Love Will Keep You Up All Night

****
“…they are going to try to take out Sid as much as they can. I want you guys to try and protect him.” The coach said. Sidney just sat there not really listening. Which was different because he is usually really into the before game meetings, where they talk about the strategies and what key players from the other team to look out for. Like they needed to be told.

Again he was thinking about a certain young girl. She was only an hour away, in just one short hour he was going to see her and she was staying the entire time before the game! Sidney felt a sharp elbow in his side.

“Ow,” He growled at his teammate and friend, Evgeni Malkin

“Coach asked a question.” He said in his broken English.

“Huh, oh sorry coach. What was that?” Sidney asked, embarrassed.

“Just wanted to know if you wanted to give your talk now or in the locker room?”

“Um, in the locker room.” He wanted to show off for Taylor.

“Alright then guys, we have a couple of hours. Go do whatever you do.”

Thank God, he thought to himself as he pulled out his phone. No message from her, she must be talking to her dad.

“Sid! Hey Sid!” Max Talbot called, heading in his direction.

“Hey, Max. What’s up?”

“Geno, Jordan, and I were going to head out and get something to eat. You in?”

“Um, nah thanks though. I already have plans.”

“You do? Before a game?”

“Yes. Don’t worry though I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

“What are you doing?” He asked.

Sidney sighed. He minds well tell him. Max was one of his best friends. “All right I will tell you. But first, go get the group.”

Max smiled. “This is going to be good, you want the entire group.”

“Just go.”

The ‘group’ consisted of Geno, Jordan, Kris, Flower, and Max. Sidney sat on the bleachers and figured out how he was going to explain this to them. He heard them before he saw them. The ‘group’ rounded the corner and headed towards him. They all sat around him, waiting.

“What’s up, Sid?” Kris asked

“Guys, I have something to tell you.” He took a deep breath. Why was he so nervous? “I have someone coming to tonight’s game that I want you all to meet. Her name is Taylor and I just met her. Now, she’s a little different then most of the girls that I introduce you guys to.” Actually she was really different. This girl did strange things to his chest every time he thought about her or talked about her. Like now, he was having trouble breathing. He took a deep breath and finished. “She’s actually coming a bit earlier.”

“When?” Geno asked

“What do you mean ‘a little different’?” Jordan asked at the time.

“She should be here in about an hour or so. By different I mean…well I’m not going to answer that. She’s just different, okay?”

“Okay.” Max said. “There’s more isn’t there?”

Sidney shook his head, he didn’t want to explain this right now. He just wanted Taylor to get here.

“All right, then we are going to get something to eat. Are you sure you don’t want to come?"

“Yeah I am sure. Thanks though.” He said, looking at his phone again.

“No problem. See ya later.”

“Yep.”

The ‘group’ got up and left. A few of them hung back and looked at Sid, like they knew he was hiding something. He got up and wondered around the arena, the Flyers weren’t there yet, so the place was pretty empty. He needed to clear his head and figure out why this girl had this effect on him. He was so confused and this was only second time he was seeing her. He needed to get this straightened out, he shouldn’t have these feelings. But he did.

****
“So where does grandma think I’m going?” I asked when we first got in the car.

“Out to dinner with your cousins.” He said pulling out of the spot.

“Haha, nice.” Thinking about that I couldn’t help by smile, how gullible could she be?

Dad looked over at me. “What are you smiling about?”

“Grandma. Did she really believe that I would just go out to eat with them? She didn’t think it was weird that you weren’t going?”

“No, I told her that you guys were planning something for your uncle’s wedding.”

“Oh, yeah that sounds like something we would do.”

I looked out the window as we drove down 95. No matter how many times we have taken this drive, I still find the view of the city beautiful. Especially down by Penn’s Landing and Society Hill. We were about twenty minutes away from the exit to take us to the arena. I called Sidney so I knew what to tell dad to do.

“Hey, we are about twenty minutes away. What do we do when we get there?”

“Just park in the back parking lot, you’ll see our bus parked out there. When you park, find the visiting team entrance. I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay, that seems easy enough. Thanks.”

“No problem. See ya.”

“Bye.”

“So where do I park?” Dad asked

“Back parking lot. You’ll see their bus.”

