golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter thirty-four

ben's phone buzzed as he finished up rehearsals. when he saw eliana's name, he picked up immediately. "ellie, i'm so sorry, i shouldn't have-"
"you were right." eliana stopped him. "can you and jordan come to my room? there's another girl who said that easton hit her."
"of course, we'll be right there." ben waved jordan over. "see ya, ellie."

jordan and ben showed up at the door soon after.
"guys, this is lola sanchez. lola, this is ben, and jordan." eliana introduced them. jordan smiled nervously when lola shook his hand, and she blushed. ben and eliana shared a knowing look.
"alright, what do we need to do?" ben asked.
"i'm gonna call the president of u.s.a. gymnastics, mike waterford. i'll probably have to name drop to actually get him on the phone, but that's okay." eliana said. "you guys need to work on writing up lola's story. i already have mine." she pulled her laptop out and started to type something. jordan and lola sat next to each other on the other side of the bed, and he wrote things down as she told him about what coach easton had done to her.
eliana was already absorbed in her laptop, searching for the number to get waterford on the phone. ben sat next to her. "hey."
she glanced at him, but continued typing.
"ellie, look at me." he said. "i'm really proud of you. i know this is tough. i'm so, so proud of you."
she nodded, and ben brushed a tear away from her cheek. "don't cry, sweetheart."
"nobody ever says that they're proud of me." she whispered. ben smiled sadly and kissed the top of her head. "that's what i'm here for."
she nodded and turned back to the computer. "oh! here it is! secretary to mr. waterford." she dialed the number on her phone and put it on speaker.
"u.s.a. gymnastics, office of president mike waterford, diane speaking. how can i help you?"
"hi diane, i'd like to speak with the president."
"i'm sorry, he's very busy right now." the secretary said.
"it's incredibly important." eliana said. "i think he'll want to hear this."
"again, he's busy at the moment. i can ask him to give you a call back. may i have a name?"
"tell him that eliana dempsey called."
the secretary was silent for a moment. "i-i'm sorry, eliana dempsey?"
"yes, that's me." she said.
"i am so sorry, miss dempsey, i had no idea it was you. i will put you through to him right away."
"thank you, diane." eliana smirked as she waited to be put through. ben, jordan, and lola were all crowded around the phone as hold music played. then, a man's voice came through. "this is president of u.s.a. gymnastics mike waterford speaking."
"hi, mr. waterford, this is eliana dempsey."
"miss dempsey!" he said, sounding a little confused. "congratulations on this weekend. to what do i owe this pleasure?"
"i'd like to report a case of emotional, verbal, and physical abuse from one of your coaches."
"o-okay." he said. "go on."
"coach tanner easton, one of the assistants for team usa, has been abusing lola sanchez and i for years."
"hold on, miss dempsey. let me get a pad of paper." he paused. "do you have details of these incidents?"
"yes." she said. "just today, lola was practicing her vault, and coach easton proceeded to yell at her, and then slapped her across the face."
"is there any proof of this happening?" mr. waterford asked. eliana hesitated. "no."
"then i'm afraid i can't do anything about it. coach easton will be staying on-"
"you wouldn't want me to release the video of him screaming at me, would you?" eliana quickly said. mr. waterford sighed. "frankly, miss dempsey, i don't think there is a video. i think you're bluffing. this was a complete waste of my time. have a nice day."
with that, the line clicked. eliana sighed. "i didn't think it would come to this."
"what do we do now?" lola asked.
"as our lovely coach would say, we go to the press."
jordan nodded. "go big or go home."
eliana dialed another number.
"is this the new york times editor-in-chief? my name is eliana dempsey. i have a story that you're gonna want to hear."