Both Friday and Saturday games were home this weekend and both resulted in a win. Riley should have been happy about this but was distracted by Kenny. On Friday, Kenny left after the game to go hang out with her mystery friend again and didn't return until warm ups for Saturday's game. Kenny looked tired and maybe even hung over but when Riley asked what she had been up to Kenny declined to provide details again. Then when the captains declared they were having another party at their house, Kenny opted to spend the night with her 'friend' instead. Knowing Kenny wasn't going meant there was no point for Riley to go and she spent the night in her room watching movies instead. Riley didn't mind the quiet night, she preferred alone time actually, but she couldn't figure out why Kenny was being so secretive.
It wasn't until Monday morning that Riley finally saw Kenny and got to ask her about her weekend since Riley was already in bed when Kenny got home Sunday night. After getting zero details, Riley gave up and switched subjects to subtly ask about Kristin and James.
"Kristin played on the team with James last year as a first-year but Kristin hurt her hand at the end of the season last year so she couldn't play this year." Kenny explained.
"Do they live together? Riley questioned.
"No, James lives in West I think" referring to one of the other upper class dorms, "and Kristin lives... I dunno, some other dorm. I think Kristin spends a lot of time in James' room though because she doesn't like her roommates or something" Kenny clarified.
Still contemplating, Riley simply said "Oh".
Kenny looked over at her questioningly, "Why?"
Turning away quickly to hide her creeping blush Riley said "I dunno, just wondering." Luckily for Riley, Kenny's phone went off and she walked away distractedly to text the person back.
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Always punctual, Riley arrived at her psych group's meeting spot ten minutes early. They were meeting in one of the private rooms below the library and Riley had positioned herself facing the propped open door so that she could watch people pass by on their way to one of the other private study rooms. This sitting position meant that Riley had a full view of James walking towards her first. Once James took her seat at the table at the only spot that wasn't next to or across from Riley, they sat in silence.
Three minutes passed without a word until they heard Cassidy's chipper "Hey guys!" as she walked in and sat next to James and across from Riley. A second later Becca filled the last empty seat across from James. The meeting was moving along smoothly enough until Cassidy said "So Becca and I were talking earlier and we think it would be easiest if we split into pairs, get all the research for our two angles and then come back together in two weeks to compile everything after Thanksgiving break."
"Umm sure we could do that" Riley said, looking hopefully at Becca to show that she wanted to pair up with her.
"Awesome! Becca and I both wanted to do these parts," Cassidy replied, pointing to the paper where they had broken up tasks to be done, " and you and James can do these ones".
"Uhhh" Riley couldn't think of any way out of it "ok" she finished lamely.
"Great! Well I have to get to another class but I'll see you all in class tomorrow!" Cassidy stated happily as she packed up her stuff and walked out before Riley could even process what happened. Becca gathered her stuff and said "Bye guys" as she quickly walked out too.
"What the hell just happened?" James asked, looking around.
Riley shook her head "I think we just got hit by tornado Cassidy."
"Damn I guess so," James agreed. "She's annoyingly upbeat for a tornado.
"And bossy," Riley added.
James laughed before hurriedly stifling it, "So I guess we're a pair".
"Guess so."
"Where do you want to meet?" James asked.
"Here?" Riley suggested.
"Sure. We could meet Wednesday before or after practice?" James offered.
"After works for me" Riley agreed.
"Sounds good" James said as she got up. Looking like she wanted to say more but deciding against it she stated "See you later" and walked out.
"Yeah. See you" Riley said quietly as she watched James leave.
YOU ARE READING
Unknown Beginning
General FictionRiley has just started over at a new college and is trying to navigate relationships with her new best friend, Kenny, while integrating to a new disgruntled hockey team. One particular captain seems to hate Riley and she doesn't know why but she's g...