“Okie dokie.”

We sat listening to the radio the rest of the way. When we finally pulled off the highway, I could see the Center and my pulse began to race and my stomach knotted up with nerves. I was seeing Sidney again and I was meeting the rest of the team. Such a big day for me.
When we got to the Center I was shocked to see people actually tailgating. I thought fans only did that for football and baseball. Dad informed me that they did for most sports. Finding the parking lot Sidney was talking about wasn’t hard at all. It was the only parking lot surrounded by fences. How the heck were we going to park back here? Dad pulled up the booth and opened his window.

“Name?” The security guard asked.

“Taylor Samuels.” I said

He flipped through his list. “You said Samuels?” he asked

“Yes, sir.”

“All right go on through. Enjoy your day.”

“Thank you,” Dad said before putting up his window.

We parked near the bus and got out. The bus was just a plain black charter bus and I was a bit disappointed. I guess I was expecting to see their logo on it or some thing. Oh well. I waited as dad locked the doors and got to where I was standing.

“So where now?” he asked looking around

“The visitor’s entrance.” I said

“That would be where?”

“I’m not sure. Let’s just walk around until we find it.”

It wasn’t hard to find, it was the only door on this part of the building and Sidney was standing by it too.

“Hey there.” I said when we got to him.

“Hi.” He said smiling down at me. My heart of course skipped. He looked at my dad and extended his hand. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Samuels.”

“Nice to see you too, Sidney.” Dad said smiling.

“Right this way.” He said opening the door for us.

“So are you ready for tonight’s game?” my dad asked

“Yes. We just had our team meeting about half an hour ago. We are all pumped.”

“That’s good. I can’t wait to see it. Thanks for the tickets.”

“No problem. Oh, here.” He said digging into his pocket. “Your other ticket.”

“Thanks.” I said taking it and looking at it. This one was right next to dad’s seat. “Sidney, how did you get the seat right next to ours?”

“It was available.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

He just chuckled. “Come on, why don’t we go get something to eat?”

“Okay.” I said looking at dad. “Does that sound good to you dad?”

“Yeah, it’s after three anyway. Your grandmother isn’t going to let me eat.”

I laughed. “Yeah you’re right. ‘Eat now because I’m not feeding you later.’” I turned to Sidney who was looking at us like we were nuts. “My grandmother has a weird eating habit. She thinks everyone is hungry at the same time as she is. If you don’t eat when she does or within five or ten minutes, you don’t get to eat. Usually it’s more lunch than anything else, but it’s still weird and annoying.”

“She really doesn’t let you eat?” He asked

“Yep, but I always end up doing it anyway. It drives her nuts.”

“That’s crazy.”

“She’s crazy.”

The three of us went out into the city to get famous Philly Cheesesteaks at my request. It just wasn’t visiting home without getting a cheesesteak. As we walked down the street we were met with death glares, but we paid no mind to them because we were all use to it. Dad and I because we’ve lived here and Sidney because of who he was.

When we got back to the arena, dad decided to go. Jeff had called and said he could come over now. Sidney told him to show up a bit earlier that way him and grandpa could meet the team.

“All right sweetie, I’ll see you later. Have fun and be careful.”

I rolled my eyes. “I will, dad. Say hi to Jeff for me.”

“I will. See ya.”

“Bye.”

Sidney and I waited in the parking lot as dad left. When he did Sidney grabbed my hand and lead me to the door.

“Come on I’ll show you around.” He said

“Okay.” We talked about nothing really as we walked through the arena. Then we were heading down another long hallway.

“This is the visiting locker room. It’s not as cool as ours at the ‘Igloo’ but it works.” He said pushing open the door.

I walked inside into a pretty large area with big lockers and a bunch of benches. There was loud music blaring and I heard a bunch of laughing. This was so cool, I was in the same room as the Pittsburgh Penguins. Once everyone notices I was standing there they shut off the music. This is awkward. I’m standing in the middle of a guys locker room…..

“Guys this is Taylor.” Sidney said.

I was greeted with a loud ‘hey there’.

“Hi everyone.” I smiled. God what do you say to a huge room of really hot guys?

