Chapter 10

About half an hour later I got out of the shower and realized I didn’t know how I was supposed to dress for this little outing.

“Logan,” I yelled from my bathroom as I wrapped a towel around myself.
“What Brooke?” He yelled back sounding kind of annoyed which I chose to ignore.
“How am I supposed to dress? I mean is this a nice place where I should wear a dress or something casual so I can just wear jeans?”
“Well I just got off the phone with Max and their regular season wrapped up two days ago with a win so they’re kind of in the mood to go out and celebrate so I would wear a clubbing outfit.”
“Oh I don’t know if I’m up for the whole drinking thing tonight it’s been a long couple of months.”
“Well that’s too bad for you because the guys are stoked that you’re finally going to go out with us. Vero and Mel too said they can’t wait to see you because it seems like you abandoned them forever.”
“Fine I’m going for a bit but if any drama starts like last time I’m gone”
“Deal.” He said with a little laugh.

Then I found a nice pair of dark denim jeans that fit me quite snug and a nice black halter top. I decided to just straighten my hair and threw on a pair of high heels and I was ready. I went downstairs with Logan to wait for Max to come by and pick us up.

About half an hour later Max showed up and had Jordan with him. As soon as I walked out through the door they both jumped out of the car and came running and screaming at me.

“Brooke it’s been way too long!” Max yelled as he wrapped his arms around me, picked me up, and spun me around.
“Come on Max don’t hog here we all missed her as much as you did.” Jordan laughed while he came and wrapped his arms around me as well.
“Alright you guys I missed you too.” I laughed as we all broke apart and got into the car.

While we were on the way to the restaurant we all made small talk about the hockey season, playoffs, work, and school. It was about a 45 minute drive and when we arrived we saw that everyone else were already there. The guys that came besides the four of us were Ryan, Abby, Colby, Mel, Geno, Kris, Tyler, Sid, and his date. When we walked in through the door Marc, Vero, and Colby all came over and gave me a hug. Then we were all seated. I was next to Vero with Marc and Logan across from us. After we ordered and were waiting for our food Vero decided to strike up a conversation since the guys weren’t really paying attention to us.

“So it’s been a while since you’ve been around.” She stated with something clearly on her mind.
“Yeah school got pretty busy there for a while and then I got a job and started a work term. Plus we went home for about three weeks so I haven’t really had much time.” I replied.
“Yeah Logan kept telling everyone that you were busy but we all really wanted to hang out with you.”
“Yeah I know but I’m going to have more time now because my work term is done.”
Well I’m glad to hear that but Brooke you missed out.” She said with a quick glance at Sid who was also looking back at her.
“What do you mean by that? What did I miss out on?”
“I know that you and Sid had a spark and you guys could’ve started something I just don’t understand why you turned him down.”
“What are you talking about? He didn’t even ask me out. Well maybe he kind of did but it was kind of a misunderstanding.”
“Well he came by the house after he dropped you off and he was clearly disappointed. Then he told us he thought you would have said yes because he thought you liked him.”
“I did Vero you don’t even understand…”

That was all I got out before the waiter came with all of our food. Everybody started talking more and Vero joined in which meant I didn’t get a chance to finish what I was going to say to her.

I found out that Sid’s new girlfriend’s name was Holly and she seemed very quiet and wouldn’t talk to anybody who was there. I couldn’t stop thinking about my conversation with Vero and that made me lose my appetite so I wasn’t able to enjoy my meal. After dinner we all paid for our food and left to go to Marc and Vero’s before we headed out to the club.

“Brooke is you O.K.? You didn’t eat much tonight.” Logan asked while we were driving with Max and Jordan.
“Yeah I’m fine just a little tired I guess.”
“Are you sure?” Max asked. “You really didn’t seem like yourself at the restaurant.”
“Yeah I’m sure guys, I’m fine.”

They dropped it then and about ten minutes later we got to Marc and Vero’s. Once again we were the last ones to arrive since we had to stop to pick up some beer. When we went inside everyone was sitting around and talking about how excited they were about next week, which is when the playoffs start.

“I’m nervous and excited at the same time.” Tyler said.
“Yeah me too but we’re going to do fine.” Sid responded.
“Wouldn’t it be something if it cam down to us and Detroit again.” Marc suggested.
“I don’t know how I feel about that,” Max said with a smile, “but I bet we’ll be fine either way.”

Vero came up behind me at this point.
“Brooke, can you come with me? I want to talk to you”
“Sure.” I answered.
With that she led me upstairs and into her bedroom where she closed the door behind us.

“I just wanted to finish our conversation because you got cut off and I just felt bad about that.” She started.
“I’m actually glad because there are things that I think needs to be cleared up.”
“O.K. well you don’t have to explain yourself to me I was just curious as to what happened.”
“No it’s fine I really just want to let you know like what really happened.”
“O.K. then well yeah he came back here and said that he should have waited because maybe he was pushing or something.”
“It’s not the fact that it was too early it’s just that I didn’t realize that was his way of asking me out until he stopped talking to me and then I didn’t know how to go about telling him I misunderstood.”
“So if he had bluntly asked you would you have said yes?”
“Of course I would have. I know that we haven’t known each other for long but I do really like him. Plus he is so good looking.”
“Oh I wish you guys would’ve dated, I don’t even like Holly and it’s pretty obvious she doesn’t like us either.”
“Yeah I noticed that about her too. But I guess I was too stupid and he’s with her now so none of this even matters.”

