"This will be on the final," Professor Valentina announced, her voice cutting through the classroom din as she pushed her narrow glasses up her nose with a sigh. "I'd hate for anyone to be surprised."
Erin snapped her head up from her laptop to see what was on the board in front of her; she could not afford to fail this class with graduation looming ahead.
Ping. Erin rushed to mute her laptop as a message flashed across the screen: "You're so much better than she was. Don't worry, I'm going to break up with her tonight, baby."
Erin's face turned bright red, and her eyes felt hot. What was Tao saying? They had been dating for months. At that moment, Erin's best friend, Isobel, glanced over with concern, mouthing, "What happened?" Erin tried to angle her laptop toward Isobel but couldn't quite manage it. She raised her hand shakily.
"Yes, Erin?" Professor Valentina replied, turning her discerning eyes in Erin's direction.
"Um, can I go use the bathroom?" Erin choked out.
"You're all young adults, Ms. MacDonald," Professor Valentina said with a slight arch of her brow. "You don't need my permission to use the bathroom. I trust we're all mature enough that a bathroom policy won't be necessary?"
Erin looked down sheepishly and started to get up as another message flashed across her screen: "Shit, babe, haha, I didn't mean to send you that." Her confusion grew. "Eh, who am I kidding? I guess now you know. We're done. April is willing to let me do so much more, and you're honestly so fucking boring."
Tao's words stabbed Erin like a red-hot iron. She shot up from her chair and rushed out of the classroom, Isobel close behind.
Erin raced to the bathroom, fleeing the tears welling up in her eyes.
"What the fuck did that dumb jock say?" Isobel demanded; her big green eyes fixed on Erin. As her friend sobbed and fumbled with her phone, Isobel's dark eyebrows knitted together in concern. She pulled Erin's head against her soft chest, holding her close while she read the messages Tao sent.
"H-How could he be so heartless?" Erin babbled; her words muffled against Isobel's ample cleavage. Isobel stroked Erin's soft, curly hair soothingly and planted a gentle kiss on top of her head, breathing in her scent as she scrolled through the offending texts. "April is willing to let me do so much more," Tao had said. Those words made Isobel feel sick. How dare he debase Erin that way? He was never good enough for her. Isobel's grip tightened instinctively as she felt Erin tremble. A flash of jealousy twisted through her as she thought of what that shithead might have gotten Erin to do.
"Do you want comfort or solutions?" Isobel asked, fighting the urge to jump straight into repair mode.
"Can we just stay like this for a bit? Then figure things out?" Erin mumbled, raising her head to look at Isobel.
Isobel's breath caught in her throat as she felt Erin's breath on her face, gazing into her big brown doe-eyes from inches away. She quickly nodded and pressed Erin's face back against her chest as she felt her heart skip a beat.
"So fucking boring" that one hurt the most. Was that how he saw her? For 4 months? She did everything, well almost anything he wanted. Erin clenched her fists as she decided she needed to show him that she wasn't "so fucking boring." The question was how? Or who rather...He cheated on her with April, she needed to prove that she could be just as fun, if not more fun with someone else.
"He didn't even deserve you anyway" Isobel continued, "He --"
"I have to show him that I'm not 'so fucking boring,'" Erin stepped back from Isobel, eyes flashing. Isobel's stomach turned, "I have to hurt him how he hurt me, I have to make him regret it"
Isobel was not about to let her Erin run to some other jock and get used just to prove a point. Stalling for time, Isobel remarked "Come on, let's go back to class. We can figure this out later, in the dorm. We don't need to rush into anything."
Isobel spent the rest of class racking her brain as to how she was going to fix this without Erin getting more hurt and trying not to dwell on why the idea of Erin sleeping with someone would make her so upset.