The Girl Next Door Chapter 26

The three of them went to the mall, since there was nowhere else to go. Kate had found that since the guys had practice in the mornings, they went shopping a lot in the afternoons, not buying a lot, but just for something to do. The mall was crowded, but thankfully no one recognized Sidney except for one woman who was there with her two sons, and she just asked for an autograph. They had fun together, and both of them were ready to play again tomorrow. While they were out, Kate got a call from her mom, just checking up on her.
“Hey Mom,” Kate said.
“Hi Kate,” her mom said back. “How’s everything?”
“Great,” Kate said, smiling. “We’re having fun. When’s dinner?”
“Six thirty,” her mom said. “You know, if you want to bring Sid and Colby, that’s fine. I’m sure Colby doesn’t want to eat dinner all by himself in his hotel room.”
“You’re probably right,” she said. “Wait, did they realize who Sid was yet?”
“Not yet,” Sarah said. “They probably won’t.”
Kate laughed, realizing her mom was right.
“Hold on Mom, I’ll ask them,” Kate said. “Hey you guys, you wanna come over for dinner tonight? My annoying relatives are here, but we can eat in another room if we have to.”
“Sounds great,” they said.
“Anything’s better than eating in my hotel room,” Colby said.
“They’re coming Mom,” Kate said into her phone.
“Great, six thirty Katie,” her mom said.
“Great,” she said. “I’ve gotta go, I’ll see you at dinner.”
Kate hung up her phone, and the three of them decided to go to Colby’s hotel so he could check in, and then head back to Sewickley for dinner.
*****
“Kate, glad to see you made it back for dinner,” Megan said, and Kate ignored her.
“Everybody!” Kate loudly said above the chatter in the front hall. “This is another friend of mine, Colby. Colby, this is my aunt Megan, uncle Jack, and my two cousins, Mary and Andrew. You already know my family.”
“Nice to meet you guys,” Colby said, shaking everyone’s hands.
“Well, you three relax, dinner won’t be ready for about thirty minutes,” Kate’s mom announced.
“We’ll be in the basement,” Kate told her mom.
The three of them walked down to the basement, and flipped on the TV.
“You guys want something to drink?” Kate asked.
“Could I have a beer?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said. “Just don’t let my aunt and uncle see you with it, they probably think you’re my age. They still believe I live in a bubble, and that I don’t have friends older than me.”
The three of them laughed, because on the way, Kate had told them how naïve her relatives were.
“Sid?” she asked.
“I’ll have a Pepsi,” he said in reply.
Kate walked over to the fridge, and fished out two Pepsis and a beer. She walked back and gave them their drinks. The three of them sat on the couch, and Colby was cracking jokes the entire time. Kate and Sidney nearly had tears in their eyes because he was so funny. He was telling stories about the minors, and how on one horrible bus trip the heating went out, there was ice on the windows, and how Shane Endicott was barfing because he was so sick. Eventually, the three of them were called up to dinner.
*****
They made it through dinner; Kate’s relatives were surprisingly quiet and not nosy. They just chatted with Sidney and Colby, not asking them what they did for a living, where they went to school, nothing like that. After dinner, they hung out for a little bit, and then Sidney took Colby back to his hotel. They had had a great time, hanging out just like they had only a couple of months before. She told them she’d see them tomorrow after the game.
*****
“Your friends were nice, Kate,” Jack told her after Sidney and Colby left.
“Thanks,” she replied, glad her relatives finally said something nice. “They’re great guys; they’re good friends of mine.”
There was a pause, and suddenly Jack asked a question.
“Kate, was that Sidney Crosby over here for dinner?” Jack asked.
“You just figured that out?” Kate asked, laughing.
“You can’t be serious Katie,” he said. “You’re friends with Sidney Crosby?”
“Ya, we’re good friends,” she told him. “I told you that we met him right when he got here. We’ve been hanging out, he’s a nice guy.”
“Megan! Get in here!” Jack called out to the kitchen, where Megan was.
“What is it Jack?” she asked him.
“Do you realize who that was that was here for dinner?” he asked.
“Some boys named Sidney and Colby, so what?” she asked him.
“That was Sidney Crosby, I didn’t realize it until just now!” he exclaimed.
“I would never have realized,” she told him. “Why didn’t you say anything Katie?”
“Sid tries to keep a low profile,” Kate explained. “If I had told you his last name, you would have peppered him with hockey questions the rest of the night.”
“She does have a point,” Jack said. “I’m just surprised I didn’t realize it!”
“Katie? That Colby boy, does he play hockey too?” Megan asked.
“Yep, he just got called up from the Baby Pens,” she explained. “Sidney and I picked him up at the airport today. His name’s Colby Armstrong.”
“We had two NHLers over here for dinner and didn’t realize it?” Jack asked himself. “I can’t believe it. How old is Colby?”
“Twenty-three,” she said, smiling.
And with that, before her aunt and uncle could say anything about her hanging out with boys too old for her, she got up, and walked up to her room to watch TV.