Chapter 5

“So what happened!? Tell me everything!” Melissa screamed as soon as I was inside the doorway of our room. “Don’t leave anything out!” She smiled at this trying to be sweet and it always worked at me. I just couldn’t say no to her. I proceeded to tell her about the drive, the bistro, and the crazy fans in the lobby. “Aw this is just what you need Jess! You’re always mopey about your knee and you never want to do anything with me. You need this; you need him.” Honestly, that was the most sincere thing I had ever heard come out of her mouth. “Thanks Mel!” I gave her a huge bear hug in return. “You’re welcome! I want you to be OK! I know this whole knee thing is hard on you and I feel like this will help you.” I could still tell she was jealous, but like I said before, she’s happy for me. I was bubbling over with the happiness that I felt at this moment. My life really seemed to be turning around for the better. So what if I had a torn ACL. I was so extremely cheerful that I couldn’t get myself to sleep until about 2 in the morning. I knew I’d pay for it tomorrow, but right now that wasn’t even a concern.
-
I had a little more than a week to wait until the Penguin’s next home game against the Sabres on December 8th, and to me, that seemed like an eternity. I rushed through my classes and homework. I barely spoke to anyone but Melissa, and I absentmindedly did my knee exercises with my trainer Todd at the Student Gym. Todd knew about what had happened with me and Sid. I told Todd everything. He was like my, older, balding, married best friend. He was probably one of the chillest people I have ever met in my life and I felt like I could trust him with anything. “What happens if everything between me and Sid doesn’t go like I think it will?” “Dude, nothing’s going to go the way you think it will. Did you think you’d tear your ACL?” he replied. Todd always told me the truth; he’d never steer me wrong. “No…” “Exactly. So just let everything happen. It’ll all work out. So when’s your surgery scheduled for?” “Uhh, December 23rd. This is pretty intense man.” “What? You could be referring to a lot of things right now, like your wimpy exercises or Sid, or your surgery.” I shot him a look and he laughed. He had one of the weirdest laughs I had ever heard, kind of like a chuckle and a snort put together, and it was almost like, he was actually saying hahaha every time he laughed. “My surgery!” “Oh, you’ll be OK”, he replied smoothly. “How do you know Todd?! Have you had ACL surgery before?!” “Nah dude, but if I had to pick any surgeon around here to do what you’re having done, I’d pick Dan.” Dan was my doctor; Dr. Daniel E. Carr to be exact. He was extremely laid back for a doctor. You always picture those stuck up, up tight guys who are anal about everything you do as doctors, but Dr. Carr didn’t care what I did as long as I didn’t run or jump. “Whatever Todd. That doesn’t make me feel any better!” “It should, and really, don’t worry! You’ll be fine. You gotta do this if you want to play next year.” I just grumbled to myself and said, “Alright then Todd. I’m done with my exercises. I’ll see you tomorrow.” “Alright dude. See you later.” I picked up my bags and books and left for my dorm room.
-
December 8th finally arrived and during every single class I day-dreamed and doodled on my papers. As soon as my final class was over, I grabbed my books and my bag and bolted out the door, checking my phone as I went; 4:30. ‘OK you have an hour or so to get ready and then leave by 5:45.’ I talked myself through what I had to do, because otherwise I knew I’d forget at least one thing. I rushed home, threw my things onto the floor and hopped into the shower. I made sure to shave my legs, just in case. I towel-dried my hair and fixed it so the curls fell just right around my face. By this time it was 5:30 and I was crunched for time. I was still going for comfort, so I threw on a pair of jeans and a cute top, and ran outside to catch the bus to downtown. I power-walked to the bus stop as quickly as my knee would carry me and I got there just as the 5:45 bus was pulling up. I got on and flopped myself down onto a seat and waited impatiently for my stop, tapping my foot up and down on the gum-stained floor of the bus. There was an old woman sitting across from me and she asked, “Honey, are you alright?” It seemed like everyone was asking me that lately! “Yeah, thanks for asking. I’m just excited.” “Oh, really?” “Yeah, I’m going to a Penguins game.” “Oh, those penguins and Sidney Crosby. He’s handsome isn’t he?” I nodded my head and smiled absent-mindedly