Changing on the Fly

“Hey Mario, what’s up?” I greeted Mario at my door. I knew it was important because he never shows up at my house unless he has important news,

“We figured out who our number 1 draft pick is going to be.” He said coming in and sitting on my couch.

“Cool, who is he?” I asked taking a seat across from him. Mario just looked at me, which confused me. Why isn’t he telling me who it is?

A few seconds later he spoke. “Well first off you should be asking who is she?”

“Wait, she as in girl? A female?” I asked shocked.

“Yeah, Sid, I thought you would have heard of her by now, she has been all over Sports Center.”

“I haven’t watched Sports Center since we lost to the Red Wings.” I admitted.

“Well I think you should.” He said handing me my own remote. “If everything goes our way she will be on our team.” He said getting up and heading to the door.

“What’s her name?” I asked so I could see if she was any good.

“Ciara Hartmann.” He smiled at me. “Look at some of her games.” He opened the door. “Have a good day Sid.”

“You to Mario” I managed to say before he left.

I grabbed my morning shake and my laptop. “Well Ciara Hartmann let’s see what you got.” I said to myself as I pulled up one of the many Sports Center Videos on her.

”The NHL might be different this year. Not because of rule changes or anything like that but because of a possible draftee.” John Davidson started. “Ciara Hartmann could possibly be the very first female NHL player. Something that she completely deserves.” He said as it cut to a picture of her holding an MVP trophy. “She has always played on men’s hockey teams growing up, so she is used to the physical play.” It cut to a video of her fighting a guy bigger than she was and winning the fight. “As you can see, she isn’t afraid to fight but that’s not her normal role on the team. She led the OHL in goals for the past 4 years. She shattered the record by 40 goals. That is 30 more goals than Sidney Crosby’s record in the QMJHL. Now when I first heard of that record I thought she was a puck hog but then I noticed she had broken another record, this was with assists. This record was also shattered. I have Patrick Kane on the phone now and he played with Ciara in the 2006-2007 season. Good morning Pat.”

“Morning John.”

“So Patrick, it is my understanding that you played on the same team as Ciara Hartmann when you were with the London Knights.”

“That is correct; Ciara and I were on the same line.”

“How was she as a teammate?”

“To be honest at first it was weird having a girl on my team especially since she shared a locker room with us. But I quickly got over that fact when I stepped on ice with her. She is a very competitive person who wants to win and has all the necessary skills to do so. However she knows when to the leave the game on the ice and when not to. She is fun, energetic, and hilarious, she can take jabs and she can give them right back to you. Ciara is more comfortable on the ice than off of it. If she could she would skate to every place she needed to go to. She is the best player I have ever seen.”

“Those are some pretty high remarks about her.” John said.

“Well she defiantly deserves them. I can’t wait to be able to play against her or with her again. Whichever team she is drafted too is going to be remarkable.” Pat finished.

“Thanks Pat, Have a good off season and good luck in this upcoming season.” He said his good byes. “Ciara Hartmann in my opinion is going to be better than Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky. I can't wait to see what team she will go to in the 2008 draft.”

Better than me…that girl is NOT that good. I could easily take her down.

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“Dude Sidney did you know about this girl Ciara?” Jordan asked me while we watched the draft with Geno, Letang, and Flower.

“Mario told me last week but I thought they were joking.” I told them honestly.

“Well is she any good?” Flower asked.

“Eh, she is alright I guess.” I said.

“Alright?” Kris said as he watched some of the videos of Ciara’s games. “I believe she just schooled every guy she played.” He said amused.

“Damn, that girl really has some moves.” Jordan replied in awe.

“She really good. Remind me of you, Sid.” Geno said in his broken English.

“She is not that good, the guys just won’t hit her because she is a girl.” I said getting upset that they are jumping on board with this idea of her playing on our team.

“I would say this fight says otherwise.” Marc said watching the fight between her and a guy that had half a foot on her. Both were throwing punches but Ciara was the one that came out victorious, with only a bloody lip while the other guy had to be taken off the ice to get stitches.

