Becoming Mrs. Bryant

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

Hailey

𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

I tried to give Zach, and myself, a few days of space. It was now the 23rd, and I needed to get ready to go back to school because my parents were kind of pissed off about me being in Tallahassee for that long. I groaned as the alarm went off, knowing that I was most likely gonna be seeing my boyfriend at school, and most likely would subconsciously confront him about never answering my calls.

I wore black ripped skinny jeans, white blank canvas slip-on shoes, a white short-sleeved crop top, and had my hair down. I was trying to look cute, because if Zach was gonna cheat then so was I, but Nova and I didn't go over a plan. Like, was I cheating to make myself feel better, or was I cheating for Zach to find out? Because those are two very different kinds of cheating.

I was driving now because I was a senior and didn't wanna be a Nova 2.0, so I didn't feel the need to rush to school. I took my time with everything, trying my best to calm my nerves. I guess it kind of worked.

Lewis

"Hey coach," I said as I peeked my head into the coach's office. He had asked that I come by to discuss some plays, but once I saw him, our assistant coach, our principal, and our assistant principal, I soon enough realized that this would not be about football. Or at least not in the manner that I'd hoped.

"Lewis" my coach responded, "sit." I nodded as I came in entirely, closed the door, and sat down in an empty chair, closest to the door. "What's up?"

"This has been a hard, hard thing to discuss" my coach began, and I instantly knew what this was gonna be about. I breathed heavily and folded my arms as I waited for him to go on with whatever it was that he was about to say.

"But as a school, we want to present our best. On the field, in the classroom, and to the public. Life is a pain in the butt at times, and I am in no way accusing you of doing anything, but for the sake of Florida State University's image, and for the sake of getting some weight off your shoulders, I'm afraid I'll have to be releasing you from the football team."

My jaw dropped, despite the wind up to that statement that should've told me exactly what was gonna be said next. I tried to speak but I couldn't, I was shocked, hurt, and kind of embarrassed. Cassidy was ruining my fucking life, all because I didn't want her anymore.

"And while we're at it," the principal said, as an officer came into the room, "we're gonna have to hear your statement about the situation with Cassidy Daniels, because the DNA came back positive, and you didn't originally make a statement." I tried to control my breathing as a tear ran down my face. I couldn't believe it, this shit was real. I was really being accused of rape.

"I didn't rape her" I barely let out, as I couldn't even control my emotions. "I had been seeing her privately, and she started becoming unbearable to be around, so I ended the relationship with her. Next thing I knew, police were knocking on my friend's door at like eight in the morning." The officer nodded as he appeared to have been writing what I said down. "Oh my God" I let out softly, as I rested my head in my hands. "My life is over."

"Here's the deal kid," the officer said. "Rape protocol is that I would have to take you to the station for booking, and a mugshot, but I won't keep you in a cell. I'll release you right after." I nodded weakly, that didn't sound like a great option either. "We have to do that because until this case is taken care of, whether that's Ms Daniels refusing to testify against you, or you being found innocent, you are technically considered a sex offender in the state of Florida." My body tensed again, and I tried to fight off any further tears. "So this is gonna be public?"