Waiting For Superman

This Seat Taken?

I was up bright and early at six the next morning, two hours before breakfast. I had brought my workout clothes just in case I had time to spend in the hotel gym and planned on working out before breakfast.

I had been running and working out a lot the past two years. My junior year I realized that I had a hell of a lot of work to do if I was going to play for Aladine my freshman year. I'd signed my National Letter of Intent last month but an NLI wasn't going to get me into the line up my freshman year.

So I spent two and a half hours working out before breakfast, lifting weights, doing squats, and running on the treadmill. By seven thirty, I was dog tired and sweaty.

I thought I had managed to get back to my room without being seen when I saw Logan standing at my door.

Shit.

"Hey Penelope," he said, clad in a white t-shirt and boxer shorts. Damn was he hot in a white t-shirt.

"Hey," I said nervously.

"I was just seeing if you were awake," he said, "I see you got up before me though."

"Yeah," I replied, "I was working out downstairs."

"I see," he said, "Ready for the big day?"

"I guess," I laughed, "I was up until two going through pictures."

"And you got up early to work out?" he asked with a laugh.

"I've got work to do before next season," I laughed.

"If you insist," he laughed, "I'll let you get ready though. See you in a few."

###

An hour and a half later, we had just finished breakfast and everyone was crowding onto the bus to go to the rink. I had taken my spot in the last row that I had sat in the way there and Logan had yet to find me. My mind was silently hoping he'd sit with his friends in the front and leave me alone but my heart was begging him to come back and sit with me, shoot me that irresistible grin that made me want to kiss him every damn time.

"This seat taken?" he asked with a smirk, causing me to look up from my phone.

"No," I laughed, "Still not taken."
"Just wanted to make sure I checked," he said, "You okay?"
"Yeah," I said, "Just tired."
"You sure?" he asked.

"Yes," I said with smile, "I'm fine, I just didn't sleep enough last night."

"Whatever you say," he said, taking his phone out of his pocket.

###

Practice went well that afternoon and before I knew it, we were once again piling onto the bus for the big game. Logan got to my seat first, causing me to stop in my tracks for a second to contemplate whether or not I wanted to talk to him, I mean, he's probably just doing this because he feels sorry for me. Right?

"You can sit here Penelope," he laughed, snapping me out of my trance.

"Sorry," I said, sitting down next to him, my camera bag and purse in two, "Just spaced out for a minute I guess."

"You're fine," he laughed, looking quite dashing in his black suit and crisp pale yellow shirt and black tie.

"Are you nervous?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Kind of," he said, "I'm trying not to think about the significance but I kind of am, I mean, I need to play like it's game seven of the Cup Finals and my season depends on it but I don't want it to get to my head, you know?"
"Yeah," I said, "Makes sense."

"Are you nervous?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yes," I laughed, "These games are intense to watch!"
"Are we going to need to get you a stress ball for the Championship game?" he asked with a laugh.

"Probably," I laughed, "I don't know, it's kind of hard to watch, you know, when you can't do anything about the outcome."

"Understandable," he said.

"But, you guys are going to cream them so I don't chew all my nails off in the last ten minutes, right?" I laughed.

"Definitely," he smirked.

"I expect at least a hat trick out of you," I joked as we pulled up to the rink.

"I'll do my best," he smirked.

###

The semi-final game was intense for the score that it ended at. Aladine won 7-3, scoring six goals in the third period. Logan failed to find the back of the net, but had a hat-trick worth of assists to finish the night.

The team poured onto the ice and surrounded Max as the horn sounded before getting in line to shake hands.

By the time they were walking to the locker room, I had made my way over to the seats behind the bench.

"Good game guys!" I said, stepping down next to the tunnel.

"Thanks Penelope!" Max said, a huge grin on his face as he walked back to the locker room.

I waited about an hour for everyone to make their way onto the bus, Logan was, of course, the last one back to the bus. I'm not going to lie, it stung just a bit when he sat up front instead of back with me.

Suck it up Penelope, my mind said, he wants to be with his friends, not you.

###

I spent the next few hours editing and watermarking pictures in my room in my pajamas, it was about ten o'clock when I decided to go find the drink machine down the hall.

I had managed to get all the way down to the vending area and buy a Pepsi without being seen, thankfully. I looked like a train wreck with my wet hair piled high on my head and my makeup-less face, over-sized t-shirt, and baggy sweatpants. I was almost back to my room when low and behold, I run into Jordan fricking Phillips.

Literally.

"Sorry," I said, trying to maintain my composure and not embarrass myself even more than I already had.

"Hey," he said, "You okay?"
"Yeah, fine, perfectly fine," I said, "I've gotta go."

"But Penelope! Wait!" he called out as I walked into my room and shut the door.

###

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