Downfall of the nation's hero

Chapter 7

The bus ride was long as fuck. We could have gone by plane, but Fox thought that it would be a good teambuilding activity. Ren and I hadn't talked much during the trip, though it wasn't as awkward as I was expecting it to be. Maybe I was just making stuff up in my head.

When we get to the hotel in the evening, my whole body hurts from the uncomfortable ride. There was very little to no space for me to stretch my legs. Some people, I'm gonna call them psychopaths because I'm kind of jealous of them, were able to fall asleep. Some were chatting along the way. I was trying to think about basketball, but there were other things on my mind, and by other things I mean Ren Martin.

I'm only able to shut her off my mind when I lay down on the bed right next to Sophie.

Tomorrow is our first game. It's a friendly match, so it's not a big deal but still, it'll be the first test for our group. After the long pre-season terrors, it's sort of a reward for staying consistent and putting in the hard work. It's also going to be Sophie's first game as a captain. No one deserves the position more than her. She's the glue of our team. I mean, shit, she even made me and Ren alright with each other. She could be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for that alone. I'm the luckiest person alive to call her my friend.

"Oh fuck!" Sophie shoots herself up from her bed.

The reaction itself is enough to send me into a panic mode, but the look on her face is the thing that terrifies me. She's gotten pale and her eyes are furiously scanning whatever she has open on her phone.

"What is it?" I ask, my heart racing.

Sophie tries to put on a fake smile and hides the phone in her pocket. "N...nothing."

Okay, this is bad. This kind of reaction can only mean two things. Either Adomas texted her, which I highly doubt, or something connected to me got out again. Both of these options are horrible, but neither of them seems probable. I haven't done anything in weeks to cause another media outrage, or have I?

"Come on, Soph," I roll my eyes at her, "how bad can it be?"

She stays silent. Okay, that's my cue to do my own research. I grab my phone from the nightstand and type my name into Google. Sophie's silently begging me not to do this before I click on the search button. Surely enough, there are several new articles, but one headline, in particular, catches my attention - A desperate call for help? The sharpshooter Audra Matonis seems to know a thing or two about other sharp objects!

"No no no no no." I click on the article and wait for it to load. There are three pictures attached right under the title. They are all from The Barn, from the day when me and Ren met there to play the 1v1. The first picture shows the two of us talking. On the second one, I'm rolling up my sleeve. The last one is a close-up shot of my scarred arm. Ren must have set up a camera there.

I stop thinking rationally so I do the one thing I would never do - I read the whole thing.

Sports fans all around the world know the name. Audra Matonis, the main star of the Lithuanian national team and the new addition to Minnesota Gophers, is someone who doesn't need any introduction. Even though she might be a generational talent on the court, her athletic performances are often overshadowed by controversy following her off the floor. Love her or hate her, Matonis is a role model for our children. That's why this new discovery is seriously concerning and needs to be addressed.

Our redaction received a piece of ground-breaking information from a source, who prefers to stay anonymous and who's very close to Matonis and her inner circle. They said that Audra Matonis tends to slip into self-destructive states to gain attention, trying to depict herself as a victim and not the 'bad child' she is.