We stayed in the room and talked for a bit and didn’t realize we had passed two hours until there was a knock on the door.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Marc asked when he came in clearly a little buzzed. “Doesn’t matter we just called a few cabs so get your sexy asses downstairs.”

Vero and I laughed but did what he said. When we walked downstairs the cabs were there waiting and the first thing I saw was Sid and Holly making out while they waited for everyone else to get ready. I felt as though someone had punched me in the stomach. Vero put her arm around me knowing I was bothered by this and led me to a different cab than Sid and Holly got in. I didn’t want to go to the bar but I knew this was something I was going to have to deal with. So I went and while we were in the cab on the way to the bar I couldn’t help but feel that this was going to be a bad night for me.

Chapter 9

The next morning when I woke up I rubbed my eyes like I always do. As soon as my knuckles touched my right eye a pain shot through it jogging my memory of the little scuffle I had gotten into the night before. I forced myself to get out of bed surprised to be feeling pretty good, and discovered that it was 11a.m. I made my way to the bathroom and saw that I had a pretty nice shiner on my right eye. Then I wandered downstairs to see who was up. As I walked into the living room I saw they were all up but Marc wasn't with them.

"Hey guys", I said as I sat beside Sid on the love seat, "Where's Marc?"
"Right here my love." He said as he handed me a cup of coffee.
"Oh thanks Marc."
"Wow that's a nice shiner you have there." Vero said.
"Yeah the first one I've ever had too." I replied with a small smile.
"Does it hurt," Vero asked, "do you want some aspirin or ice or anything?"
"No it actually doesn't feel too bad, thanks though."
"Well I just have to put this out there," Jordan said with a huge smile, "I think you're rocking that black eye."
"Yeah it makes you look badass." Logan said.
"Umm thanks guys." I said as we all laughed.

We changed the subject and began talking about school, work, and hockey. Hockey dominated for the most part while Vero and I were laughing about how excited the guys got while talking about it. About half an hour later we all decided to go to a cafe just up the street for some breakfast. Logan and I jumped in with Jordan, Sid took his vehicle, and Marc and Vero took one of theirs. We all met up at the cafe and were seated in a booth in the back, which we called in advance and requested. We all ordered and I could not believe how the waitress gave Sid so much special attention and yet I was the only one who seemed to notice. I couldn't help but smile at how clueless everyone seemed to be and at how frustrated the waitress seemed to be getting due to the lack of interest Sid was showing her.

"Hey Brooke, want to run to the bathroom with me?" Vero asked when we were all finished with our food.
"Yeah sure." I answered as I pulled money out of my pocket to pay for my brunch.
"Put your money away I got this."Sid said.
"No I can't make you pay for mine too Sid." I argued.
"Come on it's like 6 bucks I think I can handle that." He insisted with a little chuckle.
"Fine but next time it's on me." I replied while Vero dragged me by the arm and pulled me into the bathroom.

"He's totally into you." She basically yelled as soon as the bathroom door was closed
"Who, Sid," I asked kind of surprised, "I think you're crazy."
"No my dear it is quite clear that he's interested in you. Everything that happened last night he was with you through it all and now he's paying for breakfast."
"So what, he's just being nice."
"Honey you are so clueless, they boy has it bad for you, you'll see."
With that we met up with the guys who were already outside waiting for us.

"O.K. Brooke here's the plan," Logan began, "Jordan and I are going to go back to Marc's and play some more Rockband but we know you have to study. So Sid has some thing with Mario so he said he would give you a ride home. Is that O.K. with you?"
"Yeah if Sid don't care it's fine with me."
"It's no problem at all." Sid replied as he smiled at me.

So we all climbed into our separate vehicles and headed in our own directions. Sid and I made a lot of small talk on the way until he brought up what was said at breakfast.
"So it's on you next time, remember that." He said with a grin.
"What are you talking about?" I asked not remembering our little debate at breakfast.
"You said that the next time it's on you, so does that mean that we're going to be going out again?"
"Well I just figured since Logan has become like your mascot basically we'd be seeing a lot more of each other." At this point I was a pale shade of pink.
"Oh. Well yeah I guess you're right."

I almost thought that I could sense disappointment in his voice but I didn't think Sidney Crosby would be disappointed over me so I just shrugged it off. I was thankful when he dropped me off and we said our byes because the rest of the ride was filled with an awkward silence.

"So how was the ride home?" Logan asked when he walked in through the door.
"Awkward." I answered.
"Yeah Sid called and told us all about it, I thought you guys were hitting it off."
"I know I guess it just kind of caught me by surprise. I mean if a guy from home thinks I'm not good enough what's the chances that I'm good enough for someone like Sid. I don't know I'm just going to bed I'm too tired for this right now."