to myself, thinking she had no clue just how sexy he really is as my stop approached and I jumped out the door down onto the sidewalk outside the Mellon. I took a deep breath, made sure I looked presentable, and then made my way to the box office. “Hey, can I help you?” The clerk behind the glass said. She looked extremely bored like she wanted to shoot herself, and was chewing her gum loudly. “Uh, yeah hi, I’m Jess Spade and Sid said–. “ Before I could finish my sentence she was shoving an envelope with my name scrawled on it at me. “Here. Enjoy.” I took the envelope and ambled off to the side to open the envelope. There was a note, a ticket and another one of those all access passes inside. I grabbed the note and read in Sid’s messy scrawl: “Jess, I hope you like the seat I got you. Have fun and wait for me by the locker room again after the game. We’ll go somewhere even better than last time. –Sid” I ripped out the ticket and looked to see where I was sitting, and to my pleasure, it was right behind the bench. I let out a little squeal like a school girl and jumped in the air before hobbling over to the entrance. By the time I made a restroom stop and got myself a soda, the game was about to start and I had to hurry to my seat before the announcer called out the names of the players and they skated onto the ice. He rambled through about four names before saying, “And your captain! SIDNEY CROSBY!” The crowd went wild as he came skating out onto the ice with those long smooth strides of his. He skated around the ice once before looking in the direction of the bench, and where I was sitting. A huge smile appeared on his face and then he turned around to finish his warm-ups. The people around me slowly began to trickle in and I introduced myself to them. The older man on my left introduced himself and his wife as David and Janice Goldstrum and the younger guy, about my age, on my right introduced himself as Thomas Dulinger as he oogled my boobs. ‘Not in your lifetime’, I thought to myself as I turned away from his wandering eyes. Although he was gross, I was impressed that he knew who I was. Practically no one knew unless they read the tiny little articles at the bottom of the sports page titled with things like, ‘Who’s Next?’ or ‘What Happened Last Night’. They were usually little recaps about every game in the division and often mentioned me in the Pitt recap as the, and I quote, “monster inside”. I liked the comparison even though Mel thought it was vulgar. The only real article I got was when I tore my ACL, and everyone was finally starting to see what I could do. Whatever. That was before. He talked to me about all that stuff for awhile and even managed to keep his eyes on mine for more that 5 seconds at a time. I was un-impressed with his minimal self-control. A few times when Sid was coming back to the bench, he’d look up and smile at me. One time back he saw the creeper that was hitting on me and an angry scowl crossed his face. The next shift out, he played like a mad-man and set up Kris Letang on the power-play for a goal. Despite his best tries, the Penguins still lost 3-4 to the Sabres. When the final buzzer rang, I stood up and so did Thomas next to me. “So I was wondering if you-“ he started before I cut him off. “Well, it’s been nice talking to you, but I have to go down to the locker room and meet Sid.” I said this as bubbly and cheerfully as I possibly could. “Sid? Sidney Crosby?” “Yupp, I’ll see you later.” He looked like a deflated balloon as I turned and walked down to the door to the runway.
-
I took my seat outside the locker room and waited for about 20 minutes. I was going through my purse, so I wasn’t too bored, and had so far found a lot of odd things. There was a resuscitation mask from a CPR class I took months ago, a cord of some sort for a phone I was guessing, a Tide-to-Go pen, and 4 pairs of sunglasses. I had been wondering where those sunglasses had run off to. After I went through every compartment in my purse, I started to get impatient so I got up and peeked into the locker room. I spotted Sid right away; he had the largest group of reporters crowded around him. A piece of my heart broke off at the sight of him sitting there, sweaty and exhausted, answering every question that was thrown at him. He looked so weary and for a minute, I forgot he was only 21. Then he saw me peering around the door and he looked up, smiled, and instantly, his face lit up to where I could tell he was 21 instead of 41. He said something to the reporters and they immediately dispersed out of a side door. “Hi there”, he