The Girl Next Door Chapter 48

The rest of the week at school passed by slowly for Kate. She would go to school, go to work, do her homework, and then watch the Stanley Cup playoffs with her parents. She and Sidney talked every day as he trained with the Canadian team, getting ready for the World Championships. It was the same routine for Kate almost every day. On Saturday, she went to the movies with Andrew, who had sensed Kate was sad.
“Kate,” Andrew began on the way to the movies, “what’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing,” Kate said in a sad tone.
“You miss Sidney, don’t you?” he asked.
Kate turned and looked at him really quickly, a stunned look on her face. “No,” she tried to answer innocently.
He laughed, and said, “Kate, I’ve known you since we were five. You can’t hide stuff from me, I know you too well. Are you dating him?”
Kate paused for a second, looking at Andrew, and asked, “How long have you known?”
“I knew it!” he enthusiastically said, pumping his right fist in the air. “I’ve known for a while.”
“How long?”
“Well, I had a hunch in around December, and I pretty much had it figured out that you were dating him in February. When you decided to stay here for college, that’s when I knew.”
“But you didn’t ask about it.”
“I figured you were keeping it a secret for a reason. But I’m not usually the guy to get involved in everyone’s business”
“Bullshit,” Kate laughed. “You always get in everyone’s business. You’re like a girl. But you didn’t ask me about it. Ever.”
“I know,” he said as he parked the car near the theater. “I figured you’d say something about it eventually. But I just had to ask you tonight, since you’d been down at school this week.”
“Well, to answer you question, I do miss him. I won’t see him again until a couple days before graduation.”
“That blows.”
“Yeah, it does, but I’ll survive.” They got out of the car, and walked towards the theater. “Andrew?”
“Yeah?” he stopped and turned towards Kate.
“Thanks. You’re the best.” She gave him a hug, and he hugged her back.
“No problem.” After they broke apart, he asked, “So, how long have you been dating him?”
Kate playfully hit him, and said, “Since mid-October.”
“That long?” he asked. She nodded her head. “Shit, I haven’t dated anyone for more than two weeks, much less than your six-plus months.”
“That’s for sure,” Kate laughed. “It is a long time.”
*****
The next couple of weeks went by a little faster for Kate. Everything at school was starting to go by quickly, with finals coming up and graduation coming soon. Kate was watching the Cup playoffs and Canada’s world championship games (thanks to the TSN her parents specially ordered for their digital cable), and talking to Sidney a lot. She wasn’t hanging out with a lot of her friends, mainly just Andrew, Carly, and a few others, mainly from her hockey team. One afternoon, about a week into the world championships, her cell phone rang.
“Hello?” Kate answered.
“Katie!” a drunken voice called back.
“Who is this?” Kate asked to the mystery voice. “Wait, Ryan? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s Ryan!” Ryan Malone answered back. “How are you?”
“I’m good Ryan, how ‘bout you?”
“Oh, I’m great, I just got back from partying with my team, and I ran into Sid, and he was calling you!”
Just what Ryan needs to do, drink more alcohol, Kate thought to herself.
“Can I talk to him?”
“Sure! Bye-bye, Katie!”
After a short pause, Kate heard Sidney’s voice. “Hey, Katie.”
“Hey, Sid, how are you?” Kate asked.
“Oh, I’m good, we’re about to head out, our game was later.”
“It was good, you guys did a great job.”
“Thanks, it was a fun one. How’s everything with you?”
“Oh, fine, pretty boring. Just working, hanging out, watching hockey, that’s pretty much it.”
“Sounds like a blast. I wish I could be there with you.”
“I wish you were here too.”
They talked for another minute, before Sidney had to go. They said good-bye, and after the call, Kate headed into work, because they were short-handed for the day. So, she got in her car, called the ice arena, and told them she was on her way. Another day in my boring life, she thought to herself.