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.