One cutie came up to me and grabbed my hand and shook it. He looked familiar, then I realized it was Marc-Andre Fleury. He was a lot cuter in person.

“Hi, I’m Marc.” He said in his adorable French-Canadian accent

“Nice to meet you. Thank you so much for signing my poster.”

“Poster?” He looked at Sidney for clarification.

“At the Caps game we were approached by the two girls who were wearing Caps gear and they asked us to sign a poster for their friend’s birthday. This is their friend.”

“Oh, yeah I remember them. I thought it was a bit strange that they were asking.” Then looked at me. “No problem.”

“Come on, Tay. I’ll introduce you to the other guys.” Sidney said

I followed him around the locker room as he introduced me. When I met Evgeni Malkin I was shocked at how tall he was.

“Geno, this is Taylor. Taylor this is….” Sidney started, then he shook his head. “I don’t really need to tell you who this is, do I?”

“No.” I laughed. “Nice to meet you and thank you for signing my poster.”

“No problem. Nice to meet you.” His Russian accent thick.

About twenty minutes later I had met almost the entire team and I was in absolute heaven. These guys were the nicest, funniest guys I have ever met. They were ragging on Sidney for little things and each other. They were like this biggest family ever. I was sitting in front of the locker that Sidney had claimed, talking to Kris Letang. He was telling me about the different things they did before games to get pumped. I had already experienced one of them, listening to music. They also had to do press conferences before, which some of the guys were getting ready for now.

“Letang!” someone called from the other side of the locker. “Stop talking to the girl and get ready. You have an appearance in fifteen.” I turned to see who was standing there. It was a really cute blond. Jordan Staal.

Kris shook his head and looked at me. “I guess I have to go. I’ll talk to you when I’m done.”

When Kris left Jordan took his place. He stuck out his hand out and said. “I’m-“

“Jordan Staal.” I laughed, shaking his hand. “I know. I’m Taylor a friend of Sidney’s.”

“Friend huh?”

“Um, yeah. Oh, thank you for signing my poster.”

“You’re welcome?” He said it like a question

I laughed at his expression, he had no idea what I was talking about. “My friends got it signed for me at the Caps game.”

“Oh, I remember them. They were wearing the Caps gear?”

“Haha, yeah that was them.”

“Oh, well you’re welcome.”

“I see you've met Jordan.” Sidney said sitting next to me.

I looked over at him about choking on my words. He was wearing suit pants and a dress shirt with a tie. I looked above me and saw that he had hung his jacket on the locker’s open hook. His shirt defined how fit he was, as did his pants. This was the first time I’ve actually got to talk to him alone since we walked into the locker room.

“Yeah. He’s really sweet.” I said

Sidney chuckled. “He’s a trouble maker. Watch out for him.” He warned,

“I can handle myself.”

“I’m going to warn you now, it’s going to get crazy in here in about twenty minutes. We have to start getting ready.” “He looked at me and smiled. “When’s you dad and grandfather going to get here?”

“Um, he just sent me a text. They were about half an hour away. I figure with the arena traffic they will be here in about forty-five minutes.”

“Okay, let me know when they get here.”

“Okay, I’ll probably meet them at the gate.”

“Sounds good to me.” He got up and grabbed his jacket and hat. “I have to go. I should be back in about ten minutes.”

“Take your time.” I smiled.

When he walked away, I looked around the locker room. Some of the players were already getting ready. Most of them had on underarmor shirts on and that was not a bad thing. I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Anna and Katie

Cute hockey players + underarmor shirts = YUM!

Anna responded first.
*rolls eyes* some of them. Those who aren’t Pens players.

Hey! Wat about Staal? I responded.

Katie’s text was simple.
LUCKY…lol

Anna never responded back, but I knew I had gotten her. I put my phone in my pocket and waited for dad and grandpa to get here.

It almost an hour until the puck dropped, dad and grandpa had just parked the van. I searched for Sidney, but I couldn’t find him. I found Max sitting at his locker.

“Hey Max. Can you tell Sid that I went to meet up with my dad and I’ll be right back.”

“Yeah sure.”

“Thanks.”

