#Hater (Hashtag #2)

by Cambria Hebert

  He lunged forward and in seconds had me in his lap, my legs straddling him so we were face to face. He buried his hands in my tangled disaster of hair.

  I admit I hadn’t even brushed it when we got out of bed this morning.

  “You’re my favorite girl,” he whispered.

  “I better be your only girl.”

  He smiled. “That too.”

  Romeo brushed his lips over mine. The first contact sent goose bumps racing across my skin. Our lips met again and again, stroking against each other and creating sizzling friction that brought forth a hungry need deep in my belly.

  As we kissed, his thumbs drew lazy circles across the sides of my jaw and I sank farther and farther into his warmth.

  Eventually, he pulled back and glanced at the dash. He groaned. “I gotta go. I can’t be late to the field. Coach would have a heart attack.”

  I leaned my forehead against his. “Good luck today.”

  “Thanks, baby.” He stroked the side of my head, and I wished fleetingly that I had brushed my hair so it was silky soft for his hand.

  He reached into the center console of the car and pulled out a white envelope. “Here’s your ticket into the stadium. Missy and Ivy’s too.”

  I took the envelope and smiled. “Thanks for getting us good seats.”

  “Thanks for coming and cheering me on.”

  “You know I wouldn’t miss it.”

  “I’ll see you after,” he said. “And tonight we’ll party at my place.”

  After one last kiss, I climbed out of his lap and onto the sidewalk. It was freezing outside, and I made a mental note to put on as many layers as I could or I’d be a Popsicle before halftime.

  Why they hadn’t made the indoor stadium large enough for games was beyond me. Romeo said it was too small so it was just used for practices.

  It was still early. I had a few hours before I needed to be at the game, so when I got upstairs to my room, I decided I would shower now and get some studying in while my hair was air-drying. The room was very dim when I walked in. I crept toward my bed and glanced over at Ivy’s side of the room.

  She was lying tangled in the blankets, one bare leg flung to the side and dangling off the bed, her face was buried in a pillow. All I could see was her blond hair, wild and all over the place. It actually made me feel better about the way mine looked.

  She was snoring lightly and the faint smell of alcohol permeated her side of the room.

  She was going to be so hungover.

  As quietly as I could, I gathered up everything I needed to shower and left the room. Our shared bathroom was at the end of the hall. It was mostly quiet on our floor, with the exception of a couple girls looking a little worse for wear who were clearly stumbling into their rooms after a long night of partying.

  The bathroom was large and basically divided into three sections. The toilet stalls were lined off to the right when you first walked in. As I followed the tile hallway past, I heard the unfortunate sound of someone throwing up the contents of their stomach.

  “I’m never drinking again,” I heard her moan between heaves.

  I grimaced and kept moving. All the way back was a section of showers. Just before the showers were a row of wooden benches, some mirrors, and simple tables along one wall.

  I went to the very last shower on the end and set my tote and towel on the bench in front of my selection. I pushed back the white shower curtain and reached in to turn the water on. As I was waiting for it to heat, I hung my towel on a small hook just beside the curtain and pulled off my clothes, piling them beside my tote.

  I kept a pair of flip-flops on my feet as I stepped under the spray. I’d never used the shower without my shoes. The idea of my bare toes touching this public floor made my skin crawl.

  The water was hot, and I sighed in appreciation, ducking my head beneath the spray and letting my hair get saturated. I lingered in the shower longer than usual because it was very rare I had them to myself, but because it was early on a Saturday and everyone else was hungover, I got some privacy.

  After I rinsed out my hair one last time, I shut off the spray and reached out to grab my towel. I stood behind the curtain to dry off.

  I heard the main door to the bathroom swing closed, and I figured the girl who swore to never drink again had finally barfed up everything she drank last night.

  After roughly squeezing the excess water out of my hair, I wrapped the towel around my body and slid open the curtain. The room was steamy from my ultra-hot shower and the air was moist and thick.

  I dug around in my tote for a brush and began trying to comb through the tangles in my hair. The sound of a faint scuffle had me glancing around curiously, but I saw no one. I shrugged and went back to brushing.

  When most of the tangles were out, I replaced the brush and grabbed up a bottle of moisturizer for my skin. Another sound, kind of like a heavy thump, cut through the silence, and I jumped and turned.

  Still no one.

  “Hello?” I called out.

  Maybe the drunk girl was still here after all. Maybe she’d passed out and hit her head on the toilet.

  When no one answered, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Still clutching the bottle of cream, I moved through the shower room to go check on the girl I’d heard earlier.

  My flip-flops were still wet from my shower and they made a squeaking sound against the tile. As I walked, I glanced at the mirrors lining the walls. All of them were covered in steam from the heat of my shower. Suddenly, having the place to myself didn’t seem so great anymore.

  “Are you okay?” I called out to her, not because I expected an answer, but because the sound of my own voice was preferable to the silence.

  When the only sound that replied was the dripping of water in one of the nearby sinks, I started to feel like a giant chicken.

