The Right Kind of Wrong

Having stopped by her own dorm before she headed to the arena, Emily stepped out of her car and looked up at the building before her. She’d heard it being labeled as one of the most beautiful venues in the country and she had never really thought about it, but looking at it, she could sort of see it.

Approaching the front doors, she tried to keep her breathing even. She knew that within those walls, was a part of her past that she hadn’t yet fully come to terms with, she wasn't even sure she ever would.

Since finding out about Erik, and his…whatever you wanted to call it, she had tried – very actively – to avoid him. When the term was finished, she’d made all necessary arrangements before getting a ticket and flying straight home. Well as straight as three stopovers allowed anyway.

Back home she’d heard from friends that Erik was back too, but they came from a rather large city so it wasn't that hard to avoid someone if you really wanted to. And there had been no doubt that she had no desires to run into him, whatsoever. Having been together for as long as they had, since they started high school, a lot of their friends were the same and she quickly realized who her true friends were.

Some didn’t even believe that Erik had really cheated, others were sure that something had lead up to it, causing him to do it, a few even thought it was something she’d done… Growing up she’d dealt with disloyal friends, betrayal and just plain mean people who claimed to be her friends when they really weren’t, so it hadn’t been that hard to let go of the people who didn’t believe her or support her in her decision to walk out on Erik.

Then of course her cousins decided that she needed to get away and literally kidnapped her on their way to the airport and a vacation in the Greece Isles. She had never before been so thankful for the people around her as she’d been then.

Taking yet another deep breath, she pulled herself together and approached the doors to the arena. Erik was in her past, and he belonged to a really large part of it, but he wasn't her future. She didn’t know what was, just that it probably started with getting into the arena and watching the always so anticipated showdown between the North Dakota Fighting Sioux and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The game ended with a surprisingly convincing 4-0 win in favor of UND and cheering along with Kelly who was sitting next to her, Emily couldn’t help but frown on the inside. She might never have been a true Gopher fan, currently finding that she liked the Sioux more than she’d ever liked the Gophers, and Erik might have cheated on her, committing the ultimate form of betrayal, but she couldn’t help but feel at least a small ounce of sympathy for the players on the opposite team.

Being together with Erik since before they first stepped foot in Minnesota was a pretty good foundation for having to get to know the other players on the team and watching them loose like that…well, it caused her to feel for them. And whilst she would never admit it – to herself, or out loud – a small part of her felt immensely satisfied that Erik had a pretty pathetic excuse for a game. She’d seen him play for many years and she knew when he had a bad game…there was no mistaking it, and the game he played that night, was real bad.

“You coming or what?” Kelly called out over her shoulder as she was heading up the stairs, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, of course,” Emily called back, straightening out her jeans and jogging up the stairs. The players had left the ice a while ago and she knew that she had to leave the arena soon or she would be at serious risk of running into Erik, something she really didn’t want to happen.

“You’ve been…I don’t know, weird the whole game,” Kelly observed as they, along with everyone else, let the arena in a surprisingly calm manner.

“It’s…nothing,” Emily shook her head, she wasn't comfortable letting the world know about what had happened before the summer and she didn’t want to appear cold but she wasn't willing to share just yet. “So what are we doing now?” she asked, steering the conversation away from herself.

“Charlie texted me, there’s going to be a party at Lincoln Hall, and we’re going,” Kelly smiled widely, flinging her arm around Emily’s shoulders as she steered them towards the doors. “Most of the boys are going to be there so it’ll be fun,” she continued.

“I'm new here, but there’s no likelihood that they Gophers’ going to be there, right?” Emily asked slowly, trying to ignore the strange look Kelly sent her.

“I don’t think so,” Kelly said slowly. “I mean…no,” she shook her head. “If they would have won, they’re practically run out of town, and as we won, they’ll probably be drowning their sorrows at their hotel. Why?” she asked curiously. “You going dark side on us? Having feelings for someone on the enemy team?” she questioned, watching her carefully.

“No, I just don't want to deal with them,” Emily said honestly, a part of her praying that her new friend would leave it at that, and not ask anything more.

“Sure…” Kelly nodded skeptically. “If you say so,” she added as they pushed their way through the doors. “Can you give a poor girl a ride?” she asked, with pleading eyes looking up at her friend who was surprisingly tall.

“Of course,” Emily smiled, happy to not have to justify her strange question.

“Great, Chay dropped me off earlier,” Kelly stated as they began crossing the parking lot, heading straight for the black Beetle that stood out against some of the large trucks and old sedans that surrounded it.

Moving down the hall, flung over Ben’s shoulder, Emily couldn’t help but giggle at the situation. She’d met Ben a handful of times before but he was one of a kind, the sort of person that was instantaneously friendly to you and acted liked you’d known each other for years from the moment you were introduced.

Smacking him in the ass as a sign to let her down and then yelping slightly as he returned the sentiment, she shook her head slightly and momentarily closed her eyes as most of her blood were currently pooling in her head. She wasn’t fully sure of how the hell she’d ended up where she was, but alcohol had been involved as well as laughter and a possible dare.

“Are you please going to put me down soon?” she questioned as she tried to contort her body enough to look at him, but already knowing that it was most probably futile, she wasn't that agile.

“Yeah,” was the only response she received and she suppressed the urge to shake her head.

“When?” she rolled her eyes even thought he clearly couldn’t see her.

“When I feel like it,” he smiled widely, heading straight for the make-shift dance floor in the large common room, causing her to groan as her lower ribs were being abused by his hard shoulder. She’d had a feeling that would be his answer.

“Hey Benny!” the different, but a bit too familiar voice, caused her to perk up slightly, especially as it caused Ben to stop moving and therefore bruising her ribs. “Where did you find her?” he asked, pinching her in the back of her thigh and causing her to squirm dangerously on Ben's shoulder.

“Over in Charlie’s room,” Ben replied easily keeping her in place and probably drinking the rest of the beer he’d been carrying around since before he hoisted her up on his shoulder, finding the whole thing very funny.

“Didn’t look there,” Chris nodded as he rounded his teammate and smiled amused at the woman he’d quickly gotten close too. “Having fun?” he asked smiling.

“Get me down,” Emily pleaded as she strained her neck to look up at him. “Please.”

“Naw,” Chris shook his head, slapping her on the butt before turning and heading down the hall, quickly joining his friends in the celebrations.

Sighing heavily, she hung her head as Ben decided it was time to go somewhere else. One thing was for sure, the party scene, the games and the people were similar, yet all so different. Though she was confident it was a lot more fun this time around…