I was driving back to my house and I called my mother and father and set my phone to speaker, placing it back on the dashboard."Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad."
"Hey, sweetie," they replied in unison. "How's Carolina?"
"Good, but I have some news." I grinned to myself.
"Oh?"
"Yes." I grinned to myself. "Well, I was put up for trade yesterday and I had a taker."
"Really? Oh, darling, I'm so sorry," said my mother.
"How could they do that?" Asked my father.
"Wait, just wait. I haven't gotten to the best part, yet." I turned into my driveway, parked, and killed the engine. I picked up my phone and got out of the car. "Are you still there?"
"Yes, dear. What's the best part?"
"You know who I wanted to play for since I started?"
"Yes. The Pens."
"Well, Mom and Dad, almost as soon as the news went out that I was put up for trade, guess who picked me up?" I almost screamed into the phone.
"Oh, my God, Emily! This is amazing! When are you coming?"
"They'll be calling to let me know. I can't believe it. This is too good to be true."
"Congratulations!" I could hear them talking excitedly to each other. I was inside now, and I dropped my purse on the floor and ran upstairs.
"You can stay with us until you find a place, Em," said my mother.
"Alright. It shouldn't be too hard to find one, though. But thank you."
"We'll see you soon, babe. That's so cool!"
"Yep. I love you."
"Love you too, darling."
I hung up and grinned to myself. Down the hallway was my bedroom. My bed was right inside the door. My grin grew wider and I took a running start and a flying leap onto the mattress, screaming "I'm going to the Penguins!"
As soon as I had gotten in the sight of the bottom floor of the airport at Pittsburgh, I found my parents standing there, looking excited for me. I met them with a massive hug and we walked out of the car.
"This is amazing!" said my father.
We talked the entire way back to our house in Lawrenceville. My dad put the car in park and we unloaded.
"Mom," I said, as soon as my stuff was back in my old, untouched room, "I've been dying to go to the Strip. Is there still time?"
"Do you need to go to meet anyone today?"
"Some of the guys were going to take me out tonight, but that will be around ten, or so."
"Some of the guys?"
"Well, we were planning Geno, Flower, Jordan, and TK."
My mother lost it. I had to chuckle along with her. "I can't believe it."
"Alright," I said, catching my breath. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes. Let's go get your father."
We headed downstairs and told my father the plans. We hopped back into the car and headed down the street until we reached the famous shopping area. It was twilight and a few of the stores were closing. It was around seven o'clock, maybe a little after. We paid for parking and I we headed down toward the beginning of the street. I walked down the street, first, and my parents followed me silently.
"I missed this place. I didn't have time when we played here a few months ago. i wish I could have stopped by."
I sighed deeply. I really didn't want to go in to the stores; I only wanted to walk around. I walked past the PennMac and the tables that were now packed up for the evening. They usually held pastries. I continued down the street and looked at all of the sports gear. Behind one of the tables was a poster of a person who looked familiar.
"Mom and Dad," I said. They came up behind me and looked at the poster. I was me. It said "Welcome, LaRue!" I was in a Penguins jersey and someone had drawn me looking off toward a Stanley Cup. I couldn't be thirty-three for the Pens. I had to be fifty-five, which explained the large '55' on my back. Under that was a math problem: 55+11=66. Under that was the word "Lemieux." It was making the connection that I had never dreamed of. I would never be as good as he was, but the idea was flattering. It took me a moment to remember the hidden significance for me of number eleven.
"This is really great," said my Dad. "Do you think you can...?"
"No. I'll never be as good as he is. The idea is nice, though."
I stared at it for a few more moments and took a picture with my phone. We continued walking. There weren't many people around, and no one recognized me. We finished the lap and got to the end of the road and faced the Heinz History Center.
"It's almost eight fifteen. Do you want to head back and freshen up?"
"Yeah. I need a shower and I want to change."
We walked back to the car and headed home. I took a quick shower, applied a little bit of lip gloss, and put my clothes on. I wore a rose tank top, black skinnies, dark pink lace-up shoes, and a black jacket with a side zipper. I had a light pink handbag to accent it and some bangels on my wrist.
U ready, Cinderella?came the text from Jordan.
Not quite the correct context, but close enough. yeahI headed downstairs and waited in the kitchen. I had given them my address as soon as I had gotten off the phone with my parents when I was in Carolina.
"You have the keys to the house, right?" Asked Dad. He was sitting in the living room watching ESPN, which was his favorite.
