Everything Has Changed

Promising Young Woman

"It's Taylor!" His heart dropped. "Something has happened and nobody has been able to get in contact with her all day. I have had Scott and Andrea on the phone with me multiple times this afternoon, her friends, Jack. Literally everyone. Nobody has heard from her since earlier this week."

"I don't understand. She was fine when I left this morning. We had breakfast together and then I left for practice. She made me lunch and everything and gave me a kiss goodbye saying she would see me later this evening. I didn't think anything was wrong!" Travis wracked his brain to make sense of it all. He just couldn't seem to understand how things could change so suddenly.

"She would have been Trav. This all came out late this morning. There have been some umm images let's just say of Taylor circulating the internet and social media all day." Travis could note the rising panic echo down the phone as the beating of his heart slowly increased, getting to a point of concern. "I called her earlier but she was hysterical. Nothing she was saying made sense."

Travis looked down at his phone. No message alerts or missed calls. She hadn't tried to contact him.

"Has she tried to call you?" Travis asked.

"No. Everyone has been trying but she just won't answer. I can get flights and planes sorted for her parents but that still takes time. I am afraid that time isn't on our side." Tree warned, a serious tone growing stronger.

"When you say images. What are we talking?" Images could mean a whole lot of things, especially with Taylor. Travis had seen her spiral once before, early on in their relationship when a news department speculated on her weight and if she was pregnant. After watching her Miss Americana documentary it became clearer to him why she reacted so drastically. But it was when Taylor went silent; that is when he worried most.

"They are images of an explicit nature Travis. I would go as far to say some of them are pornographic." He felt his stomach flip. "But these are not photos of Taylor. Well they are but they are clearly AI generated and photoshopped. Sadly technology has only gotten better and these days they look so realistic, you could easily mistaken it for the real thing."

"WHY ARE THEY STILL UP THERE? WHY HASN'T ANYONE DONE SOMETHING?" Travis shouted down the phone. He hadn't meant to scare Tree or to yell at her but she was the only person there he could direct his anger towards.

"Travis they are everywhere. Even with the best will in the world I am only one person and it takes time. I have spoken with some people to get these photos taken down and I am dealing with as many newspapers and media agents as humanly possible right now. Even the White House has called for a statement. I'm trying my best Trav." He knew that she was trying hard and he appreciated her for that. He couldn't deal with what she warned him about after that. "Travis, you need to find Taylor". Any form of negotiation in her voice was out of the window.

"I'm going now." He hung up on the call and rushed out to warn Coach Reid and the rest of the coaches that there had been a family emergency and that he needed to go home. They had initially been reluctant but when he eventually warned them through gritted teeth that Taylor was in danger, they let him past without a second thought. In any other instance, he would have been jealous of such treatment. But not today.

He stepped into the locker room to change and gather up his things when he decided that curiosity had got the better of him. If he knew what they were up against and dealing with, he would have a better chance at helpful Taylor through it. He opened hip his phone to a flurry of text messages but went straight to Twitter or X whatever it was called.

And there they were. In Black, White and all other kinds of multi-colours. Taylor with men that he had never seen before, Taylor at Arrowhead, Taylor with his teammates. It took all the strength he had to hold himself together before collapsing in front of the toilet, this morning's breakfast that Taylor had so loving crafted and created for them staring back up at him from the once white and pristine porcelain. It made him feel sick to the bottom of his stomach that he had to see Taylor in such a way. In a place that was like home to him. And to her. But he couldn't think about that now. The task in hand was to get home to Taylor; he couldn't leave her alone for another second.