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She broke the hug and looked at me with clear confusion on her face.

“What? Obviously not!” A sad smile took over her. “I don't usually judge people by other people's mistakes, or hormonal attitudes. You took the photos, but it's his fault they were leaked. No one else should be able to see them. You will remain on my team, you are still a Venenum cheerleader. This doesn't change anything about your position on the team.” I sniffled and rubbed the sleeve of my sweatshirt over my face. “It's going to be okay, I promise.”

My eyes were very heavy. I didn't feel like I'd gotten enough sleep, but I was forced to open them when Jazmine jumped on my bed. On top of me. Waking me up, almost screaming.

“What the fuck...” I mumbled.

“Wake up, they're arresting Veronica's ex-boyfriend!”

It took me about ten seconds to absorb that information.

“What…?”

The bedroom door was opened again and this time Sidney was the one who entered.

“Am I disturbing the lovebirds?” I looked at Jazmine on top of me, who laughed, while I felt my face heating up a little.

“Kendra is smocking hot, but I was born straight.” Jaz shrugged and got off me. And from my bed. “Come on, Kendra, get ready.”

“For what? To see an idiot get arrested?”

“We're all part of the Venenum team, let's go give Veronica some emotional support.” Declared Sidney almost like an order.

I rolled my eyes but decided to give in. If the idiot was being arrested, at the very least I would want to know why. After all, I was a little curious.

I got out of bed and just put my robe on over my pajamas. I didn't care about the rest of the things, I just wanted to get it over with so I could go back to sleep.

We went down the stairs and left the building. Sidney was the one who was in contact with Emily who, as far as I understand, was with Veronica. We arrived at the gym with the college swimming pools a bit later and saw two police cars parked out front. Veronica was curled up in Troian's arms and was crying a lot.

I felt sorry for her. I didn't know why her ex was going to jail, but for Veronica to be there, even though she was suffering... something told me that he had done something horrible to her.

We stepped closer.

“Hey...” Sid was the one who spoke, then holding Veronica's hand. “I'm sorry, Roni.”

“Thank you, Sid.” Her eyes then found me there. “Thank you for being here… all of you.”

“That’s what teams are for, right?!” I replied, a little uncomfortable with the intensity of the brown eyes staring at me.

“That's what friends are for!” Emily contradicted me.

I wanted to laugh, but I didn't. I just remained quiet.

When the cops finally brought Martin out of the gym, I saw his shoulders slumped and his face pale.

Suddenly, a pickup truck stopped under the sidewalk and out came Derek Torres in a wild version of himself. That man was filled with hatred. Some police officers held him down while he shouted at Martin, cursed him and made clear threats such as “if the police hadn't caught you, I would have put you six feet under”.

This only made me certain that this time that idiot had reached a new limit of stupidity. After all, no one would go to prison for cheating on their girlfriend.

“What did he do this time?” I couldn't hold my tongue.

“He leaked nude photos of me.” Veronica replied dryly, harshly, but on the verge of breaking again. “I was underage when I took them.”

“It was framed as child pornography.” Emily added and I just nodded. There was no need to make any further comments or question anything more. This was beyond humiliating. This was complete disappointment in a person she trusted so much.

“I'm sorry, Veronica...” I sighed, but I didn't look at her, I was just stuck in the scene of the police putting Martin into the car. The sun began to reach its peak in the sky and several students came together and filmed the situation. “I'm sorry about everything.”

Our arguments, fights and even slaps seemed so absurd now. I didn't even know how to explain it. Yes, I felt sorry for the girl, after all, I knew how to put myself in her place. But at the same time, I had no idea if we could actually get closer. I knewthat Jaz and Sid liked her and respected her as a teammate, I even believed that Veronica had that reciprocal feeling for them, but she and I... We were in more complex territory. We always compete against each other. We have always been the worst enemies to each other. Like Regina and Cady, but without all the fakery. We didn't like one another, and everyone knew it. We made sure everyone knew and now I was there, joining the girls I had met a few weeks ago to give her emotional support.