03- Rebounds And Red Flags

Zoey.

I woke up to my phone buzzing like a damn alarm in my ear. My head felt heavy, like I hadn’t slept at all which was true. I had tossed and turned all night, thinking about that stupid photo over and over again.

‘Play along or I will.’ Those words kept taunting me, almost driving me crazy. When I eventually fell asleep the whole hockey team visited me in my dreams. It was like I was being haunted.

I groaned, when I heard another buzzing sound coming from my phone, rolling over I smacked my hand around until I found my phone on the floor. The bright screen nearly blinded me. It was a notification from our campus gossip feed.

I couldn’t help but groan. Our campus feed was basically a digital jungle. People posted everything, from cheating scandals to fights behind the dining hall. Once, someone uploaded a video of a cheerleader hooking up with the chess club president in the library basement. Another time, there was a whole thread about a professor caught leaving a frat party at 3 a.m.

There was even a rumor last month about the head cheerleader secretly dating a physics TA, the comments on that one nearly crashed the app. And don’t even get me started on that one post where a freshman was caught skinny-dipping in the fountain after losing a bet.

Everyone loved it. Everyone lived for it.

Me? I had been the star of that messy circus for two straight days now. Front page, top trending, every notification ping a reminder that I was now that girl who was humiliated by her ex.

I kept hoping someone else would do something stupid enough to steal my spotlight. Like, please, can some random jock streak across campus or a cheerleader get caught making out with a professor in the quad?

But no. Nothing. I was still it. The main event.

And God, I would have paid real money for someone else to take the heat, even for just five minutes.

I glanced back at my phone screen and tapped it open. I was still hoping the new gossip was about someone else but I was wrong.

“Orion’s Ex, Rebounding x4?” The headline read.

My eyes widened  as I stared at the photo of me and the boys at the café. I could already imagine the comments before I even scrolled. But of course, I looked anyway.

“Didn’t think she’d move on that fast, and with the rejects? ”

“She always did like attention. Guess she’s getting it now.”

“Damn, that’s cold. Even for Orion’s crazy ex.”

My fingers started shaking so badly I almost dropped the phone. A second later, my phone started buzzing again. Julie’s name lit up the screen. “Have you seen it?” she practically screamed when I answered.

I pressed the phone against my ear, my voice flat. “Yeah. Congratulations to me. I officially went from that girl to the campus slut.”

“Oh my god, don’t be dramatic!” she shot back. “You’re famous! You should soak this up.”

“Famous for the wrong reasons,” I snapped, but she ignored me like she always did.

“Stop being a killjoy. I’m coming over to help you pick something cute to wear. You need to look good now that you’re a hot topic!”

Before I could argue, she hung up. I threw my phone on my bed and fell backward, staring at the ceiling. My heart pounded like it wanted to crawl out of my chest.

A few minutes later, my door flew open. Julie waltzed in like she owned the place, with her bag slouched on her shoulder. “Get up!” she shouted, tossing a sparkly top at my face. “You’re going   look hotter than ever today. We’re turning pity into power.”

I groaned so loudly I thought my lungs might collapse. “Julie, did you even read the comments? The Texas guy who transferred last year made a video mocking me. How is stupid is that?”

Julie rolled her eyes and ignored my whining. “Enjoy the moment,” she cooed, sorting through my closet like a madwoman. She finally pulled out a tight, strappy black dress and thrust it at me. “Try this. It screams ‘new me, who is this?’”

I stared at it like it might bite me. “There’s no way I’m wearing that.”

She shoved it against my chest harder. “Yes. You. Are.”

We went back and forth until I realized arguing with Julie was like arguing with a hurricane. I finally gave in and slipped it on.

She squealed so loud I jumped. “You look amazing!”

I narrowed my eyes at her in the mirror. “Stop bluffing.”

“I’m not bluffing! You’re hot. Like, step-on-me energy hot.”

Against my will, a tiny smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. She lunged at me next with a makeup bag, chasing me around my tiny dorm like a maniac. “Hold still, you gremlin!”

I shrieked as she finally tackled me onto my bed, smearing eyeliner across my lids. We both ended up sprawled out on the floor, breathless with laughter. When our giggles finally died down, Julie lay on her back beside me, staring at the ceiling. “Zoey,” she said softly.

