Five days since I marched into Dr.King's office and requested a transfer.
Five days since I found out that giving up Jay's placement means I'm now a semester behind on my practical hours because every other student's assignment was already taken.
Fantastic.Wonderful.Love that for me.
I push through the door to my dorm building, climbing the stairs with the kind of defeated energy usually reserved for finals week or discovering your ex is dating someone hotter than you.
When I get to my room, Kinsey is sprawled across her bed surrounded by papers with a red pen tucked behind her ear.She's got the Catfish on while she's marking papers.
“Isn't that distracting?”I ask, nodding toward the screen as I drop my bag on the counter.
She shrugs without looking up from the essay she's marking.“Not really.Wes is an outfielder.He's barely on screen.I keep it on so I can at least pretend I know what happened when he calls later.”
“And for Tate Sorenson,” I say with a smirk, pulling the ice cream out of the bag.That's at least the only reason I'd bother watching a baseball game.That man is a walking thirst trap.
“He really is.”Kinsey finally glances up—then does a double take when she sees what I'm holding.“Really?You're just going to eat a tub of ice cream in the middle of the day?”
“Two tubs, actually.”I grab a spoon from our makeshift kitchenette.“And yes.I am.”
“Ally.”She sets down her red pen, giving me her full attention.“What's wrong?Did Derek call you, or is this just the lingering trauma?”
Derek?I haven't thought of that man since Jay walked back into my life.
“I get it,” Kinsey continues.“You must have a lot of regrets.You didn’t waste two years—you learned a very specific lesson about endurance and false hope.”
“This isn't about Derek,” I spit out his name as I pry the lid off the cookie dough and take a massive bite, buying myself time.The cold hits my teeth, but I barely feel it.“I'm a semester behind.”
“Behind on what?”
“My practical hours.”I take another bite, not looking at her.“I gave up my practical placement with Jay Cross, and there's no one else they could assign me to.”
“Wait.”She sits up straighter.“Yougave upthe placement?I thought you just...I don't know, switched days or something.”
“Nope.Full transfer.He's his athletic trainer's problem now.Not mine.”
Never mine.
“Why would you do that?You were complaining about it, sure, but you weren't—” She stops mid-sentence, her eyes narrowing.“Ally.Why did you give up on Jay?”
I shove another spoonful of ice cream into my mouth.
“Ally.”
Even with the cold ice cream in my mouth, I can feel my cheeks heating, which is absolutely ridiculous because I'm a grown woman who can handle discussing...whatever the hell that was.
Kinsey's eyes go wide.“Oh my God.”
“Don't—”
“Oh myGod.”She's off the bed now, crossing the room with her eyes solely focused on me.“You slept with him, didn’t you?”
“No.”
“Something happened.Something definitely happened.”She points at my face.
I keep my gaze fixed on my ice cream, hoping she'll eventually get bored and go back to marking papers.
It doesn't happen.
