Chapter 36
Ren
Phys Ed was still a no-go with all the balls flying around.
So I’d started using the training center a couple of days a week at lunch.
Theo had his meeting with Dean Henry today about his switch to Stanford.
Myles was at Golden Oak to sit in on Lip’s therapy session.
Liam was swimming, while Blake used the treadmill.
I had no idea where Nash was, but he had mentioned making some calls, and I hadn’t seen him since.
I’d decided that the elliptical was my new best friend. It gave me the same workout as the treadmill, but my head didn’t hurt after. Hopping off the machine, I sprayed it down and then went to check in with Blake. He looked at me and pulled an earbud out.
“I’m going to shower and then head to one of our rooms to study,” I said.
“Okay, I’d better hit the shower, too, but we need to find someone to walk you back to the dorms.”
“I can take her,” Rory spoke up from the machine beside Blake.
“I don’t want to be a pain,” I said.
“It’s no bother. I don’t have class so I was just going to hang out in my room anyway. I’ll make sure you get where you’re going,” he said.
“Okay.”
Rubbing the back of my neck with my gym towel, I walked into the locker room and picked up my shower stuff.
No one was in here, and I could never decide if the quiet was a blessing or creepy.
The water was hot and perfect on my sore muscles.
I rinsed and turned off the taps just as voices filled the room.
I groaned, picking out a few of Vicky’s followers.
Grabbing my bag, I quickly wrapped a towel around my head and another around my body. I wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation with the bitch squad, so I stayed close to the wall and moved quietly to my locker which was out of their line of sight.
“You’re such a fraud. All this time you had us backing you up and hating on your sister,” Jennifer said, stopping me in my tracks.
What the hell?
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Vicky growled. “And you better get back in your place.”
“My place? Do you even know where your place is?” Jennifer snarked.
“Yeah, Vicky, we all heard your father say that Ren is his heir. You’re a sham, a charlatan, a wannabe.”
That didn’t come from a voice I recognized. How many girls were in here?
“Oh, please, do none of you have siblings?”
Vicky’s retort was quick, but not as biting as usual.
“Yeah, but we don’t sic all of our friends on them, act like we don’t know them, and pretend to be something we’re not. Jennifer is right, you’re a fraud, masquerading as a queen. I, for one, am done with it,” Raquel said.
Shit.
“You’re supposed to be my friends. What the hell,” Vicky asked.
“You don’t know the meaning of the word friend,” Jennifer said.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped around the lockers and realized the entire cheerleading squad had cornered Vicky. Their eyes widened, and their mouths snapped shut. Vicky spotted me, and even without her saying a word, I felt her anxiety from across the room.
Vicky being picked on was unnatural. The world had flipped upside down, the universe’s balance was out of whack, and gravity no longer held us to normalcy.
“I see you’re all just as shallow as I thought you were.
Bunch of yappy hyenas, tearing apart one of your own the moment you see any sign of weakness.
You all disgust me. Vicky may be arrogant and a pain in my ass, but she has always said what she meant and never lied about her feelings for me. Can any of you say the same?”
“You should be happy that we know the truth,” Raquel said.
“And why is that?”
“Because we’re on your side. She used us.”
Raquel held her hands out toward the others, like she was making some grand point, but it fell flat.
“No, it’s the other way around. You were using her.
As long as you thought Vicky was next in line to inherit the Genovese throne, you were all too happy to kiss her ass and pretend to be her friend while you talked shit behind her back.
I know that some of you even slept with Nash while they were together. ”
A few of them looked down, faces going red with shock.
“Don’t look so surprised. Did you think he wouldn’t tell me?”
It was a half-truth. Nash said he’d been with a few of Vicky’s friends, but he didn’t give me their names. I hadn’t wanted them, but it was easy to see who was guilty now.
“I don’t need you sticking up for me,” Vicky said with a snarl, moving away from her former clique.
“I know, but this isn’t just for you. It is a reminder to all of you that none of you has clean hands. None of you are truly friends. Every secret, mistake, and insecurity can and will be turned against you by the person to your right.”