Finally Christmas holidays came and we were both able to fly home for three weeks. I hadn't hung out with the guys since the night Sid gave me a ride home and Logan eventually stopped keeping on for me to go with them.

When we got back in January I got to be very busy. I started a part time job at a clothing store in the mall and I had to do a work term so between those two things I still didn't have a chance to hang out with Logan and the guys.

"I can't take this anymore Brooke!" Logan basically yelled at me.
"Can't take what?" I asked taken completely off guard.
"It's April and it's your birthday. The guys wants to hang out with us and I told them we would go out for dinner with them. You've been blowing them off for months but it stops now."
"Logan....." I started but he quickly interrupted me.
"No you're going, it's been too long so go get ready and we're meeting them in an hour for dinner."
"Fine but only because I don't have school until next Monday and I don't have work tomorrow."
"Yeah and you'll meet Sid's new girlfriend so it shouldn't feel awkward for you now."

As soon as he mentioned that Sid had a girlfriend I felt sick to my stomach. I knew that I had screwed it up myself but I couldn't help but wonder what if.

Chapter 8

We both quickly stormed outside and were arguing and shoving each other when she finally brought her hand up and slapped me across the face. I was a little stunned because I honestly didn’t see it going this far. She used this to her advantage and punched me which caused me to stumble backwards but at this point I was pissed so I shoved her with all of my power and sent her falling on her ass. I could hear people yelling but I was so caught up in what was going on which made it seem like they were a million miles away. She quickly picked herself up but before anything else could happen Max had jumped in the middle of us.

“What the hell is wrong with you Brianne?” He yelled at her which surprised me because I thought that he would have been mad at me not his girlfriend.
“Are you serious?” She stammered clearly as surprised as I was.
“Yeah I mean you basically attacked her for no good reason as far as I’m concerned.”
“No good reason! She has been all over our boyfriends all night and we should just sit back and watch it happen.”
“She wasn’t all over us she was trying to enjoy herself and she had to do it with us since most of you girls are acting like bitches and ignoring her.”
This led to more people jumping in which I’m sure caused a huge scene out on Marc and Vero’s lawn. It ended minutes later with all of the girls except Vero, Mel, and Abby leaving saying they would never speak to any of us again and the guys responding by saying they didn’t care. I was left feeling extremely guilty over everything that had just happened.
After the majority of the girls left everyone went back inside to finish the party. I wasn’t really in the mood because I felt like everything was my fault and I figured everyone was going to hate me. Then I decided that I would sit on the picnic table in the lawn and stay there until Logan was ready to go home. After a few minutes of staring up at the stars I heard footsteps behind me. When I turned around I saw Vero standing there.

“I am so sorry I ruined your party.” I said to her with tears filling my eyes.
“Oh honey, don’t cry its fine. Everyone was drunk and this will be forgotten by tomorrow.”
“It’s not going to be that simple. I mean I just caused half of the Pittsburgh Penguins and their girlfriends to break up.”
“Well honestly I love the guys to death but those guys weren’t serious about those girls. Trust me they’ve broken up many times but always find their way back together for some reason.”
“I just hope the guys don’t hold it against me because I really like hanging out with them.”
“Believe me I know these guys and there is no way in hell are you going to be held responsible. But I just wanted to make sure you were O.K. so when you regroup come back inside and we’ll finish this party.”
“I will, thanks for the chat Vero.”
She just smiled at me and walked back inside. I could hear her whispering to someone before I heard the door close. I turned my head to see Sid walking towards me.

“Hey, you’re staying out here all alone when there’s a party going on inside?” He asked with a small smile.
“I don’t want to face into everyone after basically ruining the party.” I was still crying a little. Apparently drinking and drama makes me a little emotional.
“There’s no way that was your fault though you were clearly just picking up for yourself.” He said while sitting down next to me on the picnic table.
“I bet the guys hate me don’t they?”
“There’s no way that would ever happen. Honestly those guys weren’t serious about those girls and they’re always on again-off again, that sort of thing.”
“I’m sorry I know you’re trying but I still feel really guilty.”
“I can see you feel guilty but just so you know the guys are not going to treat you any different especially since they all speak so highly of you.”
“Thanks Sid that actually means a lot knowing that.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” He said causing us both to laugh a bit. We both just stopped talking and began staring up at the stars. We sat there in silence for a while until a cold chill went over me.

“Cold?” He asked with a smile on his face.
“Yeah I guess I am.” I replied back with a smile.
“Well do you want to go back inside?”
“Actually I’m kind of enjoying just sitting here in silence; I can deal with the cold.” As soon as I said that he took his zip up sweater off and put it over my shoulders.
“Better?” He asked.
“Yes, much,” I answered, “thanks Sid. But you really don’t have to stay out here with me.”
“I’m actually really enjoying the company.” This line made me smile and sent butterflies off in my stomach. We were outside for another fifteen minutes until we heard someone coming. We both turned around and saw Logan, Max, and Jordan coming.

