Major: Now?
Me: After carefully reviewing all of the evidence, I have come to the conclusion that the answer is yes
Major: Finally.
Me: You’re crazy, you know that right?
Major: I like to think of it as creative
Me: Sexually creative, I’ll remember that
When the movie was over, I got ready for bed. I admit that I watched his videos a couple more times. I even turned up the sound on the second one. I don’t know what it was about the noises he made, but I really, really liked them.
* * *
The next two weeks went by quickly with most of my time spent in class or at practice. The highlight of every day was definitely texting with Major. Most of it was sexual in nature, but some of it was just two friends texting each other.
It was Friday afternoon and we were getting ready for our first away swim meet. Karma and I each packed an overnight bag and met the bus next to the swim complex. We found two seats together and sat down. The next several hours were spent talking to our teammates and listening to music. Major had downloaded a few movies on my phone, but I was going to save them for the trip home.
When we got to the college, we were shown to a dorm that was just for visiting teams to stay in. They provided us with a meal and list of activities that we could participate in if we wanted to. After we ate, Karma decided she was going to the Meet and Greet party they were having. I really didn’t want to go, so I decided to walk around and explore the campus before it got dark. I’d just left the building when Wes caught up to me.
“Hey,” he said. “What are you up to?”
“Just wanted to walk around and see the campus. I like looking at different buildings.”
“Mind if I join you?”
“Sure.”
“Can I ask you a personal question?” he asked, as we were walking.
“You can ask, but that doesn’t guarantee I’ll answer.”
“That’s fair,” he said. “Are you dating that Major guy?”
“No, we’re just friends.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Why do you say it like that?”
“I’ve just heard rumors and seen a couple of things that make it seem like you two are together.”
“What are you talking about? What things?” I asked, starting to get a bad feeling about this conversation.
“Here, I’ll show you.”
Wes got his phone out and brought up something on his screen. I felt sick to my stomach when I saw it was a bunch of screenshots of me and Major’s texts. The sexual kind that were supposed to remain a secret from everyone.
“Where did you get these?” I said, barely containing my anger.
“I was sent a link by an anonymous number. I think a bunch of people got them.”
“When did you get the link?”
“Earlier today. This was the first time I could get you alone to tell you. I’m sorry for telling you, but I thought you needed to know what was going on.”
“Send me the link.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
My phone dinged with the alert. “Thank you. At least you were man enough to tell me. I need to be alone now.”
“I understand. But I’m here if you need anything.”
I nodded and walked back to the dorm we were staying in. I was so mad I couldn’t even see straight. But underneath the anger, I was hurt. He promised that no one would ever see those texts and now they were out there for the whole world to see.
I got back to our assigned room and opened the link. I read a few of the screenshots. They had definitely come from Major’s phone. At the top of the screenshot was a little picture of me and my name “Mermaid.”
The more I read, the worse I felt. He had betrayed my trust again, but this was so much worse than the last time. Who knew how many people had seen this?
I needed Karma, but I couldn’t leave the room. I hadn’t cried yet, but I knew the second I saw her I would start. I decided to text her.
Me: I need you
Then I forwarded the link from Wes. I could tell when she got it because she texted back.
Karma: That motherfucker! I’m on my way.
“I’ll kill him,” Karma said, when she walked in the door. “What the fuck, Kayleigh? This is a bunch of shit. Tell me how you got this.”
I told her about Wes and then I lost it. The tears flowed and I couldn’t stop them. To Karma’s credit, she just hugged me until I was finally able to talk again.
“I don’t understand why he would do that,” I said, pacing the room.
“Because he’s a slimy motherfucking twat waffle.”
“Twat waffle?”
“What? I think it applies here. Anyway, that’s not what’s important here. Have you talked to Major yet?”
“Are you kidding? I can’t talk to him.”
“Then text him,” she said.
“No, I can’t even look at his name right now, never mind text him.”
“Okay. What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know, Karma. I just want to forget what I saw.”
“You can’t do that honey, I’m sorry. If I could take it away I would.”
“I know. I’m more hurt than I am mad. My heart feels like it’s been stabbed or something.”
“You were falling for him, weren’t you?” she asked.
“I think so. I know that’s stupid because he doesn’t date, and I knew what I was getting into when I started this.”
“Sometimes you can’t stop your heart from feeling what it wants. If it helps any, I think he was good for you.”
I raised my eyebrows at her.
“I said was. Now he can go to hell as far as I’m concerned.”
“I just don’t get it. He swore nothing like this would happen after last time. And what’s the point of it? Everyone knows he can get all the girls he wants, he doesn’t need to prove it.”
“You’re forgetting one thing, Kayleigh.”
“What’s that?”
“He’s a guy and guys are stupid.”
“True. I need to get out of this room. How bad do I look?”
