My first week of college is in the books. Overall it wasn't bad. I know once the semester picks up, things will get a bit harder but for now I'm doing okay. Tuesdays classes were good. Doctor Nelson Ellis is actually my professor for psych and I ended up really enjoying his class. He is a really good professor and I know that I'm going to want to take more of his classes if I can. Cassie seemed to enjoy psych as well. After class was over I asked Cassie to wait up for me before she walked back to our dorm so I could set up an appointment with Nelson. I ended up picking Friday morning for my first appointment as Friday is going to be my off day from everything. Cassie didn't mention it when I met up with her to walk back to our dorm after.
The rest of the week went by quick. Practice is paying off and I can tell that coach is impressed in my adjustment from playing with the guys to my all girls team. Becca and I have been working magic together. I don't know what it is, but we both have this sense of where the other is on the ice and have been setting each other up to score. It took us till our second team practice to really come to learn most of the plays in the play book. The end of our practice on Thursday coach had Toni join Becca and I when we played a mini game and lets just say, we were pretty unstoppable. With Toni's veteran presence settling Becca and I, we were a force nobody could stop.
Now it's Friday morning and I have my first session with Nelson. When I got to his office I was nervous. This wasn't my first run in with a shrink and it left me with shaky hands and sweaty palms as Nelson let me into his office. His office looked more like a living room then an office when I took a seat on one of the two couches in the middle of the room. There was a large flat screen tucked in the corner of the room and a coffee table in the middle of the couches with old magazines on it.
Nelson's desk was at the other end of the room along with a large filing cabinet. Music was playing in the background as I took in all the planets Nelson has on his window ledge. Nelson grabbed a notepad and sat on the opposite couch from me and got himself ready.
"So coach said you have been doing really well getting adjusted to the team so fast." Nelson opened with. I was grateful that we started talking about hockey. It wasn't hard for him to tell I was nervous so easing into things with hockey was a nice start.
We talked about hockey for most of the session. Then we also talked about the other girls on the team and how I've become pretty friendly with most of them already. I knew as the season went on we would be working together as a well-oiled machine. Towards the end of the session Nelson transitioned from hockey to getting to know me more. We talked about my first week at school, how dorming is going, how Cassie is, how I'm taking being away from home like this for the first time. When he started to venture into how things were at home before I came to college was when I had enough. Nelson could tell I threw a wall up and we concluded the session there.
As Nelson was finishing his last note he asked when I would want to come back to see him. He started with dates for next month but I thought it might be beneficially for me to come and see him more then the once a month that is required. So I asked for a date two weeks from now. Nelson perked up at my ask and gave me a smile before we picked another Friday morning for the next session.
On my way back to the dorm I stopped by the women's hockey house and hung out for a bit with some of my teammates. I think that as part of my routine I'm going to make Fridays a day when I come down to the house to spend time with the team off the ice. Everyone is mainly around as only a few of them had classes of Fridays. It seemed like the team just hangs out on Fridays and when I walked into the front door Stacey pulled me into the living room and I ended up spending a few hours at the house just watching tv with her and a few other girls.
Before I left the house I found out that everyone is leaving for the football game at 6 but they are going to pre-game before they leave the house if I wanted to come down. I said I would let them know and got my tickets from Toni before heading back to my dorm room. When I got back to my dorm I was happy to find Cassie relaxing on the couch not reading a textbook.
"So I got our tickets for the game, the girls are going to pre-game before the game and I wanted to know if you wanted to go?" I asked and dropped onto the open arm chair.
"A little pre-game before the game won't hurt anybody." Cassie said with a smirk and plucked a ticket from my hand.
"Cool I'll let them know. Also I just want to let you know that we are most likely going to walk to the game from the hockey house since it's not far. I just want to make sure you would be okay to do all the walking. I don't want to come off rude or like an asshole but yea I just want to make sure you would be able to handle it all." I said and rubbed the back of my neck.
"I should be fine, the leg is okay to handle walking, if it becomes too much I can always call an uber to bring me home." Cassie said and checked the ticket. "Holy shit, these are actually good seats."
"Have you been to a game before?" I asked thinking about how Chad is older than Cassie and might have brought her out for a game last year.
