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“You heard me…” I grumbled and leaned against the machine, finally making my chocolate fall out. “Oh, my chocolate!” I screamed and grabbed the bar.

“I didn't ask him to do that, I just mentioned that Colleen had a crush on him.”

“Well, he was an asshole to me and he'll probably be an even bigger asshole to my cousin.” I opened the chocolate before speaking again: “You know, fighting with you is one thing. Bringing my cousin into this is too cruel even for our fights. Don't mess with her.”

Veronica smiled painfully.

“I like your cousin.”

“Good, then tell your horny brother to stay away from her.”

She agreed. Her mouth looked too white and her eyes, now closer, looked swollen. Had she been crying?

“Where are you going at this time?” I let curiosity get the better of me.

“It’s not of your business.”

“Outch… Okay.” I shrugged and started walking towards the stairs. “Good night, Veronica.” I didn't hear a response, just the front door of the building opening and then closing.

I couldn't stop crying. I wasn't sure if it was out of shame or fear. Or both. Those photos were supposed to be something private, something I sent just to Martin, but after everything that happened, he did what I never thought he would do: he leaked the photos. There were photos of me in a bra, in panties or even without a bra.

It was something good that… became humiliating.

“How did this happen?” Karlee asked me seriously.

I ended up telling everything that happened between me and my ex-boyfriend. I told her that the only person who received those images was him and now a random Twitter account was exposing everything.

Every person on campus would see that. All the people in town could see it. Or worse, everyone in the fucking world could see that.

My uncle and aunt would disown me if they knew that had happened.

“How old were you when you sent these photos?”

My trainer was wearing sweats, which was not usual. Neither was the lack of makeup, but I was happy that she could see me so immediately.

“I don't know, seventeen, sixteen... I hadn't taken photos like that for him in a long time, especially after we had had sex for the first time.” I answered honestly.

She nodded and took out her own cell phone.

“I need to make a call but don’t worry, I know we will work this out.” Her hand squeezed mine for a moment before leaving the room. The door was closed as I was once again drowning in tears. Two minutes later, Karlee returned. “I asked a friend to come here. He's the sheriff...”

“What? Karlee…” I was terrified.

She pulled out one of the chairs and sat in front of me.

“You're on my team now, Veronica. It's part of my family, and family is something that we cultivate and protect.” Those green eyes of hers looked at me intently. “If you took these photos under the age of eighteen and someone leaked them on the internet, it's child pornography. You're in Texas and this is how we work things out. It is a crime and there is punishment for it. The punishment will be carried out and the photos will be removed from the network as soon as possible.” A sigh escaped her. “I can't promise that this won't come back to haunt youin the future, but your photos fall under child pornography and anyone who has them will be considered a criminal.”

“We dated for years…”

“I know…”

“I thought I was going to marry him, Karlee… I…” The tears hit me again as the coach wrapped me in a hug full of affection, making me feel a little bit safer.

“I'm sorry, Veronica. For everything.”

I felt doomed. Completely destroyed. My heart, already disappointed, had now been ripped out and stepped on. It was shot and destroyed.

At some point, when I finally managed to calm down a little, I gathered courage and asked the trainer: “Are you going to kick me off the team?”