Orlando

Evelyna’s POV

The sun shone through the halfway shaded window of the small corner apartment window, waking me up. My name is Evelyna Knight and I am just your everyday, average, normal college student. I am a transferred junior to the University of Central Florida. I’m studying film production, but have a huge interest in the playwriting and screenwriting business. I love to write stories on the side and I am big into the hockey fanfiction, being a hockey fan myself.

A soft “mew mew”, followed by a rough head-butting nudge from my sleeping companion made me stir. I moaned, rolling over. “Lillian, it’s only 9:30, let mommy sleep. Please!” I always referred to my feline friend as “Lillian” when she was being annoying, bad or just simply misbehaving. I used “Lilly” - the cat’s real name - when she was on her best behavior and being a good cat. I rolled back over in my bed and attempted to curl up and resume my dream.

I was dreaming about my favorite pair of hockey players. Patrick Kane had been kidnapped and was in the evil clutches of one of my least favorite teachers from the past, Mr. Wassmuth. He was being held captive in a locked classroom and tortured to learn about “how to be a villain” and “American History” (ooh!). The teacher had tied Patrick to one of the desks and taunted him about how hockey was a waste of his life and how awful and stupid it was.

Jonathan Toews was searching for him with the help of the young redheaded student, Evelyna. They were racing to find him, darting around obstacles to get to him.

But I had woken up, just as Patrick was being brainwashed and had spoke, as if in a trance, “Hockey is for losers and I am no loser.” Then I had received the rude awakening from my cat.

Struggling to fall back asleep, I finally blinked awake and groaned rather loudly. I saw a pair of bright yellow eyes staring at me, intently. And the ball of gray fur meowed again. I sat up and the cat jumped off of the bed.

Another soft “mew” came.

I yawned and stretched, blinking away the sleep and my horrible dream. “Alright, alright,” I complained, smiling sleepily, as I turned to the eager animal sitting by her food dish. “Mommy’s gonna feed you, you’re not starving, you pampered kitty cat!”

I slid off the bed and noticed my reflection in the mirror doors of the apartment’s closet. I saw my messy head of freshly dyed crimson locks that were in a tangle from the restless sleeping habits I had. I shrugged and bent down to the container where the cat food was. My cat meowed happily and rubbed against me, as if in a silent, but annoying cat way of saying, “Thank you, you’re the best!”

I grabbed the scoop and dished out a portioned size of food, like I always did for the gray furball. “There.” The pet immediately stopped brushing against me and went to the dish. She ate the small particles of food like a she hadn’t had food for days. But she was a fat and pampered thing and I had to smile. I put the scoop back in the food bucket and closed the lid back in place.

Then I made my way into my bathroom, for the daily “getting ready ritual.” I showered, brushed my teeth, and cleaned myself and finally looked presentable for the world and the day. I had thrown on a pair of dark denim jeans and a UCF football jersey style shirt. It hung loose on my figure, but worked with my body. And I loved it.

It was finally the season of fall and it was late September. In Florida, it wasn’t much, but thanks to the not-so-hot-as-it-could-have-been-summer, it was actually a pleasant day out. It still wasn’t where I would like it to be, but the humidity was low, it was in the upper-70s and a nice wind chill had come to the area. It was a start.

I opened the door to my room and my cat, Lilly, bolted past me out of the sheltered area. I made myself breakfast and then ate it. I had brought my small mac laptop computer out with me to the common area table and set it down. I had one assignment for my class to do. And I strived to be ahead in my studies at all times. I didn’t want to get behind and I wanted to do my absolute best.

As I opened up my laptop, the screen flashed with another of my favorite players. A Dallas Star. (And it wasn’t Tyler Seguin, because I don’t, I mean she doesn’t do that...) It was the young Russian sensation who was highly talented: Valeri Nichushkin. Number 43.

I sighed as I gazed at my college creation of the Dallas winger. I had found an array of images through google, that I had cropped and resized and stuck together in a powerpoint slide. One of them, was a really sexy image of Val posing with two of his teammates: Alex Chiasson (ex-teammate now) and Kevin Connauton. But Val, hands down, was the sexiest of the trio.

