Chapter 8-How I Feel

I wake up the next morning around ten and grab a little something to eat and then head to the gym. I think about what’s going on between Jordan and Heather, but I don’t want to think about it too much because I know he doesn’t like me that way. He’s going to be on the road for over a week, so that gives me a chance to hang out with some other people and get my mind off of the situation.
*****
Over the next week, the Pens don’t exactly have a good road trip. They have an overtime loss, two regulation losses, but close it out with a big win over the Blues. Jordan finally starts to put some points up on the board, and it looks like he might be turning it around. Maybe he won’t be in such a bad mood now.
The guys gets back really late on Saturday night and have Sunday off and I get a call from Jordan around noon.
“Hey, what’s up?” I ask him as I answer the phone. “Great game last night, by the way.”
“Thanks,” he replies. “It was nice to finally get a win, since the rest of the trip wasn’t so great. How was Halloween?”
“Good, kind of crazy. We spent yesterday recovering and doing homework. Are we still on for today?”
Jordan and I had planned to go out to the mall because he needed a couple of things and so did I.
“Definitely. Want to head out there around three? I’ll come over and pick you up, if that works.”
“Sure, that would be good.”
We talk a little bit longer and then hang up. I work on a few things and hang out until three, when he picks me up.
*****
“Hey, how’s it going?” I ask when I jump into his car.
“Pretty good,” he replies as he gives me a hug. “Better now that we won a game and I’ve started to get some points.”
We talk a little bit more before I decide to bring Heather into the conversation.
“Well, I didn’t really get too much of a chance to ask you: how’s everything with Heather?”
There’s silence for a few seconds, which leads me to think that things aren’t going so well.
“Well, it’s not that great. We fought a couple more times this week, and every fight just gets worse and worse. I don’t think we’re going to last too much longer. I’m seriously considering breaking it off.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell him.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m trying not to think about it too much.”
Jordan needs a couple of new dress shirts and ties, so that is our first mission once we get to the Pittsburgh Mills mall. We head to Macy’s to look first, and I veto a few things until we find some that look good. We then head to the dress department, because I need a new dress to wear to a dinner with my parents for my dad’s work (he’s a lawyer). I pull a few off the racks and head to the dressing room, and Jordan waits outside.
I don’t like how the first couple of dresses on me, so I don’t even show them to Jordan. The third dress looks okay, so I walk out and show it to Jordan, who’s patiently sitting in a chair.
“You like it?” I ask him.
He looks up, then down, and nods his head. “Yeah, it looks good.”
I look down at my dress, and tell him I’ll think about it. I try on a couple more that both of us like, then I get to the last dress, which had been the one I liked the most when I pulled it off the rack. It’s black and knee length, and perfect for this dinner I have to go to, but it’s also a lot of fun and I like how it looks on me. It fits really well. I head out to show it to Jordan.
I got a huge reaction from him. His jaw actually dropped a little bit.
“I’ll take that as a yes?” I ask him, laughing.
“Maddie,” he says before pausing for a second. “You look beautiful.”
I stand there awkwardly for a minute, not sure how to react. His reaction to me walking out in this dress was totally different from what I expected. He’s never told me that before. I blushed a little bit when he told me I looked beautiful.
“Okay,” I say after a minute. “I’ll get it. Your reaction said it all.” I head back into the dressing room to change back into my jeans and t-shirt.
Jordan’s POV
When Maddie walked out of the dressing room in that dress, I couldn’t believe my eyes; she looked absolutely gorgeous. It actually took my breath away. I don’t know how to deal with this. I’m on the verge of breaking up with Heather, but I don’t think Maddie knows how I feel about her, that she’s part of the reason why I might break up with Heather. Shit. What the hell am I going to do?