Chapter 3

Sorry for the slowness of updates...honestly life just got in the way! But since school it out for now I should have alot of free time here coming up!
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I finished my couple hours at the rink with a huge smile on my face. I was on my way to Highlands Ranch when Lily called me.

“Hey girly you more awake now?”

“Yeah,” I replied with a small smile. “Lily you will never believe what just happened!”

“I’m sure I will. It seems like you never lie.” She replied with a teasing voice.

“Well first off I got locker room passes for the game tonight.”

“SHUT UP! That’s awesome! Oh goodness now I REALLY need to worry about how I look.”

“Lily for crying out loud, they will be just finishing with a hockey game. They’re going to be all sweaty and nasty.”

“So that doesn’t mean I get a free pass at looking horrible, besides if I’m going to meet Max Tablot in person I want to leave a lasting impression!”

I giggled wondering what her reaction will be when she finds out that I actually met Max already. My little evil side popped out and I decided to wait and surprise her with that little information later.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?”

“Ok so the game starts at seven so I figured we should meet up and head over to the Pepsi Center around six.”

“Lily do you realize that gives me like 30 minutes to get ready?”

“How so?”

“I get off this gig at five, it will take me a half an hour at most to get home, then about thirty minutes to get ready and then I have to meet up with you.”

“Huh…ok well how about I pick you up at six so you don’t have to worry about having time to meet up with me and that way we won’t have to worry about leaving your car somewhere.”

“Ok,” I nodded, “That’s a little better.”

She started to talk excitedly about meeting Talbot and I had to cut her off.

“Hey Lily I’ll talk to you tonight. I’m pulling into the neighborhood and need to concentrate.”

“Ah yes…you and your crappy sense of direction.”

“Hey that’s why you are driving tonight and not me.”

She laughed, “Ok see you at six.”

“Ok bye Lily.”

The birthday party flashed by in the blink of an eye. I think the amount of little kids running around in mass chaos helps keep my mind off the time. Pictures were always easy to get of little kids because they never paid attention to you, the little mouse in the corner. These were always the best pictures. I would pick the picture of a kid licking an ice cream cone or jumping in an inflatable castle over a “look at the camera and smile” picture any day of the week. It just seemed more real. I left the party, bidding the family a good night as they told me thanks.

Pretty soon I was home and going through the process of getting ready. I didn’t take a shower, mainly because I didn’t have time. I changed into a pair of fitted dark-wash jeans and threw on my Av’s sweater. I quickly touched up my make-up, doing a smoky eye that made my blue eyes stand out vividly. I quickly threw up my pin straight hair into a messy ponytail and completed my outfit with a pair of black boots. I was just reaching for my bag and camera when Lily walked in.

Lily was sporting an emerald v-neck sweater with a pair of light washed jeans and black boots that were similar to mine. Her hair was down and full of random ringlets.

“Hey good looking! You ready to tear up this town?”

I laughed while replying with a, “Hell yeah everyone better look out!”

We laughed and made our way out to Lily’s blue Ford Fusion. We spent the entire drive talking and laughing like two good friends.

“So where are these locker room passes you managed to score?” Lily questioned as we walked away from our parked car and toward the Pepsi Center.

I shrugged, “Will call…I hope.”

“Wait a minute…you don’t even have them with you? This is a hoax for sure.”

I shook my head. “No they will be there, I’m sure.”

“See this is your problem Anna, you are too trusting of everyone. You’ll believe whatever anyone tells you.”

I rolled my eyes and walked up to the will call box, ignoring her protests.

“Name?” The man behind the glass asked, not looking up at me but stared at the computer in front of him.

“Uh Annabel Towland?”

He typed it in before standing and going to the files in the back, digging around for a few minutes before handing me an envelope.

“Enjoy the game.” He said in a bored monotone voice before calling out, “Next!” to the line behind us.

I walked back over to Lily pulling out a VIP pass, handing it to her in a smug silence.

“No way!” she squealed, placing it around her neck. “Are you sure they are real? They have to be fake!”

I snorted, placing my own around my neck, “When did you get to be such a pessimist?”

“I’m not a pessimist, I’m a realist!”

“What’s the difference? Come on lets go find our seats.”