said coming towards me as I inched my way around the door. “It’s ok, you can come in here now. Everyone else has gone.” “You’re the last?” He shrugged and said, “Always am. I’ve just gotten used to it.” “Oh, ok.” I took a step closer to him as he did the same thing and pulled me into him. Even though he was sweaty and I usually hated people touching me, this felt so good; his body on mine. It made me feel like I was wanted. His voice broke the moment. “I’m sorry. I just got you all gross.” He backed away and I looked down at myself to see sweat stains all over the front of my shirt. For some reason, I found this funny and started laughing. “It’ll dry. It’s ok”, I said between giggles. “Are you sure? I’m sure I can find a clean new shirt around here that’ll fit you.” I thought about this for a minute and decided that when this did dry, it would leave white marks where the sweat was, and that was gross, so I agreed to a new shirt. “Ok sure. A new shirt sounds nice.” He grabbed my hand and led me down a hall-way into a room filled with boxes. “There should be a decent one in here somewhere. Start opening the boxes that have ‘Shirts’ printed on the side. Oh, and what size do you wear?” I thought about it for a second, and replied, “If it’s an adult guy’s shirt, a medium, and if it’s specifically for women, a large.” “Alright, here are your choices”, he said with a sly grin. He laid out four shirts all with a Penguin’s logo and Crosby written on them somewhere. “What are you, marking me as your territory?” I laughed as I chose the mustard yellow vintage series shirt. “Possibly. I saw that guy hitting on you today, so from now on you need to wear a shirt that says Crosby on it somewhere”, he joked as I pulled off my dirty shirt without even thinking about it. About half-way through getting the shirt over my head, I realized that he was still standing there and that he could in fact see me and my brightly colored polka-dotted bra. Instead of stopping, something told me to just keep going, even though I heard him stop mid-sentence. I got the shirt over my head and looked at him. It seemed as though he wanted to keep looking, but his better side told him to look away. The better side lost, and I said, “What?” “I just thought you’d want some privacy, that’s all.” He started to back towards the door, but I was feeling very flirty and before I could stop myself I said, “You don’t like the view?” with a smile. He stopped his backwards movements, and hesitantly started towards me. I just stood there in my bra and jeans, my new shirt in one and hand and my dirty shirt in the other. He put one hand on the small of my back and pulled me to him. His other hand was in my hair as he kissed me. The shirts dropped to the floor as my hands found his hair. That moment felt like that was where I was supposed to be. It just felt so right to be doing that at that time. His hand that was on my back was slowly moving around to my stomach and down to the button on my jeans. My hands that were just in his hair were now under his shirt, searching over his abs, and then I was trying to pull his shirt over his head. He stopped his own searching to help me, and once we got his shirt off, I couldn’t keep my hands off him. His fingers had undone the button on my jeans, and he had moved on to my bra. Just as he got the clasp undone, and things could have gotten out of hand, we heard a door bang open somewhere. We jumped apart and I hastily redid my bra and re-buttoned my jeans. I wasn’t quick enough with the shirt because the next thing I knew, Max was walking down the hall yelling, “Hey Sid, have you seen my…” He trailed off as he rounded the corner to the storage room. I hadn’t even put my shirt on yet, and I’m sure my mascara was messy. The back of Sid’s hair was sticking straight out from where my hands had been, and he hadn’t put his shirt back on yet either. “…wallet”, he finished. “Nope, I don’t know where it is.” Sid tried to play it off like everything was cool. “Obviously not in the storage closet is it?” My cheeks burned and Sid grabbed my hand as if to comfort me. “Come on man, get out of here.” “Alright alright. Don’t get into any trouble”, Max warned as he backed toward the door. I found it ironic that Max Talbot was telling Sidney Crosby to stay out of trouble. Sid turned toward me, his face flushed, and with a smile said, “We’ll have to do that again, but now, I have to take a shower before we go”, and kissed me on the forehead before turning around to walk into the showers, and leaving me to burn every detail of what had just happened into my brain.