"Yeah, dad." I jingled the keys for emphasis. The doorbell rang and I exchanged excited looks from my parents. "It's them."
I went to the door and twisted the knob. Jordan was standing there and behind him was Geno, Flower, and TK. They looked like a bunch of carolers.
I'd never seen carolers so hot.
Geno was wearing a pea-coat and a black beanie with torn light blue jeans. Tyler was wearing grey jeans, brown Vans, a white shirt with a graphic design, and a leather bomber jacket. Marc was wearing black jeans, a Green Lantern tee, and a grey military jacket. Jordan was mind-blowing. As soon as I saw him, every waning affection for him immediately burst with a new flame. He had on dark blue jeans, a loose-fitting white button-down shirt, a navy blue windbreaker that liked to hug his arms, and to top it all off, he wore a black Pens hat and his hair was swept back behind it. He, more than the rest of the guys, looked sexy.
Jordan let out a low whistle while he looked over my outfit. "Wow." His eyes were wide and he had, I'll admit, an adorably dumbfounded look on his face. I guessed that it was that I hadn't seen him in a few months that I found him a little more attractive.
"Nice," said Geno. The rest remained silent.
"Thanks." I smiled at all of them. "Would you guys like to come in for a moment? It's a little chilly outside."
"Alright."
They all stepped inside, and all of a sudden, the living room seemed very short and small. "Dad," I said, catching one hundred percent of the attention that I may or may not have already had when I had answered the door and found four hockey stars standing on my doorstep. He stood up and his mouth fell open a little. I wasn't too embarrassed. "Well, I guess you already know who these guys are. Everyone, this is my father, Phil LaRue. He's been a huge fan since I was very little. He was the reason I fell in love with the sport." I smiled fondly at him.
"Thanks for lending your daughter to us," said Fleury as he shook my father's hand. He looked like he had just died and gone to heaven. I was scared for the day that Sid came over for dinner. He would probably rent a tux for the event, and my dad hated dressing up.
"And this is my mother, Darlene LaRue." I said, leading them into the kitchen. She was making popcorn enough to feed a small army. "She was against me going into hockey. She thought I'd get killed for sure." They all shook hands with my mother and kissed her on the cheek.
"I see where you get your looks," said Geno. My mother blushed deeply.
"Thank you. Would you like some popcorn?"
"No, thanks," said Jordan kindly. "We were going to head out, if that's okay with you, Emily." He turned and looked at me. I almost wanted to shrink away from his gaze, but I felt like my parents would flip a lid with the intense excitement that was radiating through every fiber of their beings.
"Yes, that's fine. See you later Mom. See you later, Dad." We trudged through the living room and out of the door.
This was the first time I had formally met Tyler, Marc, and Evgeni. Jordan did the proper introduction, and I shook hands with each of them before we piled into Geno's car. Geno drove, Jordan sat in the front, and Marc, Tyler, and myself all crammed into the back. We headed up my street and turned right onto the main street of Lawrenceville. We stopped after a few blocks and parked. I grinned. We were at the bowling alley. I personally sucked a bowling, but I knew there was an Islanders game playing up there in the bar that the guys wanted to go see before we took them on in a few days. We headed up the steps, wandered to the back of the building, had a seat at the bar, ordered drinks, and began to watch their game versus the Canucks.
"So," I said to Geno once we had settled into our seats, "Apparently, you're now Magical Malkin?"
"Huh?" He took a sip and looked at her.
"Well, Mike Lange said a few weeks ago that the puck was passed to the 'magical Malkin.' It was pretty priceless." I took a sip from my beer and signed as the Isles threw the puck into the back of the net. Jordan, who was sitting to my right, tightened his fist in anger.
"I wish he right," said Geno, sighing as he watched the Islanders celebrate. "Come on, Canucks!" All five of us raised our glasses to the television and clinked them together. "But with half the team out, it's pretty hard to get a lot of things done."
The replay went and we watched the puck bounce over the pad of Robert Luongo.
"Alright, guys, let's go," I said to the television.
"Are you ready for practice tomorrow?" Asked Tyler, leaning forward to look past Jordan to me. I gave him a cheeky grin.
"Yes, mother." I heard Flower laughing. I looked past Geno to him and saw his face upturned toward the television and a massive smile on his face. I grinned, too, and glanced up at the TV. Nothing was happening. "What's so funny, Flower?"
He turned to look at me with a bemused smirk on his face. "Mother?" He looked at TK. "We may have to start calling you 'Mother Hen,' T."
