Chapter One

September 2005

“So your mom’s been on your case about taking the SAT’s?”
“Yeah, and it’s bothering the crap out of me. I took the practice test last year and I didn’t do bad, but it’s almost as if you need to be Bill Gates in order to figure out what answer to put down.”
“Glad I never had to go through that..” Abby replied as we looked through the clothing rack in Bebe. Looked as in Abby bought anything she liked and I just stared at the clothing wishing I could actually afford it.
“Aren’t you lucky..” I grumbled.
“Rachel, you’re a smart girl. You’d get into college without even taking the SAT’s.”
“If only that were true. I don’t even know where I wanna go yet. My dad’s been asking me about college since eighth grade.”
“Well, what do you wanna do?”
“Well, I’d really love to do something with music -”
“You should totally audition for American Idol! You’d have Simon on his knees begging for you to serenade him!”
I looked at her weird, “Okay..that’s not going to happen.”
“Come on, Rach! I know you can sing! You have a hell of a voice that has Mariah Carey running for her money!”
Try telling this all to my mother, I thought.“I was thinking along the lines of music therapy.”

You see, my mom and I have been fighting about what career I want to choose for me lately. Music has always been such a huge part of my life. Not only did I sing, but I also have been playing the piano for years now. When no one’s home, I let all my emotions out whether good or bad. I also have begun writing my own songs based on past experiences. Boys, friends, family, etc. Nothing was left hidden between me and my diary of music. But whenever I even mentioned the word ‘music’ in my career, my mom immediately rejected the idea.
“You’re not the next Britney Spears,” she would say.
I sure hope not the way she’s heading down her life, I thought. “Mom, I don’t want fame and all of that. I just want to help other people out with a gift that I love.”
“You can do that through teaching. You’d be helping out students everyday by teaching them everything they need to know in order to succeed in life.”
Great, a school teacher. Not that I didn’t oppose the idea, but I know how kids can be to teachers. I’m not gonna lie, whenever there’s a substitute, I join in the usual pranks and think it’s hilarious. But then I end up feeling guilty about it and realize that that could be me in the next six years.

“That sounds like a career you could convince your mom of,” Abby replied as she held up a top that looked like only Lindsay Lohan could fit into. “Do you like this shirt? I think it would be great for clubbing!”
I just nodded and continued to look through the clothing rack.
“Remember that if you see something you like in any store that we go into, let me know and it’s yours.”
“Abby, I’m not gonna let you do that-”
“It’s your birthday for Pete’s sake! I’m supposed to buy you presents!”

Today was my sixteenth birthday. I have to admit, I am excited about going to get my permit so I can finally drive, but I didn’t like how everyone just threw presents at me. Sure, they were nice and I ended up liking them a lot, but I just feel guilty about people spending their money on me. I’m very independent and I don’t accept charity.
Abby pulled out a black halter dress, “This would look so cute for your birthday dinner tonight!” She shoved the dress at me, “Go try it on ..and if you look at the price tag, I’ll slap you.”

Not wanting to make a scene in the middle of the store, I obliged and went to a dressing room to try it on. When I finished putting the dress on, I actually liked myself in it. It fit my body perfectly and didn’t show any imperfections that I didn’t want to be showing. I opened the dressing room door for Abby to see and she immediately squealed in delight saying, “Damn, you’re sexy! It’s a winner!” Once I changed into my regular clothes again, we went to the register and Abby paid for my dress not accepting any arguments from me. Just as we walked out of the store, her cell phone rang.

“Hey, baby! … Yeah, we’re just shopping at the mall. I just bought Rach this cute dress for dinner tonight! ..What? I thought you were getting a ride home from Max ..What do you mean he needs to go suit shopping? It’s not like we’re eating with the President! ..Okay, all right, but only because I love you ..shut up. Okay, love you too, bye,” Abby said as she shut her phone. She sighed, “We have to go pick Ryan up from the arena. Max decided that he doesn’t have the right suit for your dinner tonight so he left Ryan looking for a ride home.”
“That’s fine with me. But exactly who is all coming to this dinner?” I asked. I had already celebrated with my family the night before because Ryan and Abby insisted on taking me out to dinner along with some of the guys from the team.
“Well there’s us, Max, Marc and V, Colby and Mel, and a couple of the other younger players from the team.”
I grunted as I hopped into the passenger seat as we drove off to the arena. It’s not that I didn’t want to hang out with any of them, it’s just that I felt like I didn’t know them as well as Abby and Ryan did. And now they were coming out to celebrate my birthday? It just felt weird to me.