Chapter 4

“Really Sid, I’m OK. Don’t worry about it.” “But you have to have surgery.” He was practically whispering again. “Come on, we barely know each other and you’re freaking out because I have to have surgery. Not you’re fault.” He turned his hazel eyes to look at me and nodded. “I feel so bad for some reason, like I can help or something…” Once again, this boy’s sincerity made me want to cry. I fiddled with my purse with my one free hand to keep myself from tearing up. Sid was still holding my other one in a death grip. I couldn’t understand why he was so worried about me, a girl who just happened to almost tackle him in the student rush line. “I, I don’t know why I feel like that”, he said. “There’s just something about you. I feel like you need someone to protect you.” My recent injuries flashed through my mind and actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. “I have hurt myself a lot playing basketball. Last year I had a high ankle sprain and was out for a few weeks. The year before that I had a concussion and couldn’t play for almost a month…” I trailed off at the look of disbelief on his face. “What are you playing?! Rugby-basketball?!” I smiled and laughed. Everyone who knew me, knew how physical I was. “No, I just get very into it.” He laughed his cute boyish laugh and said, “You need to be more careful with yourself or you’ll end up in a full body cast.” Considering it was a possibility, I just shrugged and smiled. I’m assuming he took that as an ‘OK, I will’ because he seemed to be satisfied after that. His grip on my hand loosened a little and I asked again, “Why do you care what happens to me, you’ll never see me again after tonight?” The grip re-tightened as he said, “Not if I can help it. There’s something about you that just draws me to you. I don’t know what it is, almost like a magnet. I feel you have something to offer, and that you’re different. I like different.” He smiled a huge grin at me, and all I could do to keep myself from jumping on him at that very moment was look at my recently cut curly blonde hair, smile and say “Thanks.”
-
We pulled up to the Blue Talon Bistro, apparently one of the best in town. I had never been considering I’m kind of short on cash at almost all times and this place was known to be pretty pricey. Sid finally released my hand to get out of the car. He walked ahead of me into the restaurant, and as soon as I walked in, I felt out of place. Everyone had on Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, or Coco Chanel. I had on a pair of American Eagle jeans and a Pitt shirt with a black jacket on overtop. I’m a college student and, comfort’s more my style. The only thing I had with me that was remotely high fashion was my Kathy Van Zeeland bag, and even then, that isn’t really high fashion. “Sid, I look ridiculous here. Can we go somewhere else?” I hissed at him. “You look fine. I thought I was the one with a bad sense of fashion.” That remark made me feel a little better, and the fact that I was with Sidney Crosby made me feel even better. I decided I had to suck it up and show off my bag as much as possible. Everyone in here seemed to know Sid, and not just like, ‘That’s Sidney Crosby!’ but more along the lines of ‘Hey man what’s happening? Who’s this?’ and he was seated immediately after introducing me as Jess Spade basketball extraordinaire. I laughed at my introduction and hit him playfully on the arm. I still could not get over how easy it was to be around him. We sat down and began talking about anything but my knee. He told me he’s from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, and I told him I was from Yorktown, Virginia and had always wanted to go to Pitt ever since I was a little girl. “Oh, isn’t that where the American civil war was ended?” “You know about that?” “Yeah, when I went to boarding school in Minnesota we brushed over it in American History. It always sounded like an amazing battle.” “Eh, it was OK. Once you live there and you’ve seen everything at least six times, it gets old.” I laughed and looked up at him. ‘Why is he so amazingly sexy?’ I asked myself. We discussed his team and how their outlook on the season was, and just as he looked like he was about to say something, our waiter walked up and asked us what we wanted. For me? Grilled salmon with garlic potatoes and a Sprite. I was obviously not watching what I was eating. For him? Some crazy health nut dish that wasn’t even on the menu, oh and water. I stared at him in gross disbelief. “You eat that?!” I half screamed it. “I could say the same to you!” he said with a laugh. We argued about our food for a good twenty minutes until a waiter came and told us the exact things we were arguing about would be out in a few minutes. I calmed down a little bit and took a sip of my unhealthy Sprite. “I was right about you”, he said. “What?” “You are different“, he said as a small smile crept across his face. “What is that supposed to mean?” “Well, every other girl I’ve ever been out with does the same ‘I’m not hungry, I’ll have a salad and water’ routine. It’s nice to finally go out with someone who has a healthy appetite and knows what sport I play.” His smile was from ear to ear now and his eyes seemed to sparkle. “Oh, and don’t forget, I’m as tall as you, if not taller.” A laughed escaped his lips as he said, “Of course. Most girls are five feet tall, and you’re almost a foot taller than that. I like that, it’s a nice change.” The eyes were sparkling again. I could tell he genuinely meant that it was a nice change.
-
