Friends Stay Forever

Why does it matter if I hate gays? It’s not like Claudia’s a lesbian or something. It’s just her friend so I don’t know why it matters to her. Isn’t a boyfriend more important than a friend?

I woke up the next morning, still a little pissed about the argument. PK was packing up his stuff so I decided to shower. I jumped in and out within five minutes and started packing my stuff.

“Dude, where’s Claud?” I asked, noticing she wasn’t here. She was probably in someone else’s room.

“Gone,” he said quickly.

“What do you mean?” I asked. She wouldn’t just leave without saying goodbye.

“She said she was done with your crap, got up and left. She didn’t say where she was going, she just left,” he responded. I grabbed my cell phone off the table and called her parents.

“Hey Mrs. Ranal. It’s Tom. Is Claudia there?” I asked.

“No sweetie. She said she was going back to her dorm for a couple of days before she came. She didn’t say why, though,” she said sweetly. She was always such a sweet woman.

“Okay, thanks. Bye,” I said as I snapped the phone shut. I quickly finished packing and then went around the entire floor to help everyone else pack as quickly as I could. I needed to talk to Claudia as soon as I can.

There’s something that most people don’t know about me; I get sick and tired of being an NHL hockey player. Sometimes, I just want to slip into the world of being a normal guy with a normal girlfriend and normal friends. Claudia is the only one who can help me slip into that world and, if I lose her, I can’t do that anymore. She knew me before most people knew who I was as an NHL player. Now if I go somewhere, they recognize me and will date me for my name.

I carried about five of the guys’ luggage down to the bus and loaded it onto the bus.

“Whoa there! Speedy Gonzalez! What’s the rush?” Max Pacioretty asked.

“We need to get back so I can talk to Claudia,” I said quickly. I hoped that if I talked fast, people would walk fast.

I walked onto the bus and basically told the driver to floor it. After what felt like an eternity, the ten minute bus ride ended and we got to the airport. I rushed everyone through security and help the luggage people load the bags onto the plane. Everyone thought I was going insane, but they understood. I walked onto the plane and fell asleep so the ride would go faster.

I woke up as soon as the plane landed. My coach yelled at me for running off the plane but I didn’t care. If he knew why I needed to get off the plane, he wouldn’t have cared. I sprinted through security and grabbed my luggage. I ran towards my car and sped out of the parking lot.

I thought that if I got there quick enough, it would show how much I cared about her. I know that it sounds ridiculous, but I didn’t care.

I parked in the lot of her dorm and looked up at hers. It was the last one on the right, second floor. I ran past the elevators and up the stairs instead. The elevators move too slow for me. I heard muffled sounds of someone moving around, a sign that she was in there. I stared at the door that leads into her apartment. Right now, it was the only thing that separated us.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Claudia could either be nice and forgiving, or stubborn and mean.

She opened the door and looked into my eyes. She was only about an inch shorter than me. She didn’t have make-up or tears running down her cheeks. I took that as a sign that she was going to be a bitch.

“What are you doing here?” she spat. Yup, she was definitely going to be a bitch. She didn’t move out of the doorway. I had a feeling she was going to slam the door on my face.

“I wanted to apologize,” I said softly, trying to be nice. It was the only way that I would be able to get her to forgive me.

“For what?” she asked, annoyed.

“For hating Kevin,” I said. I was starting to get a little annoyed. Of course she knew what I was apologizing for.

“Well you’re just wasting your time,” she said as she started to close the door. I quickly put my hand on the door to stop her.

“Just hear me out. Please,” I sighed. She didn’t know this, but I needed her in my life. If I didn’t have her in my life, I would go insane.

“Hear what out?” she asked, her voice getting louder. “No matter what you do you are always going to have the same opinion! You can’t change that unless you stop being one minded! You need to realize that we are in the 21st century and that people can do what they want!”

“Why do you keep defending him?” I yelled. I swear she liked him more than she liked me.

“Why do you keep questioning me?” she yelled back.

“Look at what he’s doing to us! He’s ruining our relationship! Why can’t you see that?” I yelled. I pulled at my hair, aggravated.

“DON’T blame our relationship problems on Kevin. He has nothing to do with the fact that you hate him. He makes his own decisions that you choose to disagree with. You know what Tom? Fuck you! Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!” she yelled.

“Well if you weren’t so hung up on defending your friend none of this would have happened. I’m your boyfriend for crying out loud! Aren’t I, your boyfriend, more important than you?”

She gave me a look that I swear could kill someone. She was totally different from her bubbly personality when she was angry.

“You see, that’s where you’re wrong. Boyfriends come and go, but friends stay forever. Not everything is always about you, but you don’t realize that anymore. Not since you became more famous.”

“That’s not true and you know it!” I spat, pointing a finger at her.

“Do you want to know why I defend Kevin?” she asked, ignoring my remark. “He was there for me when I needed a friend. You never called me on road trips. You didn’t want me to come to your games. Hell! You didn’t even want me to surprise you by going to your game last night!” she said, not even making eye-contact with me anymore. She had an almost disgusted look on her face. “I thought I was the problem in this relationship, but when I was talking to Kevin on the train ride home last night, he made me realize something. He made me realize that you’re the problem.” Her voice was soft at the end of her rant, almost like she was sad about her knew discovery.

“Claudia, I had no idea you felt that way,” I whispered. How could I not know that she thought she was ruining our relationship? I felt like such an asshole right now. “We could work through this,” I suggested. She laughed at me and I felt even worse.

“You don’t get it. You’ve had your chance and you ruined it. Why don’t you just get out,” she sighed. She motioned me towards the door. Feeling defeated, I walked out. I stood just outside her door and looked into her eyes again; the only time we made eye-contact throughout the entire argument.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Fuck you,” she said one last time before she slammed the door in my face.

That was the last time I ever talked to Claudia ever again. I missed her. I didn’t have any way to slip into that normal world ever again. I needed her back in my life, but every time I called her, her only response would be “Fuck you!”

Maybe she was right. Friends really do stay forever.