Last Chance

"Good evening Mr. Crosby, it's so nice to see you again. Please, follow me. You're table is ready." The host at Murietta's lead us over to table that was nestled in the corner of the restaurant. I grabbed Kelly's and followed the server. We took our seats and I asked for the wine menu before looking at Andrea. She looked like she was about to pass out.

"I still can't believe I'm sitting here. You guys have seriously known each other since you were kids?"

"Yes." We answered in unison. "We were inseperable."

"That's crazy" She said.

"It kinda is, he picked me up at the rink when I was nine years old." Kelly teased.

"Yeah and you totally shut me down when we were teenagers." I whined.

"I did not! I was waiting for you to make the first move....and that never happened. Instead you just left and broke me my heart." She grabbed my arm to let me know that she was just teasing, but I couldn't help the hurt that I felt in my heart when she talked about that day.

I shook it off and cleared my throat. "You know we all wouldn't be here today if I hadn't done what I did."

She reached over and grabbed my hand, "I know babe." She smiled and I felt myself relax again.

"So Kel, what was it like growing up with Sidney Crosby as your best friend?"

"What do you mean? He was and is always just Sid. The boy from down the road who I used to play hockey with."

"Oh, I see." She replied. I think she was disappointed that we weren't more exciting.

"We did other stuff too." I interrupted. "We loved hanging out at the beach and having bonfires, we would watch movies and stuff too. We even went camping together, not one of my favourite memories." I chuckled, when in fact the camping trip was awesome.

"You just didn't like camping because you couldn't put your tent up without my help. You were a tangled in a mess of poles."

Andrea started laughing and I grabbed the menu from the server. "True story." I confirmed.

"Wow, this is great. Something that Sidney Crosby wasn't good at. Who knew." She giggled.

I picked the Australian Shiraz and ordered us a bottle before looking over the dinner menu. I glanced up at Kelly and smiled. "Hey Andrea, did Kelly ever tell you about the time she tried to bleach our hair so we could be coordinated for a tournament?" Kel looked at me and give me the death glare. I laughed as I continued with the story.

-----Fall 2002-----

"So how much do you think we're going to need?" She asked as she grabbed a box of peroxide from the shelf?

"Like I have any idea. I can't believe I even agreed to do this." I shook my head as she stood and stared at box after box of peroxide and hair dye.

"Well, better safe than sorry!" She swept her arm across the shelf and filled the basket with about eight boxes of the stuff. As we walked back to her house I tried to talk her out of it. "Come on Kel, your hair is nice the way it is. Who wants to be blonde anyways?"

"I do. I hate my hair. Guys like blondes better anyways. This is my first big national tournament and well you know, I want to impress." She smiled and opened the front door.

"Impress who?" I asked. "The boys or the scouts?"

"Both! Now put this on, I don't want to ruin your shirt." She tossed me one of her dad's old t-shirts and I quickly pulled it over my head. "You first, that way if I mess up I'll get it right when it's my turn."

"Seriously? No way Kel, you go first. This was your idea."

"Suck it up Crosby, it's a lot easier for you to shave your head than me if it doesn't work." She shoved me into the bathroom and started applying the peroxide to my head." I couldn't have gotten out of this if I had tried. Twenty minutes later she was rinsing my hair in the sink when she started laughing.

"What? What happened? Kelly? What did you do to my hair?" I quickly got up and looked in the mirror and was horrified by what I saw.

She was still laughing, "I'm so sorry Sid. But come on, it's not that bad!"

"Not that bad? Kelly! My hair is the same shade of orange as yours!! What the hell? It is supposed to be blonde!" I was so mad, but at the same time I could never really be mad at her. One look at me with her sorry eyes and I couldn't help by forgive her. "Come here, you'r turn!" I gave her a wicked smile before grabbing her before she could escape the bathroom and sitting her down on the chair. "Stay!" I commanded as I grabbed her hair brush and another box of peroxide. I glanced at myself in the mirror. Fuck, I looked ridiculous. I read the instructions on the box and started to work on her hair. Half an hour later I was finally finished. "Done! Now to wait another twenty and you can wash it out. I really hope this turns out better than mine." I ran my hand through my hair and smiled at her.

"If you make my hair fall out Sid, I'll never forgive you."

"What do you mean? This was all your idea. There is no way you can be mad at me if this doesn't work out." She looked at me, crossed her arms, and pouted. "Okay, time to go and rinse." She started running the water and I knew right away as I helped rinse her hair that something wasn't right. Clumps of hair were falling out each time I ran my fingers through it. Shit shit shit. She was going to freak. I hesitated as I let the water run.

"Everything okay?" She asked

"Um, yeah." I lied.

"Sidney Crosby you are a terrible liar, what the hell is going on?"

"Um Kel, I don't think that peroxide on red hair was such a good idea. I'm really really sorry." She whipped her head up and when she saw her hair lying in the bottom of the tub she let out a horrid scream. I felt so bad for her that I almost started crying.

We managed to dry her hair and the final damage wasn't as bad as we initially thought, but it did require a trip to the hairdresser where she got a nice pixie cut that she sported until her hair grew out.

----------

By the time I was done telling Andrea the story we were all in hysterics. Even Kelly.

"What I wouldn't have done to see your hair like that Kel." Andrea giggled. "That right there is true love. You let a guy dye your hair."

"We'll, needless to say that no one touches my hair anymore excepts hairdresser, who is not a guy." She laughed.

We spent the night talking about when we were kids and how we were so happy to have both achieve our dreams. Andrea was pretty quiet, just taking everything in. I could see why Kelly and her got along so well, she was the quiet confidence that Kelly needed.

After we dropped Andrea off at her place Kelly looked at me "I can't believe you told her about the peroxide incident. You're going to pay for that." She smiled as she grabbed my hand, making me think of all sorts of punishment he could do to me.

"So I'm in trouble?" I raised my eyes and asked.

"Tons." Her seductive look made drive faster to get home.