool with me living with you so we could finish senior year. I just don't understand why he wouldn't let me stay," I finally replied, exasperated by the whole subject.

Sammy looked into the camera sympathetically. "At least you know he loves you. I mean, he wants to see his little girl grow up."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm all grown up Sam—eighteen in a few weeks. So if I really wanted to, I could just come home myself."

I could see the frightened look in her eyes. She really believed I would do something crazy like run away. I didn't blame her though. Through the years we'd been friends, I had done some pretty wild things.

"Well, what about this new school?" Sammy said, trying to change the subject.

"Arrowhead High: home of the Jaguars!" I said enthusiastically while pumping my arm into the air.

Sam rolled her eyes at my fake attempt to sound excited. "Do they have a hockey team?"

I remembered the first day I had arrived at our new home. It had only been a week ago, but the first thing I did was look up my school's website to check the athletic page for a hockey team. Thankfully hockey popped up, but my hope was ruined seconds later when I found out they only had one team which consisted of all male players.

"The only people playing on it have a boatload of testosterone running through their horny teenage guy bodies," I said with a sigh.

Sammy frowned. "Maybe you can start a girls team?"

I snorted. "And what? Train a whole bunch of newbies so we can officially suck? No thank you. I have a better idea." She stared at me as if waiting for me to answer. "Well isn't it obvious? I'm going to try out of the guys team!"

"Is that even possible?"

"You're asking Grace Gillman. Anything's possible."

My best friend grinned at me. "You're going to kick ass."

Before I could answer, my father's voice drifted up the stairs. It was a warning—school started in twenty minutes and I had to leave soon otherwise I'd be late.

"I'll text you after tryouts, okay?"

We said goodbye and I quickly turned off Skype. I had been smart enough to get ready before I called Sammy, and as I passed the floor-length mirror in my room I looked myself over once. My brown hair reached just past my shoulders at what I considered to be the perfect length. A lot of girls liked their hair really long but I liked mine just long enough so that I could get it into a secure pony. I'd inherited chestnut eyes from my father, and although I had only ever seen pictures of my mother we definitely shared the same my high cheek-bones and full lips. I was happy with my appearance mostly, although sometimes I didn't like how tall I was for a girl. Yeah, it meant that I had long legs, but it also meant I could never wear heels in fear of towering over every boy in sight.

I adjusted the straps to my dress and slipped on some sandals. It would take a lot of time to get used to living in a state where it was warm most of the year. Especially since I was born and raised in Minnesota.

Everything was so different in California.

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my backpack and made my way downstairs, locating my bag of hockey equipment in the front hall closet. It looked like a bulging body bag big enough to hold a child.

"Why are you taking your stinky equipment out?"

I turned to see my twelve-year-old sister standing at the bottom of the steps with her hands on her hips. While I had inherited some features from mom, Gabby was a spitting image of the woman. Her golden blond hair fell in waves down her back and two crystal blue eyes stared back at me suspiciously.

"Just airing it out, you know," I said with a chuckle.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't lie; you're trying out for the guys team even though dad said you're not allowed to."

I could have lied, but my sister was too smart to buy my bullshit. She was smarter than most kids her age, and I could always tell when she had something going on in that devious little head of hers. "I'll do your laundry for a week," I said, trying to bribe her.

She snorted. "Two months,"

I groaned, knowing that she wouldn't budge.

"Make that three," she added.

"Fine, fine," I hissed. "Just don't say a single word to dad. Tell him I left in a rush because I was worried about being late, okay?"

Gabby mumbled something under her breath as I opened the front door and lugged my equipment out to my used, red Jeep. Back in Minnesota my father wouldn't allow me to get a car, but seeing that he practically ruined my whole life, he thought he could win me over with a car. Sure it was nice, but it wasn't as nice as being home.

I pulled out of the driveway after I put my stuff in the back seat and headed towards school. Thankfully my father had put the route into my GPS the day before because even though I'd been in Arrowhead a week, I still didn't know my way around. The only place I knew how to get to was the grocery store, and that's because food was constantly on my mind.