“She could take on Cookie.” Jordan said even more amused.

“Yeah whatever” I said trying not to snap at them.

“Jeez Sid, what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing, just leave it, let’s see who else we get from the draft that can actually help us with the Stanley Cup.” I snapped causing everybody to shut up.

The rest of the draft we spent joking around but things were a little tense, but everybody ignored it. That was until Marc was leaving.

“Sid, I know you told us to just leave it but I can’t” Marc started cautiously. “Ciara is going to be part of our team one way or another whether it’s with us or with Scranton. I believe however that she is defiantly going to be up here with us after I saw those clips of her playing. She is an amazing player and fuck I am glad she won’t be shooting on me during games.”

“But she just…” Marc wouldn’t let me finish.

“But nothing, from what I have seen she could be the key component that we need to win the Stanley Cup this season and after what happened this season, I can’t fucking lose like that again.” He said leaving immediately after not letting me say another word.

“Hello” I answered my phone as I was cleaning up the mess that we made during the draft.

“Hey Sid” Mario said on the other side.

“Hey Mario what can I do for you?”

“Well I just got off the phone with Ciara Hartmann and she is going to come down here to train over the summer. So she can get used to being in Pittsburgh and so the fans can get used to her.”

‘Used to Pittsburgh, you make it sound like she isn’t going to Scranton at all.: I said like she doesn’t deserve to be up in the NHL.

“Correct, with her abilities we want her up right away.” Anyways you told me that you were going to spend the off season between here and Cole Harbor right?”

“Yes, I leave for Cole Harbor in 2 weeks.”

“Good, Ciara comes down next week could you and the guys that are here take her out to dinner or something to get to know each other?” he asked hopeful.

“Yes I can” I said thinking ‘thank god he didn’t ask her to move in with me.’

“Thanks Sid, and since my guest area is under construction Max offered his guest bedroom, to the newbie, so I was wondering if you could call him and fill him in on the new development.

“Yup”

“Thanks, Sid, see you Monday when Ciara comes here than.”

“Bye Mario” I said hanging up the phone and dialing Max’s phone.

“Sidders” Max answered.

“Hey Max, Mario told me that you offered your guest room for the first draft pick.”

“That I did” he said.

“Did you see who we drafted?” I asked.

“No man, who is he? Is he any good?”

“She I supposedly decent.”

“Wait, she?” he said but before I could confirm he spoke again. “we got Ciara Hartmann?”

“Yeah”

“Fuck yeah, we are going to own this season.” He yelled enthusiastically in the phone.

“Dude you know her?” I asked surprised.

“I saw one of her games this year and can I just ay that she in 100 times better player in person that she is on replays.” He said still extremely excited.

“Well than I am glad you are happy.”

“You should be too.”

‘I will be when we win the Stanley Cup.” I said. “Anyways Ciara is coming down on Monday to train here and Mario wanted me to let you know.”

“Sweet, I will make sure everything is ready for her by then.” He said and I could tell he was starting to make a check list of when he needed to do. “Sid are we going to go out with her and the rest of the team?”

“Yeah dinner Monday night, her plane is supped to get here in the morning and I am going with Mario to pick her up.

“Sweet, ok I will see you when I see you Sid.” He said before hanging up.

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( 1 week later)

“Where are you guys going to dinner tonight with Ciara?” Mario asked as we waited at the airport for Ciara’s plane to land.

“We are going to go to the Capital Grille.” I said slightly annoyed waiting for Ciara’s delayed plane.

“That’s a great place to go with her” Mario said handing the Penguins expense card over to me. “This one is on me.”

“Thanks Mario” I said as I saw that Ciara’s plane had just landed.

“No problem” he smiled before he stood up causing me to quickly follow suit.

“Ciara” Mario said spotting the new player and walking over to her.

“Good morning Mr. Lemieux.” She said shaking his hand.

“Please call me Mario” he said before introducing me. “And you probably know of Sidney Crosby.”

“Hi Sidney.” She said taking my hand in a firm handshake.

“Hello Ciara” I said a little shortly.

