Found Out
Nothing belongs to me except the plot, Ryan, & the Baby Mamas
If Corrie weren't so riddled with guilt at having caused the accident and so upset by the dream, she would have made a mental note to share how couple-y they looked with Betsy's head resting on his shoulder, his strong arms wrapped securely around her, as he walked through the door and out to his car. As is, she was scared, confused, and running solely on adrenaline.
With shaking hands, she scrolled through the names on her own contact list. She was about to hit 'send' and call Betsy's parents, but hesitated before snapping the phone shut. She would call them when she had something to tell them, like where they were taking Betsy.
Unfortunately, Corry's phone didn't have any names of anyone on the swim team she could call to tell about Betsy's absence, except for one, and, despite her first inclination to call him, there was no one she wanted to talk to less.
Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself halfway to the swimming pool, phone clenched in her hand. He would be swimming and she could just duck in, explain the situation to the coach, and duck out without having to see Him or have Him see her with crazy bed head. Perfect plan.
Except that the team was working on starts when she slipped in and the coach was in the dead center of the mob of Speedo-clad swimmers, talking to (who else) Pogue Parry.
She wanted to turn around and go back to bed, hopefully to wake up and find this all to be some unfortunate dream, but some of the catty girls who'd hated her since freshman year were already glaring at her and shooting her jealous looks, gossiping loud enough for some of the guys to notice and start asking questions. Best to just get it over with.
She waited as the assistant coach started the rest of the team, watching them swim to the end of the pool and pull themselves out of the chlorinated water. Yet still Pogue kept talking to the coach, waving his arms around in what she assumed was actually some form of swimming (it looked like he was just flailing around), asking some complex question.
Eventually he finished and turned, seeing her there.
No avoiding him. She waved to him, trying not to stare or blush at his body and attempting to forget his ire from the dream. He waved her over, and she complied. She had to talk to the coach, whom she had never met before, and what better way to break the ice than to be introduced by one of his captains?
"Uh, good morning." She started, staring into the young face of the coach and trying not to look at Pogue.
"Coach, this is Corrie Black. She's a friend of mine." Pogue introduced her, and the coach shook her hand distractedly.
"Coach Mike." He muttered, looking over her head at the swimmers at the other end of the pool. "Eh, Katie!" He yelled, ignoring Corrie standing right in front of him, "No sign of Bets?"
"Sir, that's why I'm here. I'm her roommate and she had an accident coming to practice this morning. A friend's taking her to the hospital now. We think she has a broken leg." Corrie said in a rush, afraid of the man's reaction to the news. She had heard many a time from Betsy of his infamous temper, and she wasn't disappointed. A vein began pulsing in his forehead and his face took on a hue similar to that of Betsy's swimming bag: bright pink.
"What?! Sectionals are coming up and she needs all the practice she can get –" The coach broke off in frustration. Pogue said nothing, watching Corrie's face turn from mild fear to annoyance at the insult to her friend.
"It's not her fault! I –" She started before reigning in her anger. She took a calming breath, understanding completely Betsy's aversion to the man. "I just came to tell you she won't be at practice for a while. I've now done that, so have a nice rest of the morning." She bit off as respectfully as she could before turning on her heel and marching back out of the pool area, ignoring the harsh whispers bouncing around the tiled walls.
"Cor, wait. Hold on. Just wait a second." He grabbed her elbow, slowing her down as she walked across the campus. She whirled on him, eyes flashing.
"What? Pulled yourself away from Coach 'I'm an Asshole' long enough to go trotting across campus in your underwear?" She asked harshly, imagining she would be seeing his look of fury soon and dreading it, but finding herself unable to stop the words from spilling out. He surprised her when he grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes, concern the only emotion present.
"He's just worried about her. Just like I'm worried about you. What happened?" He asked, his eyes locked onto hers.
"It's my fault she's hurt. I was stupid and I had this dream and I thought she was him and –" She broke off as he pulled her into a hug. "Pogue, it was so horrible." She whispered into his wet chest.
"What happened." He asked softly, wrapping his arms around her securely.
"He…he was hugging me, then he wouldn't let go. Then he kissed me… Then he-he hit me…" She trailed off.
"Who? Who hit you?" She looked up into his face, seeing a shadow of the anger under the look of concern.
"It's not important. Don't…don't worry about it. Just a stupid dream." She wiped a tear away and tried to laugh it off, pulling away.
Pogue wasn't buying it.
"Cor…who was it." He asked gently.
"John." She whispered quietly, not meeting his intense gaze. He pressed a kiss to her temple as he pulled her into another embrace.
"Who's John?"
Ha Ha Ha!
The truth comes out in the next chapter! John is finally explained!
Stay Tuned !
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