“Are you O.K.?” Max asked.
“Yeah I’m fine,” I answered, “I am really sorry for that though.”
“Dude all is forgotten.”
“That’s not why we’re here though.” Logan stated.
“So why are you here?” Sid asked.
“Well captain Crosby that is a good question,” Jordan said, “We just realized that everyone is still here in the tournament so let’s go.”
Sid and I smiled at each other and followed the guys inside as I gave him back his sweater. We quickly started the tournament. Team four was the first eliminated followed by team one. We lost against team three in the finals but overall we enjoyed it. Everyone was starting to mellow out and Colby, Mel, Bugsy, Abby, Ryan, Geno, Tyler, Max, and Kris all left to walk home or called cabs. This left Marc, Vero, Jordan, Logan, Sid, and me.

“You guys should just crash here.” Marc suggested.
“Oh my God that would be so much fun,” Vero said, “And I totally have some pajamas you can wear Brooke.” With that she was bound upstairs.
“So where are we going to sleep?” Jordan asked.
“Well we have two spare bedrooms upstairs and two pull out couches here. So Brooke you take a bedroom and you three can fight for the other one.” Marc answered as Vero walked in and handed me a pair of pajamas and a spare toothbrush.
“Oh thanks Vero you’re a life saver.” I said as she hugged me as we all said good-night.

As I came out of the bathroom I was met by Sid outside waiting to get in.
“So let me guess, you’re allowed to have the bedroom?” I asked.
“Yeah they wanted to play video games for a while so I got the bedroom.”
“Well isn’t that lucky for you,” I said while yawning, “Well good-night Sid.”
Before I knew it he had me pulled into a hug. “Good-night Brooke.”

Then we broke away and went our separate ways. As I curled up in bed I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about Sid. I eventually fell asleep wondering if it was the liquor making me feel so connected and comfortable with him tonight.

Chapter 7

Before we knew it we had been in school for almost three months. We hadn’t heard from the guys for a while because the hockey season had started again and Logan and I were both busy with school and work. Logan was still working at Starbucks while I got hired working at a women’s clothing store in a mall. We had both made the time to watch as many of their games as we could and after tonight’s game they had a record of 14-6-3 after winning 4-1 at home against the Devils. A couple hours after the game Logan’s cell phone rang. He excused himself and went into the kitchen to answer. About ten minutes later he came back in the living room.

“Hey Brooke, go make yourself pretty.” He laughed.
“And why would I have to do that?”
“Well that was Max, a bunch of the team and girlfriend’s are going to Marc and Vero’s to celebrate the win since they have a few days off and they decided to ask us since it was Saturday so we don’t have school tomorrow, so naturally I told them we would.”
“Listen, I’ll drop you off but there is no way I am going to stay.”
“And why not?” He asked clearly irritated.
“I really like the guys and you obviously fit in just fine with them, but I’m stuck having to hang with the girls, half of which hate me.”
“They don’t hate you they just really stick together. Max always says they’re hesitant to let outsiders in.”
“Yeah and that’s exactly what I am to them.”
“Well you can hang out with me and the guys.”
“Then they’re going to hate me more for spending all my time with their boyfriends.”
“But I really want to go.”
“I already said I would drop you off.”
“I can’t go and leave you here by yourself all night Brooke.”
“It’s fine Logan I’ll just do some studying or watch a movie or something.”
“Yeah fine.”

With that Logan was bound over the stairs. About twenty minutes later he came back downstairs and was all ready.

“You don’t have to take me, Jordan is near by so he’s going to swing by and pick me up.”
“Oh O.K. that’s fine you can call me when you’re ready and I’ll come get you.”

Then there came a knock on the door and Jordan walked in.

“What’s this I hear about you not wanting to hang out with us tonight?” He said to me as soon as he walked in through the door.
“Yeah she said she feels out of place.” Logan answered.
“O.K first I can speak for myself thank you very much, and second you have to know the girls aren’t welcoming.”
“Well Heather’s not going to be there which means Logan, Sid, and I will be flying solo so just hang out with us.”
“I don’t know it’s…” Was all I managed to say before they both screamed “Just go get ready!” at me. I decided to listen to them instead of arguing and went upstairs to change. I decided on a dark denim pair of jeans and a deep red halter top with a cute pair of pointy toed high heeled shoes. I straightened my hair and was all set to go.

“Oh the girls are definitely going to hate you.” Jordan said with a smile on his face.
“Why, am I not wearing expensive enough clothes or something”, I said getting kind of nervous, “I mean I don’t really like shopping so I usually just buy the first thing that I like.”
At this point Jordan was laughing and Logan and I were looking at each other very confused.
“No I just meant they are going to hate you because you didn’t even try and you still look more beautiful than most of those girls after trying for hours. Red is a good color on you by the way.”

I could feel my cheeks go a shade of pink when Logan responded.
“That’s enough she’s like my big sister and I don’t want to hear about guys liking her or thinking she’s hot so let’s just go.”
“You should be used to it by now.” Jordan chuckled as we were on our way out through the door.

“On the way to Marc and Vero’s we stopped in a liquor store. Jordan had called Max to meet us there since he lived close and we weren’t old enough to buy it on our own. Jordan and Logan each bought a case of beer and a flask of run. I bought a half case of beer and a flask of Sour Puss, the raspberry kind of course. We had decided to get some liquor to shoot when we ran out of beer. We parted ways with Max who said he would meet us there when Brianne got ready and we went on our way. When we arrived at Marc’s I was surprised to see only Marc’s car was there.

