Maybe Someday

After such an extremely long and tiring (but most of all, fun) day, Sidney just wanted to crash for the night. It was still early, only nine in the evening, but he wanted and needed sleep. But as soon as he closed his eyes all he could see was Ellen, standing along the parade route, a small smile on her face as she watched Sidney drive past her. Had he really seen her earlier, or was his mind playing tricks on him? There were so many people, how could he be sure it was her?

He knew there was the possibility she was there, but the last he had heard, she had up and left Canada all together to study abroad in Paris. Then again, that was four years ago when he was on the cusp of NHL superstardom.

He felt terrible, knowing that because he had been so wrapped up in himself and what was going on with him, he hadn’t stopped to think what his best friend (but, really, she had been so much more than just a friend, at the time) would be doing now that she was done with high school. He couldn’t remember if he had even said goodbye to her before he had left for Pittsburgh and never looked back.

He groaned, putting the palms of his hands over his eyes and rubbing them lightly. He sat up in his bed and ran a hand through his hair before he threw the covers off of himself and quickly moved out of his bedroom and down to the first level of his house, where his family was. At his insistence, they had agreed to stay the night. It wasn’t like it would be cramped; Sidney lived in a mansion, he felt like sometimes. A lot of the time, he loved the quietness and calmness of having a huge house to himself, especially during the summer when he wanted to train hard and yet enjoy a relaxing day on the water. But, other times, it was lonely all by himself.

He passed the living room, his living room, where his sister and father sat, watching Sports Centre no doubt before heading into the kitchen where his mother was cleaning dishes from earlier. Grabbing the towel off the counter, he began drying the dishes his mother had just rinsed off. She gave him a curious look before smiling lightly, “I thought you were sleeping.”

“Yeah, I can’t; must still have some adrenaline in me, or something,” he shrugged, but when he looked down at his mother, he could tell she wasn’t convinced. Sighing and putting the glass plate he was holding down, he put a hand on the edge of the counter and turned to her. “I think… I think I saw Ellen.”

Trina Crosby nodded, her eyebrows raised and a small smirk playing at her lips, “Interesting.”

“Mom…”

“She’s been in Cole Harbour the entire summer; I’m honestly surprised you hadn’t seen her before today.”

Sidney groaned, putting his elbows on the counter and leaning his forehead against his hands, “Are you serious?” Trina nodded, laughing at her son. She knew she shouldn’t, but she also couldn’t help it. He looked up at her again, “She just came back this summer?”

“Well, for more than just a visit, yes. She’s been in Paris for the past four years. I believe her mother said she’ll be going back to Paris in January, but for now, she’s back home.”

“Oh.”

“Sid,” Trina warned. “Don’t go starting trouble.”

“I’m not going to start trouble, mom. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t take that tone with your mother, Sid,” Troy Crosby said, walking to the refrigerator and grabbing two sodas before walking back out, making the now twenty two year old roll his eyes as his mother laughed again and harder.

Shaking his head, he left the kitchen and headed back up to his bedroom, knowing he wasn’t getting any help. He was about to climb back into his bed when he saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. He looked to his right to realize it had been the light from outside on his deck hitting the metal of the keychain on his car keys. Taking that as a sign, he threw a shirt on, slid into a pair of gym shoes, and grabbed the keys and his wallet before quietly moving from his bedroom. He took the back flight of stairs to the back den before quietly sliding the screen door open.

Sliding into the driver’s seat of his black Range Rover, identical to the silver one he kept in Pittsburgh, he hoped his family wouldn’t hear the car’s engine starting. Flipping his headlights on and buckling his seat belt, he slowly drove out to the main road, breathing a sigh of relief as soon as he was out of his property line.

His house was in a secluded area on the water, only a little bit of a drive from Cole Harbour. Turning the radio on quietly, he let his mind wander as he drove.

It was the night before he was leaving for Shattuck for his freshman year. Sidney was just about to climb into bed when he heard the familiar pang of the small marbles Ellen kept on her desk hitting his window. He smiled and threw his curtain aside and opened the window wide. There was Ellen, fourteen – the same age as him, smiling widely at him, hanging out of her window, her blond hair blowing with the cool, night breeze.

If they tried, they could reach out and touch hands; that’s how close their houses were to each other.

“Hey,” he smiled at her.

“Hey,” she responded.

“I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“I know,” she sighed.

“I’m going to miss you. Sometimes I feel like the only reason I haven’t gone insane is because of you,” he told her.

She smiled, “I’m going to miss you, too, Croz. I know I’m not going to be there to keep you sane, to keep you relaxed, but just know that you can call me anytime.”

She pulled out her small cell phone, one that she had just gotten as a grade eight graduation present, waving it at him.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” he let out, truthfully, smiling sadly at his best friend, his best friend since he could remember.

She let out a laugh, “I can imagine. I’m probably the only person in your life who doesn’t expect anything from you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked unsure if he should be offended, while she rolled her blue eyes, running her hands through her dark blond hair.

“Oh, you know what I mean!” She laughed, throwing a marble at him. “I feel like I’m the only one who just accepts you and loves you for who you are. If you weren’t a hockey superstar, I’d still be your best friend. I’m always going to be your best friend; no matter what.”

That had been true, too. She was the only one who loved him for who he was, sometimes he felt that his parents would disown him if for some ridiculous reason, he decided to quit hockey. Everyone treated the fourteen year old as a superstar, a phenom even, but never Ellen. Even his mother and father expected certain things from him. He had a standard to upkeep with them, too, especially his father. He was already a local star, and even had scouts talking at a very young age. He hadn’t even started high school yet.

He knew, though, that Ellen, no matter what decisions he made, would have just smiled and given her support. She did always support him and love him, no matter what. He couldn’t help but wonder if that was still true.

Spending that school year away from her had been harder than he ever could have imagined. While he called her almost everyday, the lack of her physical presence depressed him, he remembered.

As he pulled his car up to the curb in front of his parents’ house, his eyes were locked on the house next to it. The house was completely dark, save for one room. He smiled when he realized it was Ellen’s. Putting the car in park and turning it off, he took a deep breath and climbed out. He walked into the narrow path in between the two houses and looked up at her window, before looking at his own, old bedroom window and lightly laughing at how close they really were.

Biting his full bottom lip, he bent down to pick up a few small rocks that lined the side of his parents' house, rather than trying to maintain grass there. Aiming for the window, he threw the rock up and grinned when it sounded with a loud pang! against Ellen’s window. He waited a few seconds before he threw a second one, and that one, he knew she heard. Because, through the window, that was cracked open ever-so-slightly, he heard her delicate, feminine voice let out a curse. Grinning, Sidney ran a hand through his hair and waited for her to inspect the noise.

Her gaze immediately went to the window across from hers, but when she saw the lights off and Sidney not sticking out of the window to greet her, she frowned. Until she happened to look down and see the man himself standing awkwardly in between their two houses. He saw her eyes widen, even though she was on the second floor and he was on the ground.

“Sidney?”

“Hey,” he said back, cringing as he realized how lame he sounded. He should have thought about what he wanted to say before he came. Cursing himself silently, he watched her head pop back into her room, and he thought she was choosing to ignore him. Instead, he heard the back door open quietly, and he grinned and ran around to the back.

Ellen stood on her family’s patio, a short, black, and silk robe wrapped around her body as she stayed silent and stared, wide eyed at Sidney. Without thinking what he was doing, he ran until he got to her and scooped her up in his arms, lifting her off the ground and holding her tightly against his body.

“I missed you,” he whispered out, realizing just how much he had.