My Way Back to You

Chapter 3 | First Party of the Year

Anthony

After practice we all went home and rested for an hour or so. When the clock struck 9 o'clock, me and Cody hopped into his mini cooper and headed down to the hockey house.

Me and him chose not to live in the hockey house because it ended up being too chaotic. Me and Cody like to lie low, and don't like to party as much as the other guys. We also don't want to get blamed for any shenanigans that happen in the sports houses as a whole. So we stay out of it.

We drove to the opposite side of campus to find the driveway absolutely full. So full we had to park down the street.

It's a 2 story house made in the 90s, so not totally flattering on the outside.

We walked on the sidewalk up to the house. The garage door was wide open with coolers lining the inside. Cody immediately grabbed a beer and walked to the backyard. I followed but decided I wasn't going to drink until later.

We found the guys sitting out back around a campfire.

Cody sipped some of his beer and cleared his throat, "When is everyone else showing up?"

"I told everyone else 10 so that just us guys could have an hour to ourselves." Zach replied.

I chuckled, "Good idea."

That hour flew by faster than anyone had expected and before we knew it, cars full of girls and guys showed up.

There was music and dancing and a whole lot of drinks. I finally picked up my beer to catch up with everyone else's buzz.

People were kissing and loving each other in the backyard. Others danced in the center of the garage and Zach finally shut the garage door from how loud it was getting. Few went in the house to get some alone time together, but upstairs was off limits.

A few hours earlier, a beautiful blonde had walked up to Cody. She wore a black corduroy jacket with a tiny pink turtleneck underneath, and even smaller jean shorts.

Now Cody was nowhere to be found. What a dork.

Zach noticed that I was alone and joined me, "There's so many people here, you won't talk to anyone?"

I knew he was referring to girls, "No."

"Are you really that reserved or what's your problem?" Zach pushed.

"I'm waiting to find the right person." I sighed.

Zach shook his head in disbelief, "You aren't even trying, or looking. What's holding you back?"

At that moment I wanted to tell him everything. These three years have been a mess. I shouldn't have left her. I'm going insane and now I can't even live a normal college life.

All I could say was, "I'm looking for someone specific."

"Oh so your standards are high?"

"No."

Zach noticed my reservedness to tell him the truth, so he led me inside and upstairs. We went into his bedroom. I sat on his gaming chair while he sat on his bed. I buried my head into my hands.

"Ok, now tell me." He persevered.

I took a deep breath and began, "You know I used to be a figure skater."

"Yeah, so?"

"But I never told you I was in partner skating."

"Oh noooooo." he sounded like I was talking to one of my sisters.

Then it all came pouring out, "I had a huge crush on her. She was the most beautiful girl I've ever met. She was always so kind to me. But I never had the guts to tell her. But our coach at the time wanted me to ask her out. He took me aside and told me it would make the dances better. I couldn't do it. And it ruined figure skating for me. I couldn't look at her the same way either. I always wanted to do hockey, so I left her for it."

"So why do you suddenly want her now?" Zach questioned.

"Because I realize I shouldn't have let my coach ruin it for me. And I did truly love her."

Zach laid down the truth, "Dude, it's been 3 years. You're never going to find her. You have to get over it. You need to move on and find someone new."

He's right, without Lydia knowing I even liked her, I haven't dated anyone throughout high school and college. I'm the quietest guy on the team and I never talk to anyone. Well that was all about to change.

"Thanks bud." I nodded.

We went back downstairs and walked through the living room full of football and hockey players with their girlfriends.

We opened the door to the garage and the first person I saw was Cody with a dumb smile on his face.

Me and Zach split and I wandered my way over to Cody, "What happened?"

"Good."

I start laughing, "Good happened?"

"Yes."

I burst out laughing even harder and patted his back, "Good lord dude."

The night continued smoothly, I was definitely drunk by the end of it. Cody was on another planet kind of drunk. Zach was supervising the rest of us on just a single beer.

Straight out of a movie, a tall fair skinned girl with dyed black hair waltzes in my direction.

"I watched you play at the game the other night, you have some sweet moves, care to dance?" she spoke.

I felt my heart skip a beat, but I tried to stay calm and collected. She was very pretty. She wore a yellow crop top that said "KU Hockey" on it with those classic white and black college font letters. She had black jean shorts on with yellow van shoes. Her hair in a messy bun.

I snapped out of it before replying, "I'm not one to dance, but I'll have a drink with you."

We took a shot and had small talk. I felt so awkward but it seemed to be going well. I thought maybe she was just drunk too.

When I asked for her name she replied, "Emily."

She had such a beautiful smile.

~|||~

I woke up the next morning not remembering what happened after I asked for her name. I was laying on Zach's couch and Emily was sleeping on my chest.

It must have gone well last night and I must not have made a fool of myself if I woke up to a girl sleeping on me.

I got a better look at my surroundings to find that first of all, my shirt is gone. Secondly, the house is surprisingly clean besides a few beer cans on the coffee table. I lay my head back down on the headrest for a few seconds to relax, my arm still around Emily.

I open my phone and check the team's group chat to see what all happened the night before. The light from my phone opening gave me a hangover headache. Most of the texts were poking fun at Cody for being an absolute goofball on the dance floor.

Cody is just one of those guys where he's the funny kind of quiet, and just wants to have a good time.

Emily wakes up a few minutes later and slowly gets up. She gets a good look at me before saying, "I hope you had as much fun as I did last night, see you around." and left.

That was it? Seriously?

I stop her before she gets out the door, "When can I see you around?"

She sighs, "I go wherever the tide takes me, but for now I have to get to class."

I quickly look at my phone again to realize it's 9am, but it's Saturday.

"It's Saturday." I stated.

"Right." she spoke as she shut the door.

Is this what it felt like to be Lydia?

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Thanks for reading ! Don't forget to vote and comment! We will finally hear from Lydia's perspective next chapter I promise!!