Tell Me What To Do

And so we started calling each other. Every day, almost. I don’t tell my parents that I’ve met someone. They’d freak out, and I know my mom would be the first person to stake out every coffee shop in Cole Harbour until she found out who Jane is. My dad would probably lecture me on how I can’t let a girl get between me and the game (he returned to his usual obsessive self once he realized I was determined to keep playing). I was feeling good, and the fact that I had returned to training wasn’t the only reason. I found myself spending a lot of money on coffee, because I didn’t have the guts to ask Jane if I could see her outside of her work. One day, I walk into the coffee shop, and she isn’t there. I immediately feel panicked. It’s weird. I ask the barista standing behind the counter, a tall, lanky kid with messy brown hair and glasses that are way too big for his face, and he shrugs.

“She went home,” he says, and returns to his hand held video game.

“Home?” I ask.

“Yeah. The States. She’s not Canadian bro,” the guy says with another shrug. I want to rip my hair out; I’m that confused and frustrated. I rush out of the coffee shop and pull out my cell phone.

“Jane?” I ask as she picks up.

“Sidney…” is all she says. I bite my lip.

“You didn’t tell me you were going home,” I say quietly, failing to keep the disappointment out of my voice.

“I’m sorry Sidney…I know I should have told you, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it,” she says. I raise my eyebrows.

“What do you mean? Why not?” I ask.

“I…I don’t like attachment Sidney. I’ve never been one to be attached. That’s one of the reasons I went to Cole Harbour in the first place…but I started getting attached to you. I had to leave to go back to school, but I was afraid that if it came to goodbyes, I wouldn’t want to go back,” she explains. I feel a bitter sweet happiness at her words and run my hand through my hair.

“So you just up and leave without saying anything?” I ask, a little annoyed.

“I’m sorry Sidney…I really and truly am. Why are you so upset about it anyway? I mean, we just met,” she says, and her words hit me like a truck.

“I…I guess you’re right. I gotta go,” I say, hanging up before she can even say anything. First she says she’s attached, and then she says she barely knows me…what kind of game is she playing?

For the next few weeks, I sulk. Well…I train and sulk. I’m getting stronger, faster, and I haven’t lost my shooting accuracy, so by the time I’m boarding the plane to head back to Pittsburgh, I feel fantastic, and I’m almost over being spurned by Jane. Once I land in Pittsburgh, it’s a whole new story. It feels like everywhere I look there is a happy couple romping around, holding hands, greeting each other with kisses and bouquets, and making me feel even more lonely than I did before Jane left. And that’s when I realize that I was starting to fall for Jane when she left. It made me irritated beyond belief, knowing that I fell for some barista with a knack for helping people, and that me, Sidney Crosby, international hockey superstar, couldn’t snag her when I had the chance. I bite back an irritated growl and then pull out my cell phone. I call Geno, who says that he’s on his way to pick me up. When he gets to the airport, Flower, Max, and Tanger are all in the car as well.

“Oh Jesus, you didn’t tell me these guys were coming,” I tease as I throw my bags into the trunk of his SUV and hop into the back seat next to Tanger.

“Sorry, they hear you are coming home and want to come with me,” Geno chuckles, and Flower turns around in his seat.

“You missed us Sid!” he chirps in his thick French accent.

“Yeah, yeah Flower,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“What about me and Max?” Tanger asks, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

“I missed you…Max…well, Max is a douche,” I tease, and Max immediately whacks me upside my head. I rub my head and pull my phone out as it goes off.

One new message: Jane

I glance at Tanger, who is now looking out the window and getting the living hell annoyed out of him by Max, and decide it’s safe to read the text.

Hey Sid. I’m really sorry about what happened in the Harbour. I know that you’re probably really ticked off about me bailing on you, and I want to make it up to you. When do you get back to Pittsburgh?

Pittsburgh? Why does she want to know when I get back to Pittsburgh?

I type a response, but just as I’m putting my phone away Tanger sees it.

“Oh who are you texting Sid?” he asks, trying to glance at my phone. I immediately hide it. Mistake number one. Tanger tries to grab it, but when I yank it away from him, Max launches himself out of the back seat and attacks me. Eventually Max manages to get it out of my hand, and tosses it to Tanger.

“That’s what you get for calling me a douche,” Max smirks.

“Douche,” I mutter, and feel my cheeks brighten as Tanger reads the message out loud.

“Uh oh, did she run out on you while you were having sex?” Tanger asks.

“Damn Sid, are you that bad at it?!” Max chimes in. The guys in the front seat are laughing hysterically, and I sink further into my seat.

“No…she just bailed on me in general. She went home and never told me she was leaving,” I explain quietly.

“Home?” Max asks.

“Yeah. She’s American, but she went to Cole Harbour for the summer for some reason,” I say, and Tanger passes my phone back to me.

“You like her?” he asks.

“I guess,” I shrug, not wanting to answer the question. My phone vibrates again, and I flip it open.

Meet me at 7:30. There is an address in the text message. I feel my eyebrows rise when I realize it’s a Pittsburgh address not too far from my apartment.

She lives in Pittsburgh?