They all looked.
“Or maybe to your left.”
I stepped up beside my sister, blood or not, she was my family. And bitch or not, I would treat her as such.
“That’s the problem when you surround yourself with sycophants. None of you will ever be my friend. We will never be on the same side. And if you attack my sister again, even if she doesn’t want me to…”
I stepped up to Jennifer and gave her the full weight of my stare.
“I will crush you.”
She swallowed hard and backed up. One by one, they slowly filtered out, leaving Vicky and me alone. I didn’t look at her. I just walked back to my locker and started to get dressed. I pulled on my jeans, socks, and sneakers, but Vicky never said a word.
“I know you want to bitch me out for doing that, and you’re probably building up for an epic rant, but for once, can we just not?”
I pulled on my school hoodie and twisted my hair up into a wet bun. Looking over my shoulder, I froze. Vicky was standing where I’d left her, tears streaming down her face.
“Oh my god, Vicky, are you okay?”
I marched back and grabbed her by the shoulders as her crying worsened.
“Why,” she asked through the tears. “Why are you nice to me?”
Her voice was so broken that I could hardly understand her.
“Because life is too short. You’re my sister, for better or worse, and neither of us asked for this. I wished for more family for so long, and now that I have it, I’m not letting go. Even when you try to push me away.”
I hugged her hard, but in typical Vicky fashion, she pulled away and took off out the door.
A second later, Rory stuck his head in, hand covering his eyes.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, and I’m clothed.”
He dropped his hand and pushed the door open.
“What happened?”
Walking over to my locker, I pulled on my low boots and grabbed my backpack before meeting Rory at the door.
“I think Vicky just realized that the one person she hates is her only real friend,” I said with a shrug.
He cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeah, don’t bother trying to understand, I barely do.”
We stepped out into the hallway, and since I was feeling extremely bold today, I threw caution to the wind.
“Rory, would you date someone who was pregnant?”
Rory’s head whipped in my direction so fast that he tripped on his own feet and almost went head over heels. His eyes were as big as saucers when he straightened up.
“Oh my god…who did I get pregnant?”
That wasn’t the reaction I had been expecting.
“How many possibilities are there?”
“Um…well…hanging around the Kings makes me pretty popular now, so a few, I guess. But I’ve always been so careful.”
He ran a hand through his hair, all color draining from his face.
“Okay, then. Well, I don’t know if you have, that’s not why I asked.”
Rory blinked.
“You mean, I’m not going to be a father?”
I shook my head, and he backed up and sat down on the bench.
“Holy shit, you just scared me. My father would kill me for getting a girl pregnant.”
Patting his shoulder, I sat beside him.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to freak you out.”
He took a deep, shuddering breath.
“Okay…wow, what a way to get a guy’s heart going.”
“Or stop it,” I said, laughing.
“Yes, that. So not funny. So, what did you mean then?”
“My best friend is pregnant, and she’s convinced that no one will ever want her again,” I said, pulling out my phone.
If Lizzy knew I was doing this, she would kill me. Mind you, it was the exact kind of thing she would do to me. And…desperate times called for desperate measures, and I noticed the spark in Lizzy’s eyes when she saw Rory.
“Wow, that has to be incredibly tough,” he said.
I found a photo of Lizzy and me and handed it over. His eyes lit up.
“This is your friend who’s pregnant?”
I nodded, letting him put the pieces together on his own.
“And she was the one the other day from the library?”
“Yeah. This is Lizzy here.”
I opened her favorite social media app and went to her main feed, making sure I left it long enough for him to see what name to follow.
Lizzy had started posting her pregnancy journey, along with all the information for those seeking a private adoption. She said that she found it cathartic. It also meant that her pregnancy wasn’t a secret anymore.
I doubted Rory would’ve just stumbled across her feed, but technically, he could have, so I didn’t feel like I was in the wrong. A little nudge couldn’t hurt. If he wasn’t interested, he wouldn’t follow her.
