Chapter 8
Sadie
T wo weeks had passed since BoobGate 2024 and Sadie had been avoiding Ellie at all costs. Not that it was hard to do; it wasn’t like they frequently interacted. But Sadie consciously changed her normal route to her classes and practice to avoid walking by the theater. There was no way she could look Ellie in the eye after what happened.
How could I have been so dumb?
Sadie had been beating herself up over it since it happened. Ellie hadn’t responded on Snapchat, which Sadie was thankful for. Now, if she could just make it through prom without seeing Ellie, maybe she could make it the rest of the year without ever having to see her. She could do it. Right?
Walking down the stairs at home, Sadie was instantly greeted by her mom and Charlie with their phones out taking pictures. She’d told them she didn’t want to make prom pictures a big deal because she thought they were dumb. That was only partially true. The main reason, though, was that Trevor had never asked her about doing pictures. Sadie had mentioned it, but Trevor only said there would be a photographer at prom.
She assumed that would work fine.
Not that I really want to remember this night, anyway.
Since sending the picture to Trevor, he had been much more communicative with her. Although they chatted frequently throughout the day, Sadie was impressed with how little she still knew about him and how he knew even less about her. Their conversations were mostly short.
How was school?
Good.
How was practice?
Good. Send me another pic.
And Sadie did. She didn’t know why she did it, but she did it nonetheless. Trevor always sent a massive amount of emojis after each picture, but Sadie couldn’t help but feel dirty for the praise. Sadie felt even dirtier when Trevor sent pictures back of himself. They were so not the kinds of pictures Sadie wanted to look at. In fact, she often squinted her eyes when she opened pictures from Trevor, just in case.
“Sadie, you look beautiful!” Delaney gushed as she took Sadie’s hand and twirled her around. She couldn’t help but smile at her mother’s happiness. “I can’t believe my little girl is all grown up.”
“You said the same thing on my eighteenth birthday.”
“And she’ll say it again at your graduation,” Charlie chuckled. “But I have to agree with her.”
Sadie smiled at her, not knowing what to say.
“What time is Trevor picking you up?”
Fifteen minutes ago, she wanted to say but didn’t.
“He’s running late, but should be here soon.”
I hope.
Trevor had texted he’d be late, but didn’t provide further detail on when he would actually arrive. Sadie just hoped he would show up. If he didn’t, she didn’t know how she’d be able to show her face at school again.
Thankfully, she heard a car horn honk outside.
“That must be him.”
“Is he not coming in?” Delaney arched a questioning eyebrow at her.
“I don’t think so.” Grabbing her small clutch purse from the table by the door, Sadie opened the front door. “I’ll see you both later.”
“Do you need a jacket?”
“I’m fine.”
“Okay, well, be home by midnight.”
“And if not, call,” Charlie added.
Sadie rushed out the door before they could say anything else. Although she’d shut the door, she knew they were watching her through the window. She could almost feel their eyes on her as she opened the door to Trevor’s lifted truck and struggled to get inside.
He could have at least helped me in, she grumbled to herself as she hoisted herself up into the truck.
“You look hot,” Trevor said with a laugh.
“Thanks.” Sadie smiled at him, taking in his look. His hair was in a perfect wave, as usual, and he had a gray suit on with a light blue button-up. It didn’t match her dress at all.
“So, have you eaten?” He didn’t give her time to respond before saying, “We can grab something to go on the way if not.”
Sadie resisted the urge to cry. There was no point in it. She knew what she was getting into going to prom with Trevor. He hasn’t shown any interest in getting to know her beyond her boobs.
“I’m fine. Let’s just go to prom.”
As Trevor drove to the school, Sadie noticed how he kept his right hand on the wheel. Was it so he didn’t feel obligated to hold her hand? Or did he normally drive that way? She wasn’t sure which answer would bother her least.
Arriving at the school, Trevor parked the truck and got out. Sadie waited a beat, seeing if he would open the door for her.
He didn’t.
