Know You're Not Alone

“Hi, you must be Kaitlyn.”

I turned around and saw a bubbly blonde smiling at me. I nodded.

“Yes, I am and you must be…” I looked down at my orientation paper in my hand, “…Maria.”

She nodded and threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

“This year is going to be so much fun.”

I slowly nodded as she pulled away. I placed my bag on my bed and sat down beside it. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Maria. I mean, I hardly knew her, but she just gave that impression that she would comment on every little thing that I pulled out of my bag. I wasn’t in the mood for that. So I just sat there and pulled out my phone and began to play Bingo. Maria was walking around her side of the room, making sure her posters were perfect and aligned and shit. It was a little annoying, to be honest. She looked over and caught my confused staring, with a smile.

“You a hockey fan?”

“Yeah.” I answered, nodding.

“Let me guess, Pens fan?”

I slowly nodded, not exactly liking the tone of her voice.

“Figures. All the girls come to Pittsburgh to meet the Penguins.”

I rolled my eyes and layed down on my bed, continuing playing my game on my phone. I tried to zone her out, but she continued.

“You do know that their defense sucks, right?”

I could feel my blood boil, but I tried to keep it cool. I didn’t want to get too angry with her on the first day of meeting her. Nor did I want to blurt out that I was dating one of the Penguins’ defenseman.

“They had a long off-season to get their game back on track,” was the answer I decided to go with.

“So you admit their “D” sucked?”

I sat up and placed my phone on my bed beside me.

“I didn’t admit anything. I said that because they obviously feel like they need to improve seeing how they want to make it to the playoffs this year.”

Maria scoffed. “Yeah, well they’re gonna need a lot of help with that.”

“Okay, listen. If this is how it’s going to be for the entire school year, escalating throughout the hockey season, I think I’m going to ask for a new roommate.”

Her face softened a little bit. “Oh no, please don’t do that. I’m sorry, I’m just really protective of my team.”

“And you think it’s wise to call out a Pens fan in Pittsburgh, while being a Flyers fan?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter where I am. I’ll always bleed black and orange.”

I had to admire her love for her team, it was just that it was the wrong team to love.

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Kris’ POV

Since Kaitlyn moved into her dorm, I had felt a little lost. I knew that she was in town, but she was getting so busy. Thankfully, training camp was starting shortly, so I would have something to occupy the time I wished I was with her.

I looked in my mirror and laughed at myself in mockery. I couldn’t believe that I had let myself because this lovesick puppy. I walked out of my bathroom and grabbed my phone off of the kitchen counter. Dialing a number, I pushed the phone to my ear.

“Let me guess, you’re going stir crazy?” I heard after two rings, followed by a laugh.

“Oh, come on. You can’t be sitting in your house all calm and collected while your girlfriend is in another country. You should be worse than me.”

“Actually, I’m fine. Steph has my family close by, and we keep in touch. So, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, is Doctor Sid in the house today?”

I heard him chuckle. “Oh, fuck off. I was just trying to make conversation. You’re sounding down in the dumps and I’m wondering what’s wrong. Is that so wrong?”

I sighed. “No, I guess not. Thanks, bud. I’m just missing having her around all of the time and now that she’s in Pittsburgh, I just want to see her all of the time.”

“Let’s go to the rink.”

I let out a long sigh of relief. “You are awesome.”

I hung up the phone and ran into my room to get changed. I heard my phone go off as I pulled a new shirt over my head. After grabbing my hockey bag out of the closet in my hallway, I walked back over to the kitchen counter. I smiled, seeing Kaitlyn’s name on my screen.

Hey. My roommate is a psycho. Call you later. Love you.

I laughed at the message and quickly typed a reply, telling her that I was going to the rink with Sid. Putting my phone in my back pocket, I walked out of my apartment.

When I met up with Sid at Southpointe, I walked up to him with a small smirk.

“Ahh, the doctor is in, I see. Early as always.”

Sid flipped me off. “Whatever. Look, we’re here to help you keep your mind off of going stir crazy. Let’s go.”