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Mellon Arena and parked. We walked into the arena and headed towards the waiting area when all of a sudden, I got attacked with a kickball to my forehead.
“What the hell?!” I answered as I rubbed my forehead.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!” Colby screamed as he picked me up and spun me around as I protested for him to put me down. I hit him several times before he finally agreed to do so. “Damn, you hit like a girl,” he joked as he pouted at his right shoulder.
“You know, for it being my birthday, you’re being very mean to me,” I grinned at him.
“If I wasn’t mean to you, that means I wouldn’t like you. I always am a little rough with my friends, but it’s all out of fun. Although, I don’t think my new roommate on the road has gotten that yet..”
“What did you do to the poor boy now?” Abby asked as she rolled her eyes.
“All I did was-”
“Army, if you put shaving cream in my skates again, I swear I’ll take one of your hockey sticks and shove it up your-” he stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw that he had more than Colby as an audience.

So this was the talk of the town. I was finally going to meet Sidney Crosby. It wasn’t as if I already had my assumptions about him already, but that last comment had my eyebrows raising. Sure, I’ve heard a lot worse from the guys, but Sidney needed to work up to that level of insulting. I quickly eyed him from head to toe and ..wait, is he staring at me? I looked right into his hazel eyes, and we connected for a second before he quickly looked away realizing that I caught him.

Who did he think he was?

“Sid, you don’t threaten me at all! This is only the beginning of a B-E-A-utiful friendship!” Colby replied as he pulled Sidney next to him and had him in a quick head lock before Sidney jerked away. He then retreated back to my eyes again as I stared right back at him. If he wanted to play this game, then I wasn’t backing down.

Abby noticed our silent interaction with each other and smirked as she introduced us, “Sidney, have you met Rachel yet?”
He continued to stare at me until Colby waved his hand in front of his face, “Hellooo?? Is anyone alive in there?”
Sidney quickly stepped back into reality, “It’s nice to meet you, Rachel..” he replied as he offered his hand.
I looked at it almost afraid to touch it, but agreed to shake his hand. “You too.”
“Y’know, Sid, it’s Rachel’s birthday today-” Abby started, but was then cut off.
“Happy Birthday,” he breathed.
The three of us looked at Sidney as if he was nuts. I wasn’t sure if he was having an asthma attack or if he was just plain psychotic. He then blushed, but failed at trying to hide it. Man, this boy needed help.

“Abby, baby,” Ryan said as he entered the most awkward conversation alive. He kissed Abby and looked at the people around him. “Did I miss something?”
Colby looked at Abby, “Yeah, we were just telling Sid that it was Rachel’s birthday and that we’re all going out to celebrate tonight.”
Abby winked at Ryan and he immediately knew what the two of them were up to, “Oh yeah, you should join us Sid!”
“What?” Sidney and I responded at the same time both in shock of the invitation.
“Yeah, it’ll be a bunch of us young guys at this restaurant downtown. We’re just going to celebrate this young lady’s aging!” Ryan said as he looked at me with a smirk on his face.
Abby continued, “Yeah, we could drive you if you want.”
Are you people out of your minds?! I am NOT sitting in the same car with this lunatic!
Sidney responded, “That won’t be necessary. I have my own car here so I can just meet you guys there. What time?”
I cursed the Three Musketeers inside. I knew what they were up to and I didn’t like it at all. I would not be a puppeteer of their matchmaking game.
“7:00,” Ryan replied as he gave Sidney the address to the restaurant.
“Cool, thanks guys. I guess I better go get out of this nasty gear and get moving then,” Sid replied as he looked down at himself. He was still wearing his under armor and shorts from practice.
“Yeah, it usually helps making friends when you don’t smell like dog sweat,” I responded as I quickly covered up my mouth. Now, usually I could talk peacefully with people that I couldn’t get along with without any resentment said from me. So to say that I was completely horrified at what I had just said to Sidney was an understatement.
Colby, Ryan, and Abby looked at me with wide eyes. Sidney stood there shocked, but then chuckled, “You’re not the first person that’s told me I smell bad. But I promise I don’t smell like this all the time.” He then put out his hand for me to shake again, but I just looked down at it and back up into his eyes. I thought I saw hope in them, but he quickly got the hint that I wasn’t going to offer my hand anytime soon.
“I guess I’ll see you later tonight,” he said as he walked back into the locker room.