By the time I finished eating my salmon and he his healthy dish, it was nearly 11:00 at night, and I had an 8:00 AM class tomorrow, but at the moment that wasn’t really important to me. I picked up my bag, making sure to flash it around a little before Sidney grabbed my hand. Him holding my hand was all I needed to draw attention to myself, and make it look like I wasn’t as big of a bum as I felt. We left the restaurant, got in his Range Rover and headed in the direction of the Pitt campus. We were still talking and he still had my hand in his. There was a comfortable sense of belonging in the car and I never wanted it to end, but I knew that this dream-like day was going to the moment I stepped out of the car and walked up the stairs to my dorm room and an anxiously waiting Melissa. I directed him to my building; a run-down, dirty building that looked like it could be condemned at any moment. He took one look at it and said, “You really live here? This isn’t a joke?” “Yupp. Home sweet home. It’s really not as bad on the inside. They’ve renovated the inside, but not the out. Do you want to see?” I was trying to extend this night as long as possible. “Sure. I guess it can’t be that bad”, he chuckled. I shot Melissa a text telling her to wait in the bathroom until I told her to come out and that Sid was coming up. Her reply, “Ok.” I was in the clear, so I took his hand and led him towards the pathetic excuse for a building. There were a few drunks milling around on the lawn outside. Some looked up when we passed only to think they recognized Sidney Crosby, but then they realized they were too wasted to tell and fell back down onto the damp grass. Sid looked amazed at everything happening around him. I had forgotten he had never been to college. “Is it always like this? People out and everything this late? Are there always drunks on your lawn?” “Most nights”, I replied. He looked absolutely shocked at being in this environment. “It’s not so bad”, I repeated. We got into the fluorescently lit lobby and I gave him a quick tour; the bulletin board, the water fountain, oh and the beat up old couch drunks sleep on sometimes; because dorms are so exciting. He asked me where my room was. “Oh, up on the 3rd floor, do you want to see that?” “If I could.” The slightest of smiles pulled at the corners of his lips. “Right this way Mr. Crosby.” At the exact time I said that, a girl was walking out of the elevator we were beginning to enter. She did a 360 and practically shouted, “SIDNEY CROSBY!?” At this, people all along the hall stuck their heads out of their creatively decorated dorm doors to see what was happening. The words Sidney Crosby? were echoing down the hall as we scrambled into the elevator and punched the close button as many times as is humanly possible before any of the people in the hall got into the elevator. The doors closed as people came running at the doors in an attempt to get a glimpse of the great Sidney Crosby. We breathed a sigh of relief and he reached for my hand as I adjusted my purse on my shoulder. “Well Mr. Superstar, you sure are popular tonight”, I smirked. He shrugged and said in a playful tone, “Happens all the time, all the time.” The doors opened and, to our great pleasure, mostly his, this hall was quiet. We shuffled down the hall trying to make as little noise as possible. I pointed out landmarks along the way, like the hole in the wall where a guy got drunk, of course, and punched the wall, or the stain on the carpet from when Melissa’s dog that she wasn’t supposed to have in the dorm totally threw up all over the place. I dragged him past the bathrooms, hoping Melissa was still in there, and to my room. The door read, ‘Melissa and Jenna! Knock if you need us!’ “Oh, you share with your friend Melissa?” He sounded disappointed. “Yeah, but she hasn’t gotten back yet, so no one has to know you were ever here, except for the 30 or so students downstairs…” He smiled his toothy grin and his grip tightened on my hand as I fished through my purse for my keys. I had to let go of him in order to find them. They were, of course, at the bottom. This purse just seemed to eat everything I owned. I once found a water bottle and some cereal that had been in there God knows how long. I opened the door to a mess of clothes, papers and books that I had yet to clean up. I hadn’t even made my bed this morning. I walked in and threw my purse on my bed with Sidney following my every move. “See? Not so bad.” I laughed at how dumb that must have sounded. “Your room looks like a devastated third world country.” That got me laughing, hard, since no one had ever thought to compare this mess to a country. He sat down next to me and once again, took my hand, but this time, started drawing circles with his thumb on the back of my palm. The sensation he was creating felt so calming and relaxing. “Jess, I know I’ve only known you for a few hours, and I’ve already said this, but I’ll say it again. There’s something about you that I like. I like you.” His baby-face blushed and I smiled and said, “I like you too.”
-
I walked him back out to his car, careful to make sure that all the crazy fans were gone and that we were in the clear. We stepped out of the elevator and instead of grabbing my hand, he pulled me to him and put his arm around my waist. He smelled amazing, like one of those cologne ads in the magazines. We walked down the stairs onto the lawn and once again, the drunks thought they recognized him but then passed out. We walked over to his Range Rover parked a few feet away, and he got in the drivers seat, but before doing so, gave me a quick kiss on my lips. He leaned away and said, “I want you to come to my next game. I’ll have a pass there for you. Just tell them your name.” I nodded, unable to speak for about the eighth time today. “I hope I made your day better than it started”, he smiled as he said it. I nodded again and smiled. He smiled once more before he pulled away, and I smiled at him, with my fingers on my lips. My lips were tingling where his had been. I walked back up to my room in a daze, preparing myself for the questions I would be hit with.

