Score My Heart // Chapter Five

The next night I got a call from Jordan, asking me if I wanted to go see their first home game that day. I looked at the clock hung above my bed, it was 3:30 and I still had a bunch of things to do, but I had never been to a NHL game before so I decided to put all my work aside and go to the game. I sent Callie a text asking her if she wanted to go and she responded by saying ‘Uh, duh’ I borrowed Callie’s old oversized Lemieux jersey, rolled up the sleeves to just below the elbows, applied clear lipgloss and a light coat of eyeliner, grabbed the keys to my Mini, and bolted out of the door to pick up Callie from lacrosse practice.

We got to the arena an hour before the game just in time to see the warmup. Our seats were right by the glass in the Penguins end so the guys would line up next to the boards and shoot us quick grins before blasting the puck in the back of the next. Sidney skated up next to where we were sitting, saw me, and dropped his stick. He muttered something to himself as he went to go pick it up while Callie and I were giggling at him.

“God, he’s so cute, don’t you think” Callie asked.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“I feel bad for him, he doesn’t seem to have many friends” She said

“He does seem like the quiet type,” I agreed.

“Did you talk to him at all last night?”

“No, not really, you?”

“No, I was way too shy, I mean, he’s SIDNEY CROSBY!” She exclaimed.

We watched them skate around for the next 20 minutes occasionally making comments about how ridiculous Colby looked when he danced around to the music blaring in the arena. We saw the Pens win 4-2 over the Chicago Blackhawks, and when the final buzzer went off, I saw Jordan skate over and make a gesture with his head that said to come down to the locker room.

We bolted down the halls, not really knowing where we were going, but eventually found the locker rooms. There was an employee there who asked for our passes. Just after I told him we didn’t have any, Geno came bursting out of the locker room with Tyler and Kris, and said “It’s OK, they with us” then shot me a wink.

We walked into the room to hear ‘Taking Care of Business’ blasting from the radio, and saw the team putting away their equipment. Colby sprinted over to us and put me into a headlock and said “Heeeeeeeeey, guys. Looks like you’re our lucky charm tonight” I laughed and went to congratulate the guys.

There were a group of guys all around Sidney, and it looked like they were convincing him to go do something. Marc shoved him in my direction and Sidney shot me a quick grin and started walking over.

“Hey, Roxy” he said sheepishly.

“Hey, congrats, Sidney” I said curious about what their conversation could’ve possible been about.

“Thanks, so, uh, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go get dinner or lunch with me sometime.” He said, looking at his feet.

I looked at Callie who was talking animatedly to Jordan by the exit of the locker room, then back to Sid, with his eyes still glued to the floor, here asking me out.

I smiled and said, “Sure, I’d love that! But you’ll have to teach me a thing or two on hockey.”

He looked up from the ground and a huge smile spread across his face, like a kid on Christmas morning.

“So, uh, tomorrow night?” he asked excitedly.

I laughed, “Yeah, sounds good.”

“I’ll pick you up at eight then,” he stated.

“Alright, see you then”

And with that I said bye to the guys and headed out of the room, ignoring the dirty looks I was getting from Callie. She must’ve over heard the conversation.



IPBS Instant Messaging.
CallieDola: I need ur help
ChanelleFortin: Hm, and what would that be for?
CallieDola: You know the new girl, Roxanne?
ChanelleFortin: Uhuh.
CallieDola: Turns out she’s not as sweet as she puts out to be. She must be destroyed.
ChanelleFortin: So, what did you have in mind?

Score My Heart // Chapter Four

We met up with Chanelle, Stella, Jessica, Ashley and two other girls I hadn’t met before: Gabriella and Marina.

We all hopped into Chanelle’s black Range Rover, and headed to a place called Les Deux in downtown Pittsburgh. All eight of us grabbed a seat at a booth, and the analyzing began.

“So, how old are you?” Ashley asked.

“I’m 18”

“Where are you from?” asked Gabriella

“Ottawa”

“Do you like it at Mac?”

