Chapter 5

Stephanie

“Brielle, nothing happened,” I try again.

“I’m not leaving until you tell me what happened.”

“Well, then you’re going to have to call Aiden and tell him you’re spending the night here tonight,” I tell her.

She pouts in an exaggerated way. “But I want to see him tonight.”

I laugh. “Then go see him; I’m not keeping you here.”

“Stephanie, you’re my friend. If something happened, I want to know.”

I blow out a breath. “It’s fine; it’s not a big deal. We had a run-in once that colored how I view him, but it’s fine. It just showed me who he truly is.”

“And who is he truly then?” Bri asks.

I sit quietly for a moment, debating what to say to my best friend. “Okay fine. I had a incident with Sebastian once. It was before the run-in with him and Kayla.”

Brielle’s eyes are wide. “When? I didn’t even know you’d met him before that day.”

“Unfortunately, I have. Do you remember that engagement party I threw you guys?”

“Yes. It was so special.”

A few weeks after Aiden proposed, I threw a small party for Aiden and Brielle to celebrate. She’d wanted to let friends and family know because they’d kept it quiet at Christmas because of Aiden’s popularity. So, we had a private party and celebrated together.

“I wanted to invite a few of Aiden’s teammates, but I couldn”t have him do it because it was a surprise. Do you remember that community day the team participated in? The one where they all had to find a local place to serve for a day?” She nods. “Well, I found out where a few of them were going to be serving for the day, so I drove over to hopefully get a chance to talk to one of them. I knew Aiden was friends with Sebastian and I thought the goalie guy, right?”

“Rico, yes,” Brielle says.

“Yeah. Anyway, so I had to sign up for this work day.” I frown, remembering that day. “And then when I got there, there were so many people. Half of them were just there to meet the hockey players, not to actually work. It took a while, but I finally had a chance to approach Sebastian. The only reason I knew which one he was, was that I looked him up ahead of time. I walked over to him with an invitation in hand. I called his name, and he turned to me with a smile on his face. I held out the invitation to him. Before I even said anything, he goes, ‘Hey, Doll, I’m not interested. You’re not my type but thank you’.” Just remembering his words and the humiliation I felt makes my face burn. “And that’s why I don’t want anything to do with him; he’s a class one jerk.”

Brielle’s eyes are wide. “I can’t believe he said that to you.”

“I can. Have you ever researched the guy? He’s a total playboy. He never takes the same date to an event, and he only takes perfect size 2 models.”

Brielle blows out a breath. “I mean you’re not wrong, entirely. I remember his date from the gala that I went to with Aiden. She was terrible to me. Even Aiden was irritated with her.”

“Well that doesn’t count for much; Aiden gets irritated with pretty much everybody except you,” I point out.

Brielle smiles. “There is that.” Her smile falls. “I’m really sorry that happened to you. Do you want me to say something to Sebastian? Or better yet, have Aiden beat him up?”

I laugh. “No. Although I would personally love to see that, no. It”s fine. It’s actually good it happened. I know what he’s really like. So when he’s flirting mercilessly with me, I know it doesn’t mean anything. He’s only doing this right now because like I said, I’m probably the first woman to ever say no to him.”

Brielle grins. “You’re probably right about that; I’m pretty sure most women don’t turn Sebastian Hart down.”

“Exactly.”

“All right. Then stay strong. I’m with you on this,” Brielle says. “We are on team avoid Sebastian and all his flirty ways at all costs.”

“Yes,” I agree.

“Until he changes and proves himself,” she adds.

“Yes. Wait, what? No.”

Brielle looks at me like I’m confused. “You’re going to make him work for it.”

“No.” I shake my head. “There is no making him work for it; he’s just out. He’s a playboy; I”m not giving him the time of day.”

Brielle’s eyes are wide. “Like never?”

“Never.”

Brielle studies my face a moment. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

Brielle stands. “I need to get home to make dinner. Let me know if you have any more problems. I can talk to Aiden; maybe he can do something about it.”

“No, don’t worry about it. I”m sure it will blow over.”

“Okay, bye Stephanie. I love you.” She hugs me, and my heart softens.

“I love you too, Bri. We need to plan a girls’ night sometime soon.”

Her eyes light up. “Yes, we should. Maybe the next set of away games.”

I smile. “It’s a plan.” I watch her go and can’t fight the lingering sadness. I get out my bag and get started with the grading I need to do. I tell myself that if I get my grading done, I’ll allow myself to spend time doing what I really love—writing.

I take a deep breath and start grading again. I hate feeling this way; I hate this sense of melancholy and loneliness. This isn’t me; I’ve been on my own for years. I just need to get myself together. I’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.

The next morning, I’m up extra early. After a good run, I shower and dress in my favorite black pantsuit with a hot pink blouse underneath. The blazer is fitted with a single button. I add gold hoop earrings and a necklace and my favorite heels. I add my makeup and leave my hair down. I take a look in the mirror. “That’s as good as it’s going to get.”