I managed to find my way to the main concourse, but I don’t think I remembered how I did it. I called dad and told him to meet me at the concession stand by the bathrooms. While I waited for them, I people watched. There was just as many Penguin fans here as there were Flyer fans. I finally saw dad and grandpa heading my way. I raised my hands above my head and yelled out their names. Dad spotted me and they wove through the growing crowd.

“How was it?” Dad asked, handing me the jersey.

“Fun, they are like a bunch of young boys.” I said giving grandpa a hug. “Now grandpa, I know you are not a huge Penguins fan, but Sidney wants you to meet the team.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be on my best behavior.” He said with his Mark Harmon smile.

“Alright, let’s see if I can find my way back to the locker room.”

I ended up asking for directions, but they wouldn’t give them to me at first. Then I told them that I was here with Sidney Crosby and that he asked me to run him an errand. Finally got them out of the security guard and we continued our journey.

When we got to the locker room, everything changed. The players and the atmosphere. Some of the players weren’t completely dressed, they just had on their pants and pads. I spotted Sidney sitting at his locker lacing up his skates, I walked over to him.

“Sidney, this is my grandfather, James. Grandpa this is, not that I really need to say this, but this is Sidney Crosby.” I said

“Nice to meet you.” They both said.

“Taylor, can you handle introducing them to the team?” Sidney asked me.

“Yeah, no problem.” I turned to dad and grandpa. “Follow me.” I lead them to where I saw Fleury, Staal, and Malkin talking. “Flower, Jordan, Geno” I said as I approached them. “This is my dad, Nathan and my grandfather, James. Again I don’t think I really need to say this, but dad, grandpa, this is Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Staal, and Evngi Malkin.”

“Nice to meet you,” dad said shaking all of there hands. Grandpa did the same thing.

When dad shook Malkin’s hand, Geno complemented him on his jersey and we all laughed. Next I introduced him to Max Talbot and Kris Letang. Finally I had introduced them to the entire team, dad really seemed to be enjoying himself and so was grandpa. There was about twenty minutes until the puck dropped.

I was talking to Fleury when Sidney called everyone’s attention.

“As you all know I usually do the original talk during the team meeting, but today I wanted Taylor to be here.” The room erupted into cheers and Fleury bumped my shoulder. I stood there and listened to the captain pump up his team. There was a lot of bashing of the Flyers that was met with loud cheers, that I found myself joining in. When he was done, the team circled up and did their chant. It was one of the most amazing things to experience. As the team filed out of the locker room to take their ice time, I wished them all good luck and left with them. I pulled the Crosby jersey over my head and headed to my seat. Dad and grandpa were already there, so it was easy to find.

“So, that was nice of him to wait for you to rally up the team.” Dad said when I sat down.

“It was,” I agreed. “I didn’t know he was going to do that.”

“Are you ready for this?” Grandpa asked me

“Are you kidding? I’ve been waiting for this game for a week now.” Grandpa laughed at me.

“You are silly, girl.” Grandpa said.

“You’re not so normal there yourself.”

“Hey!”

I laughed. We teased each other all the time. It got us in trouble a lot of the time. I focused my look on the ice. The team was stretching and talking. There were still fifteen minutes until the game started.

“Dad, I’m going to get something to drink. Do you want anything?” I asked standing up.

“Yeah can you get me a Diet Pepsi.”

“Sure. Grandpa do you want anything?”

“Yeah, but I’ll come with you because you can’t order mine.”

“Let me guess….a beer.”

“You know it.”

“Come on, mister. I don’t want to miss the game.” I joked

The lines were crazy long. I’ve never been to a pro game before so I didn’t know how crazy they really were. I looked at my phone, only ten minutes until the puck dropped. Ugh, the team was probably already done warming up. Five minutes later we were at the front of the line. We ordered our drinks and I got a pretzel, and then we quickly went back to our seats. Sitting in the second row away from the bench was almost like being in the game. You could hear the coaches yell and the players talk.

Finally the game started and the excitement doubled. I was finally getting to see Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins play. I have never felt so much excitement in my life. Five minutes into the game Sidney scored a goal and I went completely crazy. I knew I was probably over doing it a bit, but it was so exciting. Especially when he skated back to the bench, he met my gaze and winked and my heart stopped.