Chapter Six

We arrived at Mellon Arena a little later than expected, due to the overwhelming traffic. We had to take an alternate route, and got lost on the way-go figure. We pulled into a parking space that seemed 100 miles away from the entrance. As I got out, I didn't notice there was a water bottle right in my tracks, and ended up almost landing face first into the concrete. So far, my Saturday evening sucked. By this point, I was pretty sure that luck wasn't going my way tonight. We eventually made our way to the Will Call booths after what seemed to be millions of people were standing in line.

"Hello," I greeted the young woman.

"Hi. How can I help you?" she responded.

"Two tickets under Talbot...Max Talbot."

She handed me the tickets and we went our way to the seats. As I walked around, I couldn't help but think how huge this place was. There looked to be so many things that one person's head could not wrap around all of this.

"Wow, this place is huge," I said to Paula.

"Yeah it is. Want anything to eat or drink?"

"Sure...why not?" We got in one of the few snack lines and ordered 2 beers and a thing of nachos to split. After getting our food, we walked in at least 2 circles trying to find our seats. With the help of 2 fans and an employee, we made our way to the very bottom row where the boards were. People were swarming around the rink and starting to cheer for the players.

"I wonder if we can go down there," I asked Paula.

"I guess so. You are more than welcome to go down there, but I am sitting. I won't be in that swarm of people." She found a seat and I made my way down to the steps, finding a tiny space in dead center of the ice.

Both teams made their way out, the Pens receiving many cheers, while the Hurricanes received many boos. Some players circled around half the rink to shoot pucks while others opted to stretch. I looked on the backs of each player, looking for Sidney when I realized I didn't even know what his number was. But I remembered his last name. Crosby! I looked furiously for the last name, having no luck...go figure. But then I saw it, and number 87 below it. He was talking to one of his team mates, laughing at whatever they were chatting about. He looked up at the seats, studying each one. I didn't know what he was doing. But then it hit me...was he looking for me?! With his head hanging low, he skated towards me. And then, his head popped up. Our eyes were locked as we gazed into each others souls, searching for what to say. But there were no words to be spoken. The world froze, and I felt like it was only him and I in this whole place. It was an amazing feeling, being zapped out of reality for a split second, feeling like you are living a dream. The world came alive again. Sidney cracked a small smile, and I waved. He skated towards the far side of the ice and shot the puck into the net. He retrieved another one and came towards me again, this time keeping the puck on his stick and popping it over the glass to me. I caught it and examined it for a second. What do I need this for? I thought. I looked back up to find him gone, now stretching out. A buzzer sounded and the teams went into the locker rooms as everyone cleared the crowded rink to go to their seats. I put the puck in my purse and made my way up to where Paula was sitting.

"Ohh, how cute! Sidney gave you a puck. And you two seemed to be staring at each other for a while!"

"Shut up! Did you see Max?"

"Yeah, and we waved to each other." She got up and moved to our seats-the second row near center ice. I have to say, these were the best seats for any game I have ever been to. The lights dimmed and a video came onto the Jumbotron. The fans cheered and booed again as the teams came onto the ice. The national anthem was sung and the game began.

The Penguins won the game, beating Carolina 4-1. I never knew hockey could be such an exciting sport, but I really liked it! Sidney scored the first goal of the game and the fans went wild. Everyone stood up and cheered, chanting the name Crosby as loud as they could. The players seemed to feed off the crowd's energy by hitting, scoring goals, and even fighting. The team looked very focused and knew what they wanted to do, and got it done. We decided to sit in our seats until everyone cleared around us.

I turned to Paula. "Have any plans with Max tonight?"

"I think so. He said that it would be him, me, you, Sidney, Tyler, and some other teammates. But he hasn't gotten back to me on that yet."

An older man who looked to be and employee walked over to us. "Excuse me, ladies, but could you follow me?"

We looked at each other in bewilderment, not knowing what to do. But we followed him anyway.

"Where are we going, sir?" I asked the man.

"Why, to the Penguins' locker room! Come on, down this hallway we go." Huh? Well, our plans were made. We just didn't know what to expect still.

After what seemed to be longer than ever, we finally got there. The man told us to sit on the bench outside the doors. "Mr. Talbot and Mr. Crosby will be out in a moment."