The Girl Next Door Chapter 2

“Hi Katie!” Mario’s son, Austin, said.
“Hey, Austin,” Kate said. “How are you?”
“Good,” Austin said. “Sidney’s here!”
“That’s what I heard,” Sarah said.
“Come in!” Austin said, obviously very excited.
So, they went inside the house, and closed the door behind them. After they closed the door, they saw Mario and Nathalie.
“Hey, Tom and Sarah,” Mario and Nathalie said, greeting the Hansons.
“Hi, Mario. Hi, Nathalie,” they replied.
“Kate, Neal,” Mario said, greeting them as well. “How was your vacation?”
“Oh, same old, same old, Mario,” Neal replied. “Just time with the relatives.”
“How’s Allison?” Nathalie asked, asking about Neal’s girlfriend of three years.
“Good,” Neal said with a smile. “She’s coming out here in a couple of weeks to stay with us before we go back to school.”
“Katie,” Mario said, “how’s everything with you?”
“Pretty good,” Kate said. “Just work, hanging out and stuff before senior year starts!”
“Excited?” Mario and Nathalie asked.
“Very,” Kate replied, smiling. “I’m probably more excited about the hockey season starting though, both my team and the Pens.”
“I’m ready too,” Mario said, very excited. “Well, why don’t you guys come on into the kitchen? Speaking of the Pens, there’s someone I want you all to meet.”
They started to walk towards the kitchen, chit-chatting along the way. When they were about to reach the kitchen, Mario called out,
“Sidney?”
“Ya, Mario?” a voice called back.
“The people I was telling you about, the Hanson’s, are here.”
They walked into the kitchen, and saw a boy stand up from his chair, and turn around.
*****
When Kate saw Sidney for the first time, in person, she held her breath for a second. He looked straight at her, and she at him, for what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a second.
“Tom, Sarah,” Mario said, “this is Sidney Crosby.”
“We kind of knew that already,” Tom said, laughing a little bit. Everybody joined in for the little laugh, except for Mario’s children, who were out on the deck.
“Sidney, this is Tom and Sarah Hanson,” Mario said, after the laughter died down.
“Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Hanson,” Sidney said politely, shaking their hands.
“Oh please, call us Tom and Sarah,” Sarah insisted.
“This is their son, Neal,” Mario said.
“Nice to meet you, Sidney” Neal said.
“You too,” Sidney said.
“And this is their daughter, Kate,” Nathalie said.
“Nice to meet you,” Kate said, smiling.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Sidney said, also smiling.
They shook hands, and then conversation started up again.
“So,” Nathalie started, “who wants something to drink?”
“I’ll take something,” Kate said.
The others nodded in agreement.
“Let me see what we have up here,” Nathalie said, making her way to the fridge.
“We don’t have much up here,” she said. “Kate, could you show Sidney the way to the fridge in the basement to get us some beer and soda?”
“Sure, no problem,” Kate said, smiling, starting to walk towards the hallway to get to the basement stairs.
“I’ll start with the wine your parents brought,” Nathalie said.
“Me too,” Sarah said.
So, Kate and Sidney left the kitchen, and that’s when they started talking.
“So,” Sidney said, “you live next door, right?”
“Ya,” Kate replied, “we’ve lived there since I was five.”
“Making you?” Sidney asked.
“Almost eighteen,” Kate replied. “Next month.”
“Are you in college?” Sidney asked, a little shy tone to his voice.
“No,” Kate said, “I’m a senior at Sewickley Academy, right down the street. All of Mario’s kids go there, too.”
“That’s what he told me,” Sidney said. “You like it there?”
“It’s nice,” Kate said. “A little too stuffy for me, but I’m used to it. I can’t wait until I go to college though.”
“Is your brother in college?” Sidney asked. “He seems a lot older.”
“He’s almost twenty-two,” Kate replied. “He’ll be a senior at Ohio State this year.”
“Cool,” Sidney said.
There was an awkward silence between the two of them as they reached the fridge in the basement.
“So,” Sidney said as he opened the refrigerator, “what will everyone want?”
“Well,” Kate said, “the kids are gonna want Coke, so we’ll grab a few of those. Mario and my dad will want some Yuengling, and I’ll take a Pepsi.”
“Same here,” Sidney said. “You take the Cokes, and I’ll grab the beer and Pepsis.”
So, they grabbed the drinks, closed to fridge, and started to walk back upstairs.
“Mario mentioned to me before you came over that you played hockey,” Sidney said.
“Ya,” Kate replied, “I’ve been playing since I was five.”
“Wow,” Sidney said in awe, “that’s a long time. I’ve been playing on ice since then too.”
“I love it so much,” Kate said. “It’s so much fun. I play on a rec team now, out at Neville Island. I could play up a level, but if I did, it would completely rule my life. I wouldn’t be able to go to Penguins games all the time.”
“You go to a lot of the games?” Sidney asked.
“We have season tickets,” Kate said, smiling, “about six rows behind the Pens bench.”
“That’s awesome,” Sidney said.
“It’s fun,” Kate said. “I love the Penguins, I can’t wait for this season. I missed them so much!”
They closed the door to the basement, and walked into the kitchen.
“We’re back,” Sidney said.
“Great, thanks,” Nathalie said. “Everybody! Drinks are here!”
Everybody came back into the kitchen from the deck, and grabbed what they wanted. As Kate had suspected, all of Mario’s kids (Austin, Alexa, Lauren, and Stephanie), all took Cokes. Neal also took one. Mario and Tom got their beers, and Kate and Sidney picked up their Pepsis. Everybody headed out to the deck, where Mario was starting the grill.
“So, Sidney,” Tom said, “what do you think about Pittsburgh so far?”
“It’s great,” he replied, smiling and taking a quick glance at Kate, who was sitting next to him. “It’s really big compared to Cole Harbour. But I haven’t had much time to look around. I got a tour around the city after I got in, and came right here.”
“We’ve lived here for twenty-three years,” Tom said. “We like it, there’s a lot to do.”
“That’s what I’ve been told,” Sidney said. “I’m excited to be here. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
They kept talking, and before Mario had dinner ready (hamburgers, corn on the cob, the usual cookout food), Nathalie asked Kate a question.
“Kate,” she said, “do you have any plans for Wednesday night?”
“No,” Kate said.
“Would you like to baby-sit for us?” Nathalie said. “We have a benefit to go to, and we’d like to have you baby-sit, teach Sidney the ropes.”
“Sounds good,” Kate said. “What time?”
“Is 6 o’clock okay?” she asked.
“Sure,” Kate said.
“Okay,” Nathalie said.
All of them kept talking to each other. Neal and Kate were talking to Sidney, Mario’s kids were playing in the backyard, and the adults were talking to each other. When Neal went inside to get another drink, Kate and Sidney kept talking, non-stop, about everything, until dinner.
“Who wants food?” Mario asked. “Come and get it!”