As soon as the doors shut, the three of them went crazy.
“Well that’s a way to meet someone!”
“I think you shot him down with your stare!”
“Did you see the way he was looking at you?! Man, he’s got it bad already and he doesn’t even know your last name.”
“Would you all shut up?!” I yelled. “Yes, I know that wasn’t one of my finest moments and I could have been nicer to him, but if you all weren’t trying to hook us up, maybe it wouldn’t have been that awkward!”
“Please,” Abby said, “he’s crazy about you! I bet you he’s sitting at his locker right now trying to figure out what the hell he did wrong to make you react that way! And I bet he’s also trying to figure out how to ask you out without being punched in the face!”
Colby replied, “Yeah, you may not like him, but he’s already writing your first name to his last name!”
“Colby..” I growled.
“Whoa,” Colby put his hands up, “don’t wanna set off the birthday girl.”
Ryan put his arm around my shoulders, “Just be nice to him, Rach. The least you could do is be a good friend. He doesn’t have many yet since he’s new here and he doesn’t need someone pushing him down.”
I sighed. I was pretty rude to him, and I did feel bad that he knew absolutely no one coming into this city. “All right, I will. Just don’t push us together, that’s all I’m asking.”
“Oh yeah, sure..” the three of them replied.

Somehow I didn’t believe them. The three of them started walking towards the exit so I followed them. I thought about the entire situation that had just occurred. To be honest, Sidney didn’t seem like a bad guy so far. He actually seemed pretty shy considering all the media that follows him around. I silently cursed myself for acting so foolish. He probably thought I was such a bitch now. I then decided to apologize to him at dinner ..that is, if he still decided to take up the offer.

Prologue

Hello everyone. This is my first story so any comments and suggestions are appreciated! Hope you enjoy the first chapter!

The inspiration: Stupid in Love - Rihanna.

July 30, 2005

“The first team to select in the 2005 NHL draft are the Pittsburgh Penguins.”

We all sat on the couch and stared at the television as we watched the general manager and Mario Lemieux walk up to the stage to announce who they have selected first.

As if we didn’t already know.

“LET’S GO PENS!” Ryan Malone shouted as he pumped his fist into the air.
“Would you calm down?” Abby asked. “I think they heard you in Montreal!”

“Baby, you have no idea how big of a deal this kid is to our team. He’s gonna put us back on the market and bring home a Cup for us!"
“The only Cup you’re bringing home anytime soon is the one you wear while you’re playing hockey so that it can look somewhat decent!” I joked with my friend. “Besides, I still don’t see the big deal about this guy.”
“You just wait and see..” Ryan responded as he threw a popcorn kernel at me from the bowl in his lap.

“..The Pittsburgh Penguins select from Rimouski Quebec Junior Major League: Sidney Crosby,” Craig Patrick announced as we watched Sidney hug an older man who I assumed was his father. He then proceeded to the stage and shook everyone’s hand.

All I had heard about this kid was basically that he was a hockey saint in Canada. Anything that involved a puck could not be said without his name being mentioned, and to be honest, it annoyed the crap out of me. So this guy can play hockey, so what? My sister can touch her nose with her tongue, and I don’t see her being recognized for her odd talent. Yet, Ryan and the rest of the guys from the team couldn’t stop talking about how this was going to be a huge change for them ..a good one that is.

I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Rachel Kenzington. I’m 15, and I just finished my sophomore year in high school. I’ve lived in Pittsburgh my whole life and was basically brought up to be a Penguins fan. I love hockey - it’s the only sport that I can really get into and have a full understanding at the same time. I loved the rush of the game; you can’t blink for one second without missing a beat. It also helps that one of my best friends plays for the team.

“Who wants to bet we win a Cup in the next 5 years?"

