Rise and Fall

During the first intermission, Tia turned around to look at Jocelyn and Brooklyn. “Wow! This game’s going great for them,” Tia smiled. The Penguins were already ahead 3-0, and Max had scored once, with Sid getting an assist on all three goals.

“Yeah,” Jocelyn told her with a small smile. “You must be Sid’s good luck charm.”

“Me?” Tia questioned. “You mean you?”

Jocelyn gave her a questioning look. “What are you talking about?” she asked as she and Brooklyn both looked over at her, waiting for her answer.

“Listen, Sid may pretend that he doesn’t care about you, and that he’s all about me, but he’s lying to himself and everyone else. It’s obvious he still likes you,” Tia smiled.

“Okay,” Brooklyn said slowly. “So, you know that Sid still likes Jocelyn, and yet you’re still dating him?” she asked, trying to keep all the facts straight in her head.

“I’m kind of pretending to date him so his team will lay off of him. We went out once, and we realized that we just weren’t meant to be anything more than friends. But, his teammates assumed we were going out, and we never corrected them,” she shrugged.

“But, you introduced yourself as Sid’s girlfriend,” Brooklyn pointed out.

“What was I supposed to say?” Tia asked. “Hey, I’m Tia, the girl that everyone thinks is dating Sid, but really we’re just friends? That doesn’t really roll off the tongue,” she said laughing.

“I see your point,” Brooklyn said.

“But, I want to help you,” Tia said, looking over at Jocelyn.

“You want to help me?” Jocelyn questioned. “Why?”

“Obviously, you’re still into Sid, and he’s still into you. I want him to be happy, so I’m going to help you,” Tia explained.

“Thanks?” Jocelyn said, but it came out more as a question.

“You don’t believe me,” Tia said. “I understand why, but I’m telling you, I really do want you and him to be together. From what he’s told me about you, you two are perfect for each other.” She turned around to see the second period getting ready to start. “We’ll talk more after this period,” she told her.

Sid looked up to see Tia sitting in the stands. He gave her a small smile, and then his gaze moved down the row, where he saw Jocelyn sitting. This couldn’t be good, Sid thought to himself. Tia was the only person who knew that Sid was in love with Jocelyn. When his and Tia’s first date didn’t go quite as planned, Tia had asked if there was someone else in his life. He had told her about Jocelyn, and Sid and Tia had agreed that they would be better off as friends.

The following day, his entire team had assumed that he and Tia were dating, and he had refused to correct them. From then on, he and Tia decided to pretend to date, just to keep his teammates from bugging him.

But, he didn’t know if Tia would tell Jocelyn the truth. So, when he saw the two of them sitting so closely, he began getting worried. He knew Tia wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt him, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t tell Jocelyn how he really felt.

As the second period continued, Jocelyn found herself not paying attention to what was happening out on the ice, but instead focusing on what Tia had said to her. She had wanted to help get Jocelyn and Sid together?

As the boys went off the ice after the second intermission, Jocelyn watched as Sid looked up towards where she was sitting and wave at Tia. She felt her heart drop, and jealousy take over. Tia looked over and saw Jocelyn’s face. “He’s just trying to make you jealous,” Tia stated.

Jocelyn turned to face her. “What?”

“That’s another reason he’s pretending to date me. You’re dating Kris,” Tia told her.

“I’m not dating Kris!” Jocelyn exclaimed, not thinking before she spoke.

“What?” Tia questioned. “Since when?”

“Since forever. We’ve never dated. We've been pretending,” Jocelyn admitted, realizing there was no reason to lie anymore.

“So, let me get this straight,” Tia said. "You’re pretending to date Kris to make Sid jealous, and he’s pretending to date me to make you jealous?” she asked, scrunching up her face.

“Yep,” Brooklyn said, nodding her head. “You all have a messed up relationship.”

“Shut up!” Jocelyn cried, elbowing her sister in the arm.

“What? I’m just telling the truth,” Brooklyn whined, rubbing her arm.

“Okay,” Tia said. “We need to think up a plan to get you and Sid back together. Let me think here for a minute,” she told Jocelyn. All of a sudden, Tia cried out, “I’ve got it!”

“What?” Brooklyn asked, looking over at her.

“You’ll see,” Tia said smiling, not giving her plan away.

“You’re not going to tell me?” Jocelyn asked.

“Nope,” Tia said, shaking her head. “Believe me, I’ll let you know when you need to know. In the meantime, just sit back and watch you and Sid get back together,” she added with a smile.

“Okay,” Jocelyn said, sitting back and watching as the guys came back out onto the ice, and the third period got set to begin.