“Such a doctorate thing to say.” I chuckled.

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Kaitlyn’s POV

It had been a week of school and I couldn’t wrap my head around Maria. She was crazy. I had her in three of my classes and she would constantly hound on the Pens fans, including me. I had started talking to a girl named Meghan, who was in all of my classes, coincidentally. She wasn’t a huge hockey fan, but she respected the sport and the players.

“If I had to pick a team, if would probably be the Pens. I’ve lived in Pittsburgh my whole life. So, it’s kind of like drilled into your head to cheer on the hometown team. My dad loves them.”

I smiled at her. “Yeah, I can understand that. My best friend and I are huge hockey fans. Sadly, the team closest to where we’re from, the Leafs, sucks so badly.” I laughed. “So, after the lockout, we heard about this Crosby guy and started paying attention to him. After we heard he was joining Pittsburgh, we wanted to see how well he’d fit in in the NHL. Turns out, he was great, he is great and the team as a whole is very talented.”

Meghan smiled back at me. “I can see where you’re coming from. Well, welcome to Pittsburgh, my friend. We’re happy to have more Pens fans. The more the merrier, I say.”

“Ha, and what exactly do you say about people like that one?” I gestured towards Maria.

She caught on quickly. “Well, depending on how die-hard the fan is, it could vary from ‘we want her head on a stick’ to ‘well, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, hers just sucks.’”

I laughed a little too loudly and the professor looked up at Meghan and I. We both looked back down at our books. After a few seconds, we looked over and each other and smirked. I moved my gaze over to Maria, who was glaring daggers at me. I had figured it was because she thought I was laughing at her, which I was, but something told me it was a little bit more.

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Kris’ POV

After leaving the arena with Sid, I made my way back home. I took the long way and began to drive down by the university. I knew that Kaitlyn wouldn’t really like me to just show up, spur of the moment and cause a scene, but I just wanted to see her. I slowed my car to a stop and parked my car around the corner from Kaitlyn’s dorm building. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and as if it were magic, my phone began to ring. I didn’t take the time to look at the ID, putting the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Hi Kris…”

I was a little taken aback by the caller.

“Steph? What’s wrong? You sound upset.”

I heard her sigh. “ I don’t know. I miss everything. Sid, Kaitlyn, and dare I say it, I even miss your French ass.”

I tried as hard as I could to hold it back, but a tiny chuckle escaped my lips. “Well, you got Sid’s family and your family there. Is the school not working out for you?”

“No, the school is fine. It’s just the adjustment. It’ll take some getting used to, I know. I just wish that I didn’t have to wait so long to see everyone again.”

“Well, I wish I could help you with that, Steph, really, I could. If it makes you feel any better, I head Kaitlyn’s roommate is a psycho.” I heard a faint chuckle. “Oh! I heard a laugh.”

She let out a small sigh. “Thanks, Kris. I wish I could hear that from her herself, but I’m sure I will soon.”

“Well, I’m on my way to sneak in to see her. I’ll make her call you before I leave.”

“You’re the best. Bye Kris.”

I hung up the phone and stepped out of my car. While I walked down the street, I pulled out my phone and was about to type out a text to Kaitlyn when, once again, my phone rang. Looking at the caller ID this time, my lips formed a smile.

“Well hello, there.” I said when I put the phone to my ear.

“Hey, how was the rink with Sid?”

I continued walking slowly down the street.

“It was good. I’m excited to start training camp.”

“That’s good. So, what’s on the agenda for the night?”

“Oh, not too much, just walking down the street around the corner from my girlfriend’s dorm building.”

“What?! You’re here?!?”

“You sound so surprised. We do live in the same time, you know.”

I could hear her scurrying around. I felt a smirk appear on my face.

“Um, you can’t come up here.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “What?! Why not?”

“Did you not get my text this morning?”

I lightly chuckled. “Yes, I did, but I don’t think she’ll be that hard to handle.”

“Don’t hold your breath on that one.”

I smiled. “I’m on my way up…”