This is What's Happening

Just so everyone's aware, don't expect posts everyday like today and yesterday. I had a few chapters already written before I made my blog, so it was almost like a stockpile I had to unload. It'll probably be a week or two at a time now since school is finishing up and I have exams and end of the year projects coming up. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the most recent update! :)

*Jenna

Chapter 3

I hurried to my seat, still in shock from what just occurred. I was clutching the pass he gave me like it was lifeline, and if I let go, I’d float away. When I got to my seat, a worried looking Melissa was waiting. “Where the *uck have you been?!” Always subtle and caring. “My knee freaked out and I went to the training room…” I explained. A wary look crossed her face and she knew I wasn’t telling her everything. “How’d you get there, huh?” “I, uh, walked?” “No you didn’t and you know it. Now tell me the truth, and don’t leave anything out!” “Well you know that huge crowd? Sidney Crosby was in the middle of it… and he carried me…?” Her mouth dropped open and she looked at me in disbelief. “Tell me. Now”, she demanded.
-
I told her everything that went down. The handsome facial features, the sexy butt… oh and the part about my knee. But who really cared about that anyway? I ended with the fact that I was going out with him after the game. Her face was great; disbelief and jealousy all in one. She always got the guy. Always. Even back in high school. We’ve been best friends forever and I was, and still am, the sidekick. The girl the ugly wingman got just because I was there, and now, I got one she wanted. Sweet revenge. She was my best friend, so I did feel bad, but really, I was going out with Sidney Crosby. I didn’t feel bad about that part. The game flew by and Melissa questioned me the whole time, like I was a murder-case suspect and she was asking me what my motives were. I pretended to be annoyed by it, but in actuality, I was smug with the jealous look on her face.
-
The game ended with the Penguins beating the Devils 4-1, and Sid managing a hat trick, only his second in his career I was told by an overzealous, overweight fan who was sporting a neon yellow afro wig and bulging jersey. I gave Melissa a hug and said goodbye. I could feel her eyes on my back, and I knew she was happy for me, but she just didn’t really know how to deal with someone else getting the guy this time. I made my way down towards the ice to ask for directions to the locker room from a kindly looking usher. I marveled at the enormity of the Mellon. It really was a masterpiece, and a miracle it was still standing. The usher pointed me in the direction of a door labeled with the ever so cliché words “Authorized Personnel Only!” As I stepped through these doors, another Mellon worker startled me saying “Hi there!” I was a little confused. “Uhh, hi.” “Sid told me to expect you Ms. Spade. He said he’d finish up early, just for you.” That really touched me; the fact that he was going to all this trouble to make my night better than how it started. “You can sit right over there and wait.” “Thanks for your help”, I replied with a smile. The worker walked away through the doors labeled “Penguins’ Locker Room” as I walked over to the bench he indicated and set my purse down. I sat next to it and tried to control my racing mind. “Oh my God, am I really here? I am doing this? Why would you let yourself do this?!” All these thoughts were racing through my mind as I waited on that lonely bench. For all I knew, he might not even show up and this was all some sort of cruel joke. I was shocked out of my worries with the touch of his hand on my shoulder. I looked up from where I was sitting and saw a badly paired suit, dress shirt, and Calvin Klein knitted hat. I couldn’t help but laugh a little. Sid looked around wondering what I was laughing at and asked, “What? Is something wrong?” Concern was spelled out across his face as I continued to laugh. Then, to my horror, Max Talbot and Eric Godard walked out of the locker room in even worse ensembles. Max had on an ugly, ill-fitting, pin-stripe suit with a gross puke colored dress shirt underneath it, and of all things these extremely well paid players could put themselves in, Eric chose a fire-engine red suit, a wonderful outfit that included a red jacket, and matching red pants. I didn’t even get a chance to look at what his dress shirt entailed; I was rolling with laughter by this time. Sid turned around to see his teammates and upon seeing them, stifled a laugh. They stopped and Max demanded, “What’s so funny?” “Nothing man, go home”, Sid managed. “Whatever dude, you’re in for it tomorrow though”, Max retorted. My laughs came with much less force and I was able to breathe normally again. “Really, you guys have horrible fashion sense, and it doesn’t help that you’re all together all the time. It probably just gets worse and worse!” Sid just smiled and shrugged. “To be honest, it’s not a priority.” “Oh really? I couldn’t tell…” I laughed a little more, but all the giggles were gone. “Now that we’re done making fun of my fashion sense, let’s get going shall we?”
-
We were driving down the street in his Range Rover when I remembered something important about today. “Hey Sid, you know it’s my birthday today?” “I’m sorry you had to almost kill yourself today”, he joked. It was extremely easy to talk to him. He was so nice and easy to talk to I almost told him my whole life story. “Since it is your birthday, we’ll have to do something even more fun than what I had planned.” “And what might that be?” I asked in the cutest tone I could muster. “Do you really think I could tell you that?” he chuckled. “You know, you didn’t have to do this for me. I just have to deal with a knee giving out at random moments until I have surgery.” “You have to have surgery?!” He almost ran through the divider in the highway. “Uh, yeah. It’s not really that big of a deal, just what I have to do if I want to play next year. I’ve accepted it as a fact of life now.” There was a pause for a minute, but it wasn’t one of those awkward silences. It was one of understanding and I could have sworn I felt a static in the air. His voice broke the silence, but I barely heard it since he was almost whispering. “How long is rehab?” “Six months.” There was the divider again. This obviously upset him. “Sid, are you alright?” This question seemed to be the question of the day today. “Yeah sure, it’s just I’ve never had surgery or anything requiring six months of rehab in my whole career, and here you are, in college, and you’ve done something I could never think as happening to me. It’s just amazing you’re strong enough to get through it, and you have this whole outlook on next year, and what’s happening then.” The look on his face said it all: He hoped anything like this was never going to happen to him, and I didn’t blame him. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, but I was going to try to make the best of the situation I was in. “We’re practically the same age Sid, and it’s really not as bad as you think, I mean, yeah, I was crushed when I found out I tore it and that my season was essentially over, but I have this whole new opportunity to come back even better than I was. I’ll be OK eventually.” He was silent and I reached for the hand of this boy I met hours ago. He turned towards me and returned the gesture by intertwining his fingers in mine.

