Hating the Player - Loving the Game

Chapter 1: My Naive Friend's Protector

"You're going to be okay, Milly. He is a jerk, you can do so much better." I spoke calmly, patting the back of my sobbing friend.

I had been in the school bathroom for over forty five minutes, consoling a broken heart. We currently sat on the tiled floor near the entrance, which is as far as we had gotten, before she collapsed in a fit of tears. I had taken the efforts to quickly scrawl 'out of order' on a piece of paper and tape it to the door; but if anyone came in anyways, I was prepared to give them my best scowl. 

She had been my closest friend for the past five years, ever since the seventh grade. In that time I became acquainted with how strongly her emotions flow. She was a true romantic, and was in love with the idea of love. She had such a lively energy, and was either extremely excited or extremely upset, there was never any middle ground. Her personality was at stark odds with my own; I was always composed, and I rarely deviated from the 'middle ground'. It didn't mean that I didn't feel, It just meant that I refused to feel so passionately. The reason for that decision was currently staring me right in the face, as I continued to comfort my weeping friend; I vowed never to allow myself to be reduced to this sorry state for any reason.

As another hiccupy sob escaped her lips and racked her body, I remarked that they wouldn't subside anytime soon, so I settled myself into a sitting position, prepared for the long wait ahead of me. I hated seeing her this way, I hated how much it tugged at my heart strings, and I hadn't even gotten the full story yet. What I knew about the events that caused this uncontrollable crying, was gathered through broken words that escaped between sobs. From what I had pieced together, the guy that she had been dating had dumped her. ...I hadn't even known she had been seeing anyone, some friend I am.

After some time passed and she calmed down, her wails replaced with a slightly hitched breathing. She faced me with red eyes, still rimmed with tears and addressed me coherently for the first time in an hour. 

"I can't believe he would do something like that. I've had a crush on him for two years, and he took advantage of that."

I was worried about asking her what she meant, going down that road might refresh the pain in her mind. We did not have another hour to sit idle in the school bathroom, the last class of the day was nearly over, but the words 'take advantage' raised my concerns.

"What exactly happened? I never actually got the whole story" I had been in the hallway, walking to my next class when I had seen her tear streaked face dart past me and into the nearest bathroom. I did not really have any other option, but to follow after her.

"Do you know Jay Beckett?" She asked, her voice hitched once more on his name.

I did not know Jay Beckett, but I had definitely heard enough about him to last a lifetime. Talking about 'cute boys' was one of Milly's favourite pastimes, and Jay Beckett was at the top of her list. He had been the school's resident golden-boy/captain of the football team, until he graduated last year. I had opted not to go to any of the games, and our school was big enough that I had never had the occasion to run into him; but what I had heard in the locker room had not been very encouraging, 

In short, Jay Beckett was a player. It was one thing to be a libertine or a manwhore, but it was another thing entirely when they take pleasure from breaking hearts. I had never told Milly about Jay's reputation, instead letting her live in blissful oblivion, because I did not think it would do any good to tell her; by the time I had become aware of this person's vile habit, he had already graduated, so I had thought there was no danger of them ever being in the same room together. I guess I was wrong.

Milly told me about the party she had gone to two weeks ago, the one that I distantly remember declining to attend because of an over due assignment that I had to catch up on. Apparently whatever high school  party they had been attending, had been lame, so a group of them decided to crash a local college rager. That bit of information alone, was enough to shock me. Milly snuck onto a college campus to attend a rager?