is it casual now? - e. edwards

brief introduction!

lacy james pierce was always college bound.
i mean lacy had been looking at colleges her whole life, she was always michigan state university bound. or that's what she thought.

her father, dalton, grew up in michigan and met lacy's mother, jane, in ann arbor during the spring break when jane was vacationing in ann arbor. dalton spilt beer on her and then tried to hit her with some cheesy pick up line that ultimately worked and so when the pair found out that their daughter had gotten into the school located in the city that held such sentimental value in their hearts, they were ecstatic! i mean who wouldn't be?

michigan is a very special place for the pierce family but when the pierce's moved to california 5 years before lacy was born they knew they still had to show lacy the wonders of the state so they bought a summer house there! the excuse dalton gave jane to convince her to even let him buy the house was "so lacy can see her grandparents" which isn't entirely false, except for the fact that lacy's grandparents don't even live in bloomfield hills, michigan but in grand rapids.

the first memory that lacy can recall from the summer house is when she was 8. the rest is a bit of a blur for the girl.

it was the summer of 2011, lacy was ready to be in the water the entire summer after waking up early every day for a year but as soon as the pierce family pulled into the driveway they saw an unfamiliar car parked right next door.

"we must have new neighbors" dalton said as he got out of the car. "how exciting, hopefully they're not annoying" jane exclaimed as she helped lacy get out of the car.

excited yet wary, the pierce family unloaded their luggage for the summer and headed towards the house, curious about their new neighbors. lacy walked up the stairs into her room that hadn't been touched in months, walking up those stairs never gets easier she thought as she grumbled as she walked up.

while unpacking her clothes, lacy heard a rock hit the window. "hey, hey! over here!" it was a boy, he had brown hair, blue eyes, and a boyish grin, he looked around maybe 9 or 10. lacy walked to her window and opened it to talk to the boy. "umm hello?" "hi, i'm your new neighbor" the boy beamed smiley "oh yeah my dad thought so, i'm lacy" "cool, i'm jack! do you live here?" "umm no i live in california"

"oh so you're just on vacation?" the boy questioned confused. "well this is our house, we just live in it in the summer and then go back to california when my school starts" lacy explained. "oh that's cool, you like hockey?" jack asked straight to the point. "i don't know, my dad likes it a lot" "do you play?" "nope" "well i'll teach you" "umm okay" "come outside, my brothers are waiting for me to play" jack ran off and left lacy standing at the window.

lacy's eyes widen at the thought of there being more versions of jack. lacy, at around 8 years old was a shy girl for the most part. she was shy at first but could really open up and get loud when she was comfortable. lacy walked down the stairs and towards the door. "where you going lace?" dalton called for her. "outside, the neighbors want me to go play hockey with them?" lacy explained with a face. "hockey? that's great! i played in college and it was the best time of my life" "hey! what about meeting me" jane said sarcastically offended "you're close second honey" dalton said with a grin as lacy opened the door and walked out but could still hear her parents playfully bicker as she waked farther away.

"lacy over here!! hurry!" jack yelled from where he was standing on the street in front of his house. behind him were two boys, the oldest made a confused face and the youngest smiled at lacy. when lacy reached the three boys, jack was already ordering and placing lacy on a team but was stopped by the oldest looking brother. "aren't you going to introduce us first jack?" jack rolled his eyes impatiently, "fine, lacy this my older brother quinn" quinn gave her a soft smile, "and this is our younger brother luke" luke gave lacy a big smile. "quinn, luke, this is our neighbor lacy"

they all said their shy hellos and jack then ordered everyone onto the street where they had their own little version of a hockey game set up. "i don't know how to play hockey" lacy told them. "that's why we're here, to teach you"

the boys all spent hours teaching lacy the basics and rules on hockey. when the sun was starting to set, the front door of the hughes' house opens and then walked out what seemed to be the boy's mother, lacy thought. "boys! dinner! clean up and then head inside, i have to go deliver these to the neighbors" she said as she held up a small tray of cookies. "mom can i get one!!" jack asked excitedly "no their for the neighbors" "so lacy gets them?"

that was when ellen saw lacy, "oh! hello! i didn't see you there, i guess you already met my boys" she smiled at lacy.  "yeah they've been teaching me how to play hockey" lacy smiled shyly, ellen playfully rolled her eyes "they've already dragged you in huh?" lacy nodded. "we're teaching her so she can play with us all summer" jack exclaimed excitedly. "well how about we all walk over next door and introduce ourselves, quinn could you go grab your father?" ellen asked. the boys nodded and quinn ran inside to grab his dad.

as they walked over next door, ellen and the boys chatted with lacy about their life and their love for hockey. lacy smiled and giggled as she watched the dynamic between the family, the warm summer breeze carrying the scent of freshly cut grass and the sound of laughter filling the air.

when they reached the pierce's house, quinn returned with his dad, who introduced himself to lacy as jim hughes. the hughes and lacy knocked on the door. jane opened the door expecting lacy to be on the other side but jumped a little when she was greeted by five new faces. "hello, we're your new neighbors, me and my family just wanted to introduce ourselves but it seems like my boys beat us to it" ellen laughed as jane saw lacy standing next to the neighbors she said she was going to play hockey with. "it's so nice to meet you all!, i'm jane pierce and my husbands inside, lacy could you go get him?" jane warmly smiled and asked, lacy nodded and ran inside to grab her father.

after introducing themselves, they all decided to have dinner at the hughes house. over dinner, everyone shared stories and laughed together as if they've known each other for years. jim and dalton bonded over playing college hockey and jane and ellen bonded over playing lacrosse in college while the kids talked about almost anything.

over the summer lacy and the three hughes brothers became really close and ended up sleeping over at each others houses almost every night. lacy loved luke, loved joking with jack, and loved talking to quinn. that summer, the four became inseparable and blossomed a life long friendship.

that summer was also the summer that the boys saved up enough money to buy lacy her own set of pink skates attached with a note that read "you better practice all year and skate beautifully by next summer, love quinn, jack and luke 🤍"