A month and a half passed and Sam was fitting right in with the world of hockey. Her Red Wing teammates were becoming more than just teammates: they were becoming friends and in some cases like Niklas's, they were becoming like siblings. Sam was sprawled out on her couch, watching something on T.V. Her phone went off; it was a text from Niklas. Can we come over? Lizzy has something she wants to give you. Sam said 'yes' and waited patiently for her friends to arrive. The doorbell rang minutes later and Sam happily answered it. "Hi, guys! Come on in", she said. The siblings came in and Lizzy had something in her hand. "I wanted to give this to you when you first came but I forget", the girl said shyly, handing Sam a picture she'd drawn. Sam smiled and took the picture from her young friend's hands. It was a drawing of a Red Wing's jersey and underneath it said: Welcome to Hockey Town. "Oh, Lizzy, this is awesome! Thanks", she said, reaching down to mess up Lizzy's hair. The girl blushed. "Yeah, I draw in my spare time". Whatever else she was going to say was cut off by the sound of the door opening. "Val", she yelled, running towards her friend. Sam and Niklas smiled as Val picked up his friend and placed her on his shoulders. They then went into the family room and spent almost an hour laughing and playing NHL 2010. The whole time, Sam kept thinking about what she was keeping from her friends. After an internal struggle, she finally decided that she needed to tell Niklas, at least. She pulled hard on Niklas's arm. He turned to look at her. "What's up, Sam?" "Can I talk to you in private?" Niklas nodded and Sam led him from the room. She led him into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. "There's something big I need to tell you, Nicky". "Did I do something wrong", Niklas blurted out. "No. No, you didn't do anything. You're fine", Sam replied. Sam paced the room for a minute before sitting down on the bed. "I've kept a big secret from you… all of you. It's weighting me down and I have to get it out". Niklas sat next to his friend and his hand touched her shoulder. "What is it?" "I'm a girl", Sam finally got out. Tears filled her eyes and she turned her head away when she saw her friend's surprised face. She became surprised when she felt Niklas's hand touch her face and turn her head back towards him. "That doesn't change a thing. You're still our teammate but now you're just our little sister instead of our little brother. You're one hell of a player, Sammy", he said, hugging her tightly. Sam relaxed into his hug and calmed down instantly. "You might be comfortable with me being a girl so quickly, but what about our other teammates? They might just ignore me". Nick placed a soft hand under her chin and lifted her head up. "It'll be fine, I promise. If Lizzy knows, it might make it easier for the guys. They love her you know", he said. There was a knock on the door and they heard Lizzy's voice. "Come on in", Sam called. Lizzy entered and looked from one face to the other. "Did something happen", she asked. "Come here", Niklas said, holding out his hand. Lizzy climbed across the bed and crawled into her brother's lap. "Listen to Sam for a minute, sweetheart", Niklas said. Sam took Lizzy's hands in hers and lightly squeezed them. "I wanted you guys to know this right away, but I wasn't sure if you'd believe me. I'm a girl", she explained. Lizzy was surprised for only a minute before a smile appeared on her face. "That's awesome! A girl in the NHL? You're the first". Sam smiled. "I know. It's pretty amazing".
Sam was sweating as she and Niklas made their way to coach's office. They had decided that he was going to be the first to know, after of course Niklas, Lizzy and Val. Val had been in shock for a while but finally accepted it. Niklas saw the nervous look on Sam's face and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. "You're going to be fine, Sammy", he said. Sam smiled and bumped shoulders with her teammate. "And if I'm not", she asked, raising an eyebrow. Niklas smiled. "Then you can kick my butt", he replied, causing Sam to laugh. They reached the door of the office and Sam took a deep shuttering breath. Niklas opened the door and they stepped inside. "Coach", Sam said. Coach looked up from some paperwork he was doing. "Hi, Sam. Hi, Kronner". Sam bit her lip. "Coach, there's something I need to tell you", she said. Coach put down his pen and folded his hands, an eyebrow raised. "What is it?" Niklas gave Sam a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "I'm a girl", Sam said. There was silence for a minute. "Well, you are one hell of a hockey player. Girl or not, you've earned your spot on this team", coach said. Sam's jaw dropped. "You're kidding me, right", she asked. "No, I'm not. You're a great player, Sam. You've earned it". Sam could hardly believe her ears. Niklas led her from the office and wrapped her in a hug. "See, you're fine. And you're still on the team. That's awesome, Sammy", he said. A flicker of a smile came over Sam's face. "It is pretty awesome. But will the rest of them accept me? I've kept this from them and it's big", she said, biting her lip hard. She felt a hand under her chin and her face turned up at her friend. "You'll be fine, I promise", Niklas said.