"Oh, no you don't," he said. He leaned back in his chair and took a long pull from his beer. He clanked it down on the table. "What about a drinking game to settle it?"
"In all seriousness, though, T," I said, cutting in before this had a chance to get ugly, "I'm kind of nervous. You guys are on a totally different level than I think I've ever experienced. I mean, obviously, the 'Canes are good, but it's kind of amazing when you get put on to a legendary team, and especially in my fashion."
"I can see that," said Tyler, leaning back in his chair more. It almost tipped and he regained his balanced just in time, swearing.
"But I definitely wouldn't say that I'm scared. I was never, ever scared of you guys. You're just a challenge. And it's a challenge I'm excited to accept."
"Challenge accepted," said Tyler in a low voice. We chuckled at him, except for Geno.
"What?" He gave Tyler a blank stare.
"It's what happens when someone tries to do something difficult, Geno," said Fluery, slapping him on the arm. "Get with the program."
"Sorry, Flower. Next mustache boy, you let their puck go in, eh?"
"I think I'll have to for your punishment." He frowned and trained his eyes to the television. "Maybe let Jordy in over you." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Jordan, who had just swallowed his drink, and Tyler spat out half of his mouthful onto the bar.
"Damn it, Ty, you got it all over me."
"That's what she said," he said, giggling tipsily. Jordan rolled his eyes and tipped the remainder of Tyler's drink down his shirt.
"My bad," he said, smirking.
"You're an ass," said Tyler, still trying to suppress a laugh.
"Yup," said Jordan. "Neal with it."
"Oh, God," I said. "Not that." I covered my face with my hand. "Worst meme. Ever."
"Hey," said Jordan, "I take that as a personal offense."
"We'll fight about it," I said, taking a sip from my drink.
"Too late," said Geno. Flower grimaced as another puck sailed past the Canucks.
"Come on, boys!" He almost yelled.
"Someone needs to give him more booze," I said. I looked over at Jordan, who was looking at me skeptically.
"We need a few more beers," I said. I nudged to my left, making contact with Geno's arm. "Right, Geno?"
He nodded. "Maybe some vodka?"
I laughed. "Maybe." I took a drink and found the bottom of the bottle. "Hey, bartender?" I called to the man at the opposite end of the bar. He walked toward me with a flirtatious look on his face. "Five shots, please."
"Anything you want, sweetheart," he said, winking. He turned around and pulled the vodka from the counter. He set up five glasses in a row in front of me, pouring even shots in each of them. He shoved them toward me and I passed them out along the row of people. "Thought you were going to take them all yourself," he said with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Nope," I said simply. The bartender moistened his lips, staring at mine as I took the shot. "Thank you," I said, raising my eyebrows dismissively. He stood there, still staring at me, his eyes moving to my chest area.
"Beat it," said Jordan lowly. Either the man didn't hear him, or he refused to acknowledge the massive man sitting in front of him.
"He said something to you," I said. Flower, Geno, and TK were watching the three of us. Jordan hadn't raised his eyes from the table quite yet.
"Who are you?" said the bartender haughtily. His greasy hair shone in the dark light.
"I'm a good friend of Miss LaRue, kid," he said. I was proud of Jordan. He didn't pull a 'maybe you've seen my face around' stunt. He handled this like a normal person. "I suggest you back off." Then, I could have sworn that the other man shit a brick because Jordan but his intimidation face on.
"Let's go," he said, standing up and taking me gently by the arm. The guys threw down twenties to cover the tab and followed us out into the bowing area. We didn't stop, and Jordan's grip tightened to the point of uncomfortableness. We walked down the long flight of steps in silence, and now his grip actually hurt.
"Ow, Jordan, stop it," I said, trying to pull my arm free once we got onto the street. I had apparently pulled him out of his trance as he let me go and stared me down, a fire blazing in the back of his eyes.
"I hate those damn pigs, Emily," he said quietly, his voice dripping with anger. He was a fuse that could go off at any minute. I kept my mouth shut, waiting for him to talk it off. Marc, Geno, and Tyler stood just outside the door and watched the two of us. Jordan's face was slightly contorted with rage while I tried to remain calm.
"Do you want to skate?" I asked, testing the waters of his anger. He furrowed his brows in confusion. He looked over to Geno.
"I have skates in back. We all have similar feet?" He looked from Fleury to Kennedy, then to me and finally Jordan. They were all pretty close except for Tyler and myself.
"I think my Dad's around six foot, Tyler. I can run back and get skates, if you want. I know I'll need mine," I looked at Geno and Jordan, hoping that his mood had dissipated.
