“After all this time, I never thought we’d be here… When my love for you was blind, but I couldn’t make you see it…”


“Lambda Chi is having a party tonight. I told them we’d stop by for awhile,” Jess smiled right as Marie stepped through the door of their suite.

This setup was much nicer than their accommodations from last year. Instead of having a community bathroom for the entire floor to use, this year, they shared a bathroom with the two girls in the suite next to them.

Marie couldn’t even catch her breath before Jess was telling her their plans for the night. It was only a week into classes, so things hadn’t been very hectic yet, but she wanted to be able to relax and settle in. However that wouldn’t happen, not tonight at least. The Lambda Chi boys liked to party, regardless of the professional and philanthropic façade they put on during the day. During the night, they knew how to throw a party.

Last year, she wouldn’t have missed a party for anything. There came a point where she was nearly attending a party every night. But all that did was burn her out. And even though she liked that side of her, there were times now when all she wanted to do was have a slow night in, watching cheesy movies and eating popcorn.

She supposed she could relent for tonight. As the semester progressed, she’d spend more nights in studying, trying her hardest to finish school as quickly as possible. So for tonight, she figured she could humor Jess and have a fun night out with the Lambda Chi boys.

“Anywho, how were your classes today?” Jess tried to be peppy as she sat, absorbed with her laptop. Girl was always on it.

“Great, because I’ll totally use Introduction to Folklore, Business Calculus, and Constitutional Law in everyday life. With no classes tomorrow, I’m going to go heavy on the punch tonight.”

Jess giggled and shook her head. After rolling her eyes, she pushed her earphones into her ears and started solely paying attention to her computer screen. Marie sighed and began unloading her bag, taking out textbook after textbook. And when she heard their room door squeaking open, she looked to see who would be visiting them. Hoping for someone interesting, she was disappointed when she saw it was only Eleanor, one of the other suitemates.

“Marie, do you know a Marcus?” Eleanor squeaked. Her voice was nearly ear shattering, but she was a nice and good person.

Marie shook her head and flopped down onto her bed, “no. Does he go here?”

Eleanor shook her head and held onto the doorknob, “he looked older, but he was asking for you. I told him to come back around seven because I didn’t know when you got out of class.”

Marie looked at her cell phone. It was only five, so she had some time before the other guest was supposed to arrive. Finally, Eleanor smiled and backed out of the room, shutting the door behind her. With some time to kill, she gathered her robe, and one of her dresses that the frat boys would approve of.

It shouldn’t have taken two hours to get dolled up for a party that really didn’t matter. But after getting distracted by her music, by the time she was putting on her red lipstick, Jess was yelling from their room. She probably just wanted to be on her way to the frat house. Unlike Marie, she had class the next day, so she wouldn’t be able to spend all night out. She twisted her dark brown hair around her finger and strutted out of the bathroom, only to see someone she never thought she’d lay eyes on again.

“You must be Marcus,” Marie grinned. Then it dawned on her this was the reason why Jess had been yelling for her.

“Huh?” Marco smiled boyishly. He looked more casual now than Marie had ever seen him. Instead of business clothes, he seemed simple in a white t-shirt and backwards facing baseball cap.

“What’re you doing here?”

“I figured I’d pay Boston a little visit before training camp starts up and I’m stuck St. Paul for a few months.” He licked his lips and pulled on the bill of his cap, lifting it to fix his hair before placing the hat back on his head. “But it looks like you’re on your way out,”

“We were actually headed for a frat party. You’re dressed the part if you’re not totally against fraternities,” Marie reached for her small purse and hung it over her shoulder.

Marco smiled and nodded, following Jess and Marie out of their room. While the frat house wasn’t too far away, Jess meandered ahead of them, silently leading the way, while they hung back and caught up.

“How was the rest of your summer?” He asked quietly, keeping his hands shoved in his pockets. For some reason, he seemed more awkward now than ever before.

“Fine. Saw my mom, and then came back here. How was yours?”

“Fine,” he glanced over and chuckled.

Marie giggled at his brief response, “find anyone new?”

Marco shook his head and looked up as Jess ran up to the front door of a two story, cottage-looking house. She was being greeted by two shirtless boys, when Marie broke the silence.

“It’s hard for me to believe you haven’t found anyone new.”

“I haven’t been looking,”

At his confession, Marie flicked her eyes up to meet his. He was already looking at her, but instead of averting his gaze elsewhere, he continued to stare at her. Only then did he set his hand on her lower back to lead her up the front steps and into the open door of the frat house.