“You better stop yourself before you’re disappointed; he’s not even 18, Ryan,” Abby said.

Ryan and I met through my cousin, Jeff. They both played hockey together when they were in high school for their team. My family and I would always go to Jeff’s games to support him, so it wasn’t long before I was introduced to the character. Needless to say, Ryan and I clicked immediately. His sense of humor was kind of sick, but hilarious at the same time. It wasn’t long after that I was introduced to Abby, his girlfriend. Whenever my family couldn’t make it to a game, Abby would always invite me to tag along with her, and we quickly became friends. Jeff and I would often go out with them to dinner or even to the rink at the Iceoplex to attempt to teach me how to ice skate.

“Rachel, you can’t keep your feet apart like that or you’re going to fall,” Jeff would say as he would try his best to not laugh at me as I was holding onto the wall for life.
“I can’t help it! My feet have a mind of their own!”
“But you’re doing fine! Now, try to let go of the wall and skate towards me.”

I would try my best, and Jeff was only two feet away. However, I would soon find myself on the ice trying to get up quickly because my butt was frozen.

Jeff laughed as he held out his hands for me to stand up, “Rachel, you dance as if gravity can’t hold you down, but you can’t ice skate? How does that make sense?”
“Jeff, think of who you’re talking about here. What about Rachel DOES make sense?” Ryan joked as he and Abby skated over to us.
“You know, I’m not quite sure myself since I continue to hang out with YOU,” I said as I stood up and skated myself along the wall towards the exit of the ice rink.

Okay, so I can’t ice skate. I’ve admitted this many times and have refused to try in front of anyone else, including my group of friends. It’s just too embarrassing for me, and it’s not like I really need to learn how to. I have plenty of other hobbies of my own to keep me busy. I have danced ever since I was in preschool at a local dance studio. I made our competitive dance team in middle school and have been winning awards ever since for our group’s performances on tap, jazz, and lyrical. Dancing is one of my ways to just let my feelings out into music. The way it keeps me in shape isn’t a bad thing either.

But my main passion is singing. I always sing although it’s usually not in front of anyone except my reflection in the mirror. My parents didn’t even know I could sing until my church’s Christmas play in kindergarten when the music director gave me a solo. People were shocked at how such a strong voice came out of such a little girl. However, the attention from everyone scared me. I hated the feeling that everyone was watching me. Needless to say, I never really accepted another solo again. The music director even tried to get me involved with a singing group at Duquesne University which apparently was a HUGE deal for my age. However, my mother declined for me, claiming that she wanted me to choose how I wanted to live my life and that this type of singing would take up most of it.

So that’s what I’ve been doing. Living my life from day-to-day never knowing what part of my script is going to be written next. When Ryan and Jeff graduated from high school, they both went off to college. We would still get together as a group, but then Jeff started dating his girlfriend, Emma, who would eventually become his wife. The whole group kind of separated, but Ryan, Abby, and I would always hang out together. It gets kind of weird since I’m still in high school, but the way we act doesn’t make an age difference at all. The most exciting moment we’ve had was when Ryan was drafted to the Pittsburgh Penguins. You could not wipe the grin off the boy’s face for weeks. It was awesome to see my friend’s dreams becoming a reality, and I couldn’t help but be jealous. Ever since I was little, I’ve always dreamed of me performing on a stage for thousands of people screaming my name. The shy part of me would always get in the way, and I’m trying to accept that that dream will only be a dream.

Ryan began his first season in the NHL. I was surprised that he still wanted to keep our friendship alive. After his first home game, he brought me down to the locker room with Abby and introduced me to all of the guys. For some reason, I just felt so comfortable with them. They were like older brothers and fathers to me. I could easily joke with them and not feel judged at all. I was worried that they were going to think of me as a puck bunny, but there was no worrying about that. I was not interested in dating a hockey player. I don’t know how Abby deals with Ryan’s schedule of him being gone all the time. I think that would kill me. But she always says that love takes the wheel and you’re just along for the ride.

