“I need to know what happened, Kay.”
Fuck! I hate that he’s still calling me Kay.
“Mason—” My voice breaks, the pain from just uttering his name like a physical blow. “Broke up with me.”
“The fuck?” There’s a faint whistling sound as JT sucks a breath in through his teeth. Guess he wasn’t expecting that answer.
“He thinks the reason I wouldn’t let him post pictures of us on his Instagram is because I was afraid they would get back to you.” The image of Mason’s usually sparking green eyes deadened in anger flashes through my memory and cuts through me like a hot knife.
He was so angry. So mean.
“What?” The incredulity in JT’s voice soothes the sting a little.
“He thinks we’re really a couple and the whole PF and Kay thing was a way to cheat on you both.”
Waves of anger pulse off his body the longer I speak. Even though I’m technically a month older than him, JT has always treated me as his younger sister, exactly the same as E. Honestly, it’s this fact that makes Mason’s kneejerk reaction hurt so much more.
If only he trusted me and came to me instead of jumping to conclusions.
This…
This is what kills me, how he automatically thought the worst without giving me a chance to explain.
Fucking social media. I loathe it. Why does Mason have to be so hung up on it? Will it ever stop being the bane of my existence? Hasn’t it done enough damage to my life?
“He said it was a mistake to date me.” I sniffle, trying to clear some of the snot building up inside my nose so I can breathe. The cotton of the pillowcase is already wet under my face from the tears that started back up the moment I stepped into the safety of the bedroom. “On the plus side, at least this one isn’t using me to get close to E.”
“Sonofabitch,” JT curses under his breath. “I’m going to kill him.”
While I can appreciate the instinctive drive to come to my defense, I can’t handle thinking about everything any longer. I close my eyes, my body both numb and screaming in pain simultaneously. I will sleep to come, desperate for a reprieve, even if only for a few hours.
#Chapter2
Pain.
Kay’s smiling face on JT’s Instagram.
All I can feel is pain.
Why does he get to post pictures of her when she fights with me about doing the same? How is that shit fair?
My body hurts from punishing myself in the weight room and later at practice today, but it’s my heart that hurts the worst. It misses Kay.
Hell…I miss Kay.
PF Dennings. JT Taylor and PF Dennings—@CheerGodJT and @FlyerQueenPF—won multiple Worlds titles.
PF Dennings.
NJA coach PF Dennings.
Needing a way to shut off anything related to Kay—she played me, I’m done—I drive straight from her dorm to the nearest liquor store and buy the biggest bottle of Jameson I can find.
It’s Chrissy/Tina all over again.
I haven’t spoken to anyone about what happened. Instead, my bottle of Irish whiskey and I trudge up the stairs of the frat house and lock ourselves in my room.
PF. P. F. P motherfucking F.
Not needing the temptation of torturing myself by looking at posts about “Kay” and her “friend”, I power off my phone and settle in to get drunk, seeking the solace only a good bout of inebriation can bring.
This fucking sucks.
#Chapter3
UofJ411: More info #SpillingTheTea #CasanovasMysteryGirl
*REPOSTED—picture from JT’s IG of him and Kay in their Admirals uniforms after winning Worlds—CheerGodJT: Me and @FlyerQueenPF kicking ass and taking names!! Love this chick!! #WorldChamps #CheerWorlds #CantTouchUs #WeSetTheStandard #CTGBFF*
@The_book_queen: Her name isn’t PF. I went to high school with her. Her name is Kayla Dennings. #CasanovasMysteryGirl
@The-mumma-life: Oh yeah. Isn’t she related to Eric Dennings on the Baltimore Crabs? #CasanovasMysteryGirl
UofJ411: It’s true. #Siblings #CasanovasMysteryGirl
*old picture of E in a Penn State football uniform with his arm around Kay wearing her own PSU #87 jersey and smiling for the camera*
@_The_art_of_reading_Oh shit! She is. Look at this picture of them from back when he played for Penn State #SisterOfTheEnemy #CasanovasMysteryGirl
@UnCheckedOther: Is she really a spy for the Nittany Lions? Is that why she’s dating @CasaNova87 #SecretAgent #CasanovasMysteryGirl
@Work2play: Are we even sure this is the same girl though? #IsItFakeNews? #CasanovasMysteryGirl
@Lala_powergirl: Did she pick @CasaNova87 because he also wears #87? #MagicNumbers #CasanovasMysteryGirl
UofJ411: We found the proof that @FlyerQueenPF and Kayla Dennings—Eric Dennings’ little sister—ARE the same person. #HowDoYouLikeThemApples #CasanovasMysteryGirl
*old picture of E with Kay in her NJA uniform making silly faces at the camera*
@_Bdsmbutch: Def the same girl. #MysterySolved #CasanovasMysteryGirl
#Chapter4
The scent of coffee followed by the dip of the bed behind me rouses me from sleep. For a few blissful seconds, the only thing I have to contend with is the annoyance of having to leave dreamland, but as the pale blue walls of my best friend’s bedroom come into focus, the events of yesterday come crashing onto me like an anvil in an old cartoon.
The video of JT and me stunting at The Huntington.
People making the connection to me being PF Dennings.
Mas—Mason breaking up with me.
“This was a mistake.”
That has me burying my face in the pillow, wishing for sleep to take me again so I can go back to forgetting. My entire body hurts like I spent a whole day doing full-outs.
A gentle hand smooths what I’m sure is a wild mess of curls from my face and tucks them behind my ear. “PF,” JT says, exaggerating his usual Pffff pronunciation. At least he’s back to not calling me Kay. Gotta take that as a good sign.
It’s a struggle to open my eyes again. They’re hot and painful from crying myself to sleep, probably swollen into something resembling Will Smith in Hitch.
JT sighs when a buzzing sound fills the room. I realize it’s a phone—his or mine, I’m not sure.
“I know you don’t want to, but you need to get up. E has been calling all morning.”
Pushing to sit
