Chapter 10 #2
“It should have been a sapphic movie,” Becky huffed.
“And yes, please.” Becky stared down at her phone.
She wanted to text Wren. They hadn’t talked for long after Wren dropped the magazine bomb on her.
Their friendship was still pretty new. They weren’t exactly texting all day every day, but she wanted to text her now.
Maybe to apologize again? Her finger hovered over Wren’s name in her contacts until Katie caught her.
“You know, I’ve never seen you have a crush on someone,” Katie said with a bit of a giggle. “Like, I know you’ve hooked up with people. I mean, I’ve witnessed you leave parties with women, but I’ve never seen you nervous.” She nudged Becky with her shoulder.
“Are you here to help me feel better or tease me?” Becky asked, reaching out to grab her pint of ice cream again.
Katie squeezed her shoulder. “Both, Babes. Definitely both.” She paused for a second before adding, “I do think you should text her though. Ask how she’s doing… You did say you two were becoming friends, yeah?”
Becky nodded. “Yeah.”
Katie had finally tracked down the movie and had hit play. “Then maybe checking on her wouldn’t be a bad idea.” She snuggled into Becky’s side as she said it, her own ice cream back in her hands.
She could do this. Becky tapped Wren’s contact information and opened their text chain. It was mostly nothing. Just them confirming they had made it home and then Wren’s text from tonight. She typed nervously, still unsure of what to say exactly.
Becky Rothschild (10:49 PM): Hey, I just wanted to say sorry again. About well… everything really.
Dots appeared under Wren’s name and then disappeared a few times. Becky almost thought Wren wouldn’t bother with a response when her phone finally buzzed in her hands.
Wren Eames (10:53 PM): It’s really not your fault, Rebecca. Well, this time at least
Wren Eames (10:53 PM): But thank you. For apologizing. Not many people do. It genuinely means a lot.
Katie leaned over Becky’s shoulder, nosily reading the messages. There was nothing scandalous to see, so Becky didn’t stop her. “Does she really call you Rebecca?” Katie asked, suddenly.
Becky snorted out a laugh. “Yeah. She always has.”
“Do you want to be called Rebecca?” Katie asked then with a frown.
“No.” Becky rolled her eyes. “That’s probably my fault, too. When she introduced herself all those years ago, she asked if I was Rebecca. I think I gay panicked a little too hard and never corrected her. It’s actually more annoying to me when she calls me Becky now.”
“You’re such a lesbian,” Katie teased.
Becky woke up on the couch in a pile of blankets to the sound of her phone buzzing on the coffee table. Katie was already banging around the kitchen. From the smell of it, she was pretty far into cooking breakfast. Becky felt like she had an ice cream hangover.
Her phone buzzed again. Whoever had been trying to call her, they were trying again. “Fuck,” she yelled when she saw her father’s name on her screen.
Katie was there in a flash, abandoning the breakfast. “Good morning to you, too?” She asked, taking a seat next to Becky on the couch.
Becky pointed at her phone, afraid to pick it up.
“Oh. Shit,” Katie agreed. “Are you going to answer it?”
“He’s called at least twice.” Becky still didn’t move to pick up the phone.
Katie did that part for her. “Want me to put it on speaker?”
Becky pulled her blankets around her tighter and nodded as Katie answered the phone and hit the speaker button. Becky cleared her throat. “Hey, Dad. Good morning.”
“Is it?” Richard Rothschild was mad. Full blown, fuming mad. The whole apartment froze under the tone of those two words.
Becky flinched. “I’m not really sure, to be honest. I’ve only just woken up.”
“Have you seen it?” His voice was demanding and absolutely not up for her stall tactics.
Katie wrapped her arms around Becky as Becky took the phone from her friend.
There was no point in playing dumb with her father.
They knew each other too well. “Yes, Dad. I saw it. Katie brought it home last night actually. It was too late to call you then or I would have.” At least that was the truth.
“Well?” Her father asked, clearly not placated by her answer.
“Is Momma around?” Becky asked. She really didn’t want to have to come out to her parents more than once.
“I’m here, Becky.” Her mother’s voice sounded distant. Where her father sounded livid, her mother sounded disconnected. Becky honestly didn’t know which one was worse.
