Rumor Has It I'm Dating the Football Captain

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Six Months Without Him

The alarm clock buzzed loudly on the nightstand. It was seven in the morning.

Audrey did not reach over to hit the snooze button. She was already awake. She had been staring at the exact same crack in the white ceiling for seven straight hours. She had not slept a single minute.

She slowly sat up. Her body felt incredibly heavy. Her eyes burned and her throat felt entirely raw.

She looked down at her phone resting on the mattress.

She picked it up and tapped the dark screen. It lit up.

There were zero notifications.

He did not reply. He did not call. He did not fight back. He silently accepted the breakup text and completely let her go.

Audrey swallowed hard. She forced herself to get out of bed. She opened her dresser and completely ignored the black football jersey folded in the bottom drawer. She grabbed a plain gray sweater and a pair of faded jeans.

She walked out into the kitchen.

The apartment felt just as miserable as it did the night before.

Chloe was standing by the coffee maker. She was wearing a massive hoodie with the hood pulled entirely up over her head. She looked completely exhausted.

Zoya sat at the small table. She had a cup of green tea and a stack of flashcards. She was not reading them. She was just staring blankly at the wall.

"Good morning," Audrey said quietly. Her voice was raspy.

Chloe turned around. She took one look at Audrey’s pale face and dark under-eye circles.

"You look like a total zombie," Chloe said bluntly.

"I feel like a zombie," Audrey admitted. She walked over and poured herself a mug of black coffee.

"Did he answer?" Chloe asked. She did not bother sugarcoating the question.

Audrey stared into her dark mug. She shook her head slowly.

"No," Audrey whispered. "Nothing. Not a single word."

Chloe cursed quietly under her breath. She leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed her arms. "I cannot believe it. I really thought he would immediately buy a plane ticket and kick the door down."

"He has no reason to," Zoya said from the table. She kept her voice very even, but her hands were gripping her flashcards tightly. "She broke up with him. He is following her instructions. It is the logical outcome."

"It is not logical, Zoya. It is stupid," Chloe argued. "He is the most stubborn guy on campus. He does not just give up."

"He did give up," Audrey interrupted gently. She took a sip of the bitter coffee. "And honestly, it is for the best. He has a new life in Florida. He has that girl in the red dress from the photo. He does not need a distraction from campus dragging him down."

"Audrey, stop doing that," Chloe warned. "Stop pretending you do not care."

"I am not pretending," Audrey lied smoothly. "I am accepting reality. I have a journalism career to build. I have midterms. I cannot sit around and cry over a guy who clearly moved on weeks ago."

Chloe and Zoya exchanged a very long, quiet look. They both knew she was entirely heartbroken. But they also knew exactly how Audrey handled pain. She built a wall and completely threw herself into her work.

"Okay," Chloe said softly. She did not push her. "What are you doing today?"

"I have an editorial meeting in twenty minutes," Audrey said. She grabbed her backpack from the floor. "I am going to pitch a massive series on the women’s tennis team. I will see you guys tonight."

Audrey walked out of the apartment and pulled the heavy door shut behind her.

The walk to the journalism building was freezing. The wind bit sharply at her cheeks, but she did not zip her jacket up. She just kept her head down and walked as fast as she could.

She pushed through the heavy wooden doors of the office.

The room was already buzzing. Ben was standing in the middle of the room. He was holding a stack of papers and talking loudly to two freshman reporters.

Daisy was sitting at her desk, editing photos. She looked up and gave Audrey a very soft, sad smile.

"Did you see the new update?" Ben shouted the exact second Audrey walked in. "Florida is doing a live press conference at noon! The European scouts are going to officially announce the top three draft picks."

Audrey stopped walking. Her chest tightened painfully.

"Ben, stop talking," Daisy hissed. She kicked his chair hard.

"What?" Ben asked, completely oblivious. "It is breaking news! Audrey, we need a front-page spread on Calloway. If he gets drafted today, it is the biggest sports story of the entire year."

Audrey walked over to her desk. She set her backpack down on the floor. Her hands were shaking slightly, but she locked her jaw. She refused to break down in the middle of the office.

"I am not writing it," Audrey stated coldly.

Ben blinked. "What do you mean you are not writing it? You always cover the football captain."

"Not anymore," Audrey said. She sat down and opened her laptop. "Calloway is old news. He does not play for our campus anymore. He plays for Florida."

"But he is our star!" Ben argued. He threw his hands in the air.

Audrey slammed her notebook down on the desk. The loud smack made Ben jump backward.

"Assign the Florida updates to a freshman," Audrey commanded sharply. Her voice left absolutely zero room for argument. "I am covering the women’s tennis team. We are a campus newspaper, Ben. We need to focus on the athletes who are actually here."

Ben stared at her in total shock. He finally realized how tense the room was. He slowly nodded.

"Okay," Ben muttered quietly. "Okay. I will assign it to a freshman."

He turned around and walked away to the other side of the room.

Daisy rolled her chair over to Audrey’s desk. She leaned in close.

"Are you okay?" Daisy whispered.

"I am fine, Daisy," Audrey said. She stared blankly at her bright laptop screen. "I just want to do my job."

"You do not have to be totally fine right now," Daisy reminded her gently. "It is okay to be sad."

Audrey swallowed the massive lump in her throat. She looked at the sweet, curly-haired freshman.

"If I stop working, I will start thinking," Audrey confessed quietly. "And if I start thinking, I am going to completely fall apart. So I just need to work."

Daisy nodded slowly. She reached out and gave Audrey’s hand a quick, warm squeeze. "I will help you with the tennis article. We can do the interviews together."

"Thank you," Audrey whispered.

Audrey started typing. She hit the keys entirely too hard.

She did not check her phone. She did not open the sports blogs. She completely blocked Florida out of her mind.

She told herself the pain would eventually fade. She just had to survive today. And then tomorrow. She had to survive the next six months without him.