Campus Player

Awesome. Exactly what I want to hear at the butt crack of dawn. When I remain silent, she pokes me in the chest with a pointy finger.

“Ow!” I rub the spot. Damn! That hurt.

She folds her arms across her chest. “Oh, and thanks for letting me know you were taking off. Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?”

“Please,” I snort. “The last time I checked, Ethan had his tongue shoved so far down your throat, if was like he was doing a strep test.”

A sly grin curves Sydney’s lips. “All right, so maybe we went at it a little hard. But still, you should have let me know.”

“You’re right, I should have sent you a text.” I’d been so angry with Justin that it hadn’t occurred to me to inform Sydney I was walking home by myself. Probably not the smartest decision I’ve ever made. Usually we stick together at parties. Girls are always safer when traveling in pairs.

“Apology accepted.” Then she redirects the conversation back to the original topic. “Want to hear the stories?”

“Are you really giving me a choice in the matter?”

“Nope.” Sydney holds up a finger. “The first one is that you walked in on Justin having a threesome.”

After last night, I wouldn’t put anything past him, but that definitely didn’t happen.

“Two.” A second finger joins the first. “Rowan beat the shit out of him, and Justin spent the night in the ICU and is now pressing charges.”

Seriously, people?

That’s pure lunacy.

“Neither of those things occurred.” There wasn’t even a fight, for goodness sake. This is a perfect example of the rumor mill at Western running amuck.

“Three,” another finger joins the first two, “Justin found you with another guy and went berserk.”

The corners of Sydney’s lips tremble when I burst out laughing. Jeez. Who makes this shit up? “Trust me, there’s more, but those are the ones I thought could have a shred of truth to them.”

“It’s all a bunch of bullshit.”

“Hmmm.” Her shoulders fall. “That’s disappointing.”

“Really?” I quirk a brow. “You were hoping Justin got beat up, or one of us was caught up in a cheating scandal?”

“Maybe.” She shrugs unapologetically. “You have to admit, it’s getting kind of lame around here. We need something to spice things up.”

There’s no point in holding back what transpired last night. “Then you’ll be delighted to hear that I walked in on Justin getting a blowie.”

Her eyes widen. “From a guy?”

“No, not a dude! It was none other than our very own Annica Weber.”

“No way!”

“Yup.” The whole sordid mess leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Although, not nearly as bad of a taste as Annica had in her mouth last night. God only knows where his you-know-what has been.

Sydney collapses onto the mattress next to me before rolling onto her back. “What a dirty little bitch.”

“My thoughts exactly.” There’s a pause. “Honestly, I don’t give a crap about Justin or what he does. We weren’t going anywhere as a couple but if he felt the same way, he should have been straight with me instead of hooking up behind my back.” More like right in front of my face. “It’s Annica’s behavior that bothers me the most.” I swivel my head to meet her gaze. “You know what I mean?”

“Yeah. That’s some super shady shit right there.”

Tell me about it.

An image of Annica on her knees forces its way into my head. “You should have seen the way she looked at me, Syd. It was like she was thrilled that I’d stumbled upon them as if it had been her intent all along. She didn’t even bother to stop blowing him. Kept right on going until he pushed her away.” A shudder of disgust works its way through my body.

“Seriously?” Sydney’s brows rise as if even she’s shocked, which is saying something. She doesn’t bat an eyelash over much.

“Yup.” My voice softens. “I don’t understand what her problem is.” My brain trips over the past two years. When Annica had come in as a freshman, she’d been so sweet and nice. Eager to soak up everything she could learn on the soccer field. She had shadowed my every move around campus. She was like the little sister I’d never had but always wanted. Fast forward two years, and I could have never imagined our relationship would be so contentious. I’ve done nothing to her. Certainly nothing to incite this kind of single-minded hatred. I’m at a loss as to how to change the path we’re careening down.

A contemplative expression settles over Sydney’s face as she chews her lower lip. “Do you want my honest opinion?”

“Of course.” I steel myself for what will come next. Sydney isn’t the kind of girl who pulls punches. Ask her for the truth, and she’ll give you the unvarnished version. Her unflinching honesty is one of the things I love about her.