"Yea, Chad dragged me to homecoming last year. These tickets are right on the forty yard line in about the middle of the lower bowl." Cassie said getting excited.
"Oh that is good." I said and checked the tickets again.
"It is, so what time are we going over to the house?" Cassie asked.
"Uhm in like an hour? They are leaving for the game at 6, and it's already 3:30." I said.
"Sounds like a plan, I'm going to get ready." Cassie said.
She didn't stick around much longer as she got up off the couch and walked into her room. I did the same and pulled on my red women's hockey sweatshirt along with a Wisconsin trucker hat. I thought it would be a good idea to wear some warm boots so I went with my old pair of Timberlands and thick heavy socks. Just as I finished up getting ready I heard someone knock on our front door.
"I got it." I yelled as I heard Cassie rushing around her room.
I pulled the front door open and found Becca standing out in the hallway decked head to toe in red and white.
"Are you ready for the first game of the season!" Becca yelled holding a bottle of pink Whitney in one hand a case of bud light in the other.
"Get it in here, if the RA's see you with alcohol they will take it and we will get a write up." I said and pulled my friend quickly inside my room.
"It doesn't really matter, most of them are already tailgating the game in the stadium parking lots anyway. Are you almost ready to go? Stacey texted that she wants a good partner for beer pong." Becca said and handed me the case of beer.
"In a few, Cassie is just finishing up." I said as Becca looked around the apartment.
Becca nodded and we started talking about some plays we still needed to nail down in practice tomorrow. Cassie didn't take much longer to come out of her room. She is wearing a red and white tie-dye long sleeve shirt that has a little badger right over her heart with a pair of black jeans and a grey dad hat that is on backwards. Her outfit is complete with a pair of her own sturdy boots on her feet.
When my eyes tracked up to her face my breath caught in my back of my throat. Cassies hair is down in blonde waves framing her face perfectly. She is wearing a bit of makeup that makes her normally hazel eyes shine greener then brown and on top of that she has a red W sticker stuck to her right cheek. Cassie looks so good it's almost painful and it took Becca hitting my arm to stop me from staring.
"I'm ready when you guys are." Cassie said.
"Off to pre-game!" Becca said and pulled an excited Cassie out the door, leaving me in their wake.
When my brain caught up with me I made sure I had everything before running out the door after them. I did manage to snag a bag out my way out the door to put the alcohol in on our walk so we wouldn't be stopped by anybody. When we got to the house I could hear the music being played with the door shut. When I held the door open for Becca and Cassie I could hear the most of the girls singing along to whatever song was bumping through the sound system.
That's when Stacey noticed us walking in and pulled Becca right into a game of beer pong while Cassie helped me put the drinks she bought into some of the coolers. Once the drinks were on ice I grabbed a white claw for myself while Cassie grabbed a beer for herself and we walked into the living room.
When we got there we found a few of the guys from the men's team sitting on the couch with some of the girls from my team. It also was a surprise to find Travis glaring at Chad. I plopped onto the couch next to him and nudged his shoulder.
"So who are we mad at?" I asked.
"Who do you think?" Travis said and took another sip of his drink and continued to glare at Chad.
"What did my brother do this time?" Cassie asked sitting on the other side of Travis.
"He doesn't think McKenna is as good as I'm hyping her up to be and it's really pissing me off. That and he keeps saying that Tatiana McMichael should have been ranked number one in your recruiting class." Travis said and pulled his eyes away from Chad to look at me.
Hearing her name threw me a little and I wish Chad would have kept his mouth shut. Tatiana have our own history between us and I didn't need Chad to bring her up now that I finally don't have to hear about her all the time. Back in high school we would be constantly compared to each other because we both played for our high school teams with all guys. People loved to pit us against each other. I took a large sip of my drink and tried to push her out of my mind.
"Do you want me to say something?" Cassie asked looking at both of us.
"No, he is intitled to his own opinion, I'll just have to show him how good I am on at our first game." I said trying to defuse the tension between the three of us.
"Is she always like that?" Cassie asked Travis.
"Yes, she never brags about her skills even though she has them in spades." Travis sighed before finishing his drink.