I turned my head to look at her. “Let’s promise never to let some hockey boy come between us again,” she whispered.

I swallowed hard and nodded. “Promise.”

We pinky-swore right there on my dusty floor.

After we finally finished getting ready, we headed out. The second we stepped onto campus, the whispers started. Eyes followed us like searchlights. Girls elbowed each other, and guys smirked in that gross, annoying way.

Julie squeezed my hand. “Own it.”

I nodded, trying to channel some kind of confidence, even if it felt like my insides were jelly.

“See you later,” Julie said waving at me and I nodded heading to my lecture hall.

Class was brutal. Every second felt like nails on a chalkboard, but I made it through. Barely. After class, Julie had to meet up with some friends for a group project so I couldn’t hang out with her.

I decided to head to the café to grab an iced coffee. I thought maybe, just maybe, I could hide in a corner. But of course, the universe hates me.

As I stepped out of the café with my drink, a hand shot out and grabbed my arm, yanking me to the side. I almost spilled my coffee all over my chest.

“Zoey.”

My heart plummeted into my stomach. It was Orion. What was he doing here? I stared at him and I noticed his  eyes were stormy, scanning me from head to toe like I was a puzzle he couldn’t solve.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he snapped.

I ripped my arm away from him showing him my iced-coffee. “What does it look like?”

“Don’t play games with me,” he hissed, stepping closer. “You’re trying to ruin my season. You think stirring up drama with those losers is going to make you look better?”

His words took me by surprise, and for a second, I just stood there staring at him. Orion looked furious and it was all because of the photo.

I couldn’t believe it. He actually cared. He was actually bothered.

All this time, he’d acted like I was nothing but a mistake he wanted to forget. He dumped me in front of the entire state like I was trash. But now? Now he was so mad he tracked me down just to yell at me in a crowded café.

Maybe the guys’ plan was working. Maybe this was the start of his perfect little hockey world falling apart. And that realization God, it made me feel good. Like I could finally hurt him back, just like he hurt me.

For once, I wasn’t the girl crying in my dorm room. I wasn’t the broken, embarrassed ex everyone whispered about. I was the girl who got under his skin so badly that he had to come find me in the middle of the day.

It felt like getting a piece of myself back. A small, savage victory.

I forced my face into a smirk. “I don’t know, Orion. You seemed pretty good at making me look pathetic all on your own.”

His eyes narrowed, his nostrils flaring. “Don’t test me, Zoey.”

I stepped back, flipping my hair over my shoulder. “Too late.”

His face twisted like he wanted to say more, but I didn’t give him the chance. I turned on my heel and walked past him, every step feeling like a tiny victory dance in my head. I almost expected him to grab my wrist or chase after me, but he didn’t.

I kept walking, pretending my heart wasn’t racing and that my hands weren’t shaking slightly at my sides. By the time I got to the edge of campus, I was stopped by a stout looking kid with round glasses.

“Keiran wants you to meet him  and the boys in the boys’ changing room by 4.”  He said.

Of course they will send a nerd. I told the nerdy kid that I would meet up with them and walked off with a triumphant smile on his face like he had worn a lottery. I wondered what the boys had promised him.  

Later that day, I met up with the four boys in the changing room. The second I walked in, Kieran grinned like the devil.

“Good show today, princess,” he teased.

I shot him a glare. “Which one of you leaked the photo?”

They didn’t say anything just looked between themselves. Then Casper raised a lazy hand. “I thought you needed a push.”

My jaw dropped. “A push? You basically threw me off a cliff!”

Rowan barked out a laugh. Emrys looked guilty, chewing his lip.

“At least you got your ex rustled that’s a good thing,” Kieran said.  “Why don’t we keep things going?”

I held up a finger. “On one condition,”

Kieran leaned forward. “What’s that?”

“If I keep going with this stupid plan: no emotional games. I want respect. You play fair with me, or I’m out.”

They all nodded, though I didn’t trust a single one of them. On my way back to my dorm that night, my phone buzzed again, when I clicked on it I realized it was a message from an unknown number.

“Careful, Zoey. You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

At the bottom of the text, was a blurry photo of me leaving the boys’ hockey changing room.

I felt the blood drain from my face.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?