Chapter 2

The next morning, I ran into Chase while practicing cheer with my teammates.

My face was bright red, and I did not dare look him in the eye.

But he acted as if nothing had happened.

After practice ended, I passed by the football team's locker room.

I heard Chase chatting with his teammates.

"You really slept with Mia?"

I felt a little embarrassed and was just about to quietly leave.

Then I heard Chase say carelessly:

"The one I want is Gianna, but I was afraid Gianna would think I'm too inexperienced, so I just used Mia for practice."

Chase's words were like a muffled thunderclap from a clear sky, striking me without warning.

Gianna was the cheer captain, the object of every guy's fantasies at school.

It was a hot afternoon, yet I felt cold all over.

The conversation in the locker room continued:

"Sounds like you two had quite a night."

"Did Mia make all those scratches on your back?"

Chase said arrogantly, "Mia should be grateful that her first time was with me. There are plenty of girls chasing me."

One guy cried out:

"What the fuck? You actually took Mia's virginity?!"

"As expected of our captain!"

Another guy commented:

"Mia is pretty, but she's too skinny, and her chest is smaller than a guy's. She can't compare to Gianna."

Chase irritably threw the football at him, cutting him off.

"I was just caught up in the moment, and besides, she seemed like she was having a hard time holding back too... she was the one who asked for it."

The others understood without needing more words and started teasing him one after another.

"Mia usually acts like a nun, but who knew she was that slutty in private?"

"The way she looks at you normally is like she wants to eat you alive."

The laughter in the locker room grew noticeably louder.

I bit my lower lip hard and clenched both hands into fists.

The sound of high heels came from the end of the hallway.

I suddenly snapped back to myself and fled in a panic.

I hid in the restroom and cried silently in front of the mirror.

My self-respect was completely destroyed.

If I had not heard it with my own ears, I would never have believed that the person who had been tangled with me so intimately last night was the same person.

So it turned out that people could do something so intimate without love.

And even at the most emotional, irrational moment, people could still lie and deceive.

What I had foolishly believed was my happy ending was nothing more than a joke in someone else's mouth.

The more I cried, the more miserable I felt.

Yet I did not even dare make a louder sound, and my body kept trembling.

After a long while.

A notification popped up on my phone.

It was from Chase.

[I forgot to remind you about something. I didn't wear a condom last night. Go buy emergency contraception yourself, and make sure you remember to take it. Good girl.]

I stared at the message, not knowing what to reply.

He and I had done it twice last night, and I clearly knew there would be risks, but I did not dare ask anything of him.

I had even felt secretly happy that he had not worn a condom, as if we could completely belong to each other and become one.

I never thought all I would get in return was his mockery.

In that instant, I became much more awake.

I turned on the faucet and washed away my tears.

After tidying myself up, I walked out of the restroom, rode my bike, and went to a pharmacy far from home.

After I got home and swallowed the pill, I sat on the carpet in my bedroom in a daze.

Through the window, I could see his room.

I watched him listen to music in his room and run on the treadmill.

To me, that had been the most charming view in the world.

Now, I only felt bitterness.

And he had broken into my window, then closed it with his own hands.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, lights came on one after another, then went out one after another.

I did not know how long had passed when my best friend Lily called me on video.

"Mia, why didn't you come to my birthday party tonight?

"Gianna showed up uninvited. While you're not here, she's trying to seduce Chase!"

After Lily finished speaking, she turned the camera around.

Gianna was wearing a miniskirt that barely covered her butt, sitting on Chase's lap.