  I mean, seriously, who got scared while taking a shower in a dorm full of other girls?

  I thought about turning back to what I was doing but decided I really should check to make sure that girl wasn’t passed out.

  The next to last stall’s door was closed while the rest were partially ajar. I tugged the towel a little tighter around me as a stray droplet of water ran down the back of my leg and over the back of my knee. I shivered against the creepy feeling it left in its wake.

  There was some movement off to my right, and I jumped, gasping a little. I spun all the way toward the motion I’d seen and then laughed.

  “Only you would be scared of your own reflection,” I muttered.

  The mirrors in this room weren’t all fogged up from the shower, and the movement I’d noticed was me walking by. I couldn’t really make out all my features because I’d left my glasses lying with my clothes.

  That would explain the slightly hazy look to everything in here.

  Gah, I was losing my mind.

  “Get a grip,” I said out loud, my voice echoing through the empty room. My feet slapped against the floor as I moved quickly to the stall with the closed door.

  “Is anyone in here?” I called out and shoved open the door. It made a banging sound when it hit against the wall and the flimsy stall vibrated from the force of my meager shove.

  No one was in there.

  I rolled my eyes and stepped back, looking in each stall before I went back to the shower room.

  I decided to never tell anyone about this. Talk about embarrassing.

  Back in the shower room, the mirrors were still foggy and the air was warmer. My stuff was still piled on the bench where I’d left it and I used my hand on the mirror above the nearby sink to brush away the fog so I could see.

  Even though everything was mostly blurry without my glasses, I still could make out enough of my face to apply moisturizer. I pumped some of the white cream onto my fingers and then set the jar on the edge of the sink. After spreading it around on my fingertips, I glanced back up in the mirror and started rubbing it into my face.

  An
d then I froze.

  I stood stock still, hands still stuck to my face as I glanced in the mirror at what was behind me.

  It was just the shower curtain, I told myself.

  Yes, but I didn’t close the curtain when I got out.

  I’d left it open.

  It wasn’t open anymore.

  The thick, white fabric was stretched all the way across the opening, blocking the entire square of the shower from sight.

  I stood there staring into the mirror at that wall of white for endless moments.

  Had I shut it and just forgotten?

  I’d already checked the bathroom. I was alone in here.

  Wasn’t I?

  And then something behind the curtain moved.

  The movement sent ripples of activity through the white fabric, and I watched in horror as it swayed slightly.

  Did I just imagine that?

  It happened again. This time the curtain swayed more. I thought I saw the dark shape of a shadow behind it.

  My heart started pounding so heavily that it was the only sound I could hear. My throat suddenly constricted and it hurt to breathe or swallow. Fear prickled the base of my spine, and I dropped my hands from my face and wiped what was left of the lotion on the towel wrapped around my body.

  I was so not up for being attacked today.

  While I was wearing only a towel.

  I crept forward as silently as I could and reached down for my glasses. If a girl was going to defend herself, she needed to be able to see.

  The room came clearly into focus, and I felt slightly more in control. Until the curtain moved again.

  With a heavy sigh, I stepped around the bench and approached the shower.

  I reached out and gripped the edge of the curtain.

  My lungs burned with the need for oxygen, but I just couldn’t seem to take in air. I was so scared in that moment that it was all I could do not to run away.

  I should totally run away.

  Instead, I counted to three.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  I yanked back the curtain.

  Someone lunged at me.

  I screamed.

  Chapter Ten

  Romeo

  Something didn’t feel right.

  But I had a game to win.

  Everything else was going to have to wait.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rimmel

  A figure dressed in dark clothing shot out of the shower stall and wrapped his arms around me. I screamed and fell backward, my flip-flops not providing very much traction against the slick tile floor.

  I grappled for my attacker to keep from falling back, and he grabbed me and righted us as a laugh filled the space.

  I felt like my eyes were going to fall out of my head when I glanced up and saw Zach and his devious grin.

  I jerked away from him, coming up against the edge of the pedestal sink, clutching the towel (that suddenly seemed way too small) back around me from where it had slipped and almost exposed all my goods to this creep.

  “What the hell are you doing!” I yelled.

  He chuckled. “You should see your face.”

  Anger lit me up inside. Anger and indignation. How dare he scare me like that!

  The sound of a sharp slap echoed through the room when my open palm connected with his face. Zach’s head rocked on his shoulders and his hand came up to cup his jaw and massage his fingers into his reddening cheek.

  “I never would have guessed a nerd like you would have so much fire beneath those glasses.” His eyes were appraising when he looked me up and down. “Who’d have thought you have a nice little body beneath all those ugly clothes you wear?”

  I was going to hit him again.

  I felt exposed and vulnerable standing here like this. I wanted my clothes. I wanted to get out of here. He was standing between me and all my things.

  “How did you get in here?” I demanded, glancing toward the door.

  “Don’t you worry,” he said, reaching out for a wet strand of my hair. I jerked back and he smiled. “I locked the door so we wouldn’t be disturbed.”