“Let’s get your bags and then we will bring you over to Max’s”

“Sounds like a plan” she said as we made our way to the baggage claim.

“So Ciara, how is your family taking the news of you being drafted?” Mario asked when we got into his land rover, starting the conversation.

“Pretty well my Dad is still in shock so I don’t know exactly what he thinks. My brother Matthew is freaking out, he is telling his college friends about me. The same goes with my sister but it is to her high school friends.”

“Well that’s to be expected” he smiled. Well she is just in this for the fame I thought.

“So Ciara, tomorrow at 10:30 you will have your contract signing and there will be a press conference right after you’re done. But by Thursday you can use all the Penguins Facilities to train.”

“Sweet.” She said and Mario gave me the look to tell her what the plans are for tonight.

“So Ciara, the guys and I are taking you out tonight to hang out and get to know you.”

“Cool” she said really excited, as Mario parked in Max’s driveway.

“We are here.” Mario said getting out of the car as Max came out of his house.

“Welcome to Pittsburgh.” Max said opening Ciara’s door

“Thanks Max.”

“I hate to just leave so soon but I have some meetings I have to attend to, but you have my number if you need anything.” He said leaving as he left me here with Ciara and Max.

We carried in all of Ciara’s bags when Max asked. “You guys want lunch?”

“Yeah” I said.

“Sure but I am going to go for a run first I can just grab something after though.” She said going into her room.

“A run already? You just got here.” Max said.

“Well I have to stay on a routine else I get out of whack.” She said disappearing into her new room and coming out a few minutes later she came out of the room changed for a run. “Ok so I will be back in about an hour.” She said tying her sneakers before leaving.

“That was weird.” I said to Max.

“How so?” he asked.

“She was here for a few minutes before she booked it out of here.” I said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well the first day in the new city with new people is overwhelming; running probably helps clear her head. Besides I know that you have already worked out today so why can’t she work out now before she loses the chance to work out.”

“Whatever.” I said as Max started turning on his x-box.

“I thought we were going to eat lunch.”

“We should wait till Ciara gets back before ordering.” He said.

“Fine” I pouted but picked up my controller anyway.

3 losses to Max in NHL12 and an hour later Ciara walked into the house. “Did you have a nice run?”

“Yeah, it helped clear my head.”

“That’s good” he said getting up off the couch and grabbing the phone while giving me the ‘i-told-you-so’ look. “What would you like for lunch?” he asked grabbing a bunch of menus.

“What did you guys have?” Ciara asked.

“We waited for you.” Max told him.

“Well then what do you guys want?” she asked.

“I was thinking of just getting a hoagie and a salad from a local place.”

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“That sounds good.” I said which caused Max to go order the food. “I am going to take a shower” I said after a couple of awkward minutes with Sid. I quickly went into my new room with the connecting bathroom and took a shower and emerged 10 minutes later freshly showered and dressed.

“So Ciara are you any good at video games?” Max came into the room with the food ten minutes after I came out of the room.

“I am ok I guess.” I lied.

“Well then I will have to teach you a thing or two about video games, especially now that you are on this team.” Max said before taking a huge bite out of his chicken parm hoagie. “We will start you off on an easy game, of Mario Kart.” He said putting that game into his Wii system.

“That sounds good me” I said grabbing a controller. “What buttons do I have to press?” i asked playing off my bad gamer skills.

“This is going to be easy” Sidney said grabbing his own controller.

“You just hold it sideways and A is to go and 2 is to speed up and the trigger is to shoot things that you pick up at the other players.” Max did a quick rundown of the game description.

“Thanks” I said sitting up into my gaming position. “I think I got it.”

“Ok we will start with the Special Cup, it’s the easiest” Sid lied for a fact I knew that was the hardest cup.

“On your mark get ready go.” Sid started off in first Max close behind but I was in last, until the last lap, then I came out of nowhere and won.

“Beginners luck.” Max said as he got ready for the next race, which I ended up winning and winning the next one and the final race.

“Ok I am going to assume you have played this before.” Max stated the obvious.

