Synonym

Chapter 15

I wouldn't say I was nervous, but there were definitely butterflies in my stomach.

My eyes darted to Finn in the living room. He was sitting on the couch, scrolling through Instagram while waiting to leave. Finn was looking sexy as fuck in a leather jacket and light wash ripped jeans. Since he was absorbed in his phone, I had the perfect opportunity to check him out.

That seemed to distract me until I realized Finn was talking to me and I was just starring at him blankly.

Oops.

I shook my head slightly and straightened up on the island bar stool under me. Finn's lips formed a smirk as he stood from the couch. He ran his ran through his hair before grabbing his school lacrosse bag off the floor with his school stick. "I said, are you good? I was going to head out now. The interview should be in five minutes."

My eyes wandered to the clock on the stove before finding their way back to Finn, standing by the door. "Yeah. I should be good. I'll see you at practice after. Love you."

"Love you too. You'll do great. Just stay calm." Finn reminded me and opened the wooden door to leave the apartment. His frame was halfway through the doorway when he paused and turned around. "Don't forget to add what you want to the grocery list." He added before I acknowledged him and the door shut.

I adjusted my hair in the view of my laptop. I wore an emerald green dress that complimented my brown eyes. CNN would be calling me in minutes for a live interview. After airing the trial and hearing the political commentators, they wanted an interview with me. I had just found out about it yesterday after Finn and I were with our friends. Obviously, I said yes.

Finn was leaving the apartment to make sure it was quiet for the call. He and Owen were going to hang around his dorm and go to practice together.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when the Skype ringtone on my computer started to go off. I accepted the call and the news anchor from CNN appeared on the screen. Her golden blonde hair was perfectly styled and fell around her tanned face like a veil. "Ms. Mason, welcome to the show. I'm sure you've seen the buzz around your name in recent weeks." Her voice was like liquid gold to the ears. No wonder she was on television.

I smiled politely, "Thanks for having me. It's nice to have a platform to speak out on."

"Well let's get right into the questions then." She'd smiled and glanced at her notes for a millisecond before meeting my eyes through the screen again. "Let's start out with your most recent headline. It is my understanding that yesterday you engaged in a twitter fight with ESPN host John Wilson in front of your 789K followers. Would you care to explain why you tweeted at him?"

I let out a small breath of relief. I got this. The only surprise was when she mentioned my follower count. My twitter and Instagram had been skyrocketing since I made the Olympic team. Then the trial and a twitter fight with a man amassing over 3 million followers. I was blowing up. "Well, I first tweeted him because he was implying that it was my fault since I was playing on a men's team. I want to set the record straight, that women should be allowed to do anything men can. Sports is just another example of a situation where plenty of women have the skill and strength to play with men but aren't aloud too. I'd also like to point out that saying my position on the team was the cause of my rape is senseless. Men can rape other men and women can rape other women. That should not be a reason to stop women from reaching their goals."

"If you are in support of women on men's sports teams, would you say that men should be allowed on women's sports teams?" The woman, Cheryl, asked.

"For the sake of this argument, yes. But realistically this is where the issue of an advantage comes into play. I have no advantage over the men I play with. I think the better argument should be for Co-ed professional sports not just men on women's teams or women on men's teams." I responded confidently. Obviously, I didn't have all the answers but I could try and voice my opinion. Men had all of the television coverage when Women play just as well. That's why women should be able to play with the men.