Chapter Seven

Paula and I took sat down on the bench outside of the Penguins' locker room. Five minutes passed, and no one came out. Another five minutes passed, and no one came out of the doors. I was beyond nervous and a bit worried at this point. My leg was bouncing up and down with every second that passed. I stood up and started pacing back and forth. I looked over to Paula, who had a weird look on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"Jeez, girl! Would ya calm down? You'll be fine, promise." How do you stay so calm? I wondered.

"I can't help it! I..I just...UGH! I never liked a guy this much," I said, and plopped back down on the bench. Screeeech! The sound jolted me from my thoughts and I popped up, looking at the door. A tall man with blond hair came through, wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a checkered tie. He looked familiar...Jordan!

"Don't I know you?" he asked me, walking over to where we were sitting.

"I'm the girl that gave you her roll at the dinner."

"Oh, yeah! That's right!" We both shared a laugh.

"I don't remember that," Paula said.

"You were too busy with Max," I replied.

"So how have you been?" he asked me.

"Alright. Just busy with school and working at the Sewickley Cafe. What about you?"

"Focusing on hockey, like there's anything else." Oh, poor guy doesn't have a personal life...or maybe he does. "Sid and Max should be out in a few minutes. They're busy with the press." I nodded my head.

"You coming out with us tonight?" I asked.

"No, I can't. I have to go home to the girlfriend."

"Oh, ok. I'll catch you the next time I come to a game then. I won't hold you any longer. See you around?"

"Yeah, definitely. Have any plans of coming to Tuesday's game?"

"I'll have to check my calendar to see if I have any plans. But we'll see." He nodded and waved to me as he walked to the exit.

"Uh oh! Looks like Sidney has some competition!" Paula whispered-shouted, and I threw my empty water bottle at her. "So that's how you wanna play?" she said while picking up the water bottle off the floor. I tried to find a place to hide from her, but there was no place to go. I darted to the other side and ducked behind a trash can. After numerous tries of trying to hit me, she gave up and laughed. This started to make me laugh, and we were both rolling on the floor...literally. I calmed down and stood up, only to see Sidney and Max staring at us with the goofiest smiles on their faces. They must have thought us laughing and rolling around on the floor was amusing. I, myself, was quite embarrassed.

"Did we, ummmm, interrupt something?" Max asked.

"Oh, no! Not at all," Paula replied, walking over to Max and giving him a hug. Not knowing what to do, I just stayed where I was and picked at my nails. I always did that when I was nervous. My mind was racing in different directions. I didn't know what to say or do. What if he asks why I left the dinner without saying goodbye? What if he thinks I like Jordan or Tyler? What if he doesn't even like me? Am I wasting my time?

"Randi!" I was snapped out of my thoughts when Paula called my name. I snapped my head up and saw everyone looking at me. "Come on-we're leaving!" As we made our way out into the parking lot, I followed behind Paula and Max and was on Sidney's right side. Oh, great...here we go, I thought.

"Hey," Sid said, finally breaking the silence.

"Hey! Nice game tonight," I replied.

"Oh, thanks. That was nothing." I turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. Ok, cocky much? Maybe he can do better... "I'm don't mean to sound cocky or anything," he said.

"Ok, mister."

"Hey! That's Mister Crosby to you!" We giggled a bit, and that seemed to lighten the mood. Maybe this night wasn't going to be as bad as I thought it would be.