Moral Devotions

30| Macy

After drying my face off, I step out of the faculty bathroom, nearly running into someone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." I look up to see Jonathon.

He grunts, his jaw tight. "Your boyfriend's here."

My brows furrow. "Like, here? Here?" I point to the ground.

"In your classroom, yeah." He says, brushing past me.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Jonathon stops in his place and turns around to face me. "Gee, I don't know. It feels great getting blown off again, by you."

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Oh, my gosh, I am so sorry. Axel had--"

"I don't want any excuses, Macy. I just want to feel like you still care."

"I do, just--"

"Not like that. I get it." He sighs and looks to the side for a moment. "I just need some time."

I nod. "I am sorry, by the way."

All he does is look at me, and then turn and walk away.

I walk out of the office with shaky hands, and more tears threatening to slip down my cheeks.

Somehow one guy has managed to flip my entire world upside down, and I don't know what to do.

I walk into my classroom to find Declan sitting behind my computer, staring at the screen.

"Hey," I say softly.

He looks at me and his expression falls. "Mace, why'd you read it?"

"How could I not?" I shove my hands into my jeans pockets.

"Did you read the comments?" My shoulders slump in response. "You never read the comments, Mace."

"Can you blame me?"

"Of course not. But people online... They're a whole new sense of crude. They don't... They have no empathy. They're just there to tear each other down." He stands up and sits at the edge of my desk. "You just have to realize that behind the computer is a self-conscious prick who has issues of their own and decided to take it out on you."

I wipe the fallen tears off my cheeks. "I just haven't experienced anything like this since high school, and it's all kind of hitting me hard. How can you... I mean how do you deal with this all the time? Do people not care that you have a personal life?"

Declan reaches out and grabs my hand, tugging me closer to him. He reaches up and tucks my hair behind my ear. "How is it that I always manage to make you cry?" He whispers.

I shake my head. "No, it wasn't you."

"No, but it's because of me. The only reason they posted that is because of me. It has nothing to do with you."

"Yeah? Then why is the entire article about me?"

"Because they want me to lash out, Macy. That entire blog hates me because I get into too many fights, they think I'm a liability on the ice. They need a justified reason to hate me more." He scratches the back of his head. "My publicist is working on getting it taken down, but there's only so much they can do." He tugs my hand, pulling me even closer until he's embracing me. "Please don't let this get to you. It's a bunch of bullshit that doesn't even matter."

I loosely cling to his shoulders, inhaling the scent of him. "Declan..."

"Don't say anything." He whispers. "Just, take some time, then we'll talk."

When he pulls away, looking for confirmation, I nod. Declan leans down and presses his lips to my forehead for a moment before he steps back. "Um... I'll text you tonight, or tomorrow."