 Thankfully, it only took a few minutes until I arrived at school. I hadn't been expecting anything grand, but Arrowhead High was huge! My old school back in Minnesota looked pathetic compared to the sprawling brick building that stood before me.

Never in my life had I been a nervous person, but looking at my new school scared me quite a bit. Taking a deep breath, I swung my school bag over my shoulder and headed towards the front doors. I had to admit, I was happy that the school was so big because I seemed to go by pretty unnoticed. I caught a few curious glances from my fellow peers, but no gawking or glaring like everyone expects when they're the new kid. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad.

The thought flew from my mind the moment a guy stepped into my pathway. I usually had good reflexes, but I failed to react in time. He had a pretty solid stance, and before I knew it, my butt hit the hard concrete.

"Oh shit. My bad!" the guy said. Seconds later I was being pulled to my feet.

I tried to ignore the throbbing pain in my behind as I looked up to see whom I had run into. I studied the boy in front of me, trying to ignore the fact that the entire situation was overwhelmingly cliché. A light-haired slender boy stood before me with a goofy, lopsided grin on his face. I could tell from his manner that he was the kind of guy everyone liked and got along with. Maybe it was his warm blue eyes or his confident smile, but I knew from the moment I saw him he was somehow important around here.

"Great. Now my ass is going to hurt the rest of the day," I mumbled as I tried to grab my bag from the ground.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I'm tall, so sometimes I don't always notice people and the next thing I know, I'm running into them," he said.

I decided at that moment as he smiled at me genuinely that I liked him. "I understand.  I'm sort of tall too."

"You must be new."

I nodded my head. "Is it that obvious?"

"If you went here before I would have noticed you. Besides, I know everyone around here," he admitted.

We both started down the hall with the rest of the crowd. "I'm Grace."

"Kent."

I looked up at Kent and followed his gaze. He was watching a small girl with strawberry blonde hair as she pulled some supplies from her locker.

"She's pretty. Are you two together?" I nodded towards the girl and his cheeks instantly turned the shade of a tomato. I tried to keep myself from laughing.

"Maybe in my dreams."

"Well, I remember you telling me that you knew everyone. Seems like you're a pretty important guy around here, so why wouldn't she go for you?" I asked.

As I waited for Kent to reply, I looked back and forth trying to spot the front office. You'd think it'd be right at the front entrance, right? Thankfully, Kent gripped my forearm and led me down a hallway to the left. In a matter of seconds, we were in front of the main office. He'd read my mind. 

"This is your stop, I presume. And to answer your question, I am well known around here. But Ellie, she doesn't care about that stuff. She cares about more realistic, important things."

I couldn't help but feel relieved that the first guy I met here seemed like a good person. My old school was smaller but it had its fair share of Barbie wannabes and cliché jocks. Kent seemed like a genuine guy. I was going to make sure he got his chance with Ellie.

"Well as soon as I'm settled in, I'd love to help you out. I'm actually a really good love guru if you know what I mean."

Kent's ears turned pink and he quickly shook his head. "No way, she'll just think I'm like every other guy."

I shook my head. "You'd be surprised. Hope to see you around." With a small wave, I turned and entered the main office. Maybe today wouldn't be the worst day of my life.

**

"I'm surprised you didn't have a boyfriend back in Minnesota."

I looked up from my notebook at the girl I had met only a few minutes earlier. Caroline Hart was a petite girl who looked like your typical head cheerleader. But you couldn't let her appearance fool you. She was smart—from just the few minutes I had known her I could already tell. She had a very good future ahead of her. Not only was she was captain of the debate team, but also she helped out with a bunch of other clubs and was already promised a full ride to Stanford. Her pale blue eyes watched me curiously as I tried to think of an answer.

"Me too," Kent piped in.

We were currently sitting at our lab table in honors anatomy. I wasn't expecting to have any classes with Kent, mainly because knowing someone in class would have been a good first-day stress reliever, but somehow I had managed to find him in my pre-calculus, AP government, and now, honors anatomy class. Kent was pretty much how I expected him to be: funny, charming, and pretty popular with everyone. He and Caroline had also been best friends since childhood. It was funny seeing people who were similar, but also very different, interact. Caroline was popular, but in a different way. She was the school's go-to girl, because she knew how to solve every problem. Kent was the go-to guy for humorous relief and a good time.

They both watched me with their pretty blue eyes and blonde hair, waiting for me to respond. It was almost sort of creepy how much they looked alike.

"Why would you be surprised that I didn't have a boyfriend?" I finally asked.

Caroline rolled her eyes as she finished taking notes out of the book. "Because you're totally gorgeous."

 Kent agreed with her by nodding his head.

"Well why don't you have a boyfriend, you're pretty gorgeous yourself," I asked.

Caroline rolled her eyes as Kent burst into a fit of laughter. "Because she scares the living shit out of all of them, that's why."

"Do not! I'm just a very upfront and, and—"

"Demanding, mean, pushy and overdramatic?" Kent finished her sentence sarcastically. Some people might find his words offensive but I could see he was only teasing her. 

Caroline pushed away his comment and turned to talk to me. "None of the guys here can handle me. It's actually pretty sad."

I chuckled as Kent shook his head and rolled his eyes. He sat up straighter and positioned himself like Caroline. "Nobody's good enough for me because I'm just so perfect and amazing," he said in an overly high-pitched voice. Wow, Kent was creepy good at acting like a girl.

"Maybe you should take up drag," I suggested.

Caroline burst into a fit of laughter as Kent contemplated what I had said. "You know that's actually a pretty good idea..."

I was cut off by the shrill sound of the bell before I could reply. Everyone shuffled out of class, and then it hit me.

Hockey tryouts. School was finally over and the thought of putting on my skates had me absolutely giddy.

"Why do you look so happy?" Kent asked.

I couldn't hold back a smile. "I'll tell you tomorrow. But see you later!"

I didn't wait for Kent to reply. Instead, I rushed outside to the almost empty parking lot and grabbed my hockey bag. Once I got back inside, I hurried to the girl's locker room and changed into my gear. It was amazing that the school had their own hockey rink. Even in Minnesota, most schools didn't have their own.

I pulled on an old jersey over my long-sleeved Under Armour. After putting on everything except for my helmet, I left the locker room and entered the rink. As the cool air hit my face, I let out a sigh of relief. The place looked pristine, like someone had recently built it. Maybe I could get used to living here.

"You must be Grace Gillman."

I almost dropped all of my equipment at the sound of a gruff voice. A man who looked like he was in his early fifties stood a few paces in front of me holding a beat-up clipboard. His hair was still full, but it was tinged with gray and white. He looked like a complete monster towering over me.

"How do you know my name?"

He chuckled. "I take notice when a great athlete transfers, especially when they're a hockey player." I contemplated his words carefully. Did this mean he was going to let me try out? "Do you think you can handle this sport? It's only going to get rougher from here," he asked.

Confidently, I nodded my head. "I'm up for anything."

He smiled. "Then get geared up. I want the boys to be surprised."

Two hours later, I was just about ready to fall down. My body hurt everywhere and I was sweating like a pig. I felt like collapsing onto the ground, and it was all because of Sebastian Evans. He was obviously the head guy around the rink and he wasn't one to hold back. The second he knew I was better than the other guys on the team, he was out to get me.

And it didn't help that he was overly attractive. Before he even got onto the rink I had noticed him sitting on the bench. High cheekbones, perfect green eyes—he had it all. Good looks, amazing chocolate brown hair, and a killer smile. Why did everything good have to come with a price? And a painful one at that. At least he and his second in command left me alone halfway through tryouts. I don't know what I would have done if they kept at it the whole time.

It didn't matter now. I proved myself, I thought.

Coach gave a little pep talk and then it was off to the locker room. Suddenly I felt like there was a huge pit in my stomach. What would the others say when they realized I was a girl? The last thing I wanted them to do was to take it easy on me, but I didn't feel like deceiving them any longer. Taking a deep breath, I followed after the others towards the bench. Just before I stepped off the rink, I took off my helmet and let my hair fall free. Sebastian was the first one to notice, and man did I get a kick out of his expression.

"What? Never seen a girl before?"