Once they arrived, they were greeted at the door by George.
“Hey, you two,” he said, ushering them towards the living room where nearly the entire hockey team had congregated.
Kara joined a couple of the player’s girlfriends in the back and said her usual greetings. She found herself spending more time with them as of late. They weren’t the smartest people, but they were still good people.
Henry stood at the front of the assembly. He looked nervous like he would have preferred to be anywhere but there.
“Hey guys,” he started.
“Just get out with it,” George shouted from the crowd.
“Alright, alright. I’m getting to it.” Henry said. “You know how I’ve been a bit standoffish and rarely go out to the night clubs, or usually eat at home. Well, there’s a reason for all of that.”
Henry looked into Kara’s eyes for strength.
“I’m not a rich kid like all of you. I’m not cut from the same cloth. I know a lot of you only like to consort with your own kind, and I’m not that. I’m just a normal everyday poor kid who wanted to be liked.
“So, I lied to you all, and I hope you can forgive me.”
The group was quiet for a minute; more or less none of them really had an immediate response to his sudden bout of honesty.
“Is that all,” asked George, the loudest of them all.
“Well, yeah.”
The guys all started laughing, and Henry felt ashamed. He started to walk away from the front of the group.
“Here I thought you were going to tell us something serious like you were quitting the team.”
Henry paused.
“What?”
George hopped out and grabbed Henry.
“I think I speak for everyone here when I tell you that none of us care where you were born, or where you come from. You’re one of us.”
Henry tried his hardest to suppress the tears that were welling up behind his eyes, but he couldn’t. The rest of the team shot up from the various chairs and couches to give him a giant hug.
Henry made eye contact again with Kara from the middle of the crowd. She stood in the back laughing at the sudden outpouring of emotion.
The large crowd partied the night away, drinking and chatting. The team threw on their skates again and started another impromptu game of hockey in the backyard.
This time, though, Kara was there to cheer him on. He felt revved up, now free from the burden of his own lies and ready to make his way towards a more exciting future.
Kara stood in the back with her new friends.
“Ugh, you are too lucky, Kara. That Henry is probably the best catch of the entire school.”
Kara thought about it, and she really did feel lucky. She felt lucky because of the person she was dating, and felt excited to have made so many new friends.
She had finally been coaxed out of her shell, by the last person she expected. And, in turn, Kara pulled Henry out of his.
THE END
SPORTS Romance - Hard Play
“It’s just a degree; don’t worry about it, you’ll find something good.”
Tiffany wasn’t the best at being uplifting. In fact, she was usually quite the opposite.
“Besides, you have Brad to keep you going anyway. When is that guy going to pop the question? You’ve been dating him since you got here; I would think almost four years would be enough time.”
She was making a little sense on that second point, but I wasn’t interested in getting married until after graduation. It worked in my favor anyway, since Brad hadn’t even proposed at all.
“Tiff, I know it’s just a piece of paper, and most places aren’t going to care what it says on it, but I’d like to know what I should aim for at least.”
I sipped on the hot coffee I’d just purchased, wishing it were something a little more alcoholic. Sadly, it was hard to find good parties this late in the year. Too many students were spending their time studying just to make the grade.
“Well, why don’t you just go to a graduate school, be a nurse or something. You’ve always been interested in helping people, right?”
She didn’t know me at all.
“Tiffany, I’d rather go and spend the next three years working to become a lawyer than a nurse. I’ve always thrown up at the sight of blood. Do you even know me at all?”
She laughed in my face. I was getting used to it now, but it still felt mean spirited whenever she did it.
“Lucy, don’t worry about it. There’s still another four months before graduation, plenty of time to decide what graduate schools to apply to, and plenty of time for that man of yours to man up and pop the question!”
I always wished that Tiffany were a little more of a realist. I doubt she really had any plans post-graduation. Her parents were wealthy, which gave her a measure of leniency that I couldn’t afford.