Catch me

Chapter 1

"Help me up!" I yelled.

"Alright! C'mon. If we don't get down to the arena, you're going to miss Sidney Crosby during open skate."

Sidney Crosby was my most favorite NHL player like ever, and this is the last time I'll get to see Crosby before I leave for New York tomorrow.

I used to work with the local stations covering sports and I'd always travel to games.

***

"What do you expect me to do?!" I yelled into the phone.

"Honey...we talked about this already, and I think it's best-." I hung up.

I'm pretty sure my mom's gonna have me dead by the time I got home.

"You alright?" I nodded.

"Yeah." We drove the rest of the way in silence.

***

"Why don't you get out, and I'll go park?" Mallory suggested. I walked into the arena at the same time that Sidney Crosby and Beau Bennett did. OH MY GOD! I nearly fainted.

***

"Hey snap out of it." Mallory walked in with my jersey. "Let's follow him." Why would we?

"Mallory Lynn are you out of your goddam mind?! No way will I follow him! He's fucking busy!" I yelled. I walked to our seats quietly.

I just realized that as I walked in, So did Beau and Sidney. But we were really early. This was the morning skate. We were five hours early.

***

"I'll help you-will you get your ass over here? Where the hell are you?" Brandon. Shit.

"Uh...I'm at the arena. But Mallory's my ride so..."

"No. I'm your ride." He snapped.

"Where are you going?" Mallory asked.

"Brandon literally just called." Her face fell. She shoved the tickets into my chest as she walked past me. "MAL! WAIT!" Brandon pulled up.

"Hey. What's up?" He didn't bother to look up. "Brandon, answer me." I was about ready to cry.

"It's mom and dad. They want a divorce." But why?

"Why?" I asked. This time, I really was crying.

"I don't have answers. But could you please try and make nice with mom?" He asked.

"No! All I'll do is ruin it! Just like I ruin every other fucking thing in this world!" I yelled.

"It's not like that!" He yelled back. It got real quiet all of a sudden.

I knew that in 5 hours, I would have to go back to the arena for the game.

There were a million different things going through my mind. What if Sidney sees me and asks why I'm crying, if I'm still crying by then? What if I have to drag Brandon along? What if Sidney walks into the arena the same time I do, again? What if...what if...

"Hey wake up!" I looked over at Brandon.

"Douche," I muttered.

"Look...mom and dad have some issues," he started saying, "but they want us to know that they love us very much, and that we aren't the reason for the divorce."

"Then why the hell do I have to go make nice with mom?!" I yelled.

"I don't know. Just...please?" I shook my head.

"No. I have to go back to the game in 5 hours, and I don't want to be upset when I walk in." He put his arm around me and kept driving.

"Hi sweetie!" My mom was cheery when I walked in.

"Brandon will you take me back to the arena?" I asked.

"Yeah sure. Can you please just try?" He asked as nicely as he possibly could.

"NO! I will ruin it!" I yelled.

"Ruin what?" My dad asked.

"Nothing," I muttered. I walked up to my room, slamming the door behind me.

***

"Kelsey C'mon!" Brandon yelled. I got up from my bed and went to the mirror. I had been crying over my mom and dad. "Kelsey, let's get the fuck out of here!"

"I'M COMING!" I yelled back.

Once we got to the arena, and just as I had predicted in my what if's, we had walked in the same time as Sidney Crosby again.

***

"Sidney, what are your thoughts coming off of a nice, two-week break?"

I had seen this before. Reporters from ESPN come into the arena an hour or so before gametime, and ask any player who walks in questions.

"It was good. Well I didn't necessarily get a break since I was in Sochi for the Olympics, but I'm sure the others had a nice break." He flashed his million dollar smile.

"What were the Olympics like?" I inched closer and put my headphones in.

"Is anyone sitting here?" I took out my headphones and saw Sidney sit next to me.

"Uh no," I muttered.

"Great game last night." I smiled.

"Did you watch it?" He asked.

"Yes. I saw it on TV." We held each other's gaze for a moment before I stood up. "Hey, it was nice meeting you, but I've got to get to my seat." He stood up at the same time I did.

"I never even learned your name." I felt guilty.

"Kelsey. Kelsey Dixon." He smiled.

"Sidney. Sidney Crosby."

***

By the 2nd quarter, the Penguins were up 2-0. Sid scored a goal, and of course I was excessively cheering wildly like always.

All throughout the game, Sidney kept looking over at me. Sure he was nice and all, but what was with him? It was like he was in love with me or something. I liked him, as a player, but...it felt weird. Seeing him smile at me, or even look over at me was weird. But I was leaving for New York tomorrow, so it didn't matter what Sidney thought of me.