Becky took a deep breath. “I’m not in a relationship with Wren Eames. Wren’s ex had just come out online and had shared some photos of Wren that she shouldn’t have. I think the media was just trying to create drama.” She let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Clearly, it worked.”
“So, you’re not gay then?” Her mother asked.
And ouch, that hurt. She knew it was going to, but none of her catastrophizing the night before had prepared her for the actual sting of it. “I am a lesbian. I’m just not currently involved with Wren.” She held her head high as she said it, but she could feel silent tears roll down her cheeks.
“Becky, this has got to be a joke.” Her father had no sense of humor. It almost made sense how he could think this might be an attempt at it.
“I assure you, Dad, I’m not laughing.” Becky wiped her tears away with the collar of her shirt, ducking into it like a turtle.
“You’re a lesbian?” Her mother asked, sounding completely unlike herself.
“Yes,” Becky confirmed, not wanting to expound upon that at all.
“This cannot be happening right now,” her father nearly yelled.
She was so done with this shit. “And when would my sexuality be convenient for you, Dad?” She asked in an actual yelled response.
She sighed into the silence that followed.
“Look, I didn’t ask for this article to get printed.
Neither did Wren for that matter. It cost her her relationship, which is completely unfair to her, and it forced me out of the closet.
A closet I was quite happy to stay in, but here we are.
Okay? I’ve had six years to sit with this fact about myself.
I get it if you need some time, but it is a fact. ”
Before they could say anything, Becky continued, “and it’s not a phase and it’s not going away. It’s just a fact. My hair is blonde, my eyes are hazel, I’m attracted to some women, but no men. Got it?”
Katie smiled at her, clear pride shining in her deep brown eyes. She hugged Becky a little tighter.
“We need to put a stop to the rumors, get ahead of it,” her dad said, not responding to anything Becky had just said, but immediately wanting to spin the cycle. “What information can you give me about…what is this girl’s name? Wren?”
“No. I’m not going there. And you’re not going there,” Becky’s voice cracked.
“Me being gay has had literally no impact on your lives. I get it, Pine Rock is small. People will gossip. But then, one of the Abbott boys will get themselves arrested again and everyone will move on to that. Okay? The magazines only care because of Wren’s ex.
This will go away faster if we all just leave it the fuck alone. ”
“Language, Becky,” her mother snapped.
“You’re right. Sorry, Mom. But I’m serious.
I’d rather it if we just ignored it. Wren is my teammate, and this article has done actual damage to her.
I’m not making it worse. And you aren’t either.
She’s actually a really good person.” Becky refused to keep hurting Wren.
She wouldn’t. She knew her parents hadn’t followed her career.
Other than the delightful flicking off moment, they had probably never even heard the name Wren Eames.
“Dad, if anyone in town bothers you about it, or God forbid, it actually impacts your practice, just tell them that Wren and I went to rival colleges. We used to get into fights on the field. Tell them about the article from a few weeks ago where I’m literally flicking her off.
Just tell them the media is trying to create a story out of nothing.
It’s just drama for the sake of drama. We’re teammates and friends.
That’s it. It’s the truth, for one. But also, I mean it, whatever y’all say to people, leave Wren out of it.
” Becky’s heart slammed against her chest. She could feel her parents itching to call her oldest brother and put his shiny new law degree to use.
Anything to clear their family name, but she didn’t want them to.
Sure, getting this kind of media attention for something that wasn’t even true was unexpectedly hurtful, but it was real life. And unfortunately, something that came with the territory of being a professional athlete. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to be the cause of more problems for Wren.
Another round of tears streamed down her face as she thought about Andy’s post. The photo that Wren never intended for the world to see. That photo had been used in the article. Becky’s parents had seen it, even. Everyone had. Oh, poor Wren.
There was a long pause, one so long Becky worried her parents might have hung up on her.
Finally her father’s voice cut through her concern.
“Fine. We’ll just tell everyone that it’s all media fodder.
” The line disconnected then. The silence of the disconnected call hurt more than Becky had ever realized they could.
That was it? They didn’t have anything else to say to her? No more questions about her sexuality? She almost would have taken a rude comment. But nothing? Her mother had asked if she was really a lesbian and that was it.
“Fuck ‘em,” Katie said, pushing Becky over so she could fully snuggle into her on the couch.