“Gee I expected us to be like the last group of people to show up.” I said while getting out of the car.
“Well I guess the rest of the guys have to wait for their girlfriend’s to get ready like Max does.” Logan replied.

We went to the door and knocked. Vero showed up at the door with a huge smile on her face. “You guys don’t have to knock here”, she said before looking at me, “wow you look great, I didn’t think you were going to come.”
“Thanks, you look great too”, I replied with a smile, “and those two kind of forced me to get ready to come.” I said as I realized the boys had already made their way to the fridge.
“Well either way I’m glad you came, I like meeting new people, besides the boys are always talking about how much fun you are.”
“Well what can I say, I try.” We both giggled as we walked into the living room where Marc, Max, and Logan were waiting for the party to start.

We sat down and started talking about the most random things and laughing like crazy until we heard a knock and the door open. When we looked we saw Sid standing there with his bottle of Jack Daniels.
“Come in, have a seat.” Marc directed and Sid listened to him. He came and plopped down on the love seat next to me, where I had been sitting alone.
“You played awesome tonight.” I said to him as the others started talking about more random things.
“I didn’t think you were a hockey fan.” He replied with a smile on his face.
“Well Logan likes watching it and he’s bigger than me so I can’t really fight him for the remote.”
“Well thanks either way.” He laughed.
“And you’re welcome captain.”
“You look amazing tonight by the way.” He said getting serious.
“Thanks.” I replied as I felt my cheeks turning pink again and my stomach did back flips.
Then we joined in the conversation with the others while we waited for everyone else to show up.

About an hour later everyone had shown up and like I thought I was stuck in the kitchen with the girls feeling uncomfortable while Logan was in the living room with the guys playing Rock Band and having a good time. Eventually as the night went on we all ended up in the living room which made me feel more comfortable to be around the guys, although I did really like Vero and Mel. The guys wanted to have a Rock Band tournament and of course I was the only girl who wanted to play.

“So how are we going to pick teams?” Kris asked while everyone looked at him puzzled.
“I can get a pen, paper, and a bag and you guys can draw three names at a time to decide teams.” Vero suggested.
“That’s an awesome idea babe”, Marc said, “that’s some good thinking right there.”
Everyone laughed at this while Vero pecked him on the cheek and went off to find what we needed.

When she came back we all wrote our names down, probably not the best since we were all pretty buzzed at this point, and put them in the bag. Vero volunteered to pull the names out and announce the teams.

“O.K. everyone pay attention”, Vero yelled as we all fell silent, “team one consists of Sid, Army, and Bugsy. Team two is Brooke, Max, and Jordan. Team three is Logan, Marc, and Kris which leaves Ryan, Tyler, and Geno as team four.”
“So how should we go about doing this?” Logan asked.
“I guess we’ll do it elimination style”, Marc answered, “we’ll all play the same song and the team that does the worse will get eliminated.”
“Yeah and we’ll repeat that three times until there’s only one winner.” Colby said.
“Alright peeps let’s get started!” Max yelled as he came and stood next to me and put his arm around me.
“Hey, don’t hog our gorgeous teammate.” Jordan said as he came and stood on the other side of me and wrapped his arm around me too.
I could hear whispering going on behind us but I wrapped my arms around their waists and we started making fun of the other teams. We all took a couple shots of liquor before starting and I was feeling pretty drunk.
“Alright team one let’s get this party started.” Bugsy yelled. Team one went with Sid on guitar, Colby on drums, and Ryan singing. Then it was our turn. We had decided that Max would sing, Jordan would play guitar, and I would play the drums.

“Come on beautiful you hit those drums.” Max yelled.
“Yeah you show them sexy.” Jordan screamed.
All I could do was laugh until I felt something hit the back of my head.

“What the hell?” I yelled as I turned around to see a purse on the floor.
“I’m sorry it slipped.” Brianne said with a smug look on her face. Everyone fell silent watching us like they couldn’t believe it was happening.
“Oh yeah I’m sure it was.” I snapped back.
“Well I hope you don’t think you can walk in here and flirt with our boyfriends and expect us to do nothing about it. Especially since Heather is not even here to see what’s going on and you’re doing it with my boyfriend right in front of my face.”
“Wow, we were just carrying on there’s nothing more than that and I’m sorry but if you really think that was flirting than you’re crazier than I thought you were.”
“How about you say that out by the door?”
“Gladly.” I said as we both slammed down our drinks and headed for the door. I had never gotten in a fight before but this girl pushed my buttons like nobody else ever has. I guess we were going to see if I could handle myself.

Chapter 6

I found myself to be tossing and turning and not being able to fall asleep. I had just settled down in a comfortable position when I heard my phone beep signaling that I had just received a text message. When I looked at my alarm clock it read 4:13am. A feeling of panic washed over me. ‘Who could be texting me at this time in the morning?’ I thought to myself. I hurried out of bed and grabbed my phone off of the night stand. I felt cold when I saw that the text was from Chelsea. The text read:

‘Hey get on MSN tomorrow when you wake. Amber said she told you so I just want to explain myself, OK?’