"Where would we go?" He asked, his mood lightening a little bit.
"I'm sure they'd let us into the pond. I don't think any of us are quite drunk. Maybe a little tipsy, but not drunk." I felt fine, personally. I wasn't really a heavy drinker. None of the hockey players I knew were. We knew what it would do to us if the chance presented itself. "I can walk home, if you want."
"I'm coming with you," said Jordan. I sighed.
"No. You stay here."
"If you get hurt-"
"I'll scream and you'll be hauling your asses over there to help me," I interrupted. I didn't need him coming with me everywhere. I was capable of taking care of myself. I understood the bartender was being creepy, but sometimes, it felt like he needed to lay off a little bit. "Really, I'll be fine. I'm going to say this in the politest way possible, Jordan, but lay off. I don't need you protecting me all of the time."
His nose twitched. I knew I had struck a nerve with him. "I'm sorry, Jordan. I'll be back in a few minutes." I headed off toward my house, which was literally only about five blocks away. I walked in, said 'hi' to my mom and dad, ran downstairs for my dad's skates, upstairs for mine, and then headed back. They were in Geno's car on the way to get me when I saw them. I walked out into the street and they stopped, letting me get in.
We took the ride to the South Side in almost total silence. Jordan was even more grumpy, now. Geno was having a bit of a tough time navigating in the dark, Tyler had passed out, and Flower was giving me half glances through the corner of his eye. I was confident that we'd be alright after the guys got some energy out of their systems.
Geno finally found the place and pulled it. It was deserted except for a security guard. He looked at the five figures coming toward him with some scrutiny, but when he saw who it was he smiled and turned on half of the lights for us and let us into the rink.
"I hope you enjoy your time, but don't go more than an hour or people will be complaining 'till kingdom come."
We thanked him and he turned around and headed toward his booth. We laced up our skates and I headed out onto the ice first. Then came Geno, then Flower, Jordan, and finally Tyler, who was still rubbing some sleep from his eyes.
"You doing alright over there, Kennedy?" I called from almost half-way down the massive ice rink. I did a little pirouette and continued down the ice until I reached the other side. I picked up speed and met Fleury, who was working his way towards me.
"I hate it when they get like this," I said to him and looking Jordan's way. His head was down and he was frowning. "Stupid tempers." My mind flashed back to when he kissed me. Where was that Jordan? Where was the charming boy who took my breath away?
"He'll get over it. He always does. He's just jealous," came the French-Canadian accent. I loved hearing it in person. I smiled a bit at him.
"Jealous?" I tried to imagine what a millionaire like him would be jealous of. Maybe it was someone else's love life? Maybe he thought I was taken. Nope. Sure, I had my whole string of suitors, from Jonathan Toews, to even the little baby Tyler Seguin. Tyler, I had to admit, was a bit more forward than, let's say, Tyler Bozak, or even Tazer, but it was almost to be expected due to the Cup high that he apparently was suffering from. Whatever. Cute, but not my type. I also appreciated someone over the legal drinking age. It's not like we could really go out to bars and such.
"Yeah. Of something about you, but I'm not entirely sure what. One day, he'll let it slip, but until then, we'll do some gentle prodding and see what happens. I think it's safe to say that his last relationship with a girl wasn't exactly the most ideal. It's kind of a bite when you find out she's been sleeping with someone from a different team for about a month and you're right about to get into some serious business. Needless to say, Staalsy was heartbroken and things ended quickly after that." Flower shook his head and glanced over his shoulder. Jordan was coming a little closer to us with Geno and Tyler in tow. They were skating backward together and bumped into Jordan, who was now really working on catching up with me and Marc. He landed on his knees and turned around, flipping the older guys off.
When he looked back at me, however, he was chuckling to himself. "Those guys..." he said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I know I get defensive sometimes."
"Eh. You did what you felt was necessary in the moment. There was no real harm done," I said. He was skaing on my right side and Fleury had dropped back and was whistling awkwardly. I gave him a weird look and he returned it with a cheeky grin. I sighed and picked up speed.
We dodged Geno and Tyler, who were now having a race going backwards, and then both slamming into the boards and falling onto the ice. Obviously, there was no harm done, but they were laughing their butts off in the process.
"So it seems like Fleury's the only normal one."
"You haven't seen him in practice, Em. That boy gets wild. He at least as the decency to keep to himself a little more in public. The practices aren't filmed and he's almost never mic-ed up. If he was, people would have a massively different idea about him." He smiled and I felt a little better due to his lighter mood. "I'm happy you're here, Emily. I thought you'd be taken before we got to you, but we really need the players."