“Yes, so far, I think it’s great”

The questions went on and on asking me the basics; if I had a boyfriend, did I see anyone I was interested in, … etcetera, etcetera.

Callie had been awfully quiet, and I was kind of hoping she’d be the one to save me from this group of materialistic bimbos. Suddenly Callie spoke up.

“Your cousin’s really nice,” she noted

“Yeah, I know, he’s been my best friend since as far as I can remember” I replied

“He’s kinda cute too,” she stated

“Uh, I guess so,” I replied awkwardly

“Does he have a girlfriend?”

“Um, no, not that I know of. Why?”

“Well, I was just wondering,”

“Okay,” I said. But a part of me wasn’t so sure.

We continued finished our meal and ordered a round of vodka martinis, and luckily, nobody got carded. We sat there for what seemed like hours, until a group of guys walked into the room, wearing jeans and t-shirts, and grabbed a seat in the booth next to us.

“Man, Coach was really working us today,” I heard one of them say with a sigh.

“Yeah, I’m dead tired,” another one with a familiar accent agreed.

I peeked up to see who the familiar voice belonged to, and saw the somewhat of a ‘big shot’ goaltender Tyler had scorned me about not recognizing at the airport. I came back to the conversation at our table and turned to mutter something to Callie.

“Hey, you know that Crosby guy you have on your wall?” I asked

“Yeah?” She responded eagerly.

“Did you say he played here in Pittsburgh?”

“Yeah, he plays here.”

I slid out from the bench I was sitting on and walked by their table once, to see if he would remember me. And he did.

“Hey, airport girl!” He exclaimed.

I spun around on my heels and turned to face their table with a smile on my face, these guys were pretty good looking.

“Oh, uh, hey, Marc, was it?” I said realizing I sounded quite idiotic.

“Yeah that’s me,” he replied grinning from ear-to-ear, “I’d like to introduce you to the boys here; Geno, Colby, Jordan, and Sidney.”

I greeted them all, noticing that Geno was indeed Russian, and that Colby’s accent definitely tipped him off as a Saskatchewan-er.

“You want to join us?” Jordan asked with a grin on his face.

“Um,”

I looked to the girls I was supposedly having dinner with.

They won’t miss me, I thought. But maybe I should invite Callie over.

“Sure,” I finally responded “I hope you guys don’t mind my friend Callie coming aswell?”

“No, not at all,” Colby grinned “the more the merrier.”

I laughed as Sidney reached across the table to slap him in the arm.

“Sorry, sorry” Colby said sheepishly. “You’re right, I shouldn’t be hitting on other girls when Melissa’s going to be here any minute”

“Thatta boy Colby,” Jordan said, “Stay true to your woman”

“Or in Geno’s case, women” Sidney added and the entire table laughed.

“I’ll be right back,” I said with a smile on my face, “I’m just going to go get her.”
I walked back to the table to fetch Callie, reminding my self how to breathe.

Damn, those guys we’re good-looking. Especially Sidney.

I tapped Callie on the shoulder and told her to follow me. I led her to the table where she stood, wide-eyed, staring directly at Sidney. I’m pretty sure she’d already forgotten all about Tyler.

“Guys, this is my friend Callie, Callie, this is Marc, Jordan, Geno and Sidney” I said.

“Yeah, yeah I know who they all are,” she said quickly, her cheeks flushing as she realized what she’d said. “Oh! I mean nice to meet you guys.”

“Grab a seat, ladies” Marc said pointing to the bench.

We sat and talked for what seemed like hours, about no topic in particular. But I couldn’t help but notice that while Callie kept her eyes glued to Sidney, he kept his on me. At one point, I caught him. I saw him staring out of the corner of my eye as I was talking animatedly with Colby about our affinity for chocolate milk. I felt my cheeks flush as I looked back to Colby who was eyeing us both suspiciously.

“What?” I asked him laughing.

“Oh nothing, just our captain’s checking you out right now” Colby said rather loudly.