“I keep telling her that her life is not over, but she’s in a rut and won’t listen to me. People have babies all the time and continue to have careers, get married, and have additional kids when they’re ready.”
Rory nodded and started scrolling through the photos, so I kept going.
“I try to cheer her up, but I’m her best friend, so she says that I have to say she’s still beautiful and stuff.
It’s crazy. She’s amazing inside and out.
Anyway, that’s why I’m asking. Just wondering what guys think.
If I asked Nash or any of my guys, they’d jump to the conclusion that I wanted to get pregnant, so… I didn’t mean to scare you.”
It wasn’t a lie, just not the whole truth. If I asked Myles this question, he’d have me naked in two seconds flat. An outside perspective was good and helped my cause.
“So…I take it the father isn’t in the picture?”
I shook my head. “He was a one-night stand.”
Rory’s brows drew together. “So, she’s doing this alone?”
“She has family, and the couple adopting the baby are very involved, but otherwise yeah.”
“Damn, that rough. Umm…would you be creeped out if I followed her?”
I was cheering inside, but kept my face neutral.
“Not at all. I’m sure she’d love all the support she can get.”
Standing, I hitched my backpack higher.
“We’d better get going, I have a ton to catch up on before any of the guys show up. They are loud and chaotic all the time.”
With a smile, he put his phone away and stood. All the way to the dorm, I was torn between being worried about Vicky and giddy thinking about Lizzy seeing Rory following her. I couldn’t wait for that phone call. She was going to lose her mind, and I was here for it.
“Which room are you going to,” Rory asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I glanced around and realized that we were standing in the middle of the hallway.
“Good question. I guess Nash’s room.”
We walked the rest of the way, and I gave Rory a smile.
“Thanks for the escort.”
“No problem. Want me to make sure it’s clear inside?”
“Sure,” I said, unlocking the door with my key. The ring had so many on it that it rivaled Dean Henry’s.
Rory did a quick sweep and looked under the bed.
“All clear.”
He stopped before walking out.
“Can I ask you a question? You can tell me to go to hell if it’s none of my business.”
“Okay,” I said, a little wary.
“How do you all make this work? I just can’t picture being in a relationship with four other guys and having to share my girl.”
That seemed to be the main question from everyone.
“Communication and respect,” I said, putting my backpack down on the bed.
“That’s all I’ve really got. We talk…a lot about everything.
Not that I’m complaining cause I’m not, but even just watching a movie is a matter of taking turns and being fair.
It’s why I have clothes in all their rooms and try to spread out evenly where I sleep.
” I shrugged. “It’s not always easy, but there are a lot of positives, and… it’s us. We just work.”
He nodded. “Thanks for answering. See you later.”
“No problem.”
Rory left, and I closed and locked the door.
Wandering over to Nash’s desk, I looked for my notebook amongst the clutter.
I kept one in all of our rooms, strictly for homework, so I wasn’t always looking for them.
It was nowhere to be seen. Squatting, I checked under the desk and growled at the disaster Nash’s room had become.
It was impossible to find anything in here.
Frustrated, I stood and marched into the bathroom. I went to grab my hairbrush after flipping on the light, but it wasn’t in the holder.
“What the hell is going on?”
I searched under the sink before walking back out into the bedroom and staring around. It was such a mess that it was hard to decide where to start.
Damn Nash and his chaos. Clean and dirty clothes were flung everywhere, and every available flat surface was covered with takeout containers and plates from the cafeteria. My husband was a pig.
Forget studying, I needed to clean up, or I would never be able to focus. I stayed with the other guys for a few days, and this was what he did? I might kill him after all.
I spent another fifteen minutes combing the room for my missing hairbrush and notebook, but it felt like I was chasing the infamous sock in the dryer.
It never made sense to me that two could go in, but only one came out.
It wasn’t like either of my missing items was expensive, and my notebook was literally all school notes, but not being able to find them was just irritating.
Speaking of, I looked over at the two piles of laundry beside the very fully hamper. It was official…adulting sucked.