“What would make you say that?” I asked. “Oh and the mushroom cup is the easiest cup Sid.”

“This is crap I wasn’t even taking it easy on you.” Max pouted.

“When I said I was ok, I meant that people try to beat me but very few have…actually only my brother has ever beaten me but that’s because we are at the same skill set.”

“You tricky little bitch.” Max called me.

“Hey what can I say,” I laughed.

“Sorry to cut in but I got to go get ready for tonight.” Sidney said a little rudely.

“Bye Sid, see you in a couple hours.” Max yelled as Sid left.

“So what do you want to do?” Max asked.

“Well I should probably unpack.” I said getting up from the couch and stretching. “Do you mind helping?”

“No problem.” He said with a wink. We headed into my room.

“Hey is there a place that I can put my equipment?” I asked when I got a wiff of the bag.

“Yeah there is room next to mine in the laundry room. I will bring yours there.” He said grabbing the bag as I started to unpack.

“Let’s blast some tunes.” I said as he came back into the room. He went over to the stereo that was in the room and turned on the cd.

“Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine, I’m leavin’ my life in your hands people say I’m crazy and that I am blind risking it all in a glance, and how you got me blind is still a mystery I can’t get you out of my head don’t care what is written in your history as long as you’re here with me.” He started singing to the Backstreet Boys, I rolled my eyes but joined in.

“I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, what you did, as long as you love me. Who you are, where you’re from, don’t care what you did as long as you love me.” I belted out.

“Every little thing that you have said and done, feels like its deep within me. Doesn’t really matter if you’re on the run. It seems like we’re meant to be.” Max sang

“I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, what you did, as long as you love. Who you are, where you’re from, don’t care what you did as long as you love me.” I sang the chorus again.

“I’ve tried to hide it so that no one knows, but I guess it shows, when you look into my eyes. What you did and where you’re comin from. I don’t care, as long as you love me, baby.” Marc-Andre Fleury walked into the room singing.

“I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, what you did, as long as you love me, who you are, where you’re from, don’t care what you did, as long as you love me. Who you are, where you’re from, what you did, as long as you love me. Who you are, where you’re from, what you did, as long as you love me.” I continued to sing. Then both Marc and Max joined in on the last verse.

“I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, what you did, as long as you love me.” I burst out laughing.

“You know I would usually be upset with you singing that song without me but I am okay with it.” Marc said walking over to Max and giving him a bro hug before turning to me. “And you must be Ciara.”

“It depends who wants to know.” I said still surprised at my own calmness around these NHL stars.

“You are going to fit in nice here.” Marc said before plopping down on my bed.

“Not that I love having you here Flower but why are you here?” Max asked suspiciously.

“I was bored, I just dropped Vero off at the airport, she is going to be home all week, so I thought I would stop by and say hi. Maybe chill here until we have to leave for the restaurant.” He said before adding. “I even brought a change of clothes.” He smirked, causing me to laugh at the bromance.

“What are you laughing at newbie?” he quirked his eyes at me.

“Oh nothing, just your bromance.” I smiled.

“Damn straight, we have the best bromance in the world.” Max said proud.

“I do not doubt it.”

“So Ciara, are you good at Mario Kart?” Marc asked raising his eyebrows, which caused me to smirk at Max.

“I don’t think we should play Mario Kart.” Max said.

“And why the fuck not?” Marc said upset.

“Because we should not put the newbie on the spot like that, we should play something like Super Mario Brothers or something that we work as a team.” Max said.

“Fuck that shit.” Marc said “we are playing Mario Kart.”

“Fine with me.” I smirked evilly at Max.

“We are so dead.” Max huffed, but left the room to set up the game.

“What the fucking hell was that?” he said after the first race.

“That was me owning your ass.” I said simply.

“I tried to get you to play a game where she was on our team but you had to turn it down.” Max defended himself.

“Well I vote for a change.” He said as he got up and switched the game to Super Mario Brothers. We played that one from the start and got to the 3rd world when we stopped.

“Damn, how did you know where all that stuff was?” Marc asked me.