“Oh,” I said feeling myself blush, turning a deeper shade of red than my crimson nail polish.

“It’s weird because I haven’t seen him look at a girl like that in a while” Colby said frowning.

“Why not? I mean, girls must throw themselves at him all the time.” I said

“Yeah, but he never seems interested in them. And just when we were all starting to think he was gay”

I laughed and sipped my Coke, staring curiously at Sidney. We finished our drinks then said goodbye the the guys before exchanging phone numbers and e-mails. I turned to Sidney who gave me a sheepish smile as he handed me a slip of paper with his e-mail on it. Could he possibly like me?

No, I thought Callie wouldn’t allow it.

IPBS Instant Messaging.

CallieDola: Hey, thanks for inviting me to dinner.

RoxanneTremblay: No problem (:

CallieDola: I owe you one, I mean I got Sidney Crosby’s phone #!

RoxanneTremblay: It was no big deal really

CallieDola: How do you know those guys anyways?

RoxanneTremblay: I nearly broke every bone in Marc’s body at the airport.

CallieDola: Hahaha, that sounds exactly like you.

CallieDola: I think Sidney might really like me…

RoxanneTremblay: Uhuh. Sure.

ChanelleFortin: Hey, where did you disappear to last night?

CallieDola: Oh, sorry, Roxy invited me to have dinner with the Penguins!

ChanelleFortin: The Penguins?

CallieDola: Yeah. Wasn’t that nice?

ChanelleFortin: Interesting…

Score My Heart // Chapter Three

When we arrived at Immaculata Preparatory Boarding School, I couldn’t help but gape and stare. The building was gorgeous. It was all done up in grey stone and mahogany wood, and there were vines that covered most of the walls on the exterior of the school.

“Wow,” I said, stunned, “This is beautiful.”

“Yeah, It’s alright.” Tyler responded. He was never one for appreciating much. “Let’s go find our dorms”

We started walking up the immense grey steps that led up to the big mahogany doors with the Immaculata crest engraved in the wood, and opened the door to our new life.

We walked around aimlessly for a couple minutes, taking in the artwork and marble floors that made up the inside of the school. Stopping for just a minute to stare mouth open at the huge water fountain that was located in the main floor of the lobby. We found our way to the reception office, where we asked for the keys and directions to our dorms.

“The boys dorms are in the Cawdor building, just across the lacrosse field, and the girls dorms are in the Waverly building, across from the library” The receptionist said in a bored tone that said she really hated her job.

“Thank you very much.” I said with a smile on my face as I grabbed my bags and headed across campus in search for my building.

It didn’t take me long to find the Waverly building. There was a huge burgundy sign outside the building that said in a navy blue font ‘Welcome to the Waverly Dorm’.

I opened the door to my new house, and noticed a group of perky-looking blondes gossiping next to the foyer, all crowded around the one girls’ phone, who must be the leader of the pack. The girl glanced up at me and put on her fakest smile and said;

“Hi! I’m Chanelle. You must be new here” She said flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

“Hi, um, yeah, I’m new. My name’s Roxanne Tremblay” I managed to stutter out.

“This is Jessica, Callie, Stella, and Ashley,” She said pointing to the minions.

“Hey,” I said in the most un-cool way ever.

“I think you’ll fit right in here” Jessica said

“Yeah,” Stella said “You’re like, super gorgeous”

“Oh, thanks.” I said, my cheeks turning pink.

“What dorm are you in?” Ashley asked.

“Uh,” I reached for the paper the unfriendly receptionist had given me. “304”

“No way!” Callie squealed. “You’re my roomie”

“Oh, that’s great!”

“I can show you to our dorm if you want”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’m a bit lost”

“Follow me.”

Callie took me by the hand, leading me up three sets of stairs and into room 304. There were two single beds in the room, one by the window, and one against the far wall. There were two dressers side-by-side next to the door that led to our own bathroom. There was a desk that separates to two beds, and on it was a silver Apple laptop. Callie had taken the bed next to the window, I noticed, and she had put up a corkboard on the wall next to it.