I loved Val and always found him to be such an awkward big baby sweetheart. Val wouldn’t hurt anyone and yet he was a big tough dude. He had a decent size and fit together nicely with the dynamic duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. I sat for a moment staring at the blue-eyed Russian kid, before I finally pulled up my classes in Webcourses.

Then, I got to work on my assignment.

****

Val’s POV

I walked off of my plane in the Orlando Airport. I was smiling to myself. This was the first time, I would be alone and I felt ready. I wanted to be alone and do this. I was ready for the experience, without Sergei Gonchar by my side. And hey, it was only for a few days. It wasn’t like I couldn’t go back, if I didn’t feel like it. I was a grown up man; I could do this.

Two teenage girls, who had sat behind me on the flight, walked by giggling and talking between themselves. I didn’t understand them and I shook my head. It wasn’t important, I didn’t need to snoop on their conversation. I wasn’t apart of it and I respected their privacy. But I did heard a few words like “lol” and “OMG”. Those I knew, mostly from Tyler.

I walked to the baggage claim area, following the other passengers. The two females kept sending flirty glances in my direction and occasionally one would blush deeply. I knew they were talking about me and my muscular athletic body. I didn’t mind, in fact it made me give a clueless grin that made them squeal even more.

Finally I was able to get away from them, as my bag happened to be the first one out. I grabbed it at once and exited the airport, walking out of the exit to the curb. A crisp cool breeze blew at me. I had been told that this was the “sea breeze”, which dictated Florida’s weather most of the time, especially in the summertime.

I walked across the road to the parking garage, where the rental car was. I had called and got it ahead of time with Sergei’s help. In fact, a lot of the preplanning was done by Sergei.

“Hi there!” a voice cried out from somewhere up ahead.

I loaded my things into the car’s trunk. I slammed it shut and turned toward the voice. Leaning against a massive concrete pole, beside a dark red colored pickup truck, stood a man.

My eyes locked with the other man’s, as the guy came up to me. He was wearing a Dallas Stars fan shirt.

“You’re that new kid, Dallas got, right?”

I nodded, finding myself unable to speak. I made to say something to the guy, but all that came out was a tiny squeaking noise. The man laughed and reached out his hand to shake, smiling friendly. I cocked my head and eyed the hand. What was he doing? What was this for? Could I trust him?

“It’s okay, I’m not a crazy fan, just shake it. My name is Jeremy.”

I finally cracked a smile and took the hand for a shake. “Hi, I’m Val Nichushkin.”

“Ah, that’s right, Valeri Nichushkin, the Russian!”

I nodded.

“Well, welcome to Orlando. Are you here to visit anybody?”

“No. Just going to stay a few days and see Disney World.”

“Well, I suggest you should go to Epcot, that’s the theme park with all of the countries and its really cool, unless you’re into more of a thrill, than go to Magic Kingdom!”

“I was going to go to Epcot. You guessed right!”

“Wow, for a Russian, you’re getting the hang of English and the language pretty fast, I must say.”

“Yeah. Sergei’s been teaching me.”

“Sergei Gonchar? That guy is a beast. He’s awesome and he’s a great guy! I remember meeting him a few years ago!”

“Sergei is awesome.”

My brain was running rampant, as I figured out what English words to say and fit together. It felt somewhat awkward to me, but I was at least able to carry on a conversation with this guy, which was a step up from when I first met Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.

“I just want to let you know that I am a huge fan of yours, and I am pulling for a good year for you. I want you to do well and impress the media critics. There are some rumors floating around talking about a sophomore slump, but don’t listen to ‘em! You’re a talented player Val and you will go far!”

With that the guy walked off, leaving me standing awkwardly grinning in the parking garage. My blue eyes shone a brilliant, sparkly color, as I took in the words, attempting to understand. I was able to get most of it and I knew it was a compliment. The people in Florida were actually really nice and kind. “Большое спасибо!” (Thank you very much!)

I turned to the car and hopped in. Luckily driving wasn’t something new and I knew what to do. I had to get to the hotel and check in, otherwise I would have problems and hockey players in the NHL didn’t have problems!