Cassie and I sat and talked with Travis for a while before I got pulled into a beer pong match with Toni. I made sure that Travis was going to be okay with Cassie before I got up and left the pair on the couch and made my way over to the table. Toni and I got into a heated game with Stacey and Becca on the other side of the table. They have been running the table since we got here and everyone wanted us to put them in there place.
The match didn't last long as Toni and I hit shot after shot. We only missed a cup twice between the two of us and Becca and Stacey were mad they had to give up their crown. After Toni and I took over the table I cracked open my third claw since we got here and I could feel the effects of the alcohol setting in. I slowly drank my third drink and when we finished our second game we were already getting ready to head to the game.
I opened a fourth and found Cassie still on the couch having what looked like a heated discussion with her brother. I didn't let it last much longer once I noticed though.
"You ready to head out?" I said breaking there conversation up. When Cassie's eyes met mine she looked relieved.
"So ready, just want to hit the bathroom before we go." Cassie and got up off the couch. I gave her directions to the bathroom and stood waiting in the hallway that leads to the front door.
Cassie didn't take long in the bathroom and on our way out the door, we grabbed some brown bags for our drinks. The rest of the team was right in front of us and the rest of the guys met us just down the block from the house. Chad stormed off towards his friends while Cassie stayed glued to my side. I took a breath and tried not to grind my teeth in annoyance. I stuck my elbow out for Cassie and she looked at me.
"I figure I'm a better cane then your cane if you want." I offered. The alcohol was starting to loosen me up. I couldn't tell if it was from the chill in the air or not but Cassie's cheeks blushed and she looped her arm into mine.
"Thank you." Cassie said.
"Are you okay? It looked like something crawl up Chad's ass and he was taking it out on you." I said trying to piece together what happened when I was playing beer pong with Toni.
"I'm alright, Chad needs to learn I'm not a little girl anymore and I can make my own decisions and choices. If he doesn't soon, I'm going to sick my mom on him." Cassie said and took a big gulp of her drink as we got closer to the stadium.
I couldn't help but laugh and followed her actions. I dropped the conversation for now and continued to chug the rest of my drink before we got to close to the stadium. When we got there the guys broke off from us and went down to their own section of seats more towards the field. They were tucked in a corner and I doubt we would be seeing them once the game started.
Cassie was definitely right about the tickets; these seats were amazing. We weren't too close or too far from the field and being just right of the half way point in the field meant we could see everything going on down on the field. We all got settled into our seats and waited for the game to start.
While we were waiting I made sure to introduce Cassie to all of my teammates if she didn't already know any of them by name. I wanted to make sure she was comfortable around them because I know that they will be around me a lot more as the semester continues on. Cassie seemed to know a good amount of them and it made me happy to see her getting along with everyone.
Not before long, the game started with a beer from Toni as she is one of the few of us that are actually over 21. Everybody got really into the pregame chants as the team ran out onto the field and during the kickoff. With the drink in hand I jumped around with everyone else with the biggest smile on my face. For the first time in three years I felt happy. So much has happened back at home that I never thought it would be possible to get back to this point.
Just after the kick off the crowd started to settle down and I couldn't help but tear up. The alcohol I had definitely did not helping the situation as a few of my tears fell. It took all the emotional strength I had in me to keep the sob I so desperately wanted to escape from my throat in. Just when I thought I had a handle on my emotions I felt someone put their hand on my thigh and I looked up from my lap to find Cassie looking at me with so much concern a few more tears fell.
"Hey are you okay?" Cassie asked through the roar of the crowd as someone must have did something good.
"Yea, I really am okay. Before I left home to come here so much happened and I never really thought I could ever get to this place of happiness I am right now." I said and tried to wipe away some of the tear tracks.
"You know that if you ever needed to talk about it I'm here for you." Cassie said and gave me a smile.
"Thank you." I said and wiped away the last of my tears. I took a big chug of my beer and turned my attention back to the action on the field. The only thoughts going through my mind now is the fact that Cassie left her hand on my thigh.
In fact Cassie left her hand on my thigh for most of the game. Whenever the home team would do something good we would both jump up with the rest of the crowd and high five everyone around us. Then after the play was over we would sit back down again and Cassie's hand returned to my thigh. As the night went on, it felt like her hand belonged there and I never wanted her to take it back.