I leave early enough to grab a coffee at Anna’s. I’m feeling good when I pull into the parking lot at my school, but I slow down when I see the people gathered on the front sidewalk. I get a bad feeling as I drive past them. I keep my head down, but it seems like somebody pointed out my car because it feels like people are noticing me. Before I can even get out of the car, people begin to surround my car. Panic starts building in my chest, but I refuse to let it. I am a capable, professional adult. I can deal with this. I grab my coffee and my laptop bag and slide out of my car. “Excuse me,” I say to the first guy, who’s standing right in my path.

“Is it true that you refuse to date Sebastian Hart?” he asks.

“No comment,” I say and stride past him. I”m feeling pretty good about that one; that’s what they always say on tv, anyway.

“Are you Stephanie Winston?” somebody asks as I walk past. I keep my stride powerful and fast, discouraging people from trying to stop me. It doesn’t stop some people, though.

“Would you comment on your relationship with Sebastian Hart?”

”Will you be attending any of the Green Thunder games this season?”

I ignore each question and push towards the door. Thankfully, they can’t come inside. I breathe a sigh of relief when I close the door behind me.

“That’s crazy,” Rob, one of my fellow teachers says, looking out at the reporters. He glances over at me. “Did you have any problems getting in?”

“I managed it.” I shake it off as I make my way through the building and to my classroom, refusing to let it ruin my day. When I get to my classroom and check my email, I sigh in frustration. Principal Goodman asked me to stop by his office as soon as I get in this morning. I make my way to his office. “Knock, knock.” His door is open.

“Miss Winston, come on in.” He turns away from where he was looking out his window. “Did you have any problems getting inside?”

“I handled it,” I say for the second time already this morning.

“I apologize for not having somebody escort you inside. I didn’t realize they would be back again this morning.” He scowls as he says this.

“It’s fine, Sir. Nothing I can’t handle.”

He glances out the window and then back at me. “Be that as it may, it needs to be dealt with.” He says the words pointedly, and I get the feeling that he feels like this is my fault.

“I assure you I had nothing to do with any of this.” I’m careful to keep my voice professional, so he doesn’t see my frustration. None of this is my fault.

“There are more people out there than there were yesterday, and our social medias for the school are getting bombarded with questions and comments about you. This needs to stop before it gets truly out of hand; you need to find a way to stop it. Reach out to the Green Thunder team and see what they can do to manage this. If not, if this continues to be a problem, you won’t be able to come in to school for a few days or weeks until this all dies down.

“I can’t teach?” I ask, dumbfounded.

He levels a look at me. “I’m saying that we need to get this situation taken care of as quickly as possible before it escalates and before something happens to one of our students, or something happens that takes away from...what really matters here at school.”

I’m not an idiot. “You mean, you don’t want the school to look bad.”

“Miss Winston, let’s just deal with the situation before it becomes a bigger problem.”

Feeling like one of my students, I nod and walk to the door. “I’ll take care of it,” I say right before I walk out into the hall. In a daze, I make my way to my class. I sink into my chair, eye my coffee and wonder how quickly my day turned. I can’t believe I might not get to do my job for a few days. Anger burns through me when I think of Sebastian and all the problems he’s causing me. I turn to my laptop and look up the information for the Green Thunder. It takes me a few minutes, but I finally find it. Bingo. I put the number into my phone and wait for my call to go through.

“Hello, this is Chloe,” I hear a voice say on the other end.

“Hi, Chloe, my name is Stephanie Winston. I’m a friend of Brielle Campbell, who’s dating Aiden Brooks.”

“Yes, I know Brielle. How can I help you?” She’s polite but also has an edge about her, like maybe I’m bothering her.

“I won’t take much of your time. I’m just calling because a situation at my school has developed because of one of your players, and I was hoping you could help me.”

“One of the Green Thunder players?” she asks.

Now, she’s paying attention. “Yes. This is in regard to Sebastian Hart. Apparently, he made some comment about me the other night in a press conference. I don’t really care; I can’t stand the guy personally. However, now there are reporters and crazy people camped outside my school. They were here last night and first thing this morning. I don’t appreciate it, and my boss really doesn’t appreciate it. My principal said it needs to be taken care of. He told me if it wasn’t resolved, I wouldn’t be able to teach here for a few days. And let me just say that I am not going to quit doing my job just because some idiot on your team can’t keep his mouth shut.” I finally take a breath.

“I understand. Let me deal with this, and I will get back to you within a few days.”

“No, it needs to be dealt with today,” I tell her, using the lawyer voice my parents always use.

I hear her sigh through the phone. “Fine. It will be dealt with today. Please do not address the press or make any comments until my team can be there to make a statement.”

“Sure. As long as it’s taken care of soon, that’s fine.”

“It will be dealt with today.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

We both hang up, and I take a deep breath.

“Did you just tell off Chloe?”