The Right Kind of Wrong

Walking across campus with Bella, talking about nothing at all, Emily jumped slightly as her phone vibrated in her back pocket and shifting her books slightly, she fished up the white iPhone, frowning slightly as she saw the name flashing on the screen; Fischer.

“What’s up?” Bella asked as she noticed that her friend stopped and she turned around, watching her.

“Nothing,” Emily brushed off, declining the call and sending it to voice mail. She was getting tired of the past sneaking up on her when she didn’t expect it.

“Alright,” Bella shrugged as they continued across the large square and heading towards the café where they were planning on getting some coffee and do some much needed people watching. “So I was thinking we should throw a masquerade party,” she suggested.

“Halloween’s coming up,” Emily pointed out.

“I know,” Bella nodded. “But I was thinking…more like just a party, no trick or treating. Friday the 13th coming up.”

“That’s a good idea,” Emily smiled approvingly. She hadn’t been at a real masquerade party since before arriving in the States, they took Halloween a bit too serious and no one really thought of during the rest of the year. “I’ll totally be there.”

“Good, cause I'm going to need help,” Bella admitted sheepishly. “With everything, decorations and getting a good costume that isn’t a nurse or a playboy bunny, and…drinks, I need drinks.”

“I'm sure the boys know how to get those,” Emily smiled knowingly, only to falter slightly as her gaze landed on something so familiar she almost had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

Noticing her strange behavior, Bella frowned slightly, following her line of sight. She’d been a bit strange the last couple of days, the girls had put it down to the hockey games – they’d notice she seemed to skirt around them – but they’d figured she’d be over it by now. “Em?”

Watching the tall, blonde and blue-eyed boy move across the square, seeming strangely carefree considering where he was and the loss he’d suffered the previous night, Emily practically forgot how to function. She’d promised herself to stay away from him, to make sure that she didn’t get affected by him again, but from just one look it was clear to even herself that it never was that simple.

“Emily?”

“What?” Emily asked, a voice taking on a high pitch before she cleared her throat. “What?”

“Are you okay?” Bella asked concerned. “You kind of look like you just saw a ghost.”

“Yeah, that would actually have been preferred,” Emily admitted quietly, noticing the raised eyebrows she got in reply.

Sighing, heavily, she reluctantly glanced in the same direction again and found that none of the tracksuit wearing guys had even moved. “The tall blonde with number 19 on his pants, do you see him?” she asked as she looked back at Bella.

“The one with a paper cup in his hand?” Bella checked, looking over her friends shoulder, trying to remain inconspicuous.

“Yeah,” Emily nodded quickly.

“What about him?” Bella frowned slightly, she could clearly recognize the team logo also printed on the tracksuits.

“It’s a long story,” Emily began, continuing towards the coffeehouse, leaving Bella with no other option than to follow her.

Ordering coffee and large, calorie filled piece of cake, Emily was curled up in one of the sofas lining the walls of the café, Bella sitting across the table with an expecting look across her features.

“I was engaged to him,” Emily began as she traced her finger around the mug on the table and watching her new friend choke slightly on her drink.

“What?” Bella questioned confused.

“The tall blonde, usually wearing 19 on his back,” Emily clarified. “I met him in high school and we were engaged till just some six or so months ago,” she continued. “I transferred here this summer because after a seven year long relationship, I found him cheating on me, with my freshman year roommate and best friend.”

“Wow,” Bella breathed as she had absolutely no clue as to what to say. Cause what do you say when you find something like that out?

“That’s one way to put it,” Emily laughed slightly. “Today, or last night at the game, was the first time I saw him since I left school before the summer.”

“You went to University of Minnesota?” Bella checked.

“Yeah,” Emily nodded slowly.

“How did you find out?” Bella asked carefully.

“I walked in on them in his apartment,” Emily revealed. “At first I didn’t even want to move to St-Paul, he’d already sent in his application and all I could do, baring a long distance relationship from across the Atlantic was to apply too,” she sighed softly. “I always dreamed about going to school here in the states, for at least a semester or maybe a year, but I can promise you that UofM never made it onto my list of schools I wanted to attend,” she laughed dryly.

“I'm sorry?” Bella said, but frowned slightly as she realized it came out more like a question.

“I didn’t realize just how much I let him dictate in my life till I broke up with him,” she admitted. “I went back home to my family and when I was doing something I constantly kept wondering if the things I was doing was going to interfere with his play, or his practice or his…whatever,” she rolled her eyes. “I never thought I would end up being the girl who moved across the world just cause she was too scared to have a backbone against her fiancé.”

“A lot of people move across the world to be with their partner,” Bella pointed out, sipping her drink slowly.

“Yeah, but most aren’t required to do it,” Emily agreed. “He never asked me if I wanted to move,” she revealed. “I’d already started University back home and I was at most thinking that I was going to have to switch schools if he got traded to another club, not for a second did I think that he was going to come out here to go to school,” she absentmindedly moved the spoon through her cooling cocoa.

“We were having lunch by the river one day and he just blurts it out,” she remembered. “’I'm going to Minnesota this fall’,” she recalled. “There was never any question; he just assumed I was going to be there.”

“He sounds like a douche,” Bella stated. “You're better off.”

“Thanks,” Emily smiled softly. “I thought he was going to be my one all, end all,” she admitted. “We got engaged right out of high school and whilst that’s not all that usual where we come from, it felt perfect, it was right for us and we were even talking about our future wedding,” she said softly. “I've never before been as hurt and betrayed as when I saw them getting it on.”

“It’s not your fault,” Bella stated, sighing as she saw the look Emily gave her. “I know that you most probably know that, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it again,” she pointed out. “It’s not easy to deal with it, and I've never been cheated on, at least not in a real relationship, but I've seen it happen to a lot of people around me and it’s really does suck, so I know that it doesn’t hurt to hear that it wasn't your fault.”

“Thank you,” Emily said quietly. “It’s just that sometimes I wake up in the morning, wondering if it was something I did,” she admitted. “I know it’s not, but I haven't talked to him since I found them and sometimes the questions are enough to drive me insane.”

“I don’t know you that well, but you're not the kind of person who takes the blame for something like that,” Bella decided. “I’ll give him that he’s tall, blonde and whatever eye color he has, but you my friend, has tall, dark and handsome following you around like a puppy dog,” she pointed out. “And he’s got eyes like a puppy, they’re all brown and deep and adoring. You don’t need Gopher punks.”

“Thanks,” Emily laughed, for the first time feeling that maybe they were right. She really was better off without him. No matter how much she tried to claim that she knew she was better off, it didn’t mean that she always believed it, but now she almost did. And it didn’t hurt that Chris was occupying her thoughts a little too much these days…