Chapter 2

After I recovered from the initial shock of having Sidney Crosby touching me, let alone holding me, I realized we were in the depths of the Arena. I started to come out of the haze of pain flowing through my body and I could make out what was happening. I was apparently being taken to the training room. Part of me wondered why the hell he didn’t just call 911 or an ambulance or something, but the other and more overpowering part of me said, “STFU! You’re being held by Sidney Crosby!” To be honest, I didn’t really know anything about the guy other than he was the talk of the town. Constantly. I didn’t know how many goals he scored or what his plus/minus rating was. I didn’t know how many penalty minutes he got his rookie year, like most people around here hockey fan or not. All I knew was that at this moment he was gingerly carrying me to the training room and more importantly, I was enjoying every minute of it.
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We reached the training room and by then the pain had subsided into almost nothing. It was just a dull pain radiating down the back of my knee. He set me down on the table and said, “Are you OK? What happened back there?” I just looked at his flawless face. My voice seemed to not be working at the moment. What wonderful timing. He restated his question. “Are you alright?” I could feel my voice coming back, but all I could eek out was a semblance of an “OK”. It ended up sounding like, “Uhhkuhh.” Really, it was cute. He just laughed his boyish laugh and smiled at me. My facial expression must have been priceless; not being able to speak correctly and being in pain probably makes for a cute lovechild of a facial expression. I finally felt my voice come back full and strong. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, “I tore my ACL a few weeks ago. Where’s Melissa?” He looked dazed and confused as he tried to understand what I wanted. I even had to think about what I had just said. After a few careful moments of thought I restated the phrase saying, “My knee gave out because I tore my ACL a few weeks ago. Would you happen to know where my friend Melissa is?” A look of comprehension washed over his face as he smiled and said, “I’ll have someone look for your friend Melissa.” “Ok, thanks.” I replied. It really hadn’t hit me yet that I was talking to Sidney Crosby. The beautiful, gorgeous, talented Sidney Crosby. “So who are you?” Crosby asked me after a pause. “Jess Spade. ‘Would be’ Pitt center.” I replied with a hint of anger in my voice at the thought of that horrible day that ended my season. “Oh so you go to Pitt? And you…played basketball there? Until you tore your ACL?” he offered. “That’s right.” I shot back. I was beginning to get annoyed with him, despite his gorgeous features. Where was the trainer?! “I’m sorry.” He said it like it was all his fault. Now I felt bad. “I mean, I’m sorry if I’m a little bitter about it. Well, a lot bitter, but I was supposed to be ‘it’, that ‘it’ girl. Every team has one ‘it’ player… like you I guess.” It was my turn to offer something now. He smiled and looked at me. I melted, right there in the training room into a pile of goop on the floor. It was like I was paralyzed. His look became concerned and he said, “What’s wrong? You’re knee? I’ll go find the trainer. Don’t go anywhere.” Not that I could, I was a pile of goop on the floor, remember? I daydreamed while he was off getting the trainer. I found myself doing that a lot lately. I thought about how cute he was. How sweet and caring he was. He seemed to care more about me, a girl he had never met in his life, than about his game that was happening in less than two hours. I was snapped out of my daydream by the sound of his voice. “…yeah, she said she tore it a few weeks ago. I don’t know what exactly happened out there, but I’m sure whatever it was it wasn’t good.” And then he appeared in the doorway, in some of his things for the game, like underarmour and things of that variety. My God did he look sexy. The trainer walked in right behind him and I was brought back down to Earth. “Alright miss…” the trainer began. “Spade.” I finished his sentence for him. “OK miss Spade, what happened out there?” Sidney was hovering nearby like an overprotective mother, so I definitely wasn’t going to explain this as, ‘I saw Sidney Crosby and freaked out.’ Oh no. My story was more along the lines of, “I took a wrong step, my knee twisted and popped and I ended up on the ground.” He checked me out and after telling me what I already knew, I had a torn ACL, I was free to go. The pain was completely gone by now, seeing as my little accident happened over an hour ago. Sidney walked me back to the civilian section of the arena, cutting it close for his game. “Hey, I’m really sorry that had to happen to you”, he apologized. He truly looked sorry. “You know, I’m really not supposed to be standing too long, going up and down stairs and walking on uneven ground… and this activity involves all three. It was a great choice on my part.” I laughed as I said it because I knew I was ridiculous for coming here, and it was ridiculous that I was standing here talking to Sidney Crosby. “I still feel bad it had to happen to you.” he said. “You don’t even know me, so you shouldn’t really feel bad” I stated. “Maybe I want to get to know you…” He said. “How about you wait for me after the game? I’ll do something nice for you.” My head was reeling from the fact that Sidney Crosby, superstar, wanted to take me out. I felt my voice leaving me again. Good thing he was still talking. “…and to get you down there afterwards I’ll go get you a pass. Wait here, please?” he almost pleaded. I nodded, unable to talk. He came back a few minutes later. “Just go down as far towards the ice as you can and ask someone how you can get to the locker room. Wait for me there. We’ll do something fun afterwards.” He smiled and handed me the pass. As he gave it to me, his fingers brushed mine and I felt a shock go up my arm. He felt it too, and smiled a sly smile at me, then took off down towards the ice to finish getting ready for the game.

