Boot Camp

14

Mina
Hey, how's it going?? ❤️

I wake up to a text from Mina, the first in weeks. She threw in a heart emoji, which doesn't go with her usual dry texting style.

Rolling over in bed, I decide to reply.

Whitney
Not too bad, how's your life been?

Mina
Omg you can't just not tell me how that camp's been

Whitney
I have WAY too much to explain over text haha

Mina
Oh okay, I get that

Most of my days are spent playing tennis or hanging out with my mom tbh

Whitney 
You should tell her I say hi

I spend most my days exercising too (obviously lol)

Mina
I will!

I'm gonna tell your family you say hi too

Whitney
Wait my family?

Are you at my house or something?

That wasn't a first.

Mina
Oh right, well your dad, Levi, and Poppy invited me to play doubles with them

I felt weird at first for accepting but your mom said I shouldn't

I pause and stare up at the ceiling blankly, realizing my friend, who my dad and sister barely know, was invited to go play with them before I ever was. I try to give Mina the benefit of the doubt, as she never passes up a chance to flex her amazing tennis abilities, but it still feels weird to me.

Whitney
Ah I see, hope you have fun

I gotta go but talk to you later!

I place my feet on the floor and make my bed. Fluffing my sheets with a little more force and pulling them taut across the mattress, I feel something pointy hit the top of my foot. I crouch down and pick up a folded piece of paper, and this time, it's not a clothing tag.

"You've got to be kidding me." I haphazardly fold open the paper and tear off a corner in the process, but the words still read loud and clear.

Guess the little slut found another man. – X

Another man?

If you can direct me to him, that would be great, I think, since Axel still seems to be hanging on to his last thread of professionalism.

As I read the words over and over, I try not to let four years of torturous English literature go to waste, realizing if "another man" implies there must be a first man, then X could be code for ex—as in, ex-boyfriend.

Martina interrupts my train of thought.

"Hey, Whitney, are you sure you want to miss breakfast?"

I shove the note into my pajama shorts pocket and whirl around. "No, I'll be there in a sec. Just gotta change." She pauses for a second longer than usual as I grab the hemline of my T-shirt before hurrying out of our room.

At breakfast, I take a seat next to Martina at a small table in the corner, but I notice Aspen is sitting with us today. She looks up and gives me a diffident smile, a dimple forming in her right cheek.