Riley's initial plan to focus on James when she returned to school had been derailed after their game. Riley's disquiet regarding Kenny's relationship with Tyler had intensified when she saw the physical changes in Kenny as the week went on. Despite Kenny's best efforts to hide her body by changing out of sight during the practices and games, Riley could see Kenny had lost even more weight. When Riley attempted to cautiously broach the topic, Kenny had just played it off by saying she'd been eating healthier and working out more with Tyler.
Riley felt out of her depth and helpless on how to help. Especially since Kenny had become even more emotionally distant overall and always changed the subject if Riley brought up Tyler. Still determined, Riley made a point to reinforce to Kenny that she was always there to listen or just physically be there if Kenny needed. Riley also suggested Kenny could talk to one of the school therapists and recounted how Riley herself had found it helpful when she first started at the school. Yet Kenny didn't show much interest in this, and fearing further alienation, Riley didn't press the issue.
Despite this, Riley continued to try to initiate hang outs and things to do together even though Kenny often declined as she was almost always with Tyler. Kenny had even stopped hanging out with her other friends and instead was at Tyler's house during the week. On weekends, they would often go to random parties where Kenny would frequently show up completely drunk and/or high to the point of becoming dependent on Tyler for even the most basic tasks such as walking.
All of which meant Riley had hardly spared a thought for James in the two weeks on campus before their fellow classmates returned for the new semester. Naturally, they had seen each other and interacted at practices and games but otherwise it was radio silence. And since Steph wasn't a winter-sport athlete, she wasn't back from winter break either so that connection couldn't even be utilized as an excuse to see each other.
Riley knew she had waited too long to talk to James and now she didn't know where to start. What should she say about the pictures with Sana? How did she explain their complicated past and what did it mean for the future? Riley didn't have the answers and thus simply postponed the conversation further.
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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...