Sighing, Sadie got out of the truck and adjusted her dress. For late March, it was still chilly and Sadie regretted not grabbing a jacket. Her arms were cold as she walked around the truck to Trevor, who was unbuttoning the top button on his shirt.
“This is too stiff.”
“I think it looks great,” she smiled, attempting to flirt. Trevor smiled back, nodding his head.
“You think so?”
I just said so, didn’t I?
“Yeah.” Looking toward the gym, Sadie nodded her head. “Shall we go in?”
“Let’s go.”
Surprisingly, Trevor took her hand as they walked toward the gym doors. Sadie couldn’t help but notice how weird it felt to be holding his hand. They were big and rough and… weird. Granted, aside from her mom and Charlie and maybe a handful of other people, she’d never held hands before. And she’d definitely never held hands with someone she was dating.
Or well, not dating exactly. Going to prom together and dating were not the same thing. Sadie was smart enough to know that.
Trevor opened the gym door for her, following her inside with their hands still clasped. He pulled the tickets out of his jacket pocket and handed them to the teacher who had clearly drawn the short straw and been forced to work the prom.
Sadie was surprised that Trevor continued to hold her hand as they walked into the gym that was decorated in a midnight in Paris theme. There was a large replica of the Eiffel Tower in the middle of the gym that extended all the way up to the ceiling. Under it was a dance floor, where many of her classmates were already dancing. Streamers and disco balls hung around the rafters, and Sadie tried to figure out how disco balls related to Paris.
She was about to ask Trevor—less to get his opinion and more to just have something to talk about—when she saw Ellie on the dance floor.
Sadie lost the ability to breathe as she stared at Ellie. Ellie looked stunning in her navy-blue suit, white collared shirt, and matching bow tie. She had on a gray pair of Converse that Sadie would have never put on with that outfit, and yet it worked. It was perfectly Ellie.
And her hair. God, that hair. It was pulled back around her face in a half-up, half-down look that Sadie only thought could be achieved in magazines. Her long brown hair was curled in flowing waves that bounced as she danced with her friends. Suddenly, Sadie’s simple braided hair felt inadequate.
“Did you hear me?”
Startled, Sadie turned her attention back to Trevor. “What?”
“I asked if you wanted to dance.”
“Oh, um, sure. Yes. Let’s dance.”
She let Trevor lead her out onto the dance floor, but her eyes were locked on Ellie. How could someone be so beautiful without even trying? Sadie didn’t know. All she knew was she would have to try hard to focus on Trevor and not Ellie as they danced.
Having never danced before, Sadie had no clue what she was doing. Her limited knowledge of even the vaguest dance moves came from movies, and she wasn’t sure how relevant they were in real life. After a few songs, Sadie took a step back from Trevor and nodded toward the table of food and drinks in the corner.
“Let’s go grab something to eat.”
Trevor didn’t protest. He followed her to the drink table, where Sadie quickly downed the too-small cup of water and refilled it from the glass jug at the end of the table.
“Hey, I see some of my buddies. I’ll be right back.”
Without another word, Trevor walked across the gym to where a group of his baseball friends were gathered. Sadie watched how comfortable he looked around them; it was a stark contrast to the boy she’d been hanging out with for the last hour.
Shouldn’t I be having more fun than this?
Sadie sulked in the corner of the gym as she scanned the room for Ellie. She found her easily—like finding Waldo when the rest of the page was black and white. Ellie was still on the dance floor with her friends, still seemingly oblivious to Sadie watching her.
Not that Sadie wanted Ellie to notice her. She most definitely didn’t. It was probably for the best that Ellie was ignoring her.
Unless she’s doing it on purpose.
What if Ellie was mad that Sadie had sent her that picture? For all Sadie knew, Ellie could think she meant to send it to her. Sadie’s stomach churned at the thought. Maybe she should have told Ellie it was an accident. That might have cleared things up and allowed them to laugh about it later.
But instead, Sadie had said nothing. And neither had Ellie.
