Disclaimer: I do not own the Pittsburgh Penguins (unfortunately) or anything related to their franchise. This is all fictional for the most part. Annie and Andy are the only people I own. Also, I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar errors. I did my best.

The main character is Annie Amoretti. Annie is short for Anita Marie. She is 18 years old as of January 13, 2009. She is 5'3'' and about 120 lbs. Her eyes are grayish blue, but change color with whatever she's wearing. Her hair is shiny and chocolate brown. It is sometimes curly, sometimes pin straight, depending on how she dries it. She is very naturally beautiful, but not flashy; the kind of girl who can go out with no makeup and in sweats and still look good. She is a total oxymoron. She's shy around new people, but outgoing and the center of attention in a crowd of familiar faces. She's very smart and has a lot to say, but keeps it to herself most times. She likes to be silly and make people laugh, but she's very serious and goal oriented.

Annie's best friend and pseudo-sister is Andy, short for Andrea. Andrea isn't as big of a dreamer as Annie. She is much more skeptical and realistic. They share some very important similarities, but have many more differences. They compliment each other in many ways which is why they have remained inseparable friends for 13 years. Andy is tall, 5'9'' with an athletic build from many years of playing basketball. Her hair is light brown/dirty blonde. She has the exact eye color of Annie. She is smart, witty, and sarcastic. She is usually very reserved, but when provoked can cut you down in a matter of 3 words. She is the Laverne to Annie's Shirley.

All the Penguins are self explanatory. Please keep in mind, I do not know any of them personally (at least not that well), so I don't know how accurate my portrayal of them is. Most of this is fiction although a few things are true. Also a special note in regards to Evgeni Malkin—I am aware he does not have a full grasp on the English language, but for the sake of my sanity he's going to be pretty fluent in this story. I'll try my best to make it more believable, but seeing as I've never had a conversation with him I have no idea how advanced he is.

My heel tapped spastically in excitement. Anxiously, I jammed my finger onto the pause button of my iPod and complained to my best friend Andy to hurry up. Andy shot back, "I don't know why you're in such a damn hurry! We are already 2 hours early!"
"I know, I know! I just really want everything to be perfect. I'm so excited for this. A night with my best friend in the entire world at my favorite place in the entire world! I need to mentally prepare myself for this. Front row seats And! Front row! Oh, and don't forget, right by the entrance to the locker room!"
Andy sighed, "This is going to be a long night for me isn't it?"

"Oh shut up! I know you're just as excited as I am. You're just being difficult."

Andy and I were sitting in heavy rush hour traffic on the Veterans Bridge. I could see the Igloo from my seat in the comfy leather of her mom's SUV. It was still two hours from the first face-off, but I had a strict game day routine to stick to. It starts out with a casual stroll past the player parking lot to watch them all arrive. This stroll would take us to the Bruegger's a few blocks away for some bagels.

When the arena opened up, we would take our seats in the front row and get ready to watch the warm-up. During the warm-up, I would stand with my face pressed up against the glass, just watching. I refuse to wave stupid signs and jump up and down and scream. After all, I'm no puck bunny. I usually wear long jeans and a jersey to games and try to be sparse with my make up. I genuinely enjoy the game of hockey, and I actually do know what is going on most of the time. I will admit I do have one fatal flaw. I am a sucker for Sidney Crosby. I know what you're thinking: you and half the teenage girls in America. I'm not proud of it, but I manage to cope. Besides, it is kind of fun to experience the warm, fuzzy feeling I get when I see him on the other side of the glass along with the shaky feeling in my legs and the fluttering in my chest and abdomen. I sound cliché, I know, but I like to stray from the norm a lot in life, so I had to revert back to the standard in one department. But anyways….I'm rambling…..

"Hey, we're here! Let's go! Five minutes ago you were in a big hurry," Andy startled me out of my reverie.

"You see, this is why I love Pens fans!" I gushed as we made our way through the rows and rows of tailgaters downing beer and blasting music from the back of their truck beds. Andy surveyed the parking lot skeptically. "Yea, these people are true winners," she quipped. "Alright, they're a little strange, but their hearts are in the right place," I said, laughing. We wandered past the players' parking lot on our way to Bruegger's. "Hmmm…I don't see any activity," I conceded after a few minutes of studying the parking lot. Andy eyed the puck bunnies and little hockey player wannabes suspiciously. "Yeah, they look kind of bored. I bet you no one has come by for a while," she concluded. "Let's just head over and get some bagels." I sighed and began to cross the street. "Watch," she predicted, "as soon as we get across the street someone important will come."

We approached the corner by a red light. I stopped abruptly and stared in disbelief. "I don't even believe this. You were right." I said slowly.

"What?"

"Look," I said calmly, "There's Jordan Staal." I pointed in the direction of an Escalade waiting at the intersection.

"WHAT!? OH MY GOD! NO WAY!"

The light turned green and the car zoomed by us and began to turn into the arena. "HOLY SHIT! THAT'S JORDAN STAAL!" Andy screeched excitedly. "HA! NOW who is overly enthusiastic?" I joked. We stood there for a second staring at the retreating SUV then looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Let's go!" We started sprinting across the street, heedless to oncoming traffic (hey, pedestrian right of way!). I had almost cleared four lanes of traffic when I saw an oncoming BMW. I skidded to a halt in the middle of the road, before I was in its path, not because I didn't want to get hit but because I had looked more closely at who the driver was. Kris Letang himself had slowed down and was peering out at me curiously from behind the wheel. I froze and stared back, completely dumbstruck. I'm not sure why but everything moved in slow motion. Here was a Penguin, one of the people I admire most, mere feet from me. After what felt like an eternity but was really only a few seconds, he was gone, and I jogged the rest of the way across the street and waited for Andy to make it.

"Did that really just happen?" she questioned.

"I think so…..."

"That would happen to us. Only we would…OH MY GOD….there he is!"

I looked over to the parking lot just as Jordan was climbing out of his car. Kris pulled his car in next to Jordan and got out. I watched their retreating backs as they disappeared inside the arena. "Well, that was certainly exciting," I laughed somewhat shakily.

"Yea! You almost got crushed!"

"Um, excuse me, who was the one who started screaming like thirteen year old meeting Zac Efron?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I did no such thing," she denied, her cheeks tinged pink. "Riiiiiiight…so anyways, let's go get our bagels." "Yes. Bagels. Right. Good idea." I smiled knowingly. Andy would deny her crush on Jordan Staal until she was blue in the face. It was cute, like we were 10 years old. "Andy, mon ami, I have a feeling our night has barely begun." What I didn't know was that this was the understatement of the century.

Ok kids, end of chapter one. Feel free to review, but be nice. I'm just throwing my thoughts out on paper really. It's probably not too good. Actually, this chapter was somewhat based on a real life experience. I did kind of run out in front of Kris Letang by the arena once. Oops. It's pretty short, but I figured this was a good place to stop and I was anxious to post. Chapter Two should be up soon hopefully. Sooner if I get some feedback! Much love!