Clarity

Caity had gone to take a nap in her room about an hour ago, and about a half an hour after she retreated to her bedroom, Michael and Carl burst through the door. I was sitting on the couch, my eyes wide, and my high school field hockey stick in my hands for protection.

Michael’s happy grin turned into a look that could only read ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’. “Are you serious?” he asked.

I dropped the stick lightly so it wouldn’t mark the floor. “One, I thought you were an intruder. Two, it would’ve been nice if you knocked.”

“The door was unlocked,” Michael retorted.

I frowned, crossing my arms. “The logical thing to do when you get to someone’s house is knock, though.”

“Elena, who’s h-“ Caity said quietly as she emerged from her room. Her words got caught in her throat as she turned the corner and saw who was standing in the doorway.

Carl groaned. “You said she went out!”

“I’m going back to sleep,” Caity sighed, turning around.

Carl was already gone by the time Michael and I looked back at each other. “Well, nice plan, genius,” I snapped at the Canadian defenseman.

Michael’s jaw dropped. “Hey, I don’t see you coming up with good plans!”

I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms again. “I had a better plan than you did!”

“Oh, really now? What was it?” he asked, mimicking my actions.

I bit my lower lip and looked down at my bare feet. “I forgot it now that we tried your plan.”

“Ah hah!” he cried, pointing at me. “Okay, well, I’m gonna go get Carl and we’re gonna go to Starbucks tomorrow morning. What time is your shift?”

I thought for a second, thinking about our schedule. “We start at around 10, and we end at 4.”

Michael nodded. “Morning skate starts at 11:30, so we’ll be there at around 10:30 to grab coffee.”

“Okay.”

He smiled at me. “Okay, well I’m gonna go try to get him out of this funk. Make sure Caity takes his order tomorrow,” he said.

“Already ahead of you, Del Zotto.”

He ruffled my head and kissed the top of it. “Good girl.” He then leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to my lips before smiling and walking out the door.

“His dumb plan better work,” I muttered before locking the door.

----------

“Elena, I need a grande green tea frappuccino,” Caity called out to me as I pushed an iced chai tea across the counter to a middle-aged woman in a business suit.

“Thank you,” the woman smiled at me and I walked back to start on the green tea frappuccino.

It was 10:42, and Michael and Carl had yet to come in. I reached into my pocket as the green tea mixture started blending and grabbed my phone, expecting a text from Michael, but there was nothing.

“Hey, Cate,” I said as I gave the waiting teenage girl the green tea frappuccino. “Has Carl texted you yet today?”

She frowned and shook her head. “No, why?”

I shrugged. “Just wondering.”

Business picked up after our quick conversation, with Michael and Carl silently slipping in at around 10:50. Michael saw me immediately and smiled, while Carl’s eyes were glued to his phone. He looked up to his friend, his eyes bloodshot and swollen.

They looked just like Caity’s.

Poor kids.

Caity continued taking everyone’s orders, while I silently made their drinks. She didn’t even notice when she took Michael’s order and as I made his drink, I watched as Carl walked up to her, his red eye widening as he saw what she looked like.

Caity’s P.O.V.

“Caity?” a familiar Swedish accent rang out from in front of me.

I looked up to see Carl standing before the cash register; his face pale and his eyes were swollen and red.

“Carl, what happened to you?” I asked gently. Thank god there was no one behind him.

“What happened to me? What happened to you?” he cried, reaching his hand out to touch my face. “You look paler than normal. Have you slept?”

I shook my head, looking down at my chipped nails. “Why?” he croaked, forcing me to look back at him.

“I haven’t gotten to sleep.”

He rubbed his bloodshot eyes. “Why?”

I shrugged. “You’ve been crying, haven’t you?” he asked.

I nodded, blinking so I wouldn’t start bawling again. I heard Carl sigh, and when I looked up, his head was in his hands.

“God, I’m such an idiot,” he mumbled.

I looked over at Elena, who was quietly talking with Michael. His hand was resting on hers, and I watched as they spoke. Elena soon looked over at me, and smiled when she saw Carl and I weren’t completely ignoring each other. She gestured towards the upset Swede, who was still moping in his hands.

“Carl,” I said quietly, placing my hand lightly on his shoulder.

He looked up slowly, eyeing my hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Cate,” he whispered.

I bit my lip, feeling my eyes tear up. “Carl-” I started, but he cut me off immediately.

“No, Caity, I really fucked up. I really like you. You’re such a beautiful girl. I honestly don’t know what I was thinking when I said it didn’t matter what we are. It does matter. I guess I didn’t think as to how you were feeling, and now I understand that I made you feel like absolute shit, and I’m truly sorry. I definitely want you to be more than what we were before, and if you’ll forgive me, I promise you, I’ll never hurt you.”

Well, fuck trying to hold back tears.

“Of course I forgive you, Carl,” I smiled at him.

He breathed out a sigh of relief, a smile washing over his sad features. His swollen blue eyes lit up happily and he leaned over the counter and pressed a hard kiss to my lips.

“Aw!” I heard Elena cry from her spot at the counter with Michael. He was holding her hand in both of his. She looked like she was about to cry, and she reached up with her free hand to wipe her eyes.

“Hey!” Michael said. “My plan worked! And you thought it was dumb!” he dropped Elena’s hand as she laughed.

“Alright, alright, it was an okay plan,” she giggled, running over to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled my closer to her. I laughed and hugged my best friend.

Times like these, it helps to have friends who care so much.