A Pittsburgh Penguins Love Story

A Pittsburgh Penguins Love Story 16

(Malana's POV 2-21)

I heard the door slam. Then I heard muffled sobs. Sidney?! I ran down the stairs to the living room to see Sid on the couch. I walked over nervously. I sat beside him and pulled his hands away from his face. His eyes were puffy and red and tears streamed down his face. I hugged him as hard as I could. He sobbed into my shoulder. Sidney doesn't cry. For all the reasons he has to fall apart he didn't. This scared me more than anything. When I was, in all honesty, freaking out, Sidney kept it together. Sidney was always the one who told me it was he was ok. To see him lose it...

It took Sidney all of three minutes to calm down. I held on to him for a few more minutes.

"Sidney..." I whispered.

"I'm scared Mal. What if I can't go back this year? What if I can't go back next year? What if I do go back and I'm not me?... For all I know tomorrow I'll wake up and I won't be me. I could turn into something I hate overnight. And you know what without hockey who cares?! I don't even want to be me if I can't play hockey. I can't live knowing how many people I let down. Everyone's mad at me Mal, everyone. I can't live like this. I just can't. I need to be away from this. I need to go home," he looked me in the eyes. He was hurt, hurt beyond what I could repair. He was wrong though.

"No ones mad at you Sidney. This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. And you'll always be you. You'll always be that sweet, dependable, loving, kind-hearted, unselfish, lively, mature, competitive, insecure Sidney. Always," we stared into each others eyes for a long time. He had a hard time believing what I said was true, that much was obvious. I begged him with my eyes to believe, to see what I do. "You'll be back. You'll play like you did. You'll break records, like you were always meant to. You'll show everyone who the best is. You were born for this. You were born to win," my tone was stern. I had to get through to him, he had to listen. I softened my tone then, "Whatever you need, do it. I'll support you and help you, so will your family, and all the guys will. and everyone else. If you need to go home, go."

"Come with me?" he was asking, but I knew I didn't have a choice. I would do whatever it takes to make him happy. I nodded.

"Thank you," he smiled, half genuine. I knew until he was back on the ice he wouldn't be completely happy.

Sidney went to the Lemieux's to tell them the plan and to get some clothes. I told him I'd meet him there. I set up a meeting with the counselor from the college. I knew Sidney had to much on his mind to put together how much college I was missing. I wasn't mad at him for that, I completely understood. At the same time I understand that it's going to be hard for me to graduate if I miss more.

--1 hours later--

"Miss Emhoff your records are spectacular. In high school you had a 4.0 GPA, extracurriculars, and volunteer hours. You were the valedictorian of your class. Not to mention the score on your SAT's was quite astounding. So far in college you've been a 4.0, have great recommendations from your teachers, and have manged to keep out of trouble. Taking a break won't kill you, but I would not recommend it. At this pace you could have any job you wanted in your field easily. You're half way through your second to last semester."

"I don't want to drop out but I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. I already feel so far behind."

"Well if you're sure there's no way around taking a few weeks off then dropping the classes is your only option," she pursed her lips at me. I knew she was just concerned.

"So just to be clear if I do take a few weeks off I'll flunk the classes?"

"I can't 100% say that but it's more than likely."

"Dropping the classes won't hurt my GPA right?"

"No, it won't. You'll still be at a 4.0."

"Then I guess this is me dropping the classes."