Page 15 of Rumor Has It

Wren groaned. “I take it dad told you?”

“Yeah. Have you hit her yet?” Wren could hear the excitement in Barbara’s voice at the question. Barbara had been at one of Wren’s college games where LAU played against NCU, and it had been particularly violent. Wren still had a scar on her ankle, just below her shin guard line from a dirty slide.

“No, I haven’t hit her yet. I do think I just bitch-slapped her with my words though.” Wren flinched again.

Barbara just sounded excited. “Oh, tell me! What did you say?”

“I actually think I need to apologize. She had followed after me to check on me.”

“Wait. Like she cared? About your feelings? After your stupid attention-seeking girlfriend posted your thirst traps without your permission, the Joker to your Batman came to see if you were okay?”

“Wow, harsh words on Andy.”

“Andy is on my shit-list. I didn’t need to see that last photo of you.”

Wren snorted out a laugh. “Totally fair. She’s on my shit-list, too.”

There was a long pause on the phone. Wren almost asked if Barbara was still there. “Did she apologize?” Her stepsister asked the question so softly like she had been the one to have been betrayed.

Wren’s heart lurched in her chest. Andy hadn’t apologized. The opposite really. She had gotten defensive and upset that Wren would be anything other than ecstatic. Wren had never minded that Andy wasn’t out publicly. She was a firm believer that people’s sexualities were their own business, and Andy’s career was one where appealing to men and women alike was important. Sure there were queer female models, but most of them were fairly established before coming out.

The feeling Wren had been trying to squash threatened to break free. Andy had only gone public because Wren was all over the news right now. Headlines were everywhere about her feud with Rebecca. Now that they were playing on the international level, their names and faces were everywhere. She felt used. Andy coming out and sharing their love should feel like a celebration. Wren shouldn’t be wondering if Andy only did it like she did because Wren was currently a buzzworthy name.

“Wren?” Barbara asked. Her voice was small. It reminded Wren of when they first met all those years ago.

“Yeah, Barbs?”

“She didn’t apologize, did she?” Barbara sounded incredibly disappointed.

“No, Barbara, she didn’t.”

“Did Becky?”

Wren thought about Rebecca’s behavior over the past week, about how she had wanted to talk, even suggesting that they start over. Wren also thought about all the ways that Rebecca had always misread her and her intentions. Wren couldn’t remember exactly how her Facebook profile looked from when she was sixteen, but she knew without a doubt that 99% of her posts included Molly. That was true all the way up until college. It would still be true if she and Molly lived in the same state. She didn’t know how that must have looked to Rebecca. Sure, she should have called and she should have asked. But how would Wren have felt if the situation had been reversed?

She sighed heavily before answering. “I think we’ve both messed up along the way and could both stand to say we’re sorry.”

“Are you going to?”

“Yeah, kiddo. I think I’m going to do that tonight.”

“I’m proud of you, and I love you.” Barbara laughed. “And I’m really sorry that last photo of you got shared all over the internet. You’re probably going to be in the news again.”

Wren groaned. “Ugh, don’t remind me.” She let out a little laugh though. “At least I looked hot.”

“Ew, I’m hanging up now.”

“Hey, Barbs, thanks for calling.” Wren meant it. Her stepsister was a really good human. She was lucky that she got to be part of her life.

“You’re welcome. Have a good last week of training.”

After dinner, the team wanted to go out to a club to dance the night away. Wren would rather have done literally anything else, but she wasn’t about to play the party pooper when most of the team wanted to congratulate her for dating a model. She wasn’t the only one who clearly didn’t want to be there. Rebecca spent more time on her phone that evening than Wren had seen her on it the whole trip. When Rebecca finally broke away from her little group of defender friends to head to the restroom, Wren broke away from Courtney and Danielle to follow after her.

Rebecca was just pacing when Wren pushed the door open. Thankfully and surprisingly, there wasn’t anyone else in the restroom.

“Hey,” Wren said, awkwardly. She shoved her hands in her pockets and rocked back and forth on her toes.

Rebecca looked surprised to see her. “Hello,” she whispered after a moment of awkward silence.