05

05

Bella Reyes

I slammed open the door to my dorm room, not caring if I broke the hinges, my eyes frantically searching the space. Tyler wasn't there.

Fuck. I was going crazy. God help him if any of this turned out to be true. I had seen the transaction receipt and the message thread, but my brain still couldn't fully process it.

Tyler wasn't capable of doing something so cruel to me. It had to be fabricated. For all I knew, Tyler and Aries had bad blood, and this was just a twisted scheme to ruin him.

Tyler loved me. We loved each other. There was absolutely nothing Aries could throw at us that would tear us apart.

My rushed steps faltered right outside the door to Tyler's room as laughter drifted into the hallway. But that could be anyone. It could be his roommate hanging out with his girlfriend. It could be anyone, and I was stepping way over the line.

If this all turned out to be a mind game orchestrated by Aries, I would still have to face Tyler's anger for doubting him. But I needed to know for myself. I had questions, and anyone in my shoes would be losing their mind right now.

After several failed attempts to steady my breathing, I typed out a couple of quick texts to Tyler. They went unread. I hit his contact to call him, and just as the phone began to ring on my end, his ringtone erupted from inside his room.

I lowered the phone from my ear as a girl's giggle chimed over the ringing. Driven by pure impulse, before my brain could even stop me, I burst into the room.

Tyler's head snapped toward me, along with the girl lying across his chest.

Oh God. It was really true. Please, no. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying that when I opened them, I would see a completely different scene, just Tyler fast asleep on his bed, alone. Definitely not with a girl draped over him.

“Oopsy,” Rhea drawled, letting out a soft whistle.

Fuck no. This was as real as it got. My eyes snapped open. She leaned back against his pillows, looking completely relaxed, as if I were the intruder ruining their moment.

“What is this, Tyler?” I asked, my hand trembling as I gestured between them. “What is she doing here?”

“Doing what?” he snapped back, his voice sharp.

“What does it look like I'm doing?” Rhea scoffed, popping her gum.

“Oh Tyler, she really doesn't get it, does she?” Rhea's voice dripped with condescending pity as her eyes flicked from Tyler back to me.

I had no words, nor did I have an ounce of strength left in me to trade insults with her. I was here for Tyler, to get answers. I forced my focus back onto him and only him. “Why did you send me there?”

“Where? Did you get my laptop?” He looked at me like I was being ridiculous, acting as if he wasn't lying straight to my face.

“Why did you send me there, Tyler?” I shouted, my voice cracking on a sob.

“To get my laptop! You willingly agreed to help me. Did you get it or not?” He shook his head in frustration.

“Yes, I did,” I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper. “It's in my dorm room, right on my bed. Where we were sitting, where we were supposed to be when I got back.”

“Come on, Bella. You were gone forever. Rhea and I are just hanging out.”

A choked laugh escaped my throat, bringing a fresh tear down my cheek. “There is no laptop, Tyler.”

He shifted to swing his legs off the bed, but Rhea grabbed the front of his shirt to hold him back. “So what? You don't know already, or are you really that stupid?”

Tyler shot her a look at the exact same moment I did.

“What?” Rhea scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Don't look at me like that. We all know she's a cheap slut, so what's the big deal about making a couple grand off her?”

A sob ripped from my chest as I locked my eyes onto Tyler. “So it's true?”

“Obviously,” Rhea answered for him, rolling her eyes again.

I ignored her. I needed to hear those exact words come out of Tyler's mouth. I needed him to admit that he had sold me for money.

Maybe he had a reason, a good enough one that I could somehow understand. But he leaned right back into Rhea, letting her pull him close.

“Yes, it's true,” he said casually. “Everything you heard or saw is true. I tried to sell you for some cash, just for one night. My friend needed help, okay? You're my girlfriend, so I didn't think the favor was a big deal.”

“Wow.” A bitter, broken laugh slipped past my lips. “Wow, Tyler.”

“What? A friend needed help. It's that simple.”

“Aries is not your friend!” The floodgates holding back my tears completely broke. “He is not your fucking friend, Tyler! He exposed you to me!”

“Whatever,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. “It wasn't a secret anyway. It was a deal between friends. You did your part, so it's no big deal.”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The way he shrugged his shoulders, the way Rhea clung to his arm while chewing her gum, they looked at me like I was just an annoying noise interrupting their night.

“Why?” I cried out, my chest heaving.

“Why what?” Rhea taunted, pushing herself up on her knees. “Which part of this isn't sinking into that thick head of yours? That Tyler doesn't love you and was just using you? That you're a cheap slut who sleeps around for cash? Or that by tomorrow morning, the entire campus is going to know what you did? Which part don't you understand?”

My breath hitched in my throat. “The whole school?” Tears blurred my vision. “I didn't sleep with him!”

Rhea let out a loud, mocking laugh, waving her hand dismissively. “Tell that to the rumor mill.”

My wide, tear-filled eyes darted to Tyler. Was he really going to let her do this to me? He sat there silently, not saying a single word to stop her.

“Tyler?”

“I can already see the headlines tomorrow,” Rhea said, dramatically spreading her hands in the air. “The hockey captain gets with the campus whore.” She smirked at me. “Maybe if you get down on your knees and beg me, I might keep your name out of it.”

No. She couldn't do that. My scholarship, my entire future...

“Tyler?”

He didn't answer. A small, cruel smile spread across his face as Rhea gloated over my downfall.

“Come on,” Rhea sneered. “Be a good little damsel in distress. Get on your knees and beg.”

I couldn't let this happen.