Not only was I ashamed of what happened, but the thought of that night ruining something for meandCam, I thought it was best to not mention his teammates being involved.
“Em?”
“Yeah, I remember Declan,” I reply. “Still don’t think he’s that great of a player that he became captain his sophomore year, but it is what it is.”
If we were talking about being a player in a different kind of game, I’d say Declan’s the king of them; on the ice, I’m not so sure.
“I’d say that he’s pretty good since he’s already been drafted by the NHL, but what do I know, right?” He rolls his eyes. “What do you have against Sanderson anyway?”
“Aside from the fact I’m stuck with him as a partner for the rest of my junior year?” I wonder. “Everything.”
“You have a class with him?”
I nod.
“Hm, he didn’t mention it.”
Just like he’s never mentioned freshman year. That seems about right.
“Oh yeah,” I begin, “because Declan thinks of me so much, he thought it would be important to bring it up in conversation.”
“I’m just saying,” he pauses, “I hung out with the guys after practice. He didn’t say anything while we were talking.”
“Do you blame him? Pretty sure he wants to work with me just as much as I want to work with him.” I shake my head. “I mean, if I’m gonna do all the work anyway, why do I need a partner?”
“You don’t think he’ll help?”
I know he won’t.
“I don’t know. I don’t know him enough to know if he’ll pull his weight.”
“He’s a pretty smart dude,” Cam says. “He helped me pass Econ 126 last year.”
I know exactly what he’s talking about. He was worried he’d have to retake the class because it started out rough. I told him I’d help because I took it in high school, but we rarely saw each other between his hockey games and training.
“Oh,” I mumble.
“What’d you do after class?” He changes the subject.
“Just the library. I wanted to get some homework done.” Which wasn’t a complete lie. I did homework at the diner. Maia was a sore subject in all conversations, so I found it best to leave her out of them.
“Did you finish it all?”
“Yeah.” I fake a yawn, stretching my arms above my head. “I’m gonna hit the sack. I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Probably not. I have weight training with some of the guys. Might hit the ice for a little bit too.”
“Don’t overexert yourself.”
“You’ve got to put work in off the ice to see results on the ice.”
“Alright, I’ll see you after you finish class.”
“Since you don’t have class tomorrow, you could look into some clubs. Maybe even find some friends,” he says.
“Yeah, maybe.” I smile at him as I walk to my room.
We both know I’m not going to. There are many things this college has to offer me, but friends aren’t one of them.