“My brother and I beat the game on the first day it came out. It was basically all we did that day besides go for a run.”

“Well I be damned. You are just getting better by the minute.” Marc said grabbing his suit off the couch.

“What do you mean better by the minute?” I asked curious.

“Well first your hockey highlights scared the shit out of me, second I walk in and you are wearing a shirt that has a quote from the big bang theory on it and third you are a fucking god at video games.” He said as he started to head to the bathroom. “The only way you could get any better is getting ready under a half hour.” He said before closing the door.

It’s on I thought as I went into my room to change into something nice to wear. I just let my hair down and added light make up and was out of my room within five minutes.

“Damn” Marc said as I walked into Max’s kitchen fully ready to go out.

“You ready to go?” I asked once Max came out of the kitchen.

“Yeah, you riding with us Marc or driving yourself?” Max asked grabbing his keys.

“I’ll go with you.”

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I got to the restaurant about five minutes early but what do you expect I am the captain I have to be the one on time. Cookie was the first to show up but was shortly followed by Geno, Satan, Dupuis, and Orpik before Talbo, Ciara, and Flower showed up. We were only missing Staalsy by then but he is always late.

“Guys I would like the honor to introduce to you Ciara Hartmann.” Max said in a booming voice, before everybody else introduced themselves.

“Damn, guys sorry I am late.” Staalsy said running into the restaurant as Ciara just finished saying hi to everyone.

“Hello, I am Jordan Staal.” He said as he reached her.

“Hello, I am Ciara Hartmann.” She replied back not being suckered into his women charm.

“Ah you’re the one that is going to help us win the cup this season.” He smiled as he took a seat at our table.

“So, Ciara who was your favorite team growing up?” Satan asked her breaking the ice.

“The Buffalo Sabres.” She said right away.

“Good team, great city.” He smiled.

“Why you no like Penguins?” Geno asked.

“The Sabres were close to where I grew up and my grandfather’s team.”

“Ah, so you had to like them?” Cookie said.

“No actually only my brother, and grandfather like them everyone else pretty much likes the Flyers.” She said.

“Ew, I will take you being a Sabres fan over a Flyers fan anyday.” Dupuis stated.

“This brother of yours, does he play hockey?” Orpik asked.

“A little, he was really good but got hurt playing so he had to stop playing so much.” She said.

“Is he the one who taught you how to play?” Cookie asked.

“No my grandfather taught me. We would be out on my make shift ice everyday going through drills when I was too young to play on a team.”

They continued asking her personal questions and she would ask a few back until dinner was over.

“I am going to go take a piss, I will meet you guys back here.” She said like a guy. Everyone laughed. I got up to pay the bill when I saw Ciara walking out of the bathroom and getting stopped by a guy.

“Hey sexy, let me buy you a drink.” The guy said trying to sound smooth.

“How about you go find someone else to buy a drink for?” she said as she tried to walk away but he grabbed her arm. I clenched and started to walk her way, I may not like her but no one deserves to be treated like that. However before I got too close she spoke again.

“I wouldn’t have done that if I were you.” She said.

“What are you going to do? Slap me?” he said, pulling her closer to him.

“You have three seconds to let go of me.” She stated before counting. “1, 2, 3” but the guy never let go and she punched him in the face, which caused him to left go.

“I did warn you” she said as she walked away. “By the way your nose is broken so I would go to the hospital to have them reset it.”

“Um” I said as she stopped by me.

“Sorry I knew I shouldn’t punch him, but he was an asshole and deserved it.” She explained herself. Before I could say that he deserved it Staalsy showed up behind me.

“Wait you punched someone?” he asked looking around the room to spot the person Ciara punched.

“Yeah some guy thought I was there for the taking and wouldn’t let go, so I showed him what I thought of him by breaking his nose.”

“That’s my girl.” Jordan said giving her a high five. “Next time, can I video tape it?” he asked.

“If there is a next time, sure.” She said laughing.

Great she is going to be someone I have to worry about off the ice too, with all the guys that are going to hit on her, or try and beat her up because they don’t like her. She is going to be such a distraction.