Full Strength

Dean

<What should I take Scottie to do on this date? I'm lost. We've already done all the fun things in Chicago. This needs to be special.

                  I had no idea what to do for my date Scottie, so I texted Derrick. I thought for sure he would give me some ideas.

>You gotta do this on your own, big man. I got a question for you though.

                  I was kind of surprised the Derrick needed to ask me something, and it sounded serious.

<What?

>Has Hannah bothered you or Scottie recently?

<She tired to put the moves on me the other week, and Scottie saw, but everything is okay. Unless Scottie said something?

                  I got worried that Scottie was having doubts, and said something to Derrick.

>No she didn't say anything. I was just wondering. No worries man. Hope you and Scottie have a good time tonight.

                  I was confused as to why Derrick asked me about Hannah, but I didn't press it. I continued thinking of something Scottie and I could do. The only thing I could think of to do at seven at night was go out to eat, but I wanted to surprise Scottie with something better. By the time seven rolled around I was on my way to Scottie's still with no plan.

                  When I got up to her door, Scottie walked out wearing a pair of her skinny jeans. My favorite pair actually, but I don't think she's knows they're my favorite. Sure, they make her ass look great, but they are just a really nice pair of jeans, and look good with any shirt she pairs them with. She's wearing one her many stripped shirts, this one has those long-sleeves that stop a little bit above her wrists. I'm just wearing a pair of jeans and a fairly fitted white V-neck.

                  We got into my car, and before I pulled out of the driveway I turned to face her.

                  "To be honest with you, I have nothing planned for this date. I couldn't think of anything amazing to do. We've already done like everything in this city, and I couldn't think of any ideas. I'm sorry. You can leave if you want, I understand." I looked at Scottie, and she burst out laughing.

                  "I'm not going to leave. Full strength, and all that remember? Drive to the UC, I have an idea." Scottie said. I looked at her in question, but went along with it anyway.

                  We arrived at the United Center a few minutes later. I parked the car, and ran around the front to open Scottie's door before she did. We walked into the building together. I didn't know whether I should take her hand or not, so to play it safe I didn't. I opened the door to the players' entrance, and a security guard greeted us. I immediately tensed up because I felt we were doing something illegal.

                  "Hey Mo. Do you mind if we wander a little bit?" Scottie asked like she has done this before.

                  "Sure Darling. Just don't tell your dad about this. I don't want to lose my job." The man, Mo, said, with a sly grin on his face.

                  "I've been doing this since I was ten, and I haven't told yet." Scottie replied back, and she smiled up at me, grabbed my hand, and we took off running.

                  I had been down here so many times, yet I had never gotten to look at any of this stuff. It's different when the corridors are empty, and there aren't people talking to you. Scottie twisted and turned around every corner. She must know the United Center like the back of her hand. We went into our locker and she stopped. Thank god because I was losing my breath.

                  "Okay, what are we doing, Scot?" I asked, sitting down where I always do in the locker. I did it almost out of habit, and didn't even noticed I had sat down.

                  "We are going to explore." Scottie said nonchalantly.

                  "In the United Center? There can't be that much to explore." I questioned.

                  "That is where you are wrong!" Scottie shot up from the bench, "I'm going to show you my secret spot." Scottie held out her hand for me to grab.

                  "Just tell me we won't get in trouble." I said before taking her hand.

                  "No guarantees." Scottie said, still smiling. I gave in and stood up with her.

She pulled me over to the last stall in the row. It happened to be one of the new guys' stall. Scottie reached inside, and pulled the back out. She revealed a hole in the wall that someone obviously cut at some point.

"We aren't going in there are we?" I asked, worry.

"Oh yes we are. Don't worry, there's stairs, and actual lights." Scottie said leading the way. Lone behold, she flipped a switch and the lights came on. I then saw the stairs she was talking about. They were going up, and Scottie started climbing. I followed behind her, and within a few steps we reached a flat walkway where we could fully stand up. We reached what looked to be an elevator, and Scottie pushed the button.

"We are taking that thing?" I probably sounded like a baby, but I was seriously starting to worry for our safety.

"It's okay. It's safe. Mo took me up here one time. He says this all for maintenance crew and what not." Scottie reassured me.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Just wait. We are almost there." She said.

After a few minutes, we stepped off the elevator, and walked further. We reached a wall with a door in it, and Scottie turned the knob to open it. We walked through the door, and ended up in some room with windows looking out onto the ice. I walked right up to the windows and looked down. We were at the very top of the building staring down. You could see everything. The lights were turned on, so we could see things clearly. The ice was smooth and shiny, and the seats were clean with no left behind garbage. I had never seen it this clean and peaceful.

"Wow." I could only say one word, when I finished looking and turned to Scottie next to me. She smiled back at me.

"I know right? Mo said some of the workers come up here and watch games, but other than that it doesn't get any use. Emmi and I watched a game up her when we were in middle school. It was so much fun. Nobody knew we here, and we had all this food splayed out on the floor. We could be as loud and rambunctious as we wanted and no one could tell us to stop. It is still one of my favorite games that I've watched at the United Center." Scottie recounted this memory, using hand motions like always to paint a picture for her audience.

I walked up behind her, and wrapped my arms around her waist. We stood for a moment in silence. I broke it by whispering in her ear.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that. I know you're sorry, but when you keep saying it, it just brings back all the feelings. I want to move on from that." Scottie turned to face me, and rested her hands on my shoulders.

"I'm going to kiss you now." I said, not asking for permission. I leaned down towards Scottie, but she met me half way. Our lips connected, and it was like a Fourth of July fireworks show. We didn't part for what felt like minutes. The kiss intensified, and it was just like where we left off. All the feelings we had before never left. They were stuck here for weeks, and we are now letting them be free and run wild. Scottie pulled away first, and we looked into each other's eyes.

"I missed you." Scottie said.

"You missed my amazing kissing ability." I joked, and Scottie swatted me on the arm while laughing, "No, I missed you too."

"We should head back." Scottie said, and made her way to the door.

"Yeah, I guess your right." I said, following her, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me. In one swift motion, our bodies were against each other and our tongues were entwined.

We finally parted, and headed back to the lower level. We said goodbye to Mo, and left the United Center. Just like old times, I drove with one hand on the steering wheel, and the other was rested on the center console holding Scottie's. I missed this.