  “I’m gonna start screaming,” I warned, shrinking back against the sink even more.

  He made a tsking sound. “No, you won’t. Because word of you being alone in the girls’ bathroom with me—naked…” He emphasized that last word like I was in here naked with him because I wanted to be. It made me sick to my stomach. “Would get out faster than you could put on these lacy little panties.”

  He picked up a pair of navy-blue cotton panties with a lacey waistband that I’d bought to specifically match the Wolves’ colors (to support Romeo, of course) and spun them around on his finger.

  I was going to have to burn them. He was getting his grimy cooties all over them.

  Such a shame. I hadn’t even gotten to wear them yet.

  “Give me those.” I gasped and snatched them out of his hands, clutching them against me.

  He laughed.

  “Texts would go flying, and Romeo, oh Romeo…”—he sighed—“would get wind of this little tête-à-tête, and then his head would be all messed up for the big game.”

  “You are such an asshole,” I growled.

  “Imagine his precious little nerd and me… his biggest pet peeve, together naked.”

  “You’re disgusting. He knows I’d never willfully be alone with you.”

  He smiled. “Maybe. But it would still mess up his game.”

  I’d had enough, and I moved to shove past him, but he pushed me back.

  “What would everyone say about our campus hero when he messed up the biggest game of the year and handed the trophy to the other team? Wonder if he would still be adored by everyone.”

  He slid his cell phone out of his pocket and held it up. Before I knew what he was doing, he snapped a picture of me standing there in my towel. “Maybe,” he said, “I should send this picture out and let everyone know what we’re doing. Right. Now.”

  There is this quote that I read a long time ago. A quote that I loved and made me feel strong. It had stuck with me over the years, like so many of the other words by the author.

  And though she be but little, she be fierce.—Shakespeare

  I thought about that quote right now.

  I might be little. I might be easily intimidated, but I could be fierce.

  I was fierce.

  With a cry, I lunged forward and threw all my weight into Zach. He hadn’t expected me to do such a thing, and it threw him off balance. He backed up against the wooden bench lining the center of the room, and it caused him to fall back on his butt. I snatched the phone out of his hand and whipped it at the wall in the back of one of the showers.

  The small device crashed into the tiles and shattered, small pieces flying everywhere.

  He looked at me with shock on his face.

  I shrugged. “Oops.”

  “That was a five hundred-dollar phone!” he cried and jumped to his feet to examine all the pieces scattered about.

  I started to gather up my things and rush toward the door.

  “Did you ask him?” he said, his voice halting my footsteps.

  I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Of course not.”

  “I guess you don’t care if you’re dating a liar, then.” He said it like those stupid words would somehow be used as reverse phycology on me. Like I would somehow be tainted against Romeo, against the only man I’d ever loved.

  I thought the satisfaction of seeing his phone shatter had been enough to quell my anger. But I realized now that it hadn’t been. Renewed anger rose up inside me. I was angry that he would try and taint something special. Something I’d never had with anyone before.

  I wouldn’t let him take it from me. Or from Romeo.

  “You know what?” I said, turning to fully face him. “I don’t care.”

  He lifted an eyebrow.

  “I don’t care even if you are right. Even if Romeo did lie
about something, I’ll forgive him. It won’t matter. Chances are if he did lie, it was because he thought it would protect me.”

  This is just me loving you. His words echoed inside me as I sought to defend our love.

  I glanced at the pieces of the ruined phone. This was me loving him.

  “I don’t know why you hate Romeo so much, and I don’t care. Do yourself a favor and just let it go. Trying to hurt me to get to him isn’t going to work.”

  His eyes were hard when I spun back around and marched around the corner and to the door.

  Sure enough, the lock was thrown from the inside.

  I slid it free and yanked the door open and stumbled out in the hall wearing nothing but a towel. Two girls were standing there with all their shower stuff in their hands and confused expressions on their faces, dividing their attention between me and the door.

  Even though I was dying inside of embarrassment, I marched down the hallway and let myself in my room.

  Once I was there, I dropped everything by the door and ran for my phone.

  I grabbed it up and punched in a number I was suddenly glad I had.

  It rang and rang, and my stomach began to churn in fear that he wasn’t going to answer.

  Just when I knew the phone was going to go to voicemail, he picked up. “Rimmel?”

  “Braeden,” I said with apparent relief in my voice. I sank back against the door and clutched the phone to my ear.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice going sharp, and I felt his alarm come across the line.

  “I’m fine,” I said quickly, trying to keep him from panicking. I didn’t want to mess with his head before the game either, but he was the only one I could call. “I just… I need a favor.”

  “I got your back.”

  “Having a brother isn’t so bad,” I said.

  The noise in the locker room almost overpowered his chuckle, and I heard the coach in the back, hollering something. “Hey, man, I’ll be right back. Cover for me.” I heard his muffled voice over the line.

  “Sure thing,” Romeo replied, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

  The noise in the background faded away, and then it was just Braeden. “What’s going on, Rim?”