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She turns around and smiles when she recognizes it’s me. “Hi. What’s up?”
I’m out of breath, not because I just chased her down, but because of how she looks right now. She’s wearing a dark green sweater that hangs off her shoulders, and the green causes her red hair to appear even more vibrant. Her jeans and shoes look like the same ones she was wearing at my house the other night, and her hair is up in a high ponytail that perfectly shows off her face, though a few pieces have fallen down around her eyes.
“So, creative writing...” I begin, trusting my brain will find a way to form a sentence. “Why are you taking an undergrad class if you don’t have to?”
She shrugs. “I thought it would be something fun to do. So far, it seems a little more casual than my grad school classes.” She laughs under her breath, and I do the same, mostly from nerves.
I stand in front of her awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. I’ve never been this lost for words around a girl before, and I don’t understand why I can’t seem to get my brain to think of something to spit out. Thankfully, she speaks before I have a chance to.
“Thanks again for letting my crash at your place the other night.”
“Of course, anytime.”
“I don’t plan on having to do it again,” she tells me as my chest stings. “I mean, I’m just not really into parties, and I went to that one because Marc begged me to go. But I don’t think it’s going to become a regular thing,” she adds, trying to soften her blow but without success.
“Well, even though they’re not your thing, you’re welcome to come anytime,” I inform her, trying to hide my disappointment.
She smiles, nods, and glances around. “Actually, I’m headed to meet up with Marc now. There’s a game about to start that we’ve been looking forward to watching. Do you want to come?”
“Where are you meeting him?”
“Some bar on the other side of campus.”
“Double G?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“Yes, that’s the one.”
Checking my watch, I realize I don’t have enough time to make it across campus and back in time for training, but I quickly contemplate skipping my workout just to spend more time with this girl.
I’ve never blown off a workout, especially this close to the beginning of the season, and especially not to hang out with a girl. I need to get my head on straight, and being around Logan is making it hard to do so.
“Sorry, I have training,” I tell her, confident in my decision.
“Okay. Next time maybe?” she asks with a hint of disappointment in her voice. Enough to make me rethink my decision.
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Well, good to see you, Eli.” Her disappointment shifts, a smile donning her pretty face as she walks off in the opposite direction.
I love hearing her say my name. It sounds better each time.
“Yeah. You too, Logan,” I add, but she’s too far away to hear me.
Chapter 18
Logan
I start making my way to the main bar on campus, Gopher’s Grove, but I’ve learned that the students here like to refer to it as Double G. I make the walk confidently, remembering the route I saw on the campus map. This weekend I spent time looking it over to better familiarize myself with my new home. I also made sure to figure out the quickest route back from the hockey house to my dorm in case I ever got stuck there again.
Double G is pretty crowded for a Monday evening. It’s the first day of classes, so I would have assumed people would be studying, but instead, most everyone is out grabbing a beer. I spot Marc through the crowd sitting in the back left corner at a table for two.
He stands to greet me. “Hey!” he says while hugging me.
“Hey! How much of the game did I miss?” I ask, looking up at the closest TV.
“Still in the first quarter. Nothing too exciting yet.”
“Perfect.” I swing my backpack over the back of my chair, and we both take our seats.