"… and I'm a girl", Sam finished. Everyone in the locker room, except for Niklas and Val stared at her in shock. "A girl? You're a girl, Sam", Hank asked. Sam nodded, tears in her eyes. Hank got up and hugged her. "You're one hell-of-a girl", he said, making Sam blush. It was then that Jacab spoke up. "She's teasing you, Hank. Don't believe that for a second. Girls can't play hockey", he said. Sam scowled and turned to look at him. "First of all, that is an extremely sexist thing to say. Maybe we can't play hockey the same way you guys do, but we still play the sport. Secondly, you have living, breathing prove that girls can play hockey because I'm one of them. I'm in the NHL; I'm playing with the big boys. And if you don't believe me, you can ask Niklas, Val or Lizzy and they will all tell you that I am a girl. And I can also show you my driver's license. So either ask one of them or shut up", she said, crossing her arms. Jacab raised an eyebrow. "You can't talk to me like that. I'm your elder", he said. Sam rolled her eyes. "Being older doesn't always mean you're my 'elder'. I try to treat people with respect, but when you're disrespecting me, I don't like it. So accept the fact that I'm a girl, Kindle, and we can move on". She crossed her arms and gave her teammate a glare. There was silence for a minute before Jacab stood up and walked towards her. "YOU LITTLE BRAT! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST COME INTO THIS LOCKER ROOM AND TAKE OVER OUR TEAM? YOU THINK YOU'RE JUST THAT GOOD? YOU CAN GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW", he yelled, swinging a punch at her. She ducked his swing and got out of the way, while Hank gripped his friend's wrist hard. "What is your problem, Kindle", he asked. "She's a girl, that's my problem. She's a girl and she shouldn't even be here", Jacab replied, trying hard to get out of his friend's grip. "It doesn't matter if she's a girl or not, Kindle. She worked hard to get here, even though she had to pretend to be a boy for a while to do it. This was her dream and she made it here. Nothing you can do about it now", Hank said. Jacab's eyes flashed. "I can talk to coach about it", he said. "Coach already knows. He told me I've earn this spot on this team", Sam replied. Jacab finally broke free of his friend's grip and charged at her again. Sam scrambled behind Niklas and the big defenseman gripped Jacab's wrists even harder than Hank did. "OW! Kronner, that hurts", Jacab complained. "I know it hurts. But Sam feels really hurt by what you said. That hurts us as a team when one teammate disrespects another. So just accept that Sam's a girl and move on". Jacab frowned. "I won't. I'll get her out of here one way or the other", he said. Jonathan Ericsson, Niklas's defensive partner, saw that Niklas was struggling to hold Kindle and came to where his friend was standing. Gently nudging Niklas away, he seized Jacab's wrists and held them hard. Niklas was standing near his locker with his arms around Sam, who by this time was shaking. "You guys are just going to accept the fact that we have a girl on our team", Jacab asked, looking from face to face. Val nodded. "Yes. She's our teammate no matter what and we can't change that", he said. Jacab raised an eyebrow. "Well, I can just always call her daddy and ask him why he allowed his daughter to play hockey". At that, Sam let out a shuttering sob and buried her face in Niklas's shirt. Hank saw that and managed to catch Niklas's eye. Do you want me to take her out? - he seemed to be asking. A nod from his friend confirmed it. Coming over, he gently prided Sam from Niklas's arms. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's get you out of here", Hank said, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her steady. He led her from the room and Niklas turned to Jacab. "You've got some talking to do, mister".