I dumped my bags onto my bed, and went over to look at her board. On it were dozens and dozens of pictures of the same guy. He had short brown hair and deep caramel brown eyes. He had somewhat of girly lips, and a strong jaw-line. Hell, he was fucking hot.

“Who’s that?” I asked curiously.

Callie laughed, “Oh, that’s Sidney Crosby. He’s a pretty big deal around here. Not to mention the fact that he’s absolutely adorable.”

“Is he a…baseball player?”

Callie giggled, “No, he’s a hockey player. He actually plays here in Pittsburgh”

“Oh,” I laughed, “Please excuse my sport handicap-ness. I’m kind of clueless”

“That’s alright,” Callie smiled, “I’ll teach you a couple things”

“Do you play?” I asked

“Yeah, I’m actually on the team here. You should sign up, it’s a riot. And a really good type of exercise, great for the legs”

“Yeah, maybe I will, but I’ve played road hockey with my cousin before, and I’m pretty bad”

Callie laughed and helped me unpack my clothes from my suitcase and put them in my dresser, making the occasional remark about how she desperately needs to take me shopping.

“So, where are from?” Callie asked

“Ottawa, it’s in Canada” I replied.

“Oh yeah, the capitol, right?”

“Yeah, that’s it”

“I’m from Chicago”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Chicago, I hear the shopping is great over there”

“Oh, it is. I’ll take you some time, show you all the cool clubs.”

“That would be great”

“Hey, you know what, a bunch of girls are going out for dinner tonight, want to come?”

I agreed to go then went to take a shower and get ready for a night out with the girls I’d have to get along with for the next two years. But there was still that feeling in my stomach that the Chanelle girl wasn’t the nice face she showed everyone.

I finished my shower and started rummaging through my clothes looking for something to wear. First impressions count, and I didn’t want everyone to think that I lived in an Igloo and drove a Polar Bear to school. I decided on a pair of grey skinny jeans topped with the chocolate brown mid thigh dress Tess had forced me to buy and my pair of white leather peep-toe wedges.

I heard the door knock and when I went to answer it, I saw Tyler standing there in his jeans and Kelowna Rockets jersey.

He stared at me for about a minute and then screamed "Holy fuck monkeys, someone's been reading InStyle!"

I laughed then invited him inside just as Callie walked out of the washroom in a purple summer dress that accented her gorgeous blonde hair.

“Callie, this is my cousin Tyler. Ty, this is my roommate Callie.” I said

“He-llo there, Callie” Tyler said, obviously very into the fact my roommate’s a ‘hottie’.

“Hi, um, Tyler.” Callie said back, blushing.

“So, we should be going soon Callie” I said, hoping to end the awkward silence that had started.

“Yeah, we need to go meet the other girls in the foyer now” she said.

We said goodbye to Tyler, and he raised his eyebrows at Callie in the she’s-so-fucking-hot way he knows I hate. I rolled my eyes at my hormonal cousin as we headed for the foyer.

Score My Heart // Chapter Two

Once my flight landed in Pittsburgh, everything was a blur. It was like a whirlwind. Tyler had gone to go fetch a cab and I was stuck at the exit of the terminal by myself in an unknown city. Great. Everything was moving by so quickly that I didn’t have the time to realize where I was going and I ended up knocking right into a twenty-something guy with brown hair cut just above the ears.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry” I exclaimed “I wasn’t really watching where I was going”

“That’s okay,” the man laughed. He spoke in a French Canadian accent. “I wasn’t paying any particular attention either.”

I smiled at the stranger as he extended his hand and said “Hi, I’m Marc”

“Hello,” I beamed, “I’m Roxanne”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Roxanne”

Tyler walked into the airport just as I was in the middle of a conversation with him. Tyler’s face was shell-shocked. He was completely stunned. I wondered if there was anything in my teeth or something.

