ten things you need to know / k. hendricks

1.6

Kyle
I never really told you about my ex girlfriend. Maybe just a few bits and pieces, but it was never the full story. I don't know, Eleanor, I just hated having to bring her up.

But here it goes.

I met her my freshman year at Dartmouth. One of the girls on my floor was good friends with her and I ran into her one night, and things just kind of took off from there, and we were together for the rest of my college career there. I really loved her, and it's weird to tell you that I loved someone other than you, but I need something to set the tone, I guess.

My friends all loved her, my parents loved her, and like I said, I loved her. I had a hard time seeing myself without her in my life. It was stupid on my part, though, because we were still young and nothing's guaranteed.

Even after college, we were still going strong- She was with me when I was drafted by the Rangers, she was with me when I was traded, and she was still with me while I was in Tennessee.

But things started going downhill once I was in Iowa, I guess.

I came home after one of my games one night- this was actually about two weeks after I met you- and she was just watching a movie on the couch, but I could tell something was wrong. I didn't ask her immediately, I just sat down next to her and kissed her cheek. About ten minutes passed, and I couldn't handle it, so I asked what was wrong.

She just broke down in tears and was barely able to get out a few words, but she did.

"I really fucked up, Kyle."

I asked her what she meant and she just stared at the wall and she told me what she did.

Eleanor, she cheated on me.

I didn't have much of a reaction. I just sat there while she tried to blubber a decent sounding excuse about why and how she didn't mean for it to happen, but I couldn't buy any of it.

She stayed in a hotel for the next week, and by the time I came back to Iowa after being on the road, all of her stuff was gone.

The whole thing just really fucked me up. For years, I thought this would be the girl I'd spent the rest of my life with, but it's just kind of crazy how things can change so quickly. I didn't want to be with anyone else for a while, and I was somewhat convinced that I'd never love another person again.

And then I met you.