Next Generation (Book 4)

Secrets

|Rory's POV|

These past 5 years have been quite interesting. I initially wasn't going to go to college and that didn't go over well with my parents. They agreed to a gap year and I was hired to work with The NXT creative department. I earned that spot as I excelled during my internship over the past few Summers. Here I was hired at 18, doing what I loved, designing. Making my own money was just a bonus.

I moved to Orlando officially once I graduated. I stayed with uncle Shawn and we'd ride to the office together pretty much everyday. It was my home away from home. This is where I reconnected with Kyle.

Kyle and I have history. We were friends throughout high school. We shared a lot with each other. We were really great friends and just left it at that. I was his prom date and he was mine. When he graduated he went off to University of Central Florida, but we kept in touch. I knew he was a playboy. His social media was a clear indicator of that. Girls were all over him and he wasn't denying the attention. That was a red flag I decided to ignore. Still, he was persistent in asking me out and I since we decided to give him a chance. Everything started out fine, that was until his behavior started to change.

We were 6 months in when he publicly cheated on me. It was all over Snapchat and Instagram. I was embarrassed to say the least. My siblings were questioning what I was doing with him. I should move on. Should've learned my lesson then, but I forgave him. So much for making things work. He didn't change. Same shit, different girls. I was ignoring his behavior, just in a relationship to be in one at that point. That was until girls started contacting me and threatening me. It got a little crazy and I had to change my number, more than once. You think he defended me. Not once. He'd apologize and I forgave him. We kept going through this just about every month. Empty promises. I finally broke things off and left Florida once my gap year was over.

My passion was always art and I wanted to make gear for the wrestlers. I was lucky enough that some of my designs became merch. Plus, they knew what I was capable of. My dad had worn my designs for years. My goal was to get to the main roster and make full out gear. My grandfather told me that I needed to perfect my craft before that happened. Drawing and turning my designs into merch was one thing. I wanted more, I wanted to do more. He told me to find a school and I could still keep my spot designing merch. So much for not going to college. The gap year ended and I made good on the deal with my grandfather.

I ended up in New York at FIT. Coincidentally enough, Kylie was there. She was in her final year. We were already friends through her dating Zach, but we became best friends over the years. I would travel with her to his games occasionally. That is where I would see Bash. We exchanged numbers and texted quite often. I had no idea he was studying architecture and moved to New York of all places. He had done most of his undergrad in Miami. His program was 5 years, the 5th being a paid internship. He landed in New York the same time I did.

As our friendship grew, we talked more about our futures and what made us most happy. He was an artist like me, just drawing buildings instead. I'd share my designs with him and I didn't need to explain much like I did with other people. He just got it. Within months of him being in New York and us being around each other more, we began dating. We were hesitant about giving a relationship a shot, but couldn't deny that we were the happiest together. I was extremely hesitant after what I had just went through with Kyle.

I was currently in my second year at FIT. He was starting his career as an architect. Not many people knew of our relationship. When holidays came around, he was always invited because of Zach. We acted as if we were just friends. That much Zach knew, we had become friends. He didn't seem to have a problem with that.

While I would have liked to leave Kyle in the past, he was still hitting me up. He was even beginning to talk shit on social media. At first just sub shots, but then he started tagging me. He even popped up in when I was out with a Izzy, Kylie, and Jamie. They came to town for a visit and shopping. Kyle popping up out of nowhere was fucking weird. The girls were not okay with it and asked gas this happened before.