The Night We Met.

003

˚ ༘✶₊˚. ⊹ ˚ . THREE
❪ IRL ♥︎ ₊˚༢࿐
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    It was May which meant school would be ending soon, meaning Natalia would be free to spend most of her days fast asleep with her family's greyhound. However for Natalia, that also meant a greater chance of not bumping into Luke on campus since the Devils' 23-24 season had concluded the month prior. Gratefully so, it also meant the Umich hockey season had ended since the team didn't advance after the Frozen Four losing 4-0 to Boston.

    On a sadder note, it also meant that most of her friends would be leaving due to graduation or being drafted into the bigger leagues. Frank was in Chicago thanks to the Blackhawks, Dylan had left for Tampa to play with the Lightning, Jake left for Colorado to play with the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, the Eagles. Marshall would leave back home to play with the Islanders, Gavin joined Adam on the Blue Jackets meaning he was also gone.

    Steven was staying in-state just no longer playing with the team anymore. The only three staying were Jacob, Chris, Rutger, and Luca. Sure it was a sad thought to think about but Natalia couldn't help it, she was proud of her friends for moving on and doing greater things. Natalia Jennings though felt like she was stuck on the smallest things that she couldn't let go for the life of her. An example being Luke Hughes.

God how she hated that name, she wanted nothing more than to scream and curl in a ball while uncontrollably sobbing whenever he was brought up. It was a silly reaction to have since she was the one who had broken things off between them. Her train of thoughts were cut off when Kayleigh had started to facetime her, reluctantly Natalia answered as she propped her phone up on her desk.

"Hey, Natty! What are you doing?" Kayleigh's voice excitedly beamed as her face appeared on the phone screen making the brunette laugh. "Hi Kay. I was just studying, how's Cali?" Natalia asked as she leaned back in her chair to stretch her back, "it's great. Mom says she misses you and that you should come visit soon." the blonde advised before Mama Docherty appeared behind her daughter.

"Natalia! How are you, sweetheart?" the older woman exclaimed happily, "hi Mrs.D! I'm great, how are you?" Natalia asked as she smiled sweetly. "I'm great! Come see us soon, yeah?" she asked, followed by a laugh making Natalia laugh herself as she nodded her head. "Definitely. Maybe I'll fly down with Kay after school ends." Natalia suggested making Kayleigh laugh, "thats a great idea! You know there's always room for you in the Docherty house." Kayleigh's mom reminded.

    "It's like you're dating her, Nat." Chris' voice sounded from beside Kayleigh making the blonde turn the phone so she could see him. "Hi Chris." Natalia laughed as she waved at her friend, adjusting herself in her chair for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Chris waved back as he gave her a toothy grin, he leaned back in the chair as he threw his arm around the back of Kayleigh's chair.

    "You guys want me to call you after the graduation tomorrow?" Natalia asked as she adjusted herself in her chair again. Noah, Jacob, Steven, and Philippe were all graduating the following day and as their friend (and former teammate's ex girlfriend,) Natalia was invited to the graduation by each of them. "Yeah, that'd be great!" Chris nodded his head at the suggestion as he gave her a small smile.

    There was a small silence on the call before Natalia sighed, "you guys know if Mark, Rutger, and Luca are going?" she asked as she ran a hand through her hair. Chris and Kayleigh both shook their heads as they shrugged, "no clue." the blonde advised. A small sigh left the brunette's lips as she nodded her head understandingly, "alright. I'll call you guys tomorrow, yeah? I gotta finish studying." the Jennings girl advised as she sat up right in the chair.

    "Have fun, Natty." Kayleigh laughed softly as she waved bye to the brunette. Natalia couldn't help but crack a small smile as she waved back before saying her goodbyes to both Kayleigh and Chris, though she couldn't hang up without saying bye to Kayleigh's mom as well. Natalia groaned softly as she shut her phone off before staring down at her handmade study guide for one of her classes, her computer was next to her scattered papers with all of her notes pulled up.

Her fingers rested on the mousepad as she scrolled down the google doc, her eyes skimming the letters written down as she tugged her bottom lip in between her teeth. After a few minutes she let out a frustrated groan as her phone started buzzing against her desk making Natalia drop the pencil she was using so she could pick up her phone. She pursed her lips as she realized her roommate, Lacy, had started to call her.

"Hey, whats up? Did you forget your key again or something?" Natalia questioned her friend which earned a small laugh from Lacy's end. "No, no! I was just wondering if you were at the dorm." she advised making Natalia furrow her brows slightly, "where else would I be on a Thursday night?" the brunette asked as a small laugh followed her question. "Nowhere but me and Nolan were heading back to the dorm right now." the girl informed her roommate quickly.

Oh.

Natalia cleared her throat as she put the call on speaker before she grabbed her backpack, she neatly stuffed her study guide into her folder. The brunette closed her Macbook before stuffing it into the computer compartment in her backpack. "Actually, I was about to head to the library to finish up studying." she informed her roommate quickly as she zipped up her backpack before slinging one of the straps onto her shoulder.

    "What time would you come back?" Lacy's voice questioned and Natalia could already see her brows furrowed. A small sigh left her lips as she glanced at the clock on her nightstand that read 7:30 P.M. on the dot, "maybe 9:30ish?" Natalia guessed as she scrunched her brows together. "Perfect, Nat. See you when you get back from the library." Lacy spoke, the smile on her face could be heard and Natalia couldn't help but laugh softly.

    "You owe me." she whispered as she grabbed her dorm keys before heading out of the room, "big time. I'll buy you Dunkin." Lacy whispered back before she laughed softly. "I'll hold you to that. Bye." the brunette spoke softly before she hung up the call allowing Natalia to shove her phone into the pocket of her sweatpants. The walk from her dorm to the library wasn't far but the silence was slowly killing her so as any normal person, she took her phone out again before opening tiktok.

As she mindlessly scrolled through each video, giving a like to the relatable ones, Natalia accidentally bumped into a body which sent her tumbling to the ground. "Oh shit. My bad, I didn't watch where I was—" she trailed off as she looked up at the person. Her heart had dropped out of her ass as her breath hitched in her throat at the face she knew all too well. "Luke." Natalia blurted out his name as she stared up at him.