Chapter 1
ROXANNE
Having this number of eyes on me as I walked down the lobby on my first day of senior year was f*****g weird.
'I hate it.'
I didn't get this level of attention when I started dating Jake, current goalie of Lakeview Blizzards hockey team and we've been dating since freshman year.
Then, what the hell was actually going on? There were sidetalks, giggles, smug looks and I was pretty sure they were all directed at me. I quickened my footsteps to the lecture hall 'cause this was getting way too much for me. Just three more steps to my class and I was stopped on the way by Lola, my book club partner.
"I'm sorry he did this to you, Roxy. He has always been an ass." She said, her face full of pity as she gave my hand a gentle squeeze.
"W...who?" I asked, completely oblivious of what she was saying.
"Your..."
"Roxanne,"
That was my best friend's voice from behind me, cutting Lola off. I turned my head to see her walking...no, running towards me. She had this look of she knew what these other people still staring at me knew. I had wanted to ask Lola who she was referring to, but she wasn't with me anymore.
"Sophie, what's going on?"
"Roxanne, let's go," she grabbed my wrist and made us face the direction of the exit.
"I have Psychology class in less than an hour." I protested, but didn't pull my hand away from hers.
"I don't think you'll survive that class once you walk in. Trust me, everyone knows."
"Everyone knows what?" I was seriously starting to get concerned as I pulled out my phone from my back pocket. I just remembered I haven't checked my phone since morning, perhaps I would find out what was going on.
"No, no, Roxanne, not here," she took my phone. "Let's go back to our dorm, please."
I was glad that our dorm building wasn't so far. Walking up the stairs to the second floor where our room was, a girl with high ponytail bumped into us on purpose, a smirk on her lips.
"Oww, poor Roxy," she said with fake sympathy, shaking her head. "Didn't anyone tell you hockey boys are walking red flags? Ohh, totally forgot you're a nerd. You were probably too busy with your books to see..."
Hockey boys? I was starting to connect the dots. It was obvious to me now that Jake was whatever that was happening.
"f**k off, weirdo!" Sophie snapped and we went straight to our room. She locked the door behind us immediately we got inside.
"Honey, Jake is surely going to..." My roommate, Anaya, enveloped me in a big hug, patting my back.
"Anaya, she doesn't know yet." Sophie had to tell her.
"Ohh..." She withdrew herself from my arms, her mouth trying to say something else but kept shut.
"Guys, I don't like this suspense. What did Jake do?" I sat down on Anaya's bed, Anaya and Sophie beside me.
Quietly, Sophie opened her phone, scrolled for a few seconds before passing the phone to me.
The first thing I heard were loud, female moans followed by a deep male groan. As soon as I saw what was on her phone screen, I stopped breathing for a second.
It was a video of Jake ramming into the ass of...wait, the girl's face looked familiar. That signature green hair. That was Beatrice, the head cheerleader of the hockey team.
The signs were f*****g there the whole time but I chose to ignore them because I loved this i***t so damn much.
I moved my teary eyes up to know where Sophie got this sick video from and I saw the school logo on bold display. A strong wave of humiliation hit me so hard. It was posted on the school website, absolutely telling why I got an undying amount of attention this morning. The whole school knew!
"Oh my God..." These words barely left my lips before a sob tore from my chest.
Sophie immediately pulled her phone from my trembling hands and tossed it onto her bed. She wrapped her hands around me so tightly.
"I'm so, so, sorry, Roxy,' she whispered into my hair. "You didn't deserve this. Not even a little bit."
"You've always been so good to him," Anaya added, both of my hands in hers.
I clung onto Sophie's arms, my tears soaking the fabric of her hoodie. I've never felt so terrible. Jake wasn't just cheating. He destroyed me in front of the entire school. How would I survive the next few weeks?
Anaya had gone to get me a glass of water after I had stopped crying for a while. "Don't worry too much, babe. We've got you."
I wiped my eyes clean after finishing the water in the glass, then I stood up. I would not sulk the whole day in my room without seeing Jake.
"Please, don't tell me you are still going for Psych class?" Sophie stood up as well, going to stand in front of the door.
"No, Soph," I cleared my throat. "I'm going to see Jake."
"You sure you can handle him alone, roomie?" Anaya asked.
"Yeah, I'm breaking up with him."
There was only one place Jake would be early this morning, The Blizzard Pit, which was another name for the school's hockey training facility. It was about ten minutes walk from my dorm building.
"Where is he?" I asked the first guy I met on the rink. I didn't need to tell him who I was referring to, since everyone knew I was Jake's girlfriend.
He pointed towards the direction of the locker room.
I was already hearing male voices as I got closer. I stopped by the slightly open door when Jake's voice came up.
"I'm only with Carter for her brains."
I couldn't believe my ears.
"And her big boobs..." Someone added and they all laughed.
"Ahh, yes. They are also soft as hell. Of all the girls I've f****d on campus, hers are the softest."
I nearly puked by what he had just said. He wasn't only cheating on me with Beatrice, they were a bunch of other girls.
"Phew, I can't wait for senior year to come to an end. I need to dump her boring ass asap."
"Do you think she has seen the video?"
"Probably. But I'll find my way around it. That nerd loves me way too..." His face turned white when he saw me. "My love,"
The f*****g nerve of this cheating bastard.
I said nothing. I walked in, straight towards him, not minding the fact that they were all half naked and slapped him hard on the face.
I could hear shocked whispers from the other boys.
"Guess, I'm the one dumping your cheating ass before the end of senior year, baby." I said, a smile on my lips. That was the only thing I said before turning to leave but he grabbed my hand.
"Hey, bitch." Ohh, the mask has finally fallen off. This was the real Jake.
"Let go of me," I tried to wriggle my hand free but he didn't budge.
His grip on my arm became tighter. "If you don't want me to sue you for assault, refund every single dime I sent you for your father's treatment. I'm giving you two weeks." Then, he released his grip, almost pushing me to the floor.
I had to laugh, covering my nose because his breath stank like crazy. I knew he was going to stoop this low to get back at me. Yeah, refunding everything to him means I was going to work extra three to four months to get same amount of money back to pay my sick father's medical bills.
I wasn't going to beg or apologize to him because of some stupid money. I was already planning on taking two extra jobs in addition to the waitress job I had at Leila's Diner.
Right there and then, I sent him back his money.
It wasn't even up to five minutes I left the training facility, my elder brother, Ethan called me.
"Roxanne, it's dad," his voice was shaking terribly. "He has been moved to ICU."