Chapter Ten

Why was Eve here with another girl?

It just seemed cruel. 

And it was definitely not a coincidence.

Phoebe had mentioned that she was supposed to go to this party with Eve.

And she had decided to still go, even after she and Phoebe broke up.

I still didn't know the full story of what happened, and I didn't think there was a good time to ask. It had seemed pretty bad.

Eve coming with another girl was just rubbing salt in the wound.

Phoebe couldn't look away. I went up to her and gently grabbed her arm. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked. Cassidy, Jen, and Dane had yet to realize something was wrong and kept dancing with the crowd.

"No," Phoebe stated, silently. She was seconds away from bursting into tears. I felt helpless.

"Do you wanna go to the bathroom?" That was an easy escape.

She paused for a moment, then nodded.

I tapped Cassidy on the shoulder and tried to speak loud enough to be heard above the music that pounded throughout the room. "We're going to the bathroom," I shouted, pointing towards Phoebe. Cassidy scrunched up her eyebrows, confused. Then, she saw Phoebe and put two and two together.

"Want me to come, too?" she asked.

"Up to you."

She shrugged and then pulled out her phone. "Just text me if you need me."

I nodded.

I turned back to Phoebe and grabbed her hand. Slowly, we pushed past people toward the back corner of the room where I thought I could see a door with a light behind it. There were only two people in line and a disgusting puddle of alcohol by the door.

As we waited, Phoebe spoke up again. "That's the girl she cheated on me with."

"Oh," I responded, not really sure what to say. I'd never been cheated on. I wasn't sure what she needed. "I'm so sorry."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault."

"I know... I'm just sorry this is happening."

Suddenly, we were next in line. The door opened and we slipped inside. Immediately, I shut and locked the door, careful not to step in any of the small damp puddles on the ground. The room was nasty with stains on the sink and walls, but I tried not to think about it.

Phoebe put her head in her hands. "I don't even know what to do."

I didn't either. But I couldn't say that. I crossed my arms and leaned back against the door. "We can stay here for a bit if that helps."

She sighed. "I don't know. I need to go out at some point. And I feel like that's exactly what she wants. She wants me to be uncomfortable."

There was a moment of silence interrupted only by the anxious tapping of my boot against cement.

"I know I don't really know what's going on, but Eve sounds horrible," I commented. "And I'm completely on your side."

"Yeah," Phoebe replied, trailing off. "I just wish, I don't know, I could hurt her back, you know? I feel like she doesn't even feel half of the pain that I'm going through."

I felt that a little bit too much. In my mind, I pictured David cackling as he swiped through different potential bachelors and gave them my information. I wanted him to feel what I did. I wanted revenge, but I didn't even know where to start. Or what I could do that wouldn't get me in trouble.

I'd already almost gotten in trouble for simply throwing a drink at him. I was still paranoid about the police showing up again or someone from the administration reaching out with a complaint.

But...I wasn't completely helpless. No situation ever was. I just had to be a little bit more creative and figure out what I could do.

What if I compiled a report of everything that David was doing? Got evidence that he was using a fake profile of me and showed exactly how it was affecting me. Let it go on until I had enough evidence to prove something was definitely wrong and send it to the university. If I just had enough, they would accept it, right?

But in the meantime, I would need to protect myself. I thought again about the possibility of having some decoy, someone to push away any potential suitors and turn them off from me.

The idea was quite simple and seemed pretty reasonable... but would she be okay with it?

"I have an idea," I stated.

Phoebe perked up. "What do you mean?"

"So...I told you about David, right?"

"Yeah," she said, taking a moment to think. "Yeah, he sent a bunch of guys your phone number, right?"

"Right, and I didn't want to come today because I was scared of them."

"Right."

I had to just peel off the band-aid. "Okay, what if we pretended to be together to get back at Eve?"

Phoebe took a moment to process. "And that also protects you from the creeps, right?"

"Yeah."

"I mean, why not?" Phoebe said. "It doesn't seem that hard. Just holding hands and dancing together and stuff, yeah?"

"Yeah! I can text Cassidy, too, and tell her so she knows what's going on," I offered.

Immediately, Phoebe shook her head. "Wait no. Don't do that."

I frowned, pushing off of the bathroom door. Suddenly, someone knocked. We didn't have much time left. "Wait, why not?"

"Okay, don't tell Cassidy this, but I don't trust Jen. And I don't want Jen to accidentally see," Phoebe explained.

"Okay."

"Cool?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Let's do it, then."

                                                                                _________________________

As soon as we left the bathroom, nerves racked my body.

I felt like I needed to sit down lest I fall over completely.

What had I even been thinking offering this? I mean, sure, I'd thought of it as a potential idea, but it wasn't necessarily a good one. And I hadn't even told Cassidy. Would me and Phoebe being close make her uncomfortable?

I had only really been in one long-term relationship. It had lasted from my sophomore year of high school to senior year. His name was Josh, and we'd met at one of the school's football games. I'd run into him at the snack bar and he'd immediately asked for my number.

Like most juvenile relationships, we moved probably way too quickly. After the first date, I told all my friends and we ended up holding hands in the hallways and meeting up as soon as the last bell rang. I'd go over his place and do homework and other days he would come over mine. We'd go on dinner dates and drive around my town with lukewarm Starbucks drinks until curfew hit and my mom was ordering me to go home.

He'd broken up with me before going to college. He moved across the country and went to a private school. He said he didn't want to do long distance. I cried for days.

But I'd pulled myself back together. And since then, I'd only had intermittent hookups, including my unfortunate encounter with David.

But this...pretending to be in a relationship with someone else? I had never done this before. I wasn't sure what the rules were. And as we held hands and sauntered out of the bathroom, I started to wish we could go back inside and just flesh things out a little bit more.

Were we just holding hands? What did dancing together mean? Could I tell Cassidy under my breath that it was all fake? 

Would she judge me?

I wasn't really sure what girl code would say in this situation. I mean, Cassidy wanted what was best for both Phoebe and I. But she also knew that Phoebe had only just gotten out of a relationship. Even I would be a little bit wary of someone hopping in and stealing Phoebe away so quickly.

Phoebe didn't seem scared, she seemed confident. I realized as we walked back towards the rest of our group, hand in hand, that Eve and the short haired girl had moved much closer to us. Eve was intentionally trying to rub things in Phoebe's face. She stood by the wall, dancing a little bit too close to the other girl, only five feet away from where Cassidy was pumping her fists to the music.

I tightened my grip on Phoebe's hand and pointed a little bit away from our group. I didn't feel comfortable just...jumping right in.

She nodded and we began dancing together, a few other groups between us and everyone else.

At first, it was awkward. But as I got more into the music, it became easier and easier.

Phoebe and I moved together, rocking back and forth with the bass. With each note, she pressed closer to me, until I could feel her body against mine. My heart rate peaked, but I wasn't sure if it was because of her nearness or because of the boldness of our plan.

I sensed others were looking at us. Not ever staring, but just occasional glances. I didn't even look in the direction of Cassidy, Jen, and Dane. I didn't want to know what they thought. 

Phoebe grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to her as the music slowed a bit. She leaned her head down, her forehead nearly meeting mine. My heart rate kicked up again, and I felt like I was falling off a building.

And then Phoebe was ripped away from me as I heard someone scream, "You bitch!"

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