“You should have let me take a swing at her,” Jenna muttered darkly as she popped another mini snickers into her mouth. “It’s not enough that she just fell in that pool. She deserved to get her ass beat first.”

I sighed, leaning back on the couch. The kids were all soundly asleep, and Jenna and I were taking this rare opportunity to down a bottle of wine, gorge ourselves on candy, and hash over everything that had happened today. I had partially hoped that I’d be able to keep this from her, not wanting her to know exactly what had gone on. However, Jenna had been drawn to the drama as a screeching and swearing Libby had been helped from the pool.

Luckily there had been cameras and plenty of witnesses to our little match, though I had tuned most of it out. Her claims that I had purposefully pushed her into the pool were rapidly quashed. I wouldn’t have even known if Jenna hadn’t hung around to eavesdrop and shared the information with me.

“As much as I wanted to grab that tennis racket and slice serve her into next week, Jake could have come out at any point. I can’t exactly tell him not to beat people up if I’m going around doing it in front of him.” My phone buzzed and I glanced at it before quickly turning my attention back to Jenna.

Her eyebrows rose as she looked from the phone to me. “Are you ignoring them? What’s going on, Em?”

I squirmed for a minute, stuffing another candy bar into my mouth as I tried to find the words I wanted. “I’m trying not to let the things that Libby said get under my skin, but I can’t seem to help it.” I knew the admission was fairly pathetic, but it was true. “She knew so much about me, things that aren’t exactly common knowledge.”

“Not things that are secrets, though,” Jenna pointed out, angling her wine glass towards me from her spot where she had sprawled on the floor. She’d done that since we were kids, purposefully ignoring all available furniture or utilizing it in the oddest ways by sitting on chair arms or backs, tv stands, anything that wasn’t actually meant for a seat. “It may not be easy information to find, but with enough research and questions to the right people, she could find it out.”

I shrugged, a minor acknowledgment of her words. I understood what she was saying, but it still seemed a bit coincidental that she showed up twice now around Troy and they clearly weren’t simply telling her off. I had attributed it to them being too nice to treat a female that way, but a part of me wondered if that’s really what it was. “I guess.”

Jenna groaned. “You always tell your kids to use their words, so it’s your turn. What’s got you wigging out?”

I hated when she threw parenting advice back at me. “She shows up where Troy is. He hasn’t outright told her off, despite how terrible they said she was. She’s very pretty, and, well, they’re men. I’ve never been in a relationship like this before, and she was hinting that they have. They hinted at it when we were at Cedar Point as well. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman has been taken advantage of.”

I held up my hand to forestall her before she could begin ranting at me. “I get that none of that is likely, that it has to do with me being self-conscious and still unsure in our relationship. You don’t need to psychobabble me. I’m trying not to let it affect me long term, but I need my sulk session first before I try and address it with the guys.”

“At least you own your psycho,” Jenna muttered as she poured more wine. “That’s more than most folks do.”

I threw the pillow at her, choosing to ignore her when she flipped me off in retaliation. “I’ve started looking into her some. Not much yet, but something about her just gets under my skin. Most people who move around here have a family or work connection. Maybe they visited here from a nearby area or went to college here. It’s just so random that she shows up here.” I grumbled the words, frustrated beyond measure. I really did regret not punching her, for what she had said about Jenna as well as everything she had put Alex through. My phone trilled again and I pushed it under the pillow, continuing to ignore the messages. The fact that they were coming in increasing numbers seemed to hint that they knew about the events of today and wanted to talk about it.

“Look, even if this is just a fling, you’re enjoying yourself. From the fact that you have all been sharing secrets, it doesn’t exactly sound like a fling to me.” Jenna’s look was pointed, but I shook my head. The guys' secrets were their own, and it wasn’t my place to share all the reasons that Libby was a bitch. Jenna had lived in town her whole life, she was well aware of how twisted Libby was, though they hadn’t actually had a run in. “Ignoring them isn’t going to do anything but piss all of you off. You can tell them you need time to think, but ignoring them is just kind of rude.”

I sighed, knowing and hating that she was right. “Hold on a sec, okay?” I grabbed the phone, typing up a quick group chat letting them know I was with Jenna and we could talk about everything later. “Look, see, all taken care of.” Pounding on my door caused me to jump, then swear when I spilled my wine across my lap and my couch. At least I didn’t drink red. “I’m going to kill whoever that is if they wake up the kids,” I threatened, striding to the door. Troy looked like a raging bull standing on the other side, pacing my front porch. “Troy? What the hell?”

“You weren’t answering your phone,” he spat out accusingly.

“Yeah, I told you I was with my sister. I don’t have to answer my phone constantly.” My hackles were already up, between my fight with Libby and now this. What made him think he had the right to come to my house at night and confront me like this.

“Look, we really need to talk to you,” he began, dragging his hands down his face.

“Excuse you. What in the world do you think you’re doing?” A seething Jenna appeared next to me, her lips pinched and her hands clenched in a way I knew meant trouble. “You don’t just show up pissed off, unannounced, at night to a woman’s home. Especially one with kids! She told you she was busy.”

“Yeah.” I jumped in, resisting the urge to slam the door in his face. “I said I was with Jenna and I’d talk to you all later. I’m allowed time for myself!”

“I’m not saying you’re not!” He nearly yelled the words, continuing to pace on my doorstep, throwing up his hands in exasperation.