I texted her back a quick ‘fine’ and crawled back in bed. I knew that this was going to be a very sleepless night. I managed to fall asleep at around 7am and when I woke up my clock read 2:47pm. ‘Oh I cannot believe it’s so late’ I groaned to myself as I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. After getting out of the shower I put my hair in a messy bun and ran downstairs to see what my online conversation had in store for me.

“It’s about time you crawled out of bed.” Logan said.
“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” I replied.
“You’re not seriously going to let that asshole and you’re so called friend get to you like this are you?” he asked.
“Well it’s not that easy to just forget about,” I said while warming up some of the leftover Chinese food, “besides I got a text message from her at like quarter after 4 last night saying she knows Amber told me and she wants to explain herself to me, so that had me thinking for a while.”
“I can understand that but you’re better off anyway, I never did like him. And you do know that I’m here if you want to talk.”
“I know you are, thanks Logan.”

With that I signed online and sure enough Chelsea was online waiting for me.

Chelsea~N~Mitchell: Hey there I was starting to think you weren’t going to get online.
BrookeC: I slept in.
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: So you were talking to Amber I hear.
BrookeC: Yeah she called me yesterday.
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: Brooke I never meant for you to get hurt but I’ve always had a thing for Mitchell.
BrookeC: Is that supposed to make it OK?
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: I don’t see why not, you knew I liked him when you started dating him.
BrookeC: That is such a lie. If I knew I wouldn’t have done it. Besides we were all like 14, nobody was serious about it back then.
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: But still, I really had a crush on him then and it never went away. And I had to see you guys together all the time.
BrookeC: It didn’t seem to bother you since you always had boyfriends too.
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: You know what, I only came on here to apologize to you because I felt bad.
BrookeC: I don’t need your guilt, sorry.
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: Brooke I do still think of you as a best friend and Mitchell do still care about you.
BrookeC: Clearly. I have to go I have school to get ready for tomorrow. Hope you and Mitchell are happy together.

Then I signed off and noticed that Logan was sitting behind me and reading the entire thing.

“Did I go too hard on her?” I asked.
“Are you serious?” he replied, “I was expecting it to be worse than that.”
“Well there was no point in being too hard on her; I mean there’s nothing I could have said to change the way things happened.”
“You’re right but if it was me I would’ve been a lot meaner to her.”
“I just want to forget any of this ever happened.”
“I think that would be a good idea. Now do you want to hear what Sidney Crosby had to say about you?”
“Is it good or bad?” I asked beginning to feel a little nervous.
“Well it would be good for you but bad for me.”
“Why would it be bad for you?”
“Because you’re like my big sister and I don’t want to know that guys are thinking about you like that.”
“Oh, well now I’m starting to feel embarrassed already, but go ahead anyway.”
“OK well at first he didn’t really say much besides agreeing with the guys when they said you were hot”, he said with a grin on his face, “Then when the crowd left and it was just me with him, Jordan, and Max he started asking more questions about you.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Just simple questions like wanting to know where you were from, how old you were, what you were doing in Pittsburgh, and if you had a boyfriend. So after he asked about a boyfriend and I told him no he smiled and said that it was cool. Well after that Max and Jordan gave him a hard time and made fun of him up until we walked in through the door and saw how upset you were.”
“Well that’s not really too exciting, he was just asking to try to get to know me better.”
“I’m not done yet.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“After you came back we all noticed that he was staring at you basically all night, which is why Max winked at him when he said that Pittsburgh guys were better. Then after you went to bed they started teasing him some more. Max even said he should have went upstairs to ‘comfort’ you which thankfully Sid said he wouldn’t be able to do. So then he started going on and on about how you had to be the prettiest girl he’s ever seen and how funny and cool you seemed and he was hoping that he could get to know you better.”
“Well I don’t really know what to say about that.”
“Yeah and I thought they were great so I’m probably going to be hanging out with them a lot so they all said you should come along with us when we hang out too.”
“I think I would enjoy that, they seem like they’re a fun bunch of guys.”
“Yeah that’s what I’m thinking too. Just try not to act funny around Sid because I wasn’t supposed to tell you any of the stuff they were saying about you.”
“I promise I will not let them know you mentioned anything about it to me.”
“OK that’s good. I was kind of worried at first. Anyway I’m starving let’s get something to eat.”

We both got off our couches and cooked supper although it was 8 in the night. We then watched some T.V. and went to bed. We were both nervous because school started the next day and neither one of us knew what to expect.

Chapter 5

When I turned around I had four sets of eyes staring back at me. I hurried to wipe my eyes and cheeks clean from all the tears in the hopes that neither or them noticed.

