Been You

Chapter 3: Pretend to Go Out with Me

ELYSANDRA'S POV:

Justin and I are now walking to the house where the hockey team stays. It's almost like a frat house, but for the hockey team. Another perk of being an athlete. This school really does prioritize sports. Justin and I go in, and he greets Christian in that way that guys always do. The handshake thing. I roll my eyes. Too much testosterone in this room, can't breathe. I laugh to myself.

Hearing me, Justin smiles warmly and says, "Christian, this is Elysandra. Elysandra, this is Christian."

"You can call me 'Ely,'" I correct. Being introduced this way felt weird to me. I had never formally met Christian, but from how much Justin talks about hockey and the team, it felt like I'd known him for years.

Christian takes my hand to kiss it. "You better keep an eye on this one," Christian says to Justin. "If we weren't friends, I'd have to steal her from you," Christian flirts.

I smile, flattered. "Actually-" I say, before being interrupted by both Justin's voice and his hand as it grabs mine.

"No one will be stealing anything from me," Justin says. I look at him, confused. He glances back, his eyes pleading, so I digress. I mean, he didn't lie. But why would he make it seem like we were together? I will definitely be asking him about this later. Justin continues, "You said the uniforms came in today?"

"Yeah," Christian answers. We follow him into the living room. We had been talking in the foyer, previously. In the living room, there are about five large boxes. Christian looks through the box labeled "A-E" and pulls out a packet labeled "Bieber". Justin beams at me like a kid in a candy store. He loves new uniforms. I smile back, equally as bright. I love seeing him this happy. There's something about his smile that's so infectious; you can't help but smile too. "Well, I'll leave you two love birds alone," Christian coos, returning to the foyer to wait for other players to pick up their uniforms. Justin grabs my hand to pull me up to his room, presumably to put his uniform away.

While the whole team is welcome in the hockey house, only the starting lineup gets to actually live here with a room of their own. Justin is the only freshman in the starting lineup. I wish I could say this hasn't gone to his head, but that would be a lie. Justin closes the door behind him when we get to his room, and immediately says, "I'm sorry about back there."

"Do you care to explain to me..." I trail off because this whole situation needs explaining, and there aren't enough words in the language to sum up what he just did.

"Christian is not a nice guy to girls. He's nothing but trouble. I didn't want him trying anything on you." He explains. This just isn't adding up to me.

"I can take care of myself, J. If he's bad news, I would've just stayed away from him." Justin gives me a knowing glare. "Okay, maybe I wouldn't have. But why couldn't you just tell him to steer clear?" I ask.

"My captain. You really expect me to try to tell my captain who he can and can't date? Ely, that'll get me benched, or worse." He explains. I realize that he's right. This is the only way. I roll my eyes.

"How long do we have to do this?" I ask. "I mean, think of all the guys I'm going to miss out on dating!" I could've sworn I saw a look of hurt flash across his face. But if it did, it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

"Just until Christian finds a new girl to prey on. Which shouldn't be long, because the hockey team is having a party on Friday."

My eyes light up, "Ooooh, am I invited?" I ask, happily. I love parties.

"Only if you can resist doing a keg stand," Justin jokes. My mind flashes back to a high school party. I had gotten so drunk, that I'd forgotten I was wearing a dress and did a keg stand, showing everyone there my underwear that read "Wednesday," across the butt. It was a Friday. Everyone called me "Wednesday," for about a month. Embarrassment courses though my whole body, making me shiver.

"Ugh, don't remind me," I say, disgusted at the memory. "Let's just go get lunch, I have a class at 2."

"But, of course. Wednesday," Justin says with a quirk of his eyebrow.