“Will you shut up?” I hissed. “You’re going to wake up my kids.” It was only due to the late hour and Brooke’s decision to spend the night with a member from her dance team, that I knew she wasn’t down here demanding answers.

“Look, I normally wouldn’t come to bug you.” His voice had lowered, though the anger and frustration in it were still clear. “I definitely wouldn’t show up unannounced. If you had bothered to read any of the messages or answer our calls, you’d realize this has nothing to do with you ignoring us.”

I waved a hand dismissively. “I figured you heard about the pool today. I’m fine. I didn’t want to rehash it with you guys right away, I wanted some time to process. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“You’re right, there isn’t, but this has nothing to do with the damn pool. Can you actually focus on reality for a second here instead of the world you’re making up in your head!”

“Wow.” I gaped in awe. “You really can flip on a dime, can’t you? I’m not in my own damn world. I simply don’t see what could possibly be so important it couldn’t wait a few hours.”

“I’m about to lose my damn job because of you, that’s what couldn’t wait!” Troy nearly roared the words and I hissed at him instinctively before freezing. Even Jenna was silent beside me.

“What do you mean you’re about to lose your job?”

“Look, can we not talk about this one the porch? It’s like two in the morning, and the last thing I need is the cops showing up because we’re making a scene.” Troy growled the words, scrubbing at his face again in irritation and dismay.

I glanced at Jenna who seemed as shocked as I was. “Fine, but you better keep it down. Enough of this screaming stuff.”

He snorted, following us in before I shut the door behind him. “If you found out your career was about to all fall apart, I think you’d be screaming too.” I led him to the living room, ignoring his grimace at the candy wrappers and tipped over wine.

“Girls night,” I reminded him.

“Look, can we speak privately?” He gave Jenna a pointed look.

Jenna arched a brow and I nodded slowly. “I’ll call you later, Jenna. You good to drive?”

She waved a hand dismissively. “Fine, fine. I only had the one glass. I ate more of your candy than anything else.” She brushed a kiss over my cheek, glaring at Troy in the process. “You be a gentleman. Whatever the hell is going on, it can be worked through.”

Troy rolled his eyes, offering only a firm nod in dismissal as she strode towards the door. He sighed as it clicked shut behind her, nearly sagging back into the chair, apparently thoroughly worn out.

“I got a call from the superintendent tonight,” he began, his voice low enough I had to lean forward on the couch to catch everything. “He wants me in for a talk tomorrow. Well, today I guess.”

“Okay, that sucks, but I can’t see how it has anything to do with me.”

“Apparently, someone reached out to the school board to report my, I believe he called it an ‘atypical relationship.’ The board has been notified that I and my two best friends are in agreement to all be in a sexual relationship with you.” I could only blink in shock, unsure of what to say. “The superintendent is questioning my morality, and hinting that I could be viewed as a poor influence on my students. He stated that it was unbecoming for an educator to allow himself to be in such a situation.”

“But…” I could only sputter in response.

“I asked him what proof he had and he said that he had been notified by concerned sources and that several people were able to verify that all of us have been seen in a group on outings and that you have been seen in public with each of us acting physically affectionate. I pointed out that this wasn’t truly proof, and though he agreed, he stated it was implicative of a relationship and may be grounds for me to be removed from my position as teacher and coach.” He leaned forward, placing his head in his hands. “From what I got, they’re probably going to suspend me tomorrow, although they don’t enjoy that idea considering it’s the peak of football training and they don’t want the team negatively impacted.”

“Can they do that?” Anxiety trickled down my spine and I fought the urge to twitch.

He barked out a laugh although it didn’t sound particularly amused. “I’ve seen teachers fired or suspended for less.”

“So, what does this mean?” It seemed as though he was saying we had to end our relationship, but so far he wasn’t actually coming out and saying it. My chest was tight, and I could feel tears stinging at the back of my eyes as I fought them back.

“I don’t know how far this rumor has spread.” He shook his head, never turning his eyes directly to me.

“Rumor?” My mouth was moving without me approving it. “It’s not technically a rumor. Considering everything they’re saying is true, it’s more of people just being nosy and talking about things they have no right to.”

“Whatever you want to call it.” Troy’s tone was back to exasperated as he threw up his hands. “I don’t know how far the news has spread. I don’t know if it can be dealt with.”

“I thought you were all okay with this relationship.” I was nearly shaking now; anger, resentment, guilt, all eating at me. “You three approached me about it. You all said you talked about it, and it was what you wanted.”

“It was!”

“Was? Or is?” I asked, terrified of his answer.

Instead of answering me, he just tugged at his hair, grasping the short strands before balling his hands into fists. “If it’s common news, your kids are going to hear about it, and fairly soon. You said you weren’t ready for this, that you weren’t sure you wanted them to know.”

I froze for a moment as he turned the scenario around. “Well, yes, I did say that,” I admitted, hesitant now.

“I don’t even know why I came over here.” He pushed from his seat, heading for the front door. “I don’t really know what’s going on before this meeting. I’m sorry for barging in like this. Goodbye, Emily.” My heart nearly broke at the formal use of my name. I’d gotten so used to him calling me Emmie.

“Goodbye,” I murmured as the door closed.

He hadn’t looked at me. Hadn’t kissed me goodnight, or told me he’d call me later. He’d simply dropped a bomb on me and left. The tears I’d been holding back began to fall down my cheeks, and I simply dropped down onto the couch, unable to stand upright for any longer. Everything was changing, again, and this time, I wasn’t sure what to do about it.