“You look fine. You’re the only person I know that can cry her eyes out, and five minutes later look like nothing happened. The only difference is your eyes are a lot bluer.”
“Okay, good. Are you coming with me?”
“Hell yes. What are we going to do?”
“Is that party thing still going on?”
“I think so. Want to go see?”
“Sure.”
I followed Karma to a building that seemed central to the campus. There were still a lot of people there, so I did my best to seem normal on the outside. Inside there was a little storm going on. I was practically stuck to Karma’s side. She floated around the room, stopping to introduce us every so often.
I excused myself and found the restroom. I locked myself in a stall. I just needed a break from all the people. I was debating what was worse right now, being alone or being surrounded by strangers.
My phone dinged with a text. I checked it without thinking. It was Major.
Major: Did you make it to the college okay?
I’d thought I didn’t want to say anything, but now that I saw his face on my screen I was going to let him know how I felt.
Me: What do you care you betraying asshole
Major: Whoa, what’s wrong?
Me: I fucking trusted you and you betrayed me again
Major: What are you talking about?
Me: This asshole!
I added the link to my text. I couldn’t wait to see what excuse he came up with for this. A minute or so later, my phone rang and it was him. I didn’t answer. He called again and I let it go to voicemail.
Major: Kayleigh please answer your phone. I need you to hear the truth in my voice. I didn’t do this.
My phone rang again and I don’t know if it was the please
that got to me or the statement about hearing his voice, but I answered this time.
“Hello,” I said quietly.
“Kayleigh, thank you for answering, I was worried that you wouldn’t. I had nothing to do with those screenshots. I told you nothing like that would ever happen again and I meant it. I never go back on my promises, Kayleigh. I might be an asshole, but I’m a man of my word. You mean more to me than you know and I would never intentionally do something to hurt you. I will get to the bottom of this and find out who did this to you.” He paused. “Are you still there?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe me?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. I really wanted to believe him, but it was hard and I was still hurting.
“That’s better than no, so I’ll take it for now,” he said. “Kayleigh, please don’t give up on me. Give me some time to figure this out, just please believe that I had nothing to do with this.”
“How can I be sure?”
“I’ll get you the proof you need, trust me okay?”
I couldn’t believe I was going to say this. “Okay Major. But I’m still hurt.”
“I understand. I may sound calm right now, but I’m anything but. Whoever is responsible for hurting you is going to pay for it. Where are you right now?”
“Hiding in a bathroom stall.”
“Where’s Karma?”
“At a party. I came here with her.”
“Go find her and put her on the phone … please.”
“Okay.”
I left the bathroom and quickly found Karma. She must have figured out I was hiding and made sure she was close.
“It’s for you,” I said, and handed her the phone.
I could tell when she found out it was Major, because she let out a string of curse words that would make a sailor cringe. I don’t know what he said to make her stop, but her whole demeanor changed. She stopped talking and started listening. The conversation lasted longer than I thought it would and I was curious. Karma eventually hung up and gave me my phone back.
“So?” I said impatiently.
“Let’s get out of here so we can talk.”
“Fine,” I huffed.
I followed Karma back to the dorm, more confused than ever. My mind had a million things running through it. I can’t imagine what Major could have said to her to calm her down.
“I think you should believe him,” she told me when we got back to the room.
“Huh?” That’s not what I was expecting her to say.
“I don’t think it was him,” she said.
“Who are you and what have you done with Karma?”
“I’m serious, Kayleigh.”
“I can see that, but I don’t understand why. A few minutes ago, you wanted to rip his nuts off and now you’re on his side.”
“I’m on your side girl, always.”
“Then please explain the change in your attitude,” I said.
“Major Davenport can be quite convincing when he needs to be.”
“That doesn’t tell me anything.” I was getting frustrated.
“Do you trust me?” she asked.
“Of course I do.”
“Then trust me when I say he told me some things that led me to believe he’s telling you the truth.”
“Why can’t you just tell me?”
“Because it’s something he needs to tell you himself. And I think if he told you right now, you’d think it was just to get you to believe he isn’t responsible for the screenshots.”
“But you think that whatever he told you is true?”
“I do.”
“You know this is frustrating right?”
“I get that. But have I ever steered you wrong before?”
“No.”
“Then trust me when I say this is for the best right now. Okay?”
“I guess. I’m just so confused. I don’t know whether to be angry, sad or what.”
“What made you answer the phone when he called?”
“I think that he said please in his text asking me to answer.”
“Now tell me the real reason,” she said.
“I did.”
“No, I think that’s the excuse you gave yourself. Why did you answer his call if you were pissed at him?”
I didn’t want to admit it, but Karma wasn’t going to let it go. “Because I wanted to hear his voice. Even though I was hurt and angry. How stupid is that?”