“Hey Logan,” I said shakily, “I thought I was supposed to come and pick you up when you were done.”
“They were still really busy so they said they’ll call me and reschedule so Max, Sid, and Jordan offered to bring me home so I wouldn’t disturb you,” Logan answered, “we brought Chinese food for us all.”
“I’m not really hungry, what happened to the rest of you guys?” I asked.
“They all went home with their girlfriends but we made plans with Logan instead.” Max said staring at me.
“I’m sorry this might be out of line but are you OK? You clearly look like you’ve been crying.” Sid said sounding like he was concerned.
“Yeah we can leave if you want to be alone.” Jordan offered.
I managed to form a little smile. “No that’s fine you guys stay here as long as you want, I’m going to head out for a little walk or something.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Logan asked.
“No I just want to be alone to clear my head for a while,” I answered, “Thanks though.”

He just nodded his head as I put on my coat and boots on and headed out the door. All I could think about was how much I was hurting right now as I turned the corner and saw a park bench. I was sitting there for about an hour lost in my thoughts when I was interrupted by my stomach trying to talk to me. “OK time to go home.” I thought to myself. I didn’t notice that Jordan’s SUV was still there in my driveway and when I walked in through the door I tripped over a pair of boots and fell to the floor with a loud thump.

“Son of a bitch.” I said as I pulled myself off the floor. When I looked I saw Logan, Max, Sid, and Jordan staring at me and trying to hold in their laughter. “You guys suck.” I said as a little grin spread across my face.

With that they all exploded into laughter along with myself.
“So are you ready to eat now, we’re starving?” Sid asked.
“You guys didn’t have to wait for me you know.” I replied feeling a little bad.
“Well Logan said you wouldn’t be gone long before you had to turn around and come back before getting lost.” Jordan said while chuckling.

Logan just gave me a smile as I threw my purse at his head and missed. Then we warmed up the food and sat around and ate it while watching some T.V. After we had eaten the conversation came that I had been hoping to avoid.

“So what was wrong earlier when we came home?” Logan asked.
“Yeah you seemed devastated,” Max said sincerely.

So I explained to them the phone call from Amber and what she told me about Mitchell all while I was fighting back tears.

“Wow, that guy seems like a real jackass. I mean he could’ve at least told you.” Max said.
“I know I figured he would’ve at least given me that, especially since he’s dating one of my best friends.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you, some guys can be really stupid.” Sid replied.
“I know, thanks guys.” I said half smiling and wondering why Logan hadn’t said anything. He and Mitchell never really did get along because Logan didn’t think he was good enough for me. I never really paid attention to that because he always was way too overprotective of me.
“I’m going to make a special trip home and I’m going to kick his ass,” Logan said the anger evident in his voice, “I always said he was bad news but nobody ever believed me. Oh he’s going to hear it from me. I’ll get his number from Amber and I’ll call and talk to him myself.”
“Logan calm down it’s going to be fine. It’s hard now but at least I don’t have to see them together you know, so that should make it easier.” I stated trying to seem stronger than I felt.
“Besides Logan, Pittsburgh guys are much better anyway.” Max said jokingly winking at Sid causing Sid to turn a slight shade of red while the other guys laughed at him. I didn’t really understand why and decided that I probably would be better off not knowing so I just shrugged it off.

“So, why did the rest of the guys go with their women and you guys stuck around with this loser?” I asked jokingly as I nodded my head towards Logan who just gave me a smile.
“Well my girlfriends had work tonight and Jordan’s girlfriend had to head back to Ontario,” Max answered, “and poor Sid is a lonely soul.” he said while laughing.
“Yeah I just broke up with a crazy one so I am going to be a little more cautious this time,” Sid stated matter-of-factly.
“Well you guys I’m sorry but I’m exhausted so I’m going to head upstairs to bed. Make yourselves at home and stay as long as you want,” I said, “goodnight guys.”
As I headed upstairs there were a chorus of goodnights and sweet dreams directed to me. I smiled to myself, brushed my teeth and crawled into bed. While I tried to sleep I heard them whispering downstairs and found myself wondering what they were talking about.

Chapter 4

As I pulled into the driveway my cell phone began going off. When I looked at the caller ID Logan’s number was on the display.

“Are you serious, I like just left there.” I answered.
“That’s no way to talk to your favorite cousin, like a brother to you since you were 14 years old,” he shot back with a laugh. “Besides someone else wanted me to call you so they could talk to you.”
“Oh yeah and who might that be?”
“Hello,” a French accent rang through my speaker.
“Umm, hi.” I answered back.
“This is Max Talbot, one of the guys from the baseball team you met earlier,” he said with a chuckle.
“Oh I’m never going to live that one down am I?”
“It’s not likely. Logan hasn’t stopped talking about it since you left.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him you told me that. What’s he doing stalking you guys anyway, isn’t he supposed to be training.”
“Well the place is pretty crowded here now so it’s too busy here for him right yet so he has to wait until some people leave and well all of our girlfriends left and we saw him sitting by himself and recognized him as the guy who tried to take out Staalsy so we had to come give him a rough time.”
“Oh don’t be too hard on him he’s always been quite clutzy.”
“That’s funny he said you were the clumsy one and he’s surprised you weren’t the one to bump into one of us.”
“Well it’s nice to know you guys are having a bonding session over my expense.” I replied with a little giggle.
“Anyway, I just wanted to apologize to you about the way Brianne acted towards you earlier. She’s actually a very sweet person once you get to know her and well when she thinks you’re not trying to steal her boyfriend, which is me by the way.”
“Yeah I kind of figured that since you’re the one calling and apologizing and I would never try to steal a girl’s boyfriend trust me. But it’s fine I can understand her being so protective since I’m sure you guys have girls throwing themselves at you all the time.”
“Well imagine we do, a strapping young bunch of guys such as us,” he replied laughing. I could hear the rest of the guys chuckling and agreeing with him in the background. “And I wanted to make sure it was still possible to turn you into a Pens fan.”
“It’s possible but it’s highly unlikely. No offense or anything I’m just not that big of a sports fan.”
“Yeah that’s what Logan said, but we like a challenge. Here’s Logan again, it was nice talking to you.”
With that Logan was back on the phone. “Isn’t this unbelievable, I’m passing time with the Pittsburgh Penguins.”
“Yeah that’s great for you but it’s not going to be so great when I see you.” I replied laughing and hung up my phone.