The football game turned out to be a blow out for the home team. When the fourth quarter started I could tell Cassie was getting tried and it looked like she was having problems with her leg. Every couple of seconds she would move in her seat and try to stretch it out. All the drinks I had today were almost out of my system by now and it left me with a light buzz, but I can feel myself starting to crash. So I thought it would be best if we left early.
"We can go if you want." I said leaning into her so she could hear me over the crowd noise.
"You sure? The game isn't over yet." Cassie said trying to stop moving her leg.
"I'm sure, the game is just going to be even more of blow out even if we leave now." I said and gave her a smile.
"Then I'm ready to go when you are." Cassie said a bit relieved.
As I told the girls that we were going to head out and a few of the other girls decided to leave the game with us. We walked with the girls back to the hockey house to make sure they got home alright and Becca left with us to walk back to the dorm. The more walking we did the more Cassie leaned on me. I knew her leg was bothering her but I didn't think it was this bad.
"Becca hold up for a second." I said to my friend who was a few paces in front of us. When she stopped and turned to us I turned to Cassie. Before Cassie could say anything I put my arms under her knees and around her back and lifted her. Cassie threw her arms around my neck as her cane fell to the ground.
"McKenna what are you doing?" Cassie asked and gripped onto my shoulders.
"I could tell your leg is really bothering you, thought this would be easier. Becca can you grab Cassies cane." I asked.
Becca did as I asked and we continued our way back to the dorm. Every step I took I could feel Cassie's body in my hold. Cassie was light and didn't faze me much to hold her up. I could feel her hands tremble a few times with trying to decide where to put them as we walked. First they started around my neck, then they moved to being over my shoulder. Cassie shifted once in my arms and she rested her head against my shoulder. Her right hand rested on the back of my neck and every few seconds she would rub her thumb over it.
Even though the temperature dropped as night fell, a steady blush kept me warm on the walk home. When we got back to the dorm I kept Cassie in my arms until we got to Becca's dorm room. Cassie asked in my ear to put her down and when I did she took her cane back from Becca. The moment Cassie was out of my arms, I wish she was back in them. I missed her warmth and having her close to me. Becca gave me a look when Cassie wasn't looking and I knew that she would want some answers tomorrow at practice. I wished her a goodnight and followed behind Cassie back to our dorm down the hall.
I made sure our dorm room door was closed and locked before kicking off my boots and stalking over to my room. One whiff of myself though made me realize I really needed a quick shower before I headed off to bed. So I grabbed some clothes and made my way over to the bathroom. I dropped my pajamas down on the counter in the bathroom and knocked on Cassies door. This time I made sure that I heard her say come in before I opened the door.
"I just wanted to let you know I'm taking a quick shower before bed, I hope you don't mind."
"No you're all good, I'll go after you." Cassie said and continued to use a makeup wipe to rid her face with the last of the makeup she put on today.
"I'll let you know when I'm done." I said and turned to go back into the bathroom.
"McKenna, wait a second." Cassie said. I turned back to her doorframe and stopped and waited as Cassie crossed her room. Just when she got close to me I was going to ask her what she needed. But Cassie just kept getting closer to me. Before I knew what was happening, Cassie put her hand on my breastbone and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you for carrying me home tonight." Cassie said quietly and pulled away before I could even really process what happened.
"Any time." I managed to say before giving her a smile and turning back to the bathroom. The smile I had on my face lasted all through my shower and till I went to sleep that night.
a/n: haha an update. look at these two getting comfy together. dont worry, im going to throw some bumps into their happy little bubble soon so i thought i would give you a little taste of what could be.
song on the side is called scared of happy by fifth harmony, fits really well with McKenna's mental state during the football game. we will go more into whats going on with this in some later chapters.
also for those of you who dont know the the woman's hockey world cup tournament was just canceled out of the blue as the teams were on their way to the bubbles. there is no back up plan for them to play and it is really disappointing to see how their governing body would just cancel their largest tournament and not have a back up plan and have all the athletes go home. its complete and utter bullshit. i hope they work it out soon so the woman get to play.
dont know when the next update will be so leave me some comments and votes on this chapter to motivate me to get the next chapter up soon.