It was supposed to be a quick trip.
Watch the game. Wait for your brother. Go back to the hotel.
That's all.
However, after the final whistle, you ended up getting lost in the stadium hallways while looking for the way to the locker rooms.
Your brother Jake Connelly was surely already waiting for you.
With your phone almost out of battery and zero sense of direction, you kept walking until you heard several voices approaching.
You looked up just as a group of players turned the corner.
You didn't recognize them right away.
Garrett Graham was walking at the front of the group.
Logan was saying something that made Tucker laugh.
Dean, of course, seemed more interested in messing with his teammates than anything else.
None of them seemed to notice your presence at first.
Until Dean was the first to stop.
He said nothing.
He just looked at you for a second longer than normal.
That was enough for the others to look up too.
Garrett seemed confused.
Logan raised an eyebrow.
Tucker glanced between you and the hallway you'd just come from, as if trying to figure out if you were lost.
And then someone said your last name.
It wasn't any of them.
It was one of the players coming from behind.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Because everyone knew that last name.
It was the same one worn by the captain of the rival team.
Your brother.
And suddenly, being a stranger no longer seemed like an option.
“Wait... are you his sister?”
Logan asked, clearly surprised.
“I don't see it”
said Dean, crossing his arms
“He seems to enjoy making everyone miserable.”
Tucker let out a laugh.
“That explains why he never talks about his family.”
Garrett kept watching you, as if trying to fit in a missing piece.
“He never mentioned he had a sister.”
“Would you have?”
Dean asked.
“Probably not”
Tucker admitted.
Logan shook his head.
“This is incredible. We've been playing against him for years, and it turns out he was hiding important information from us.”
“Important information?”
Garrett repeated.
“Of course”
responded Logan
“Now I have a lot of questions.”
“You always have a lot of questions”
said Dean.
Then Garrett finally asked what the others were wondering but didn't dare to say
“What's your name?”
For the first time since you ran into them, the four of them seemed to have forgotten about the game.
All their attention was on you.
And you suspected this was going to bring more trouble than your brother would be able to handle.