“It’s not stupid at all. You wanted to think it wasn’t him who could do that so your heart made the decision for you.”
“But what if he’s lying to you?” I asked her.
“Then I’ll rip his nuts off and feed them to him,” she said fiercely.
That made me smile a little.
“Now, we have a big meet tomorrow. I heard these guys are really good so we have to be at our best. Let’s try and put this whole incident out of our mind tonight. We need to relax then get some sleep. I want to beat their suits off tomorrow.”
I tried to do what Karma suggested. I found my eReader and started reading. Eventually, the book sucked me in enough that I was able to relax a little.
Chapter 44
Major
“Motherfucker,” I yelled, when I hung up from talking to Karma.
“What the fuck dude?” Bodie said.
“Someone’s messing with Kayleigh.”
“I’m still lost, man.”
I showed him the link and screenshots.
“Fuck. I bet she was pissed at you,” he said.
“Yep. She called me a betraying asshole. And, she would have been right if I’d done it, but I wouldn’t do that to her.”
“So, who do you think it was?”
“I have no idea.”
“Leave it to me,” Bodie said. “I haven’t used my hacking skills in a while and wouldn’t want to get rusty. Send me the link.”
I sent it to him. “Are you sure about this?”
“Of course. Remember when I hacked into the school’s grading system in tenth grade?”
“Yeah, you gave everyone in the school straight A’s. The dean was super pissed. They never did figure out it was you, did they?”
“Nope. And that system was well protected, but it was easy for me to get into.”
“You’re lucky you haven’t been caught yet.”
“I know. Now let me work on this. You go do something. I can’t think when you hover.”
Bodie got his laptop out and started hitting keys. I grabbed my keys and left the building. He was right about me hovering. I got in the truck and started driving.
I found myself at the coffee shop I’d met that chick I ended up fucking at the club. I parked and went in. I ordered a coffee and sat at a table. I took my phone out. I wanted to text Kayleigh, but I didn’t know if she’d text me back and I didn’t want to make her more upset. I started to call Bodie but I know he’d just tell me to fuck off and leave him alone to work.
I was so busy staring at my phone that I didn’t notice someone sit down next to me.
“Hey,” she said, causing me to jump a little.
“Oh hey. Didn’t see you there.” It was the same girl I’d met here before.
“I could tell. Are you waiting for a call?” she said, gesturing to my phone.
“Kind of.”
“Do you mind if I keep you company?”
“No, that’s fine.”
We sat there in silence for a few minutes before she broke it.
“When I saw you walk in here I thought I might get lucky again, but I can tell by the look on your face that’s not going to happen. What’s her name?”
“Huh?”
“The name of the girl causing that look on your face,” she said.
I looked at her. “It’s not important.”
“Is that who you’re waiting to call?”
“No. I’m actually waiting for some news from a friend.”
“Must not be good news. You loo
k pretty serious tonight.”
“Hopefully the news will be good, but the situation isn’t.”
“That sucks. Do you want me to leave you alone?”
“No, sorry. I think it would be better if I had something to occupy me rather than just staring at my phone.”
I put my phone on the table and took a sip of my coffee.
“They really do have good coffee here. Are your roommates driving you crazy again?”
“Yeah. They’d been arguing about some stupid cartoon and I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Sounds like fun. How old are they?”
“Eighteen and twenty-two, but you’d think they were twelve based on the way they act. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
We ended up talking for over an hour before she had to leave. It had been a nice distraction. I still hadn’t heard from Bodie, which meant it was taking longer than he thought. I got two coffees to go and went back to the dorm.
I found Bodie hunched over his laptop when I got back.
“Here’s a coffee.”
“Thanks, man,” he said taking a drink.
“I figured you could use it since I hadn’t heard from you.”
“Whoever this is has covered their tracks really well. They’re good, but I’m better.”
“I’ll leave you to it then.”
Now that I was back at the dorm, I was angry all over again. I wasn’t the kind of guy that liked to fight a lot, but I really wanted to take a swing at whoever was responsible for this.
“Watch some TV,” Bodie said out of the blue.
“What?”
“I said, watch some TV. I can hear your teeth grinding from here and it’s driving me crazy.”
“Oh, sorry man.”
“Look, I know you’re furious, but we’ll get this guy. Just have a little patience with me.”
I knew Bodie was right, so I turned on the TV and picked a random movie. I stared at the screen not really seeing anything. My mind was wondering what Kayleigh was doing. I checked the time. It was after 10:00 so she was probably in bed. I knew she tried to get lots of sleep before she competed. I just hoped that this didn’t affect her swimming tomorrow.
I kept Bodie supplied with coffee and tried to leave him alone, but it was hard. When I started pacing he sent me to my room. I couldn’t stay in there long and found my way back to the main part of the dorm and made sure I stayed off his way this time.
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