"Tell Eli to get you a jersey. I'm sure he'd be happy to buy it."
"Hell no," she declared as they lined up outside of the arena to get their tickets scanned. “He'll buy mehisjersey. No way."
"Um, excuse me, are you Penn Foster?"
A giddy teenage girl with brown hair and braces gently touched Penn's elbow. "West Keller's girlfriend?"
"That's me," Penn replied, giving the girl a polite smile.
Holly smothered a laugh with her hand as the girl, who looked no older than fourteen, let out an excited shriek. A frizzy blonde-haired girl with freckles standing next to her began to giggle uncontrollably.
"I'm Lucy, and I'm like, his biggest fan ever. And this is my friend, Micki," the brown-haired girl said, pointing at the girl standing next to her. "I have his jersey and everything," Lucy babbled excitedly to Penn. "Can you tell him Lucy and Micki say hi, and that we love him?"
"Lucy and Micki," Penn repeated, nodding and playing along. "I'll pass along the message."
"Um, can we get a selfie with you?" Lucy asked. "Please?"
"With me? Yeah, sure." Penn shot Holly an amused look. "My friend, Holly, can take the picture."
"Are you anyone's girlfriend?" Lucy asked Holly, her squeaky voice hopeful.
"Nope, sorry."
The teenagers immediately shifted their focus back to Penn.
"I saw the post you made about the jackets on your Instagram story," Lucy told Penn. "They're soooo super cute!"
"Thank you. I'm glad you like them. Okay, girls, say Keller," Penn directed as the two teenagers flanked her. "On three. One, two, three..."
"Keller!"
Holly handed them back the phone.
"It looks great," Micki said, excited. "Thank you so much. We'll tag you and West on Instagram."
"Nice meeting you both. Enjoy the game." Penn waved as the girls hurried back to their parents.
"That was weird," Holly said. "You're kind of a celebrity."
"Hardly. It happens every once in a while, but most fans don't approach me. The jackets might change that, though."
"Get ready to be accosted by gaggles of teenagers who love your man."
"It's hilarious when we run into the younger teenage fans at the grocery store or something. They either go utterly mute when they see West or completely freak out. West doesn't know how to handle the screamers."
"Can't say I blame him."
They got their tickets scanned and entered the arena. People swarmed the concourse, buying jerseys, beer, popcorn, and pizza. The mood was high as fans spilled down into the arena bowl to find their seats.
"Do you want to get something to eat now, or should we go down to our seats?" Penn asked.
"Let's go down. How much time do we have before the game starts?"
"Oh, we have time. Warmups should be starting soon. I bet the others are already down there. Except Nic. She's always running late. Then again, she has an infant, so it's understandable."
"She's not bringing the kid, is she?" Holly asked as they walked through the concourse toward their section. "Doesn't seem like the best atmosphere for a baby."
"No, he's too little yet, and it's too noisy. She was looking for a pair of those headphones to use when he gets a little older. They should help with the music and crowd noise, not to mention the goal horn."