From Me to Us

Chapter Thirty Nine

OLIVIA

"So they're really here?" Ronnie says from the seat in the corner of Elena's room. She has a pillow on her lap and a shocked look on her face.

Elena paces the room, hugging herself. "Yeah."

We don't say anything for a beat. Probably because no one really knows what to say. But what I do know is that Elena is catastrophising to the max. She's probably worrying about what Eric said will get out to the guys or worse, most of the college. To be honest, I don't think people would care. This isn't high school. I think the worst thing that might happen is crude comments from guys about it, which is probably what Elena is most worried about.

Elena has other friends besides me and Ronnie but they only hang out in classes. If Elena for one second thinks that anyone of us will stop being friends with her over this, she's got another thing coming. This doesn't change anything and why should it? She made a choice to sleep with someone when she was younger and albeit, he is an asshole but why should this define her? It doesn't. Unless she doesn't want this getting to Daniel? Than that's another story. She knows Daniel won't let this go and if he hears that on top of Eric sleeping with his cousin, he's also spreading the secret around like wildfire? Yeah no, Eric won't live to see tomorrow.

"Should I message Shawn and tell him? He's with the guys." Ronnie says, reaching for her phone.

After I brought Elena up to her room and sat in silence for a good twenty minutes, I didn't know what to do so I decided I needed reinforcements and called Ronnie to ditch Shawn and come up to be with us. She came so fast, I would've thought she sprinted to get here.

"Yeah, might as well. I mean they are gonna find out anyway. Some of the guys in the group are friends with them." I say and she nods her head while she types fast on her phone. "Who is the say they don't already know they are here?"

"Maybe," Ronnie lifts a shoulder, her focus still on typing a message to her boyfriend.

I look to Elena, maybe it's a good time to clear the elephant in the room. "You wanna tell us what that was about?" I offer softly.

She looks at me with trepidation in her eyes. She bites the tip of her thumb and gazes around the room after a beat, as if weighing what to say.

"It was stupid." She shakes her head. "I was a freshman and so was he. I was upset with my dad after a big fight because he wouldn't stop controlling every little thing I did even though I was away from him at college. He always found a way to figure out what I was doing and call me up every second to talk about my goddamn life and what I was doing with it. I snapped. I told him I could do it on my own and he said he wasn't paying for college if I don't do as he says. It was a shitty, blown out of proportion fight but I won in the end. I guess I thought I did. He cut me off and I panicked. I went to Daniel for some advice but he wasn't at the house. He was out with some gi—-" she looks to me. "Never mind that. He was out and I stayed in the living room of the football house to wait for him to get home. He was the only person I knew at college besides Bradman, Luke and Shawn, but I needed him. Anyways, Eric showed up and offered to watch a movie with me in the theatre room while I waited and then after a while of me being a total nervous wreck and no really watching the move, he told me to spill what was bothering me. He was nice and sweet and I didn't see his intentions until it was too late. We had gotten into one of the older guys, a senior at the time, liquor and we were drunk. One thing led to another... and he took my virginity."