Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Girl Next Door Chapter 28

The next three weeks went by in a blur. Kate was busy with hockey, and so was Sidney. He had survived the media storm while he played in Canada, and kept denying that he had a girlfriend. Kate and Sidney were doing well together, and kept talking on the phone a lot whenever he was traveling. Sidney had done well in Canada, and he got to spend some time with his family. While he was gone, Kate finally got her own car (a used, but nice and only two years old, Honda Accord, which was big enough for her to keep carpooling for hockey practice). One Saturday in January, when the Penguins were playing at home, they had their required morning skate at the Island Sports Center, and Kate had a hockey game that same day. Sidney told Kate that he’d stop by to watch her, since they did not take the team bus that day, and he could do as he pleased. Sure enough, at the beginning of the last period, Sidney walked into the rink, and grabbed a spot on the bleachers. Kate waved up to him from the ice, since she was starting the period (she played left wing).
“Go Kate!” he yelled out, at which Kate started laughing.
She took her spot for the face-off, and after the puck was dropped, and she skated to the opposing team’s end, she heard more voices.
“Ya, Kate!” Colby shouted out towards her.
“Ya twenty-five!” Maxime called out, calling out her number.
You have got to be kidding me, Kate said to herself.
She caught a pass, and shot it towards the goal, but it was blocked.
“That’s alright Katie!” Michel shouted. “You’ll get ‘em next time!”
Kate’s shift ended, and she skated back to the bench.
“Got a fan club Katie?” her teammate Andrew asked her jokingly.
“Apparently so,” she told him, laughing. “I knew Sidney was coming, but not the others.”
“Wow,” he said back. “All those Pens! You friends with all of them?”
“Yep,” Kate told him. “Since Sid and I are friends, I’ve gotten to be friends with all of them.”
Kate went out for her next shift a minute and a half later, and heard even more cheers. Colby held up a piece of paper that said, “Go Kate!” and more of the players came in to watch.
“Let’s go Katie!” Marc-Andre yelled out.
“Come on Kate!” Ryan Whitney yelled.
All of a sudden, Kate went on a breakaway, and it was one-on-one with the goalie. She faked once, and then took her shot, the puck easily getting into the net. Kate raised her hands up in the air and cheered, as her team had a 3-0 lead.
“Ya Kate!!!” all of them yelled, giving each other high-fives, and Colby waved his sign.
Kate pointed her stick up towards them, and started laughing.
Kate’s team ended up winning the game 4-0, with Kate scoring another goal, and her team stayed undefeated. After the game, Kate told her teammates she’d see them Tuesday for practice, and she headed off the ice into the stands.
“You guys,” she told them, laughing.
“Well Kate,” Michel began, “you’re always cheering for us at our games, so we decided to do the same for you.”
“Aww, thanks you guys,” she told them, giving them each a hug.
“Geez, Kate,” Colby exaggerated. “We just showered!”
“Deal with it,” she joked back. “I have to get sweaty hugs from him,” she pointed at Sidney, “all the time!”
They chatted for a few more minutes, and Kate told them she needed to go clean up, and that she’d see all of them tonight. She thanked them again, told Sidney she’d see him when she got back home, and headed towards her locker room.

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