Thursday, August 13, 2009

Chapter 2: To Wink or Not To Wink? That is The Question.

Sorry it took me so long to post this... I had it written, but I didn't like the way it flowed. Hopefully you guys like the way I did it*
Melany~


CHAPTER 2

“Ummmm, Erin, I think he just winked at me!”

“He was probably just blinking because a drop of sweat got in his eye! You’re freaking out over nothing.” Erin dipped another chip into the nacho cheese and attempted to make it to her mouth without dripping anything all over herself. With that feat accomplished she threw her arms in the air like she’d just done a back flip or something. Mel seemed to ignore her outburst of joy though.

“But what if he really did wink?!”

It was possible that he winked at her, right? It could happen. Sure, he was a star hockey player and girls fawned over him daily, but the seats around them weren’t completely filled yet, so who else would he have winked at? The only other female in their vicinity was a grandmother-type with her little grandson…

“Well,” Erin said after swallowing, “if he really did wink, then you’re right.”

“That’s all you can come up with?? Really? Don’t you think it’s odd? I mean, he doesn’t just wink at everyone right? He could’ve been doing that just for me!”

Erin watched as Mel’s face lit up and she shifted around a couple times in her seat. The game was getting ready to start and the guys would be back out onto the ice in a few moments. “I’ve got a great idea! Let’s just watch the game and not think about it right now! I mean, c’mon Mel, we’re sitting against the glass, and you’re too busy wondering if the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins could’ve winked at you. That’s so not important right now! What you should be thinking about is how to make sure your camera is going to take awesome photos!”

Melany sat back and thought it over, deciding that her friend had a point. He probably was just blinking or something. She handed her nachos to Erin and fished around in her bottomless pit of a purse to find her camera. She took a few test photos to try and get the best results. When she’d finished she took her nachos back and munched away, still a little lost in thought. Well, it’s not like you’re going to get a chance to ask him. No sense in getting yourself all worked up over nothing.

***********************

Both teams were standing, the starting line-ups were on the ice and everyone waited for Jeff Jimerson to start belting out the National Anthem.

There was just something about the Star Spangled Banner being performed live at a professional sporting event! The crowd gets into it and you can hear them almost drowning out the singer… it’s always a beautiful thing to be a part of.

And then the game was under way! Both girls sat there, staring at the ice and watching their respective men play the game. Ok, they weren’t their men… but that was how the girls thought of them. The Pens struck first. Matt Cooke landed a goal and less than a minute later they followed it up with another goal by Guerin!

“This is awesome!” Mel screamed. “We’re winning, and the crowd is insane! And we’re winning!”

Erin laughed and brought a touch of realism to the moment, “Yeah, but two goals is two goals… Jersey can come back from that!” Five minutes later Melany felt like hitting her as Brian Gionta backhanded it into the net past Fleury. Erin just stared at the ice, a “whoops, my bad” expression on her face.

Things looked pretty good after that. So good, in fact, that the Devils didn’t score another goal all night! Geno scored the next goal towards the end of the 1st period. Erin went crazy.

When Sid scored halfway through the second period, Melany was 99% positive that he’d looked in their direction. She started to say something to Erin, but a hand in her face told her that now was not the time for wishful thinking.

Poor Sid… no one really had time to celebrate his goal because Staalsy scored like ten seconds later! People were so deliriously happy though that it didn’t matter any longer, as long as it was a Penguin putting the puck in the net! The chants of “Mar-tee, Mar-tee” were sounded every now and then, and the visiting goalie looked like he was going to take himself out of the game.

The coach for New Jersey was so upset he ended up freaking out at the end of the second period and took an abuse of officials’ penalty! And the third period went by like a flash, with Kunitz grabbing a goal to just run the numbers up! After the final horn blew, the Pens had won 6-1.

The two women sat in their seats exhausted from a night of cheering, yelling, clapping, and dancing after goals, etc. They waited to see who the stars of the game were going to be, and both jumped and yelled when “their men” received stars 1 & 2.

***********************

A huge chunk of the crowd had already dispersed by the time the stars were named, and the two of them were plastered up against the glass, so when they yelled it was wasn’t extremely difficult to tell who it was. Malkin jerked his head when Erin screamed his first name, and when Sid skated out to raise his stick, he looked their way to see if they had stuck around. Mel noticed, found an enormous amount of courage, and winked at him. He gave a small smile and almost tripped going back onto the walkway.

