Temptation

-26-

            "I've always wanted you to move on but, really? Chiara?"

I'd waited a long time for Sophie to finally message me. I'd spent entire days staring at my phone, as if if I longed hard enough, she would come through. After a gym session or recording a solo, I would always eagerly unlock my phone, hoping for a text to be waiting for me there, but there never was. I dreamed of her telling me that she was sorry, admitting that she was wrong, and that she wanted to take me back. I never imagined that she would break the silence with this.

I stared at the screen in horror, unable to fully process what I was looking at. I checked the contact name again to make sure that it was really Sophie, and not just Andy pulling a prank on me or something. The letters didn't rearrange to form what I wanted to see – It really was from my ex.

A few weeks ago, to read those words would've been like receiving a sharp punch to the gut, but now, they weren't what was making my blood run cold. It was the picture that was attached to it. Grace was not on my side when it came to it – The details were stunningly clear. There was no mistaking that the picture was of me and Chiara, and, for somebody who didn't know any better, it looked an awful lot like we were kissing.

My hands were shaking as I began to type out my reply – "Where did you get that??" I hardly even noticed the melodrama playing out around me as Mikey discovered the tampon that I'd left in his bed – Dare #16.

"Aren't you seeing this?" Andy giggled, glancing over at me as he covertly filmed the excitement and Mikey socked the tampon at Brooklyn's head. "Wait, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'll tell you later," I mumbled, walking away. I needed to handle this alone. I sat down in the hallway, heart skipping a beat as I saw that she had replied.

"Haven't you seen the video? It's all over the internet."

"Oh. Oh, God. Oh no." I wrapped my arms around my legs and gently rocked back and forth on the balls of my heels. This was much worse than I'd originally thought. Breath catching in my throat, I hesitantly opened the twitter app.

"I just think that you can do so much better." Another notification pinged through as I waited for the app to load. I raged at the sight of it, but, for now, Sophie would have to wait. First, I had to do some damage control.

It didn't take long for me to find the video – Sophie was right on that. It was everywhere – On our timeline, in our notifications, and, every time I refreshed our DMs, a flurry of new ones with questions about it poured in. I didn't want to watch it, but I knew that I had to. I had to see how bad it was. I opened the link, and the hallway filled with the sound of my 'moans.' I cringed, turning the volume off and instantly regretting overplaying it so much. It was 20 seconds long in all, and, as far as I could tell, nearly impossible to distinguish the fact that the make-out session was fake. Unsure of what to do, I watched the video over and over, regretting every life decision that I had ever made.

A piece of me was angry with Andy for having forced me to do it in the first place, but, for the most part, I was just upset with the world in general. I wished that Sophie hadn't broken up with me, so that I didn't have to be cheered up in the first place. I almost wished that I had never met her. I wished that my personal life and band life could stay separate – It made my skin itch to think of how many people had watched that video, and how each and every one of them felt entitled to have an opinion about it. The truth was, even if I was dating Chiara, it still wasn't any of their business.

I knew that no matter that I said, people would believe what they wanted to – Still, I had to make an effort. I rewrote it a few times before finally sending out a tweet about it – "I'm currently single! The video is of me and my friend, and we agreed to fake make-out as a prank, which is all that it was. It's all bants in the RT camp – Rye" I tried to make it sound as lighthearted as possible, but I couldn't deny it: I was pissed. What possessed somebody to take a video and post it in the first place?!

Blood boiling, I went back to Sophie's texts and typed out a vent, pressing 'Send' before I had time to overthink it. I quickly read back what I had said – "Chiara and I are just friends, and we weren't even really kissing – it was just a prank, not that any of that matters anyways. Now that we're no longer dating, who I decide to fool around with doesn't concern you, and Chiara is a perfectly nice and beautiful girl. For all of your preaching, it didn't take you very long to abandon your morals and cheat on me, so I would think twice before you judge anybody else."

Letting the anger carry me, I blocked her number before she had the chance to reply. I had just finished the deed when the door to the flat opened – I expected Andy to come out, but, instead, the boy who greeted me was Brooklyn. I could tell by the look on his face that he had already seen the video.

"You know, I'm perfectly fine with you and Andy being a thing, but not if-"

"Ssshhh!" I shushed him, heart racing. "It's not what you think it is."

"Really? Because it looks pretty clear to me-"

"Brooklyn. It was honestly just meant to be a dare, just like the tampon on Mikey's bed."

"Wait, that was you? Hey, he blamed me for that!"

"Yeah, well, the point is that Andy already knew about it. I wasn't cheating or anything. We weren't even really kissing." He still looked unconvinced, and I let out an exasperated sigh. "You can ask him yourself if you want to."

"Do you know how angry Blair's going to be when he sees it?" Brooklyn asked, dodging my question and instead bringing up a valid point that I'd been avoiding myself. As if on cue, my phone began to ring in my pocket.

"I have a feeling that he just did."