Got It Bad

Clara still couldn’t believe that she had given Sid her number. Even when they were on their fourth ‘date,’ she still couldn’t believe it. She was a diehard Flyers fan and she was practically dating the enemy.

“Clara, are you listening?” Sid asked, gently tucking a piece of her bang back behind her ear. Gone was the stubborn and blunt bitch Clara; instead the Clara that sat in her place was the shy, blushing one. Ad when Sid’s finger gently brushed her cheek, she blushed bright red, ducking so her hair covered her cheeks. She never got like this over any guy. Why would she get like this over Sidney Crosby, of all people?

“Sorry, I must have been distracted.”

“What, by my beautiful face?” Sid said teasingly, a grin spreading his full lips and making his eyes crinkle in the cutest way. Clara couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head.

“No, by how I’m going to get rid of that pompous attitude you have,” she replied cheekily, grinning at him as well. He took a heart to his heart, as if she had wounded him. The truth was, even though they had been talking for two weeks, Sid knew Clara could still change her mind about him, which scared him to death, because he was really starting to like her. “Now, why were you trying to get my attention?”

Sid watched as she raised her mug of hot chocolate to her lips, as she licked at the left over liquid on her lips, and couldn’t help but want to kiss her right then and there. But they still weren’t even dating. At least not that he thought. They had gone out just a couple times more after that first coffee date, but nothing serious. But Sid wanted something more. He just didn’t want to scare her off.

“I was just wondering,” he said, looking from her lips to her pretty blue eyes, “if you wanted to come to a game?”

That wasn’t what Sid had wanted to ask. Well, not yet. He wanted them to actually be dating first before bringing her to games and introducing her to the guys. But the way Clara’s eyes lit up after he asked made him glad his nerves got the best of him. He watched as a truly genuine smile fell across her lips, making her eyes sparkle with the smile.

“I would love that,” she said finally, still grinning at him from across the table. They gathered themselves and Sid paid for the meal, as he usually did. And when he walked her to her car and said goodnight, he did something uncharacteristic of him. He kissed her on the cheek.



“I can’t believe you are dating Sidney Crosby and you didn’t tell me!” These were the words harshly whispered into Clara’s ear. She and her best friend Shannon were walking to CONSOL Energy Center. They showed told their names to security and rushed in with the rest of the early crowd. Sid hadn’t been able to get her the tickets, since Bylsma had been making the team practice harder to get them ready for the Hurricanes, currently sitting at a surprising number two spot among the Eastern Conference teams.The game against the Carolina Hurricanes was bound to be a good one, and Clara was just glad that Sid hadn’t asked her to come to a Penguins-Flyers game.

“I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” Shannon continued as they waited at will call for the tickets.

“I still can’t believe you’re wearing those shoes,” Clara muttered in return, flashing a smile at the woman behind the desk who came back with an envelope and small box. Shannon gasped.

“He got you jewelry already!” Clara just rolled her eyes and took the things from the woman with a thank you and polite smile before turning back to Shannon, walking towards a wall so they could figure out where the seats are. Clara gave Shannon the box to hold and went to work opening the envelope. The first thing she went for were the tickets, and she gasped out loud.

“Oh my God, first row, center ice. How the hell did he manage that one?” Clara asked, more to herself than to Shannon. But Shannon answered anyway.

“Probably because, you know, he’s Sidney Crosby and lived with Mario Lemieux for, oh, I don’t know, five years?”

“Rhetorical question, Nan, no need to answer,” Clara shot back, rolling her eyes. She picked out the piece of computer paper that was also in the envelope. As she read, she couldn’t help but smile.

Clara,
Sorry I couldn’t drop off the tickets personally. Disco Dan had us going crazy. I missed our biweekly coffee date. Hope you enjoy the game.
Sid.
PS: I hope you like the necklace.