As I hung up the phone and lay back on the couch I realized that I just had a phone conversation with a famous hockey player and how jealous my father and brother were going to be when I told them. Then I realized that Logan was hanging out with a bunch of famous guys and apparently telling them embarrassing things about me. Just as I was thinking about ways I could pay him back I heard my computer and realized that somebody had messaged me on MSN.

NewfieCutie: Hey Brooke, how’s the big move going?

It was one of my best friends, Amber, messaging me. We had been inseparable since we were 3 years old and I realized this was the first time I had been away from any of my family and friends.

BrookeC: It’s going pretty well. We’re pretty much settled in now and Logan has
actually started work today.
NewfieCutie: Really, that’s awesome for him, where’s he working?
BrookeC: It’s a Starbucks coffee place.
NewfieCutie: Wow, good for him. Listen I have something kind of important to tell you
so can I have your number so we can actually talk about it. I actually have
some bad news and surprising news.
BrookC: Yeah no problem.
As I typed in my number I had a feeling of worry wash over me wondering what the bad news could be and hoping everything was OK. Just as I was thinking this my phone rang.

“Hello,” I answered.
“Hey hun,” Amber responded.
“What’s up? Is everyone OK you kind of have me worried here.”
“Everyone’s fine it’s just some new happenings you should probably hear about.”
“OK shoot.” I said as I sighed with relief.
“Well I’m going to tell you the surprising news first. So I found out that Jared and I are going to have a baby.”
“Oh my God Ambie! When did this happen?” I was shocked.
“Well I’ve been feeling pretty sick for the last month or so and I wasn’t getting any better so mom said I should go get checked out. So I went and the doctor ran a few tests and apparently I’m 3 months pregnant.”
“Oh wow, I mean this is great news but I’m shocked. I know you guys will do great but I am, I’m shocked.”
“So were we believe me, especially our parents.”
“Oh I didn’t even think of that, how’d they take it?”
“Well, they were all kind of disappointed at first since we’re both so young and not finished college yet, but they’ll be fine. I mean it’s not like it was planned but we’re going to take care of the baby and finish school and everything is going to be fine.”
“I have no doubt that you guys are going to be no less than perfect.”
“Now for the bad news, are you ready for it?”
“Yeah I think so.” I answered nervously.
“It’s about Mitchell.

I could feel myself go cold. Mitchell had been the love of my life since I was 13 and he was the only reason that I wanted so desperately to stay at home. We had broken up the day that Logan and I left for Pittsburgh. It was probably the hardest thing I had to do. We were both crying and didn’t want to let each other go but we knew there was no chance in making it work. We really didn’t even know the next time we were going to see each other.

“Brooke, are you still there?” I heard Amber ask.
“Oh yeah sorry, I just kind of zoned off when you said his name, is he OK?”
“He is. Brooke, I’m really sorry to tell you this but Mitchell and Chelsea started dating two days after you left.”
“Mitchell and Chelsea, as in my ex-boyfriend ,Mitchell, and one of my best friends, Chelsea.” I said as I felt my eyes fill up with tears.
“Yeah that would be them. I am so sorry but I felt I should tell you since neither one of them were going to.”
“What do you mean neither one of them were going to?”
“Well when I saw them out I went up and asked what the hell they were doing and how they were going to have the heart to tell you and they both said you were far enough away that you wouldn’t find out so they weren’t going to tell you. So I told them I would tell you because you had a right to know.”
“Yeah I do appreciate you telling me,” I said through tears, “even though it was really hard to hear. I cannot believe this. I mean I knew we were both going to move on I just didn’t think it would be so fast. And with one of my best friends from school makes it that much worse.” As I said this I could hear someone yelling out to Amber.
“Listen hun I have to go,” she said, “you’re too good for all of this and I really hope you feel better soon.”
“Thanks Ambie that means a lot.”

With that we hung up the phone. I sat down on the couch and just broke down. I couldn’t wrap my head around what I had just heard. I couldn’t believe how much this news had hurt me. I was now crying uncontrollably so I didn’t bother to wipe away the many tears that were streaming down my face. I then heard the door click and was surprised at who was standing there.