The overwhelming smell of weed and alcohol bombarded them as they stepped in, and Marie looked to her right, already seeing Jess filling up a red plastic cup with clear liquid. It wouldn’t take long for her to be completely wasted. They walked over and Marie greeted some of the boys as Marco bent down and picked up two cans of beer. It wasn’t anything fancy, but a beer was a beer.

“Kind of brings you back to the college days, doesn’t it?” Marie popped her can open and brought it to her lips, taking a quick sip.

“I didn’t have college days… Never attended university,”

“So you don’t have a degree?”

Marco shrugged, “I was in the Olympics at sixteen. I figured if hockey didn’t work out in Canada, I’d always have a career in Italy.”

Marie walked away from the madness as more and more people began to gather around to get their drinks. Even though the smell of marijuana was intense, at least it was quieter for them to speak. “What are you going to do when you retire?”

“I’m only twenty-four. I don’t really plan on retiring anytime soon,” he smiled and took a long pull of his beer. He was dressed like all the frat guys, and if she hadn’t known him, she would’ve assumed he was. But he carried himself differently than the others. “Why? Are you worried about me?”

“I just think you should have a plan?”

“I do… It’s called working my ass off in the NHL to stay there for as long as possible.”

“And what if that doesn’t work out?”

“It’s gonna work out,” he grinned, tilting his head back to take another sip of his beer.

“I’m glad you’re so confident,”

“Do you not want me to be?” He looked at her, waiting for an answer, but she wouldn’t give him one. While they stood there awkwardly, a boy who had already had his share of alcohol stumbled into Marie. She staggered backwards, and Marco reached out to keep her from falling down. With his hands on her hips, he looked down at her, “are you okay?”

Marie glanced up with him, trying to figure him out. “Why are you here? I mean, really? You could be settling down in St. Paul, and you’re out here for a few days at most,”

Marco nodded and rubbed his thumbs against his beer can. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. That’s honest. And I hate it. I really do.” He finished off his beer and set it down on a table littered with other cans beside him. “I hate that you consume every single one of my thoughts. And I guess I had to figure out a way to change that before my season starts, and I thought this was it.”

“I consume your thoughts?” she gasped, not having expected that response from him.

“Like a virus,”

“Marie, you dirty whore!”

Marie flicked her head to the side, and Marco followed her gaze after being interrupted. Approaching them was one of the Lambda Chi boys, who had obviously had more to drink than they had. Marco looked on appalled, as Marie seemed to be excited to see the boy, considering the way he’d begun the conversation.

“Andy!” Marie shrieked and jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. “How’ve you been?!”

“Alright. Look like summer treated you nicely,” Andy smirked, slapping his hand down on Marie’s ass and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Andy, this is my friend Marco,” she smiled, turning in his arms.

He didn’t like the situation, but Marco reached out and shook Andy’s hand. He was trying to be polite and cordial, but he was bothered by the way Andy was handling Marie.

“Listen, how about you stay the night?” Andy returned his attention to Marie, taking the opportunity to sneak his hand up beneath her dress. By the way she shifted in his arms, it was clear to everyone around, that he was feeling up parts of her that should’ve remained private.

The muscles in Marco’s jaw clenched, “I think you should take your hands off of her.”

Andy shot Marco a disapproving glance and shifted his hand again, causing Marie to yelp. She looked up at Andy, who was just trying to egg Marco on, and the more he moved his fingers against her, the more it worked.

It didn’t take long for the situation to escalate. Marco balled his hands into fists and took a step forward, and trying to play it cool despite being frightened, Andy pushed Marie into Marco. She stumbled forward, setting her hands against his chest, and looked back at Andy. Marco wrapped one of his arms around her back.

“Get out of my house,” he scowled and folded his arms across his chest, until Marco finally relented and led Marie back out into the night.

When they were isolated from everyone else, Marco unraveled his arms from around Marie. “How many times have you slept with that… jerk?” He flicked his eyes to her when he didn’t receive an answer, “how many times, Marie?”

“A few,” she mumbled. It was utterly embarrassing not only to have Marco save her from guys of her past, but then to relive the situation over and over again.

“You want to be with him?” He chirped, reaching up to rub his hand over his mouth. When Marie shook her head without looking at him, he felt he had gone a little too far. He didn’t need to teach her a lesson; she had already learned one. “You want me to stay the night with you?”

Marie looked up at Marco quickly, fearing that if she took too long to answer, his offer would disappear. She nodded eagerly, smiling weakly as he cupped her head in his hands and leaned in to kiss her forehead.

Notes

"Blind" by Lifehouse.