I’ve had my fair share of guys. I’ve only been in one real relationship. His name is Jake, and we’re in the same grade. We started dating in seventh grade, and as stupid as it sounds, I fell in love with him. He had this charm that would always win me over, and he knew how to treat a girl ..or so I thought. The beginning of my freshmen year, he dumped me because he “let this thing go too long and didn’t want to lead me on anymore.” In other words, I wouldn’t sleep with him, and the popular girl in school was going to give it to him. I was hurt and crushed for the first time in my life by a guy. So ever since then, I’ve kept my distance from guys. I’ve had many of them ask me out on a date or to our winter dance, but my guard always kept me from saying yes. I didn’t trust guys. They only had a girl on their mind until they accomplished their task and moved on to the next victim.

“Whoa, someone‘s got some junk in the trunk!” Abby pointed towards the TV as Sidney turned to put on his jersey.
“Wait a sec, mine’s not good enough?!” Ryan pouted.

“Honey, you know I think you have a good butt, but I’m pretty sure Sidney switched his with Jennifer Lopez’s.”

I had to laugh at this. But at the same time as I watched him pose for pictures on the stage, I couldn’t help but be nervous about him coming to Pittsburgh. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about him that I don’t like. Granted, I already think he’s most likely cocky for the hype that everyone has him living up to. If he thought he was gonna own this team, he was wrong. And I was going to make sure he didn’t ruin things for anyone on the team.

“Well, now that that’s over, we can watch Titanic,” Abby said as she got up to put the DVD in.

“You girls want to know what happens? The boat sinks, the end.”

“That’s not all, Ryan!” I yelled at him.

“Oh, come on! Leo DiCaprio has aged since this movie first came out, y’know! And who the hell loses a pair of binoculars on a ship!? Granted, they could have prevented the damn thing from colliding with the iceberg if they weren’t too busy watching the lovers make out below them! I would have had those two morons walk the plank before any of that happened!”
“Ryan, don’t you need to go practice or something?” Abby asked annoyed.
“Shit! I was supposed to meet Marc and Max at the rink an hour and a half ago!” he replied as he hurriedly ran around his house to gather his hockey equipment and called Marc-Andre Fleury.
“Dude, are you guys still there? .. Yes, I am aware of what time it is, I just got distracted by watching the draft…Yes, I’m coming…Yes…Would you stop speaking French?!” Ryan said as he quickly kissed Abby and messed up my hair as he walked out the door.

Abby and I looked at each other and just started laughing. As she pressed play on the DVD remote, she said, “Sometimes, I don’t know how I deal with that boy, but I love him enough to do so.”
“It’s never boring, that’s for sure,” I replied.
Abby rolled her eyes, “This is true. So have any guys come across your radar lately?”
I shook my head, “Nope, not interested in a relationship right now. Just trying to focus on myself.”
Abby looked at me like I had two heads, “I know you better than that. You have to get over the whole Jake thing. It’s been two years. Yeah, he ended up being an asshole, but there’s plenty of good guys out there, Rach.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait until one guy proves me wrong,” I said as I ate more popcorn from the bowl.
“Listen, you never know who you’re going to meet and when you’re going to meet them. You have to be open to people to get to know them at least. Who knows, you might already know the man you’re going to marry and you don’t even know it yet.”
“That’s kinda creepy..who in the world would I end up marrying?”
“Who knows? Maybe someone at your school, your church..one of the guys on the team..”
“Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.”
“Well, Max keeps trying to ask you out,” Abby smirked at me.
“Max asks out anything that has boobs and long legs and is a walking Playboy. I don’t think so.”
“This is true. Plus his age is a little off .. Say, what about Sidney? He’s close to your age; you guys are only two years apart.”
I gave her a crazy look, “Please, if he is who people say he is, I don’t plan on adding to his ego. I’m sure he already has girls swooning over him if he doesn’t already have a girlfriend.”
“I don’t know why you’re so against him. You haven’t even met him yet. He seems like a nice guy.”
“Yeah, well as long as he doesn’t come off as the King of the world..”
“Watch you two fall in love,” Abby joked as I pretended to gag. “Okay, okay, I get the point. You just never know..”

I ended the conversation by focusing on Jack Dawson as he saved Rose’s life by pulling her over from the other side of the ship. I wanted a love like that. Someone changing someone else’s mind about love and life for the better. I doubt there was a guy like that in the world for me, especially Sidney. I wasn’t about to take any chances with this kid and become another name to his list of girls.

I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid.