Move Over

I sighed then, rolled over. I had been staring at the ceiling for quite some time and it was hurting my eyes. I couldn't help it though, in a matter of- I glanced at the clock, 12 minutes, I would have to get up and get ready. Drive to Helsinki. Get to the airport. Wait for my flight. Get on the plane. Then, after all of that spend 8 and a half hours on a plane I didn't even want to be on. Sure, I was getting drafted by the Bruins, not to mention the NHL, where only one girl goalie has ever stepped foot in, but it was all very scary. The questions that ran through my mind were.......just fear filled.

Will they like me?

Am i good enough?

Do they mind having a girl on their team?

Of course, they did pick me over all the other guys that tried out! I should be happy, no- I should be ecstatic! However, I'm not. What if Rask doesn't like me? I wondered and sighed through my nose.

Well, I couldn't just not go, could i? My dad was fighting lung cancer, my mother was working 3 jobs just to keep her and my brother a float. My other brothers and I were helping as much as we could, but it just wasn't enough. I played goalie for the Finnish elite league and assistant coached for this bantam hockey team but still, money was pretty tight. The league thought since I was a girl, I thought that I was lucky to even think about the finnish elite and that they could just not pay me as much as say another goalie. I was equally talented, maybe, better....but, it's just not how it works. I was payed 800 a week, which was pretty good, I guess. However, the other player got.....5,000 a week because, they were boys. The assistant coach gig was the same, I got paid less than the trainers!

Even though it was very unfair, I still gave whatever I had to my parents and I just lived with 2 other roommates. It was fine, they were happy to see the back of my head, though. I wasn't a ray of sunshine like the other girls I had attended school with.

When, I finally looked over at the clock again, I realized I had to start getting my shit together.

"Alek! Are you done yet?" Veli shouted from down the hall. He is one of my roommates. I mean, he used to be.

"Yeah, one second!" I yelled, quickly wrapping a yellow towel around my chest.

I went for the doorknob but, it was flung open before I could. In the doorway was my second roommate, Tuomo. His dark eyes glared at me,

"Finally," He rolled his eyes. Well someone was, indeed, in a pissy mood. I rolled my eyes back at him then, pushed past his large, muscular frame.

He was always the asshole of my 2 roommates. Veli was okay, maybe decent, but, Tuomo was stupid as fuck, full of himself, and barely paid his rent on time.

I locked the door to my room and begun drying myself off. Just incase he decided to barge in here too. I brushed out my hair and put it in a bun on top of my head. I opened my drawer and pulled out something to wear.

Once I was done, I grabbed my two duffel bags and ran down the stairs. As soon as I hit the last step, I was attacked by my brother Pekka.

Before I could say anything, his loud excited voice filled the lobby of my apartment, "Well, Aleksandra Carita Lehto, you're going to play in the NHL, how do you feel" he mocked a reporter voice.

"Well, I feel.....scared" I sighed and wrapped my arms around him. His familiar tall, broad shouldered body brought me some comfort, and calmness.

"It'll be fine!" he reassured the obvious as he held me close to him, stroking my long brown hair.

"I mean, the salary isn't bad, is it?," he chuckled "1.2 million, that's what they offered" I rolled my eyes. Yes, the salary was perfect; but I was talking about the people that would be watching me. Bruins fans, I had been told, were very insane, and took pride in winning. What if I lost?!

Or what if they think because I'm a girl, they can just leave me out to dry "Still, what if the players were as sexist as my last team?" I asked, carrying on my previous thoughts.

He sighed through his nose, "No one could be as worse as those assholes" he stated and I nodded.

"Okay" I sighed and picked up my bags from the ground.

We arrived at the airport at 3:27 our time, the cameras already there. I hadn't been around this many cameras before, and it was a foreign concept to me. The flashes almost blinded me as we got out of the car.

"Aleksandra! Are you excited?" "Are you happy that Tuukka will be there to help you?" "How are you feeling?" "Is it true you're pregnant with Tuukka Rask's baby?" They bombarded us with all types of questions.

Before, I knew it my brother and I were getting escorted through the mayhem of the entrance.

"Tuukka Rask's baby?" Pekka asked, his eyes in narrowing. He was showing the whole protective brother instinct which was funny at times but, right now I knew I shouldn't laugh.

"No, just no. I don't know where they get this shit, but I most definitely didn't have sex with Tuukka Rask" I rolled my eyes and walked through the deserted airport security guards trailing behind us.

"Well, this is where I should leave" Pekka sighed as I reached actually security. I felt the air leave my lungs in a large puff as I got winded from his words.

"No, Pekka" I cried and latched myself onto him like a toddler would it's mother. I didn't want him to go, I didn't want to face them alone.

"I have to, Alek" he sighed and I moped but, nodded understandingly.

"Don't worry, I'll call" I nodded again and watched him retreat through the hallway until he disappeared behind a door.

"This way ma'am" one security guard said, leading me towards a door. I followed them past security and the gates, to a private terminal.

"Just up ahead, miss" the same guard said and I nodded. I stopped in front of a airport worker. She was blonde, had blue eyes and was wearing the most disgusting perfume ever.

"Miss Lehto?" she asked, her voice annoyingly high with a swedish accent. I nodded, it was too early to put up with a bitchy girl.

"Right this way" she hummed, swiping her I.D card on a little keypad. The terminal door opened and she lead me through it.

I put on my sunglasses as we walked through the glass plated hallway. We walked into the custom jet, when I was faced with 27 men with shocked expressions. We just stared at each other awkwardly as Claude Julien broke the silence.

"Men, meet Aleksandra Lehto, our future backup goaltender"

I don't know if I was more shocked then they were. I hadn't agreed to anything yet. Especially being their full time backup.

"What?" Ference was the first to speak. His tone was like a slap in the face. He was trying to cover up his laughter which earned a slap from (who I thought) was Tyler Seguin. Ference continued to snicker after the slap.

"This girl is 'Alek'?" Seguin asked "I thought she would be more......boy" I was almost certain he was checking me out.

While I didn't know for certain that Seguin was, I knew for a fact Marchand was checking my assets out.

"Well she's a girl, so get over it! Now, Ference, stop laughing, Seguin, Marchand stop checking her out. Doug the video!" Claude shouted over their arguing.

"Boys, if you'd like to look at the screen." the man, I assumed was Doug said. As soon as it started playing, I knew it was my best saves. The video my best friends, Arvo and Arvida made. (they're twins, Arvo is a boy and Arvida is a girl)

There were 560 saves in 6 minutes, it was from last season. I only let in 12 goals that whole season, a career high, low?

"Now, tell them how many you let in" Claude commanded and I gulped, seeing that all of their surprised eyes on me.

"I let 12 in, in one season, a career low. The season before that I only let 15 in, and in the world women's I only let 9 in." I answered, my accent sounding thicker than it is usually. It did that when I was nervous. I shouldn't be this nervous! I was a great goalie, I deserved to be here!

I noticed right off the bat, Tuukka was staring at me as soon as I begun to talk. Not the normal staring, but the kind of staring you get when the person knows they're better than you in some way.

I saw, many jaws drop, even though I hadn't even gotten to the injury part. I had broken several ribs, both my legs, both my arms, both wrists, both ankles, had both shoulder blades pop out, dislocated my right ankle, 7 concussions, 4 of them minor others severe, each of my fingers have been broken and I was afraid of tall russian guys because, this russian guy broke three of my fingers, two of my legs and dislocated both my shoulder blades. They were spread out between 3 games, of course, but I still didn't trust anyone that was russian, built like a fridge and enjoyed inflicting pain. Luckily, only one guy was russian and I was replacing him so....


"But, she does have a target on her back, so from now on she doesn't exist, okay? We tell the media that she didn't work out and train her in private, got it?" Claude snapped at everyone.

All but one person nodded. Tuukka. He gave me a once over, then moved his gaze over to the coach.

"So if she doesn't exist....what happens if I get injured, will we have to put in Svedberg?" he snarled at the coach, not looking at Claude anymore but, glaring at me. Perfect! He hates me.

"She'll play." he answered plainly, to shut Tuukka up.

"Let's get this shit going." Claude murmured heading off to the cockpit, the assistant coach's following him.

I rolled my eyes at their faces and moved down the aisle towards the very back, to my luck there was only one seat left, one beside Rask himself.

I took my hat off and pulled up my hood. This was going to be a loooong training season.

Notes

Um......I don't know what to say here, i guess thank you for reading and i hope it didn't suck (that bad).