Chapter 3 2

"The ice hockey player?" she asks me, to which I nod."Uh, yeah. Everyone here probably knows that. But what about him?" she answers, confused."We went to high school together and our parents are close friends."Isla's eyes widen in surprise. "And you're only telling me this now?"I shrug my shoulders."Wait," Isla interrupts, "did you have a thing with him in high school?""No, I didn't."Isla gives me a quick, sideways look, then a knowing expression appears on her face. "But you like him. Right?"Unhappily, I reply: "For ages, yes.""Does he know about this?""God, no.

That would be so incredibly embarrassing. He didn't pay any attention to me at school, and when we did see each other because of our parents, he was always with my sister. You know how she can be."Isla snorts but doesn't comment.Gianna visited me once for a weekend and met Isla and June there. While she got along well with June-not surprisingly-Isla couldn't stand her at all. Isla thinks Gianna doesn't treat me well. I know she can come across as a bit assertive at times, and she likes to be the center of attention, but Isla doesn't really know her. Gianna is my sister, and she would never try to keep me down, as she put it.But since Isla probably doesn't feel like discussing Gianna right now, she asks instead, "Is that why you went to Miltan? Because he's here?"I shake my head vehemently and tell her that this was exactly what I didn't want, but that I couldn't refuse because of the scholarship. I also tell her about my plan to finally put Asher out of the picture, and about the meeting this morning and the moment with Seth.She stares at me, mouth open. "Well, first of all, it's high time you set some rules with June, and second of all, get off the bed. We're both going out now.""But you didn't want to," I interject."Sometimes I just need a little push. We'll both find you a new Asher."

So I don't have to go to my room, Isla lent me some of her clothes. Luckily, we're both rather small and petite, so the light blue summer dress she gave me fits me perfectly."How about this?" she asks me as she ties her long, dark brown hair into a high braid.The bar we're standing in front of is just a few minutes' walk from our dorm and looks nice at first glance. Everything is bathed in a warm orange light, and the walls are made of rustic stone.I nod in agreement. I don't know much about it anyway, so anything's fine with me, as long as it's not somewhere the hockey team, or Asher in particular, hangs out.But we only have to enter the store and everything falls apart. A large group has gathered in the back corner, already in the mood. It seems to be a birthday party, because one of the boys is wearing a party hat that says "Birthday Boy." It's meant to look ridiculous, but since he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously, it actually makes him more likeable.But that's not the problem; it's the fact that at least half the ice hockey team is there. I don't have to look far before I spot Asher.Before I've even recovered from this shock, I get hit with another one. I see a pretty, blonde student, who's clearly also part of the birthday party, heading toward Asher, and the next moment she's throwing her arms around his waist. Asher, still laughing at something the other person said, automatically puts his arm around her shoulders and pulls her even closer. Then he says something to her, at which point she starts laughing, too.Next to me I hear Isla's horrified voice: "Oh, fuck!"I am jolted out of my trance by her pulling me out of the building by the arm until we come to a stop a little further down the street."That really went completely wrong," she says contritely, adding encouragingly, "But at least we know where he is now, and that can't happen again."Without addressing what she said, I reply desperately, "What's wrong with me?"Isla gently takes my hand. "There's nothing wrong with you. That guy is damn hot, I'll give him that. But that doesn't mean there aren't other hot guys out there, and that's exactly who we're going to find you."I look at her with a pained expression. I know she means well, but I've lost the desire to do anything further."Oh no," she says before I can even say anything, "don't give me that look! You're not backing down now!" She looks at me so sternly that she makes me smile a little."Okay," I give in, even though I'm still not thrilled about it.***To avoid another encounter, we walked for quite a while until we decided on a bar.Here too, everything is full of students and even though it is a weekday, there is hardly a seat left unoccupied."Have you found one you like yet?" Isla asks me with a grin.I shake my head. "I'm not sure that's really a good idea. I can't do that sort of thing."

This earns me another stern look from Isla. "Now listen to me, Emmy. Asher may be too stupid to realize what a jackpot he has right in front of him, but not many other guys are. I've already spotted at least five of them who keep looking back at you. I'm going to the bathroom now, and I bet it won't be long before the first one approaches you."As she spoke, she slipped off her chair."You're leaving me alone?" I ask her, horrified, and she starts to smile."I'll be back. Trust me, it'll be good."With these words, she finally disappears into the crowd and makes her way towards the restrooms.While I'm still looking there, a deep voice suddenly sounds next to me: "Hey, is this seat free?"I turn around in surprise, and standing in front of me is a guy, probably a little older than me, with black hair and dark brown eyes. He's not bad-looking, not as good-looking as Asher, but definitely not bad.At first, I reflexively want to refuse, but then I think better of it. I smile at him, which he immediately returns. "Yes, please sit down."He introduces himself as Tate and seems quite nice at first. He immediately engages me in conversation, during which I learn that he doesn't actually live here, but is just visiting his cousin.To my dismay, after about five minutes, he tells me that he plays for his college hockey team. I seriously wonder how I could have been so unlucky that a hockey player, of all people, had to approach me.Still, I don't want to shut myself off completely. Asher shouldn't have so much influence over me.A few minutes later, Isla returns, giving me a meaningful look. Tate calls his cousin over, so we spend most of the rest of the evening just the four of us.After a while, however, Tate starts touching me more and more often. At first, I thought it was just an accident, but when he places his hand on my thigh, I can no longer dismiss it as that.An unpleasant tingling sensation runs through my body and I am overcome by the overwhelming urge to slap his hand away.As he starts leaning closer and closer to me, I reach the point where I jump up and, after stammering "I'll be right back," I run to the restrooms as fast as I can.In the locker room, I lean against the wall and take a deep breath. It's now clear that Tate and I have completely different ideas about what will happen between us.Right now, I just want to go home. I've done enough today, by my standards.