Just Pucking Money [COMPLETED]

Chapter 23 - Going home alone

Lily

I'm a storm of emotion as I walk away from Ethan and his parents. Disappointed that I don't get to spend the night with him. Happy for him, that his parents care and take the time to come see him. Sad that I'll never have that.

And a tad annoyed at how easily his parents dismissed me, and the way they looked at me. It was almost as if they didn't think I was good enough for their son. And the worst part is that I can't blame them.

I didn't miss the way his mom eyed my shoes. Staring down at them, I wonder if they're really that bad. I thought they were ok. It's true they're not new, and they are nothing like the designer shoes she was wearing. But they're not broken or even all that scuffed.

There's also a sense of humiliation as I make my way past other fans, still alone. I had been looking forward to whatever Ethan had planned for tonight.

Walking home, I ignore the celebration in the streets. There's plenty of people out. Most of them in some form of Lions merch.

My mind keeps straying to the look on Ethan's face when he realized I was about to meet his parents. Almost as if he was ashamed of me.

It's probably weird introducing your parents to someone you're not serious with. Who wants to explain that to their mom and dad?

I sigh. Maybe I'm just reading into things? I look down at his jersey and suddenly feel a bit silly. When I'm fairly certain nobody is looking, I quickly pull it off and fold it up as small as I can.

I'm pretty sure I got a few looks during the game. I even heard a group of girls giggling as they looked at me. They could probably tell I'm delusional for thinking he'd ever care about me.

Most of the game, I was more concerned about Ethan. He plays very rough and got into a few fights. He shows no fear on the ice.

Some of the altercations made the audience around me wince out loud. He must be constantly covered in bruises.

I'm still deep in thought when I open the door to the apartment and am met by a throng of people.

Fiona is intently paying attention to one of the guys standing next to her. On the couch, Steph is sitting in the lap of someone I think I've seen around before. Next to her are Breanna and some other guy.

Eve comes out of the kitchen. She spots me and raises an eyebrow.

"What happened to the big date?" she asks with a smirk.

I press my lips together, wondering if I can just disappear into my room and not talk about it.

"Yeah, what happened?" Steph asks. "Weren't you bragging about going out with Ethan after the game? Did he stand you up?"

"No wonder," Fiona says. "You didn't even do your hair."

Without thinking, I reach up to touch my hair. Granted, I didn't do much to it, but again, I thought it looked nice. Maybe I'm just not cut out to a life with people who spend more than my yearly income on their looks in a week.

Suddenly, I'm relieved that I took off his jersey. They'd probably tease me to death for wearing it.

"His parents showed up," I say when everyone is looking at me. "They wanted to take him out to dinner."

"Oh-oh," Steph says.

"Figures," Eve is smiling now. A smile that scares me.

"What?" They all look at each other as if they know something.

Breanna stands up from the couch. "You really live in a different world, don't you?"

"Different world, different rules," Fiona says.

I hate that they're talking over me, as if I'm missing something so obvious that everyone should know it.

"What?" I ask again.

"They didn't invite you along," Steph says with a pitying grimace.

"So?" I shake my head. They didn't know I would be there. Why would they?

"That's a big deal," Breanna says.

Eve sighs. "I can't tell you how many boring dinners I've had to sit through, just because I happened to be there when some guy's parents came by."

"It's an unwritten rule." Fiona sounds almost bored as she studies her nails. "Parents always invite friends along." She looks up with a smug smile. "Especially potential girl- or boyfriends."

Steph and Breanna nod.

Eve puts a hand on my shoulder. "The fact that they didn't invite you means you're a nobody."

I shrug away from her hand and force back the tears.

"That's not true." They're probably making this up just to fuck with me.

Eve laughs and turns to one of the guys. "Will, tell her. Didn't I have dinner with your parents last week, just because I stopped by to ask about homework?"

Will, the guy on the couch, raises a beer bottle. "It's true. And it goes both ways. I've had dinner with Breanna's parents several times, just because we worked on a project together."

My heart sinks. But I'm sure there's a reason they didn't invite me along.

"They probably had something important to discuss. Family business that they didn't want to involve me in," I say in an effort to salvage some of my dignity.

Everyone laughs.

"That family is nothing but business," Fiona says. "But you can keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better."

Eve walks in front of me, signaling that the conversation is over. And I don't mind. With a sigh, I head to my room.

I toss the jersey on the desk and take a deep breath. Tonight was a shitshow. But there's not much I can do about that.

Right now, I'm hungry and want to go to bed. Exhaling, I pull out a box of mac'n'cheese. I'm sure the people in the living room are having something much fancier for dinner, but I don't care. I don't even glance at them as I walk to the kitchen.

It takes me a few minutes to make my dinner while I try to ignore the laughter from the other room.

As soon as I can, I retreat to my room and find something funny and lighthearted to watch while I eat the highly processed food.

When I'm getting ready for bed, my eyes fall on the jersey I tossed on my desk. I bite my lip. Feeling a bit ridiculous, I take off my pajamas and put it on.

It's big on me, but I like that. I wonder if Ethan will want it back. He must have more. Shouldn't the hockey players get free jerseys? Do they have to buy them? I have no idea. But either way, I'm sure Ethan can afford to miss one jersey. Then I'll have something to remember him by when we're over.

I crawl into bed and pull up the covers. I hate that my mind went to a time when Ethan and I are over. But it is just temporary, so one day, that will happen.

Inhaling the faint scent of Ethan, I try to tell myself it's good that the date got canceled. I'm working a double shift tomorrow so this way, I'll be rested for it. I'd hate working a double after spending the night with Ethan.

Biting my lip, I imagine him next to me. That might have been a lie. I'm fairly certain I would happily be a zombie after a night with him. If he were next to me... what would he do? I turn my head into my pillow. No. I need to get some sleep.

I turn on my side and push thoughts of a naked Ethan out of my mind. The jersey was a bad idea. It's almost like having him here with me.

It takes quite a while before I get any sleep.