At least Ellie hadn’t screenshot the picture like Trevor did. He had to know she could see that, but he didn’t care. Sadie knew better than to send it in the first place, and she felt dumb every time she thought about it. How and why had she let some random guy she didn’t care about dictate what she did?
“Hey,” a familiar voice startled her from behind as she refilled her tiny plastic cup of water. Sadie nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned to face Abigail Massey.
Not only was Abigail Massey Sadie’s biggest rival on the softball team, she was also Trevor’s ex-girlfriend. The two were never friends, and that was clearly not destined to change. Sadie knew Abigail wasn’t there to tell her congrats for going to prom with Trevor. No; the devious look in her green eyes told Sadie it was something else entirely.
“So, I heard you’ve been sending my Trevor some naughty pictures.”
“ Excuse me? ” Sadie blurted out, dropping her water cup on the floor. “How do you—”
“Oh, I know everything. ”
Holding up her phone, Abigail showed her the picture. The picture Sadie had taken. The picture Sadie had taken and sent to Trevor. And Ellie. The picture Sadie had taken and sent to Trevor and he screenshot. Her blood ran cold as she tried to figure out why— why— Trevor would have sent that to Abigail.
“You see,” Abigail took a step toward her, pushing Sadie back to risk being face to face with her, “he knows you’re just dating him to make me jealous.”
“I’m—I’m not dating him.”
“Then why are you sending him these pictures?” Abigail held the phone closer to Sadie’s face as she cringed, looking away. “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to have to look at these pictures either.”
Sadie didn’t know how it was possible, but an even more devious look washed over Abigail’s face. Nothing good could follow that look.
“He’s mine,” she snarled. “And so is the pitcher position on the softball team, you understand?”
What?
Sadie’s head began to spin as a whirlwind of thoughts crashed into her.
Had it all been a plan for Abigail to threaten Sadie? Did Trevor only ask her to prom because Abigail asked him to? Was it because Charlie had given Sadie the pitcher spot the over Abigail? Would Abigail really stoop so low to threaten her at prom?
The pit in Sadie’s stomach told her she wouldn’t like the answers to any of the questions.
“You know, it would be a shame if this picture accidentally got leaked . I’m sure your little stepmother would have no choice but to kick you off the team then, hmm?”
“Abigail, please. Don’t do this.”
“Then give me back Trevor and the pitcher position.”
“You can have Trevor. I don’t want him.”
Abigail looked slightly vindicated. “I didn’t think he was your type anyway.”
“What does that mean?”
“And what about the pitcher position?” Abigail asked, ignoring Sadie’s question.
“I earned that spot.”
“Bullshit. You glided in here halfway through sophomore year and took the position that I have worked toward for years. If your stepmom wasn’t the coach, we both know you wouldn’t be the starting pitcher.”
“I guess that’s why I have a softball scholarship and you don’t.” Sadie matched Abigail’s angry energy the best she could, despite her shaking hands and voice. “I earned that spot fairly.”
“Well, then I guess there’s only one thing to do, huh?”
If Disney villains could personify a person, they did so in Abigail at that moment. She was pushing buttons on her screen as her Grinch-like grin spread wider and wider across her face. When she turned the phone around to Sadie, she could see exactly what Abigail had done.
And slowly, around the gym, Sadie could see her classmates receiving the notification.
Checking their phones.
Laughing .
Because Abigail had airdropped the picture to everyone.
Sadie couldn’t breathe. It felt like every eye was on her, and it more than likely was. The exit was on the other side of the gym—through the crowd of people who had just seen a naked picture of her—so Sadie had no choice but to run.
Run through the crowd.
Run past Ellie calling her name.
Run out the door.
Run through the parking lot.
Arriving at a nearby park, Sadie collapsed onto a bench to catch her breath. She hadn’t realized she was crying, and she angrily wiped her tears away.
How could Abigail be so mean? Why did she hate her so much to do that ? Why had she trusted Trevor? Why had she sent those pictures to him?
Her tears increased with each question that rapidly fired in her mind.
With shaking hands, Sadie called her mom to come and pick her up.