Dad
YOU ARE WALKING OUT OF A RESTAURANT BATHROOM WEARING HIS DRESS SHIRT AND HE IS WITHOUT A SHIRT.
Tally
I’m aware. I was there. Please cease with the SHOUTY CAPS.
Dad
You have better sense than this.
Tally
This will be a conversation. I’m in class. We’ll talk later.
I shove my phone in my bag. I’m sitting in the middle of the row, in the middle of the lecture theater. Leaving halfway through the lecture will only shine a bigger spotlight on me, so I’m forced to suffer through an hour of whispering and giggles. My phone buzzes relentlessly in my bag the entire time.
I don’t have a chance to check it at the end of class because Fee and Cammie push their way into the lecture theater—it’s literally like salmon swimming upstream—to escort me out. They flank me, each hooking an arm through one of mine, and guide me into a gender-neutral bathroom.
Cammie crosses her arms and leans against the door. “We’re hanging out here until the next class is firmly underway.”
“Okay. It’s really bad, isn’t it?” The incessant chatter around me during class answered that question.
“I mean, your smutty fanfic didn’t get posted all over your residence building with your picture on it for the university to see.But there are some photos of you and Flip walking out of a bathroom together. You’re dressed in his shirt, and he’s minus one, so assumptions are being made.” Cammie doesn’t sugarcoat things.
“I got my period in the middle of dinner and bled through my dress,” I explain.
Cammie and Fee both gasp. “Oh no.”
Fee’s hand goes to her chest. “So he gave you his shirt?”
“Yeah.” I nod.
“That is so swoony.” Fee’s eyes are all dreamy.
“So swoony,” Cammie echoes.
“But the whole world believes he fucked me in a super classy restaurant bathroom. We were in there for all of two minutes.” Maybe three, but still. “It would have been the shortest, quietest sex in the universe.” I rub my temples. “This is so bad. My dad is threatening to trade him to Winnipeg.”
How will I continue to function if this goes viral? The potential is there.Coach’s Daughter Gets Railed by Player in Public Bathroomis exceptionally click-worthy, even if it’s the furthest thing from the truth. Tears prick at my eyes. Things were finally settling down and now this.
Cammie’s phone pings. It’s Chase.
I need to check my messages, but I’m terrified of what I’ll find.
“Chase is waiting for us at the same exit as last time. Media have swarmed your apartment building and are waiting at the front entrance of this one.”
“The Groundhog Day vibe is strong.”
“You’ll be safe at Brody’s,” Cammie assures me.
“And I’ll bring your car over, so you have wheels,” Fee adds.
“Can you grab my dance stuff and some extra period supplies? I have practice tonight.” Getting into my apartment later will be a feat, but I can only afford to worry about one thing at a time.
“I’ll bring you a ball cap and a plain hoodie or somethingso you can be incognito.” Fee kisses me on the cheek, checks to make sure the coast is clear, and steps into the hall. She gives us the thumbs-up when she reaches the end.
Chase is waiting at the back of the building, and we take the trail to Brody’s place and slip through the hidden gate.
