Shades of Limelight

7: Headline

I spent a lot of my time that I could have used to study or work running back and forth between campus and home, and I certainly didn't mind it, but I would have been lying to myself if I claimed that it wasn't a special kind of exhausting. Being on the receiving end of snarky comments from my sister Brooke—in all of her eighth grade wisdom—and Isabel—who actually was more experienced than me and had a leg to stand on—didn't make it any easier on me.

Fortunately, I only had to deal with the two of them one at a time, which was a little more manageable for me. After I gave Mom her shot, it was Brooke's turn to get in my ear.

"I hope you're proud of yourself. All of the boys at school are still talking about you, except Leonard, but he doesn't care about football because he's gay," Brooke said just as I was about to leave to go back to campus.

"Then be friends with Leonard," I said. Was it really that complicated?

"Well, he's my only option now because of you," Brooke said.

I let out a sigh as I opened up the front door. "I didn't think being popular was still that important anymore. I'll see you soon."

"Really? Because you don't care about what other people think about you?"

I didn't respond to that. It was very different, and anyone who was older than fourteen knew it. Besides, I had a mystery to solve with Ryan back in Madison, and Mom never gave me crap for what happened with Corey, and she was the person I was really trying to help by coming home.

"Layla, don't leave on a bad note like that. Why don't you come back inside, sit down, and enjoy a cup of tea with me?" Mom said.

That sounded really nice, even with Brooke around. I didn't hate her at all, but she had a knack for getting under my skin with her young teenage concerns. It was part of the duty of being a little sister, I supposed, but I wouldn't have known. I never had that kind of luxury.

***

When my alarm went off the next morning in Madison, I checked my phone to find five texts from Ryan, three of which were about our afternoon plans to talk to some football players about if they saw or heard anything about what happened to Courtney, and one about how he had never seen so many plants anywhere as he saw in Corey's dorm hallway. That had to have been a lie though, because I was pretty sure there were tons of cacti in Arizona where he used to live.

I really wasn't expecting anything different in that regard, but I was not prepared for the fifth text he sent me, which was a picture of the Badger Herald website. First on the top stories page was a picture of Corey and me talking in the hall by his dorm, with Ryan conveniently cropped out.

It's Not Over: Corey Hansen and Ex-Girlfriend Reunite Before College Football Playoff.

"That's the most tabloid headline I've ever seen," I mumbled to myself. "Isabel, it sure isn't over."

When I saw her after class, she had some explaining to do. That headline couldn't have been further from the truth, and she knew it. But with her, it was all about creating a false narrative that generated interest and got people talking.

Couldn't she have waited just a few more days for me to put a story together about Courtney before she pulled some attention-seeking trash like that? There was actual substance to what I wrote.

I couldn't get upset quite yet. There were hours until I would have the opportunity to talk to her, and with the research and interviews I also had on my plate, there was no use in thinking about what I wanted to say to her.

What did I even want to say to her?

At least I had plenty of time to think about it.

As the morning went by, the chilly Wisconsin winter began to settle in with a light snow shower, and I still didn't know what to say to truly encapsulate how I felt about her making up lies about Corey and me and our relationship status to get clicks and reads. And as the snow intensified into the afternoon, I caught Ryan just outside our building so I didn't have to go inside and face Isabel just yet, so I still didn't have to decide the words I wanted to use.