“I’m sorry,” I told Marc, “I have to go, it looks like my cousin got us a cab”

“Of course,” Marc said politely, “I should be going too, but I hope to see you again”

I went to walk over to Tyler to ask him what the fuck was his problem, but he was already on his way over to me.

“Do you REALIZE who you were just talking to?” He asked in a tone that questioned my sanity.

“Um, no?” I said, “Do you know him?”

“That was fucking Marc-Andre Fleury!” Tyler practically screamed.

“Who’s that?” I asked feeling extremely stupid now

“Are you shitting me right now? He’s only one of the NHL’s ELITE goaltenders, not to mention a SUPERSTAR over here in Pittsburgh” Tyler said rolling his eyes.

“Oh,” I said, “I didn’t know”

“What did you say to him?” Ty asked.

“Oh, well I just about concussed him because I walked right into him, so I just apologized, he seems like a nice guy.”

“Yeah, I bet. Congrats, Rox, you’ve been in Pittsburgh for less than 20 minutes and you’ve already met a celebrity.”

Tyler’s tone was just oozing with jealousy. I almost felt bad that I didn’t recognize Marc, I could’ve introduced them.

Tess was right, I thought. Maybe Pittsburgh won’t be that bad after all…

Score My Heart // Chapter One

“I just can’t believe you’re moving!” Tess exclaimed for the hundredth time in five minutes. “What am I supposed to do without you?” She asked.


“I know,” I replied with a sad smile etched across my face. It was hard moving away from a place you’ve spent you’re entire life in. “I’m going to miss you so much.”


Tess continued to unpack whatever I had just managed to store into my suitcase at a rhythmical pace. And every time she did, I insisted that I had to finish packing by tomorrow night, and she ripping everything I had just put away wasn’t exactly helping.


“I just mean, Ottawa is the only place you’ve ever really known and now your parents expect you to just pack up your things and move to Pittsburgh for the next two and a half years?” Tess said while throwing out my purple pyjama bottoms from my suitcase. “It just doesn’t make sense.”


“That’s true, Tess,” I said while I put the PJs back into the case and continued to move around the room looking for anything my best friend may have hidden from me while I wasn’t looking. “But my parents said that IPBS has a great program for academically advanced students looking to get into Ivy League schools, and you know how much I want to get into Yale next year.”


“Yeah whatever,” She rolled her eyes and gave up on ever trying to fully complete her task of stalling my trip “But Prom is coming up next week and I think Dylan’s going to ask me,” She said while examining the split ends of her dirty blonde shoulder-length hair. “I was hoping you’d come dress shopping with me and then we’d all go together”


“It’s not like I chose this, Tess. I want to stick around, Ottawa’s the only place I’ll ever really be able to call home.”


It was true, for the past seventeen years of my life, Ottawa, Ontario was my home. I spent summers playing road hockey with my two younger brothers --although I was likely the most horrible player in road hockey history-- and winters skating on the Canal and eating Beaver Tails. My friends and I would spend every Saturday night doing our nails and eating caramel corn while we went on and on for hours about last night’s episode of Gossip Girl or 90210. It was going to be tough to leave.


Just then, we heard a knock on my door, it was my cousin, Tyler, who was calling us downstairs for dinner. Tyler had been like a big brother to me my entire life, even though he lived in B.C. At least I wasn’t moving to Pittsburgh by myself. I thought as we made our way downstairs. At least I’ll have Tyler with me to keep me company.


I coughed down the pizza my cousin had ordered for us and headed back up to my room to rant to Tess about how much my life’s going to suck in the Burgh.


“You know what,” she said “tonight is your last night in Ottawa, we should go out”


She’s right. I thought. We should have one last wild night together.


“Sounds like a plan. We should go to Nine for a couple of hours for martinis, I’m in a desperate need for a pick-me-up”


“Okay. Roxanne, you know, Pittsburgh might not be all that bad. Hey, you might even meet some pretty famous hockey players”


Yeah right. I thought. Nothing like that could ever happen to me .