“Told ya he’d been lookin’ my way,” she said as she nudged Erin. They both giggled and headed out to the lot to watch the guys come out in their suits.

After spending the next hour semi-bent over the concrete wall yelling congratulatory sayings to the guys, the two turned to head back up to the car. There wouldn’t be many people left, but that also meant that there wouldn’t be a ton of traffic to deal with! Erin glanced at Mel.

“Sure you don’t wanna see if Sid’s still here? You could get him to sign your shirt or ticket stub or something.”

She stopped and thought about it for a second. Then she beamed a smile at Erin and grabbed her hand, dragging her back the way they’d come.

“Let’s go!”

The two laughed as they wandered toward the gate that Sid always came out, surprised that there were only a few people still there. Melany glanced at Erin and shrugged her shoulders.

“We could’ve missed him already.” But she made no move towards the parking lot. They walked towards the small gathering and were soon lost in a debate over Crosby or Malkin. One of the waiting group members looked like he’d had one too many beverages during the game, and the longer the conversation went on, the more belligerent he became.

Erin turned when she heard a car start up, and she glanced at Mel to give her a heads up.

Deciding to peer around the barrier to see if it could be Sid, Mel leaned forward, twisting her body to look down the ramp. Headlights came into view and she turned around toward Erin excitedly, not even completely sure if it was him. That was when the conversation turned into a shoving match.

***********************

Sid made his way out of the arena and towards his vehicle. He’d said goodbye to all of the people still there, and hopped into his car. Falling asleep sounded so great right now, and he was hoping that there wouldn’t be too many fans wanting autographs tonight. He’d never drive by without stopping, but he hoped that he had waited long enough that only the real hardcore fans were there. And maybe his fan would be there.

As he started up the ramp to the street he didn’t see anyone standing there. Sweet, now I can just drive home and crawl into be---

He hit the horn and swerved to miss the figure that almost fell out into his path. He heard the scream and waited for the thunk as his car hit the body. But no sound came. He opened his eyes and saw a person being pulled back away just inches from his car. Twice today he’d almost hit someone.

He finally looked up and a pair of eyes stared back at him with surprise.

Everyone standing there was talking at once and he finally got a full look at his would-be victim. It was the girl from this afternoon that he’d almost run over at the red light. The one he’d watched throughout the game. He wondered where her friend had gone though. He was just about to ask when the redhead in question popped into view.

“Holy crap Mel! Are you ok?! I saw the guys start at one another and you were looking to see if the vehicle coming was Sid. Then Mr. Had To Much To Drink bumped you and I grabbed at you! You have had the worst luck with oncoming vehicles today! First Sid and now… Oh god, Sid again!!”

Red looked at him for a moment, and then turned to her friend, then back to him again. His brunette just gave an impish grin though.

“I was just trying to make up for earlier. He thought it was my fault before. I just wanted him to be correct. Besides, I’m sure he’s used to girls falling for him.”

Before he could come up with a witty retort the group finally realized it was him and everyone came towards the car to get an autograph. He grabbed the Sharpie out of his center console and signed the items before him. They were all done before he knew it and he looked up to find her. She and Red stood by the barrier and he laughed when she gestured in a sweeping motion for him to go first.
He shook his head and let out a little laugh as he used his hands to tell her to go. She gave him a mock salute and linked her arm with Red’s and they started up the hill towards the parking lot. As they walked in front of him he hit the button for his passenger side window. “… tonight Melany that he almost…”

Melany.

He watched them walk up towards the upper lot. She must’ve felt him staring because she turned once more.

“Hey Crosby!”

He put the window down farther.

“Great game tonight! You rock!” As she yelled it she held her hand up with a 'rock on' hand signal.

With that said she turned on her heel and jogged to meet up with her compainion. He laughed and shook his head as he turned toward the ramp to go home. And that was when he realized that he had her name… but no way to get a hold of her! Well, maybe fate will shine down upon me and I’ll run into her again. He had no idea that he was about to see a lot more of his mystery girl.


~~Well, even though they technically meet in this chapter, the next one is when they have an actual conversation! I think you'll all find their meeting amusing!! I mean, I hope you do!

4 comments:

  1. Can't wait to see how there real first meeting goes!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great chapter, can't wait to see what happens next.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cute story. I like that Mel is spunky :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. This totally sounds like me and my best friend at a hockey game! "our men" - we absolutely talk like that.

    ReplyDelete