"I'm happy I could be here. I've always wanted to play for Pittsburgh."
"You told me that before." His voice was gentle and reminiscing.
"I did? Sorry." That was about three hours before he kissed me.
"Nah." I almost expected an 'I could see you forgetting,' but it never came. For that, I was some-what thankful. He just acted like it was the most natural thing in the world. He said it was a one-time thing. For some reason, I didn't believe him. Maybe it was the feelings inside me that said he didn't mean it, but I just had a feeling as he watched me and his eyes occasionally flicked down to my lips that he was just trying to control my hopes to something more legitimate. Imagine how the media would explode if they found out I was in a relationship with a teammate? I know I'd rather not.
I sighed deeply. I checked my phone. It read 12:00.
"I guess we have to go. We showed up, what, around eleven?"
"Sure," he said, looking over toward the rest of the guys. "Tyler's gonna have one massive headache tomorrow," he said.
"Sucks..." I said. I skated back to the edge of the rink and Jordan and I sat down. I was unlacing my skate when I felt his hand on mine.
"J-" I began.
"Shh," he said. He was kneeling on the the concrete behind the wall of the rink. His hand was gently supporting my calf as he untied the skate with one hand. He unlaced it a little bit and pulling it off my foot. He moved over to the other side, but I put my hand on top of his. He looked up at me with those eyes and I almost considered pulling my hand away. I literally picked the extremity up and took it off my skate.
"I got it, Jordan," I said. "Thank you."
He was blushing deeply.
"A one-time thing, eh?"
"I assure you I have no idea what you're talking about, Emily."
I nodded silently and put my shoes back on. Marc came out of the rink first after us and looked from me to Jordan and back, but our faces betrayed nothing. He was almost knocked flat on his face by Geno, who wasn't paying attention, and Tyler, who still had some alcohol left in his system and was holding his head.
We thanked the security guard and headed back to Geno's car. As we all climbed in, Tyler passed out almost immediately, Marc took the front this time, I still sat in the middle, and Jordan sat by the door. I saw him key something on his phone just as I was about to get out of the car when Geno finally pulled up to my house. I saw him hit send and then unbuckle his seat-belt, hop out of the car, help me down, say goodnight (and conjure a groggy good-night from the rest of the guys), and then hop back into the car.
Geno waited until I was inside until he pulled away. I pressed my back to the door and sighed deeply. Tonight was wonderful.
I headed upstairs. I had just reached the foot of the steps when my phone buzzed. I didn't have to look at the ID, but I did anyway.
2 things. 1 im sorry about how i acted. 2 i lied. have a nice night-Jordan
This boy was going to end up being more trouble than he was worth. First, the text nearly blew my mind. What was he thinking, telling me that? Boys never acted that way towards girls. Ever. That was just being too obvious. I felt nervous, too. I knew (or at least hoped I knew) what he was talking about when he said he lied. Did that mean a kiss from him was in my future at some point soon? If so, when? If I was honest, it was probably better that I didn't know than me just anticipating it all of the time. I decided to keep the message in my memory, but not let it interfere with anything. If he wanted this to happen, more power to him, but he would have to come for me, first.
I decided I was going to call Tazer and update him on everything. I sent him a preliminary text. He said he was still awake and watching a movie, so I began to call him.
"Hey," he said after picking up his phone.
"Hey, Jonny."
"What's up? I haven't talked to you in a while. I heard you moved to the Pens."
"Yeah. I was meaning to tell you, but they wanted me right away. My first practice is tomorrow." I grinned. I was so excited for it.
"So you still like that guy?" He asked slyly.
"I'll let you know when there's an opening, bud."
He laughed heartily. I loved to hear his laugh. "So you'll still let me visit you, right?"
"Yeah," I said, falling back on my bed.
"What was that?" He asked. I sighed.
"I'm just trying to relax a little bit. I went out with some of the guys.
"Ooh, a date!"
"Shut up."
"Anyone you like?"
"I plead the fifth."
"So there is! I think this guy you like is on the Pens. I'm going to have to beat him up." His voice was playful. "Who?"
"You'll find out if we get in a relationship, Toews. Until then..."
"So is the first ok?"
"Of April? Sure."
"OK. I'll tell you when I have the times."
"Alright. I'll talk to you then."
"See ya!"
"Bye." I hung up the phone and sat up. I changed into my pajamas and got into bed. I fell asleep withing a few minutes.