We made our way inside and our seats weren’t the greatest but we were center ice. They were in the back of the lower level but hey it was better than being on the top level.

“Hey I’m going to get a drink you want something?”

I nodded, “Just get me one of whatever you are getting.”

Lily nodded before walking up the steps and out of my sight. I sighed and settled into my seat tiredly watching the players practice. Tonight was going to be a good game. The Av’s have had a really rough past couple of years but this season they got a couple of new good rookies and are doing better than anyone predicted. Everyone was convinced that with the retirement of Capitan Joe Sakic there would be no way our team would end up better than 14th in our conference…but look at us now. We were currently at the top of our division and 3rd in the Western conference.

And then there was the Pens. They were defending their Stanley Cup title and had some of the most recognizable faces in the NHL. They were a good, solid Eastern conference team that we rarely got to play, which disappointed Lily to no end. She was a very devoted Talbot fan.

I yawned and bobbed my head to the music playing in the speakers above me. Lily came back handing me a beer while settling in next to me talking excitedly. I smiled and nodded my head to what she was saying while continuing to study the players warming up.

I watch as familiar faces such as Adam Foote and Paul Statsny lead the team of rookies and the rookies, Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reily, and TJ Galiardi just to name a few, as they skated around with a seemingly endless amount of energy.

I would kill to have half of that amount of energy.

I was watching our goalie, Craig Anderson, warm up when Lily squealed and latched onto my arm like a leech. I followed her intent line of vision to see Max, who must have been sharpening his skates, joining the rest of his team in warm-ups. I laughed under my breath at Lily’s never wavering dreamy gaze.

She sighed, “He’s so much better looking in person, if that was even possible.”

I sniggered and switched my gaze over to the rest of the Penguin team. This was a team of talent with players that were talked about throughout the league. It was impossible to watch a hockey game without the announcers talking about how the face of the NHL did in his last game or how the Penguins had the best set of centers in not just the eastern conference but probably the entire league. I watched each player individually.

The youngest, Jordan Staal, who was only 21 but was still older than several of the Av’s players, was probably one of the best penalty killers in the NHL. He was the shut down guy. The one that the coach sent out to stop those star players of the team. Then there was Evgeni Malkin, or Geno as his teammates referred to him as, who has slowly worked his way up and in my opinion was right up there with Crosby and Ovechkin as far as talent goes. His strong powerful strides set him apart from the rest of the team. And of course there was Sidney Crosby. He was the face of the NHL, the next Great One and the one who was single handedly going to save the NHL. He had so much pressure to be great resting on his shoulders and way too many people waiting for him to fail but he took it into stride and it only seemed to fuel his desire to be great. I watched as he gracefully skated around with a puck, bouncing it on his stick before taking a shot at Flower.

I turned to Lily after a few minutes of watching the Pens. “Hey why aren’t you so googly eyed over Crosby like the rest of the female population?”

“Hm?” she broke her fixated trance to look at me before shrugging, “I don’t know. Like I think he’s attractive but he’s not really my type and don’t get me wrong, he’s a great player and all but I just think he’s a tab bit overrated.”

I nodded, “He does get a lot of media attention.” I paused before adding, “But I don’t think he is overrated.”

She shrugged while watching the players make their way off the ice and to the locker rooms before replying, “Just a matter of opinion I guess.”

I settling into my seat and breathed the air deeply, savoring every little detail. Hockey games weren’t like other sports. They were an experience, from the moment the stadium goes black all the way to the final buzzer. It was an adrenaline rush in its purest form. Even if you knew nothing about the game you couldn’t help but get caught up in the electric atmosphere. It was like all those commercials, hockey fans aren’t like other fans…and boy that is the truth.

The game was over way too soon but it was so much fun I couldn’t bring myself to be disappointed. The Penguins won 4-1 but it wasn’t a bad game like the score would suggest. It was 2-1 for the majority of the game in the last two minutes the Pens scored on two empty netters. So overall it was still a good game and the Avs held their own. I turned to Lily while all the other fans were leaving with a smile.

“You ready to go to the locker rooms?”

Lily paled a little bit before digging around in her purse to grab her compact. I rolled my eyes and waited for her to make sure her eyeliner didn’t smug and to apply some lip gloss.

After a few moments she nodded, regaining her confident persona. “Let’s go!”