Clarity

“ELENA!” Caity screeched from the bathroom. “GET THE DOOR!”

I shot up from the kitchen table, looking around. I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, thinking about hockey and Michael and more hockey, and while waiting for Caity to finish making pancakes, I must’ve fallen asleep. Michael and Carl had gone to Buffalo last night for their game against the Sabres, which they won 8 to 4. They had a day off and were now back in the city for their day off.

But, Caity was now in the bathroom- probably getting ready, and there was a nice plate of pancakes sitting in front of me. I yawned and slowly stood up from the table and made my way towards the door.

I looked through the peephole, two very familiar blonde and brunette figures standing there, waiting. I sighed and walked to the bathroom door where Caity was and knocked on it.

“What?” she cried, turning off the running sink water, and opened the door.

“Guess who’s behind door number 1?” I smirked.

Caity groaned and shut off the light, then followed me back to the apartment’s door. I opened it, Michael’s hand frozen, about to knock on the door again. He wiped his hand on the side of his pants and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Carl piped up from behind him.

Caity looked over at me, smirking. “Hi there,” she said, then pulled me towards the kitchen.

The guys followed slowly, looking around. “So, Elena, what’d you think of the Rangers last night?” Caity asked me, making Michael and Carl look over.

I shrugged. “Well, I mean, they were pretty good.” I looked over at the guys, who were standing against the archway awkwardly. “What did you guys think?”

They both looked at each other before turning back to Caity and I. Carl cleared his throat. “Ok, we’re sorry for not telling you guys,” he apologized, his slight Swedish accent peeking through.

“Damn right, you should be sorry,” Caity muttered, loud enough for them to hear.

He shook his head. “We didn’t think it was that important of a fact to mention.”

Caity threw her arms out, irritated at this point. “Why wouldn’t it be important? It’s your fucking job!”

Michael shrugged. “It’s not like you guys watched hockey until Elena asked me about it the other night. We didn’t think you’d adapt to it.”

“I’ll have you both know all me and Elena talked about in junior high was hockey. Before you two joined the Rangers they were our team!”

“It’s not like you guys told us about your jobs!” Carl retorted, moving closer to Caity.

Caity sighed. “Because you guys never asked! And I’m 99 percent positive we both asked you both about what you guys did.”

Michael looked at the floor. “Ok, well if you we told we played hockey it would’ve been weird.”

“How?” I cried, throwing my arms out.

They both looked over at me, surprised at my sudden outburst. “Because we have to travel to a different state like once a week, it’s hard to keep in contact.”

I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest. “So what? It’s not like we hang out with you guys every day.”

“Jesus christ,” Caity mumbled under her breath.

“If you guys were in a different state, and we weren’t hanging out, and I didn’t ask about what you were doing or whatever, neither of us would realize you weren’t in New York!” I exclaimed.

Carl groaned. “Ok, ok, we get it, it was wrong.”

Caity’s face twisted into a look of disgust. “No shit it was wrong. How do you think it felt finding out you guys played hockey from Sam Rosen instead of you guys?”

Michael put his hands up in defeat. “Ok, look, we’re sorry. Honestly. It might’ve been smart to tell you guys instead of having you guys hear it from our announcer.”

“Thank you,” I sang.

Caity rubbed her temples and stalked off to the Keurig to make whatever it is she needed. “I need an iced coffee,” she mumbled.

I turned back to them. “Ok, thank you for admitting defeat. Would you like some pancakes?”

Carl and Michael looked at each other, then back me. “Well, we wanted to know if you guys wanted to go out for breakfast.”

“Let’s do it,” Caity said, walking back over to us with her iced coffee.
“Um, hello, I’m in pajamas,” I gestured to my tank top and Yankees pants.

Caity laughed. “Right. Go change.”

I shook my head and stalked to my bedroom, mumbling complaints silently under my breath.

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About forty-five minutes later, Caity and I were following two New York Rangers into an iHop that we had no idea even existed.

“Have I ever mentioned I love hockey players?” I whispered to Caity as the two guys got our table.

Caity shrugged. “Have I ever mentioned how much I love pancakes?”

“You make them everyday for breakfast,” I retorted.

“True,” she shrugged.

Michael and Carl looked back at us, motioning for us to follow. “Let’s go, ladies, we don’t have all day,” Carl joked.

“Watch it, Hagelin, or you’re paying for all of us,” Caity snapped.

“Ooh, she’s sassy. I like it,” Michael said.

I rolled my eyes. “At least you haven’t had to deal with it since the ninth grade.”

“You’ve grown to it,” Caity said, slipping into the booth next to Carl, forcing me to sit with Michael.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Michael’s extremely attractive. And he’s got nice eyes. But, I felt a little awkward, since I didn’t know him that much.

“Ok, so before we have a nice lovely conversation about hockey, when did you guys think you were gonna tell us you were hockey players?” Caity asked, her eyes glued to her menu.

Michael shrugged. “We were hoping it wouldn’t come up in a conversation.”

“You told me you were gonna take me to MSG,” I said.

“You, my friend, are an idiot,” Carl said, sipping his water.

Michael raised an eyebrow. “Dude, you really wanna pay for all of this, don’t you?”

The waiter returned and took our orders, and we continued to talk about hockey. Their schedule was busy, but they claimed they made time for everyone involved in their lives.

“Ok, who are you guys playing tomorrow?” Caity asked, looking down at the stack of pancakes that were placed in front of her.

Both Michael and Carl’s mouths were full already, but Carl swallowed first to answer. “Devils. We’re home. You guys should come. I think we both have an extra ticket.”

“Really?” Caity asked, raising her eyebrows at me.

I nodded. “I’ll go. Will we get hurt?”

Michael laughed. “You’ll be at the Garden. We’re the home team, so, probably not. Just stay away from the Jersey fans. They’ll tear you apart.”

“Well, that makes me ecstatic,” Caity said sarcastically.

Carl smirked. “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure you guys are fine. The seats we have are pretty close to our bench, so you’ll be fine.”

I snorted. “We better be.”

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By 6, we were still with Carl and Michael, but we were now at their apartment, which was really nice. Michael was looking for a movie to watch, while Caity and Carl sat on the opposite couch, talking.

More like flirting.

“Do you guys mind watching Pitch Perfect?” Michael asked, looking over at us.

“NOT AT ALL,” Caity screeched from the couch. “Chelsea Dagger is in it,” she replied after a strange look from Michael and Carl.

Michael shrugged and put the DVD in, then grabbed the remote and sat down next to me. His arm moved to the back of the couch, close to my head. The movie began, and I glanced over to see Caity gradually moving closer to Carl.

By the time the Chelsea Dagger scene came around, Caity was up and bouncing, and Michael had moved his arm to rest around my shoulders. “Elena, c’mon, you know you wanna sing it with me!” she shrieked, bobbing her head to the familiar beat.

I laughed along with Carl and Michael, wondering how I got stuck with everyone. But it doesn’t matter, they’re my friends.