Goalie // Sidney Crosby

Six

Games had now begun and the schedule was into full swing. It started a lot quicker than Emerson was expecting it to, and it wouldn't be slowing down anytime soon.

It was one town after another, sometimes with no breaks between games. Other times they'd have a day or two to rest. The month of October went by all too fast for Emerson. A lot faster than she was actually expecting. Probably what caused that was the fact she had yet to play, but was doing contstant media coverage. There were so many questions she was having to answer, appearances to make. Her favorite parts of the day were simple practices with Fleury and lying down in a hotel bed.

"So will you be heading right to Anaheim from Philly?"

"I'm not sure... hopefully not." Emerson was lounging on the leather couch of her and Pete's apartment. They had gone against the Panthers and Islanders this week, all home games though. Those were probably her favorite since she lived a few blocks away, there was more time for her to relax. But being on home territory was always something else...

The sea of black and yellow. The constant, screaming cheers. Even sitting on the bench gave her a rush everytime their goal buzzer went off, and the fans went wild. This was nothing like at the college level, and she thought that was intense. Loyal, dedicated fans went full on, decked out in gear. Emerson could hear almost everything that was going on around her, as her mind would fairly often drift. Fleury was doing a great job manning the goal this last month.

"Well it is in California, with a huge time zone change-"

"It's not a big deal Pete I think I can mange!"

"I just can't wait for when you finally start-"

"Oh me too." Emerson was nervous for the day when she'd finally suit up and actually step out onto the ice. That day was a dream for any kid who played hockey, and soon enough it would be coming for her she was sure.

"Hungry?" Pete called as Emerson could hear him rummaging through a cabinet with pots and pans, "You know Kelsey won't stop texting me cause someone here is doing a horrible job of keeping her friends updated... the other day even DJ called me!"

Ems had her eyes closed as she hummed her response quietly, "I'm just so busy."

"Trust me I'm aware but take like 10 minutes of your day to text a couple people. I know you still snapchat... besides what about those long plane and bus rides!? No excuses miss."

"Dude wifi on plans is sketchy sometimes, even with private ones. And you know reading in any type of vehicle makes me sick. Texting involves reading..."

"All your excuses! Your friends are worried."

"I'm okay.." the last thing she wanted right now was a Pete lecture, those could just go on and on. Emerson's body was being well rested, but her mind just couldn't take everything. There was so much to become accustomed to, the nhl has busier and more intense schedules compared to any ushl or ncaa team. She had a lot of readjustments to make.

The young goalie simply laid herself out on the couch, allowing all worries to just leave her. Though she had yet to eat, she simply closed her eyes and hoped to fall into any sort of sleep. It was starting to get late and Emerson didn't want to have to handle any outside priorities. She slung her arm over her eyes to block out the lights raining down on her, the sound of the TV becoming muffled in the background.

The four years Pete watched Emerson play at Boston College, he saw the exhaustion the whole team would go through. Especially with how good they all were. This though was something else. But Pete knew that after a few weeks Ems would be back to her 'normal' self again, that she needed time to feel everything out. New situations always take a lot from people and it takes some getting into the motions. He knew his friend would be fine, she was tough.