Page 25 of Rumor Has It

Wren didn’t really have anything to say to that. On some level, she thought Andy was right. She should have told her. There was another part of her that was just really tired of trying to make this relationship work when it hadn’t for the past month. Their goals were different. Their dreams were different. At this point, they were really just in each other’s way.

Andy dramatically rolled her bag to the front door and spun around to glare at Wren again. “I hope you’re happy.”

Wren wasn’t one for dramatics. She was one for calm, logical conversations. This could have been avoided if they had just had a calm and rational conversation. When Wren didn’t respond to Andy’s antics, Andy yanked open the door and slammed it shut on her way out. She sharply inhaled and let out a shaky breath into her now silent apartment.

She wondered if it was a sign that this was the right path when her first thoughts went straight to the logistics of their breakup. After her most recent sponsorship agreement, she would qualify for this apartment by herself. There were clothes and furniture and things to discuss and divvy up, but for the most part that would be easy enough. The bed had been hers from before they moved in together, and the dresser had been Andy’s. The couch they bought together, but Wren had paid for it. The fact that she wasn’t sad was the saddest part.

She flopped down on the couch and picked up the magazine article that Andy had shoved in her face. She had seen her face on the cover of the trashy magazine while she was in line at the grocery store getting Gatorade right after practice, but she hadn’t bothered to read what had been written about her. Now though, it felt vitally important to know what had been said. She skimmed the article. There were recent photos of her with Andy out to dinner and the backstory about how Andy had bravely come out recently. And then there were photos of her with Rebecca leaving that club. She cringed, wondering if Rebecca had seen this. It wasn’t that Rebecca looked bad in the photos. For someone who had just thrown up, she looked pretty good, but it implied that she was queer. And as far as Wren could tell, Rebecca wasn’t out. Wren skimmed farther and groaned when she saw that photo of herself. This wasn’t a good look for her or Rebecca.

Wren pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled to Rebecca’s contact. They had only sent each other a handful of text messages since exchanging numbers at the end of training in Georgia. Wren didn’t really know how to start. She took a picture of the cover of the magazine and sent that first. Then she quickly typed out:

Wren Eames (7:42 PM): Just wanted to send you a heads-up. This article implies that we’re hooking up.

Wren Eames (7:43 PM): I don’t want any word to get back to any of your family/friends/teammates without you being prepared.

Wren watched as three dots appeared and disappeared in her text chain with Rebecca. Then her phone started ringing in her hand. She had never spoken to Rebecca on the phone before. She frowned, but slid the answer bar across the screen.

“Hey?” Wren said, though it was definitely more of a question.

“Do you really read trashy articles about yourself?” Rebecca asked. Her voice was teasing, and she had completely blown past a greeting.

Wren bit her bottom lip and sighed for the thousandth time that hour. “Not normally, no.”

Rebecca’s tone immediately changed. “Wait. Are you okay?”

Wren hummed, thinking about the question. Was she okay? Kind of. But her answer was going to be a heavy one and she knew it. “Yeah, I think I’m okay.” She didn’t know if she should elaborate. Calling Rebecca the second she was single and announcing that she was single felt… intentional in ways that weren’t Wren’s actual intentions. All she had wanted to do was give her a heads-up. She flinched, realizing suddenly that she had technically just outed Rebecca to Andy, and she did not trust that Andy wouldn’t weaponize that.

“Wren, you don’t sound okay.”

“Okay, Rebecca. You caught me.” Wren took a deep breath. “I think I owe you an apology. Andy confronted me about what the article insinuates. She asked if you and I hooked up. And… well, we have.” Wren swallowed nervously but powered on. “And I didn’t want to lie to her on top of everything. So she knows. And then she dumped me and left in a rage and I’m genuinely concerned she could try to use that against me. But in the end, it would just hurt you. I meant it when I said I didn’t want to hurt you anymore. I’m so sorry. I was trying to save my relationship, and it really backfired.”

There was a short pause before Rebecca responded. “Wait, Wren. She dumped you?”

“Yeah.” Wren shook her head. “But Rebecca, please know I didn’t mean to put you in a spot. I was just trying to explain to her that I didn’t cheat on her. You and I happened so long ago. I was just trying to explain that.”

“Wren, it’s okay. I’m not mad. I just feel awful.”

“Rebecca, I’m so sorry. She’s turned into this attention seeking bitch. She wasn’t like this when we first started dating, but I’m seriously worried she’s going to use this against me and it’s just going to hurt you.”

Rebecca let out a soft, pitiful laugh. “Wren, that’s not why I feel awful. I feel awful because I feel like I just ruined your relationship. My parents were going to find out one day—my brothers have known for years. If this is what officially outs me to everyone else, so be it.”

Wren sat on that for a second. She fully expected Rebecca to be upset with her as well, but she didn’t seem to be at all. Wren had fully braced for Rebecca to blow up for outing her, but instead Rebecca was trying to console her. That wasn’t a concept Wren was familiar with. It had been a long time since someone had put her own needs first. She didn’t know if her emotional needs had ever been put first in a relationship, actually. It was jarring, especially when Rebecca potentially being outed felt far more extreme than Wren’s overdue breakup.

“Well, okay. Thanks, I guess? I just wanted to warn you. Some photos of us are in the magazine. We actually got a few pages worth of fodder in here. Stuff about our college rivalry. The photos from that ridiculous photoshoot when we first made the team. Then there’s another bit in here on Andy’s big coming-out moment.” Wren cringed, not wanting to see that photo of herself in the middle of a magazine. “Then it goes back to us leaving the club and a whole lot of speculation.”

She skimmed a little more of the article. This really painted her like quite the asshole. She was starting to wonder if she actually might be one. First, it was everything Rebecca had thought about her for the past six years and now this. She nervously ran her fingers through her hair and took a few deep breaths. Her mother leaving, not just her, but her dad, too flashed through her mind. Was she really just like her after all?

“I just googled it,” Rebecca said. “Oh, shit. Wren, this is a bit brutal. Seriously, are you okay?”

Wren groaned. “I mean. No?” Wren considered her words very carefully. Part of her wanted to vent about this rather unfortunate trend of being accused of cheating again—even though she’d never once cheated in her life—but she was more than a little aware that Rebecca was on the other end of the call and was the other person who had, until recently, considered her a cheater. Rebecca, who had been the one sexual partner she’d actually opened up to about her mom and how that had affected her. Rebecca, who had used that trust against her.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Rebecca said reassuringly, cutting off Wren’s thoughts. Her North Carolina twang was oddly comforting despite everything. “You were helping out a very drunk friend. And I, for one, really appreciate that you did that for me. Not only would I have embarrassed myself in front of the team, but I would have embarrassed myself in front of these same photographers if you hadn’t helped me out like you did.”

Wren tried to not let a tear fall, but she failed. She wiped at them, silently cursing herself for even being worked up about what anyone thought about her. Let alone some ridiculous trashy magazine.

“Hey,” Rebecca said softly through the phone. “Talk to me, Wren. What are you thinking?”

Wren didn’t know what to say. “I think that neither of us deserved this.” She kept the deeper hurt to herself. It was only then that Wren caught the sound of a tragic sniffle through the phone.