Chapter 1

Hockey is one of the few things I love in life. My way of discovering hockey was a bit odd though. I had recently undergone knee surgery for a torn ACL. I play basketball for Pitt and while doing what seemed to be a normal move, my knee completely gave way beneath me; on the first day of practice; during the first drill. Needless to say my season was over right then and there. I was supposed to be the next big thing. The go-to girl. Not anymore. Since I could no longer run, jump, cut, pivot, anything, I turned to the next big thing in Pittsburgh; hockey. I fell in love with the physicality, the passion. It was a great escape. I could get way from the things I couldn’t do. I put myself in someone else’s world. That person just so happened to be Sidney Crosby, and this is my story.
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I had always planned to go to a Penguins game on my birthday, November 29th. My doctors advised me not to go if I would be standing for long periods of time, wakling on uneven ground, or going up and down stairs a lot. My untimely injury seemed like it was almost taunting me, “Nope. Just one more thing you can’t do.” I went anyway, bundling up and standing outside in the student rush line with all the other poor college students and my best friend, Melissa, in the freezing cold without an ACL in one knee. Melissa was gabbing away about her new boy toy Adam that she met in Psych class. She always had someone new in the works. Her motto? “Don’t date, be a skank!” She talked and talked about him as I daydreamed and realized I started to lose the feeling in my knee. “…and he just has the cutest smile and I absolutely love his laugh. Don’t you? You know that adorable laugh he does? How cute right?! And don’t get me started…” I tuned her out. She’ll eventually repeat it a few days later. I figured I’d hear it eventually. I sat in the grass to give my leg a rest. The line really didn’t seem to be moving so I figured I was safe for now. Melissa had switched topics now, and moved on to the cute guy’s butt a few people ahead of us. “Oh my God, check it out Jess, he’s got a flawlessly sculpted ass. Perfect?! I think yes! You know what you should do? You should go- hey what’s happening up there?” The ever curious Melissa was cut off mid-sentence as she noticed a crowd gathering up ahead in the line. I picked myself up off the ground and stretched my 5’11” frame to its extent, trying to see over the people. All I could make out was a large crowd gathering around what looked to be… an old dirty trucker’s hat? On whose head? Who did that hat belong to? I was curious now and stood on my tip-toes to see. I could make out some brown curly hair peeking out from beneath the hat and what looked to be, pizza? The massive crowd was moving towards me and I was beginning to get jostled towards it. Everyone else obviously knew something I didn’t. I was so worried my knee would give out, I wasn’t paying attention to where Melissa went or where I was going. I pushed right through people and into the center of the crowd and ended up face-to-face with none other than Sidney Crosby. Time stopped and my heart skipped a beat as I looked at his mesmerizing beautiful hazel-green eyes and the pizza he was holding. I took a step towards him and as I did so, my foot slipped and with a pop of my knee, I was on the ground in extreme pain. I forgot where I was and began rolling around cursing. My vision was coming in and out due to the horrible sensation that someone was stabbing me with an ice pick in my knee. I felt a strong hand on my arm, and someone was asking me what was wrong. I said my knee. They asked if I could walk. I bluntly shook my head with a grimace as another wave of pain broke over my knee. Whoever was asking the questions picked me up. I was being carried into the Arena to God knows where, when I looked into the face of my rescuer. It was Sidney Crosby. My God, really?! I almost passed out right then and there from the shock of it, but all I could think of was, “Where the hell is Melissa?! She’d want to see this!”

First on the Agenda:

So this is my first story. After reading so many other amazing stories I just couldn't resist. This story is based on a few true things, but is by no means completely true! I really hope everyone likes it! Leave me some positive feedback. :) Info:

Name: Jess Spade
Age: 21 (after her birthday)
Occupation: Pitt student