“Oh, this is so cute,” Shannon said, causing Clara to look up and roll her eyes. Leave it to Shannon to get ahead of herself and look before Clara could even take the box from her. But for once, Clara agreed with her best friend; the necklace was cute. It was a gold penguin on a long chain. It was simple, but the meaning was clear; Sidney wanted her to be cheering for his team tonight. And even though it went against all her morals as a Flyers fan, Clara slipped the necklace on as Shannon lead the to the center ice seats right behind the two benches.

“This is so exciting! Gah, I can’t wait,” Shannon said, bouncing up and down in her seat like a child. It was still early and they had plenty of time to wait but they just talked about everything. It was why they were such good friends; they could go on and on about anything. It was a blessing and a pain at times.

The first two periods of the game went by with not much fuss. Both teams scored once by the end of the second period, and Clara couldn’t help but feel nervous. Carolina played a physical game, and she couldn’t help but worry about Sid and his concussion from last season. She knew that concussions could be triggered again by even the smallest of hits, and they could be life altering.

The Penguins had just gone up three to one halfway through the third when the whole stadium erupted into boos and screams of foul play. Clara and Shannon jumped up, not seeing what had happened. On the ice lay a Penguin, not moving, with Eric Staal pleading his case to the referee, who wasn’t having any of it. The player on the ice was hardly moving, probably because the trainer had told him not to move, and all they could see was his ass, his arm against the board and the numbers just barely visible on his back.

“Shannon,” Clara whispered, already dreading the answer, “Sid’s not on the bench, is he?” When Shannon grabbed her hand, she had her answer. They watched as he slowly moved his legs and arms, before finally being helped up into a sitting position. When he finally got back to his skates, the whole arena was screaming for him, their captain, and Clara felt her heart beat double time, clutching Shannon’s hand and the penguin necklace in the other.

“It’s not easy, caring about him now, is it?”

Clara just shook her head. “No it’s not. Because he has the biggest target on his back in all the NHL.”

The rest of the game was uneventful, the Penguins ending up winning four to one, with an empty netter scored by Pascal DuPois. Just as Clara and Shannon were getting ready to leave a security guard came to their row.

“Ms. Clara Brennan?” he asked and Clara merely raised a finger. “Follow me please. Mr. Crosby would like to see you and your friend before you leave.” Clara just shrugged and followed the man, Shannon jumping on her from behind and acting like a little kid again.

“Oh my gosh, I’m going to meet the Pittsburgh Penguins,” she gushed, still holding tightly to Clara’s hand. Clara just laughed.

“You’re such a fan girl.”

“You can stay in this room until the players could out of the locker room,” the security guard said, leading Clara and Shannon into an already occupied room. Clara could feel everyone’s eyes on her and she shrunk into a corner, trying to be as discrete as possible.

“Oh please get done soon, Sid,” Clara said to herself, taking a peak around the room. She didn’t fit in here at all. Everyone was tall, thin and gorgeous, or fake, and Clara was none of those things. A quick glance and Clara knew that every one of the other women was wearing shoes just like Shannon’s. Even Shannon seemed to understand Clara’s aversion to the other people in the room and just stayed silent.

Clara breathed a sigh of relief when players started to trickle into the room, and last, but not least, Sid came in. He didn’t look too bad, given the hit, and he searched the room for a moment until his eyes landed on her in the corner.

The smile that stretched his face was so ridiculous. It was cliché because of the feelings it evoked in Clara, feelings she hadn’t felt in a long time. She took a couple of steps forward to meet Sid in some kind of halfway ground. She was expecting some kind of greeting, usually in the form of a teasing comment.

But instead, Sid just grasped her shoulders softly, bringing her body to meet his chest. She tensed for a moment until his soft lips pressed down on her’s. It seemed like time slowed down after the kiss, yet again another damned cliché. She had thought about kissing Sid often, but it was nothing compared to the real thing. Even though he only kissed her once, she wanted more and more.

When Sid finally pulled back to look into her eyes, he grinned to herself. Finally, he had rendered her speechless. And it made him feel on top of the world.