December 15, 1997
He was seated in the tenth row, behind a large guy around his age. The guy was with two of his buddies, and a girl with curly hair. She was wearing a black turtle neck, and she seemed preoccupied. The guy was laughing, and hooting with his buddies, and the girl just stared off into the distance. She was very bored, and Jim can tell.
Wow, Jim thought, way to not take notice in the girl…
On Jim’s opposite side, his brother Pete was laughing and joking around with his girlfriend. Jim was once again the third wheel, and he did not know what he was doing here. He liked all sports, but he never took much interest in hockey. He tried to take interest in the game, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. The Portland Pirates. The score was 3-2 Penguins, and it had been a close game. Out of the corner of his eye, Jim noticed that the girl seated in front of him was yawning, and checking her watch.
“Dude, three minutes left! We’re gonna cream ‘em!” exclaimed the guy seated next to the girl. Jim saw her give the guy a vague smile, and nodding. For some reason, Jim took pity on this girl. She seemed like a quiet, nice person, and the guy she was sitting next to was obviously a jock. Plus, Jim could tell that she was having absolutely no fun at all.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” Jim heard the girl saying in front of him as they were leaving the ice rink.
“Okay,” said the guy she was with. He was obviously preoccupied with his buddies, and didn’t hear her. “Dude, we need to get wasted!”
Jim chuckled to himself, as he waited for Pete and his girlfriend to catch up with him. A few seconds later, Pete hastily walked up to Jim.
“Hey, bro, I’m going to take Susan home first. Is it cool if you just wait here?” Pete asked.
“Dude, come on, I’ve gotta get up early tomorrow…why’d you even make me come here?” Jim said, throwing his hands up in frustration.
“I was under the impression that Susan was going to bring a friend, man. My bad,” said Pete. “Listen, just wait here for about an hour, and we’ll go home. I’ll give you ten bucks; you can go to the arcade or something…”
“Fine,” sighed Jim. He knew Pete really liked Susan, so he understood.
“Thanks, bro,” Pete said, handing Jim a ten dollar bill. “I’ll be back.”
“Yeah, good luck,” Jim said, watching Pete walking away.
Jim stepped outside, watching people laughing as they walked to their cars.
Since when was hockey a romantic sport? He wondered.
As Jim sighed, and leaned against the wall, he noticed the curly haired girl sitting on a bench about ten yards in front of him. She was crying. Jim looked away, and tried not to pay attention to her. Maybe she broke up with that jock guy. Jim stepped away from the wall, and decided to go back inside to get a coffee. Jim stood in line, and two men in front of Jim were laughing.
“No, Snot, that’s what she said! Do you really not get it?” asked the taller, balding man to the shorter man.
“I don’t get it…” said the shorter man, with a look of genuine confusion on his face.
Jim walked up to the cashier, and ordered a coffee. While he was waiting on his coffee, he looked out the window. The girl was still there, and she was crying harder than before. People were still heading to their cars, but none of them were taking notice to her.
“Thanks,” Jim said, taking his coffee, and walking back outside. Just talk to her, man, Jim thought to himself; see if she needs help or something.
“Hi, um…is this seat taken?” Jim asked when he walked up to the girl.
The girl didn’t look up at him, but she replied back softly, “No.”
Jim sat down next her, and sipped his coffee. He was sitting there for what felt like hours, and he could see the two men at the concession stand heading towards their car.
“Pack-Man, seriously, who’s ‘she’, and why did she say it?” the shorter man asked.
“Shut up, you gay nerd…” said the taller one, getting into his car.
Jim heard a sniffle, and turned back to the girl.
“Um…are you okay?” Jim finally asked.
The girl looked up at Jim, wiping her eyes, and nodded. Once again, they sat in silence. A few minutes later, Jim looked back over to the girl. She was shivering.
“Here,” he said, getting up, and taking his jacket off. He held it in front of him, offering it to the girl.
“Uh, no thanks,” she said, gently pushing the jacket back to Jim.
“Seriously, it’s cold out here, and you need this more than I do. I have coffee to keep me warm,” Jim said to her, smiling. She looked back up at Jim, and gave him a small smile. She nodded, and Jim put his jacket around her shoulders.
“Thanks,” she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
“No problem, but here’s the thing. I did you a favor, so now you need to do me one,” Jim said kindly. The girl stared at Jim for a couple of seconds, and then giggled.
“Okay…”
“All right, so two things: Why are you crying, and why are you just sitting out here in the cold?” Jim asked.
“That’s not really a favor…”
“Well, I saw you sitting here crying about ten minutes ago, and it’s been bugging me for a whole ten minutes. Do you know what that’s like for me? It really hurts…” Jim chuckled. The girl giggled again.
“Okay…I came here on a date, and I went to the bathroom, and my date left me,” she said shrugging. “And I don’t know how I’m going to get home now, because I live about two hours away from here, and I don’t know anyone.”
“Oh, wow…that’s pretty crappy,” Jim said, “I’m sorry…”
“Meh, hopefully, he’ll notice that I’m not in the car, and he’ll turn back soon,” she said.
“Yeah, well, you’re in luck,” Jim said, “my ride isn’t going to be back for probably an hour, so I’ll wait with you for awhile. That is…if you’re okay with it.”
“No…I mean, yeah, it’s fine,” she replied back, giving another small smile.
“And worst case scenario, if your date doesn’t come back, you can probably crash at my brother’s girlfriend’s house…but let’s not think about that,” Jim said, returning her smile.
“I hope that doesn’t happen…I mean, no offense, but yeah…”
“None taken, I understand. Uh, my name’s Jim,” Jim said, holding out his hand.
“I’m Pam,” Pam said, taking his hand and shaking it.
“Nice to meet you. So does this sorta thing happen to you often?” Jim joked.
“What, getting ditched at a hockey rink? No…this was actually our first date. If you can even call it that,” replied Pam.
“Wow, this guy is really romantic,” Jim said, giving Pam a goofy smile. Pam smiled back.
“Oh, you know it…and I just wanted to go see Titanic, but he really pulled out the big guns,” Pam laughed.
“Titanic? Wow, you are so cliche!” Jim teased. Pam laughed harder.
Just then, a white pick up truck drove in front of them. The big jock from earlier came out of the passenger side.
“Holy shit, Pam, I am so sorry!” he cried, rushing to give Pam a hug. “We were just psyched about the game, and we forgot about you! I’m sorry!”
“Whatever, Roy…I just want to go home…” Pam sighed, handing Jim his jacket back. “Thank you,” she added to Jim.
“No problem,” Jim said, taking his jacket back. “It was nice talking to you…”
“You too,” Pam said, getting into the truck. “Bye.”
“Bye, Pam…” Jim said, but the truck door was already closed, and they were on their way out of the parking lot. Jim watched the truck going down the street until it was gone from view. He sighed to himself once more.
Well, she was cute...Jim thought, putting his jacket back on.
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter End Notes:
I hope you guys enjoyed the Michael and Todd Packer cameos. Michael's life after being on Fundle Bundle is covered next.
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