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It was the worst morning of my life and it was hardly 5:00 A.M. I reluctantly tore open my toothbrush and got to work in the bathroom, letting my mind wander toward ways of torturing Tara to death. I was thinking that old fashion method where the four horses pull your body apart would fit nicely for her.
To ensure that we were actually cleaning, Tara would check up on us every few minutes. She’d poke their head in, mutter a snide comment, and then leave again. After what felt like hours, she finally came in and told us to stop.
"That’s enough. We're going to go run some laps before practice."
The three of us followed behind her and I could hear Emily sniffling behind her. Tara was making her cry. I was making her cry.
"Emily, it's okay. I'll run for you like last time."
Tara laughed. "No, Bryant, I think you three should all run. I think your friends should realize how selfish you really are."
The word selfish struck a chord as Emily’s tears ran down her cheeks. Was I being selfish for pursuing a relationship with Liam? I didn’t think it would hurt anyone.
Tara might have disliked me before, but the fact that I had some kind of relationship with Liam pushed me toward the top of her enemy list. Unfortunately, my friendships with Becca and Emily meant they were getting dragged alongside me.
"I'm so sorry, guys," I pleaded as we began to run. Emily wouldn't look at me, but Becca shot me a stern look.
"Do not apologize for anything. It's Tara that should be apologizing. She's trying to ruin your life by turning us against you, but she has no clue the kind of enemies she's making," Becca bit out.
"We have to be smart about this. We can get her to stop, but if we go about it the wrong way, we'll be taking ourselves down with her," I answered.
"Kinsley, I know about Liam," Emily said out of the blue.
Becca and I both turned sharply toward her. "What are you talking about?" I asked.
"We share a bathroom, and you and Becca seriously talk way too loudly about personal matters. Like I know that you made Becca come look at a freckle on your butt last week because you thought it was shaped like a giraffe. I mean, I get it. You guys have a really strange relationship.” She realized she was veering off topic. “Oh, right. Anyway, no one else in the house knows about you and Liam, I've made sure of it, but I just wanted to let you know that I know,” she shrugged.
I had no clue how to approach the subject. "Are you upset that I didn't tell you? I’m really sorry I lied to you, Em. I just wanted to keep it as private as possible, and I didn't want to drag you in as an accomplice."
Emily furrowed her brows. "I'm not mad. I know why you didn't tell me. I just felt a little left out. To be honest I was kind of glad not to be included in the beginning because I would have told you it was a beyond terrible idea."
I cracked a small smile. "And now?"
"Still a terrible idea, but I can't blame you. If he were interested in any of the rest of us, we would have done exactly what you're doing. You’re just the lucky… or maybe unlucky one."
Relief settled over our small group. It felt good to have my secret out in the open and I trusted Emily not to tell anyone.
“I swear this is the last time guys. I feel disgusting from washing the bathroom. We'll take her down. We just need to figure out how…"
The three of us were focusing on pushups when I heard Liam’s harsh tone ring through the air.
"Tara, I thought I warned you about this last time? What the hell do you not understand about treating your teammates with respect?"
I paused mid push-up to see Tara turn to him with a conniving grin.
"Liam! Just the man of the hour..."
It didn't escape my notice that she called him Liam instead of Coach Wilder. She was proving how in charge she was in that moment. She held all of our fates in the palm of her pretty little hand.
"Excuse me?" Liam asked, standing to his full height. He looked lethal. He'd never looked at me the way he was looking at Tara. Unabashed rage masked his beautiful features, and for one moment I was scared something very bad was about to happen. I tried to shoot him a weary gaze that could somehow sum up how fucked we were now that Tara knew about us.
"We've got to go get ready for practice. Excuse me," Tara said, waving sweetly and walking away without bothering to answer him.
