One of them was staring at me oddly, leaving me feeling discomfited. Recognition lit up his face. A smarmy grin crossed his face as he nudged his friend.
“Yo, dude, I think this is that girl,” I heard him murmured none-too-quietly. “The frat party one.”
His friend turned to stare at me, a knowing smirk spreading on his lips.
“Yeah, man, you’re right, it’s her.”
The girls who were with them overheard their conversation and looked to me, then looked to Seth. They turned to each other with derisive giggles they tried to hide behind their hands.
Mortification mixed with rage spiked through me. Whoever these students were, they had heard the rumors, too. And now here I was, with yet another guy, confirming everything people were saying.
“We’ll leave you to it, then,” the first guy said with a mocking chuckle.
His group snickered as they took off, shooting me final parting looks with laughter on their faces.
“What the fuck was that about?” Seth asked.
Tears sprung to my eyes as I leaped from my seat. I wiped at them viciously, refusing to let them fall. I began to pace around the gazebo like a caged lion without anywhere to go.
“It’s just assholes being assholes,” I said angrily even as my heart ached with shame. My hands trembled just as much as my voice had.
Seth left his own seat to approach me, slow and cautious. I swerved on my heel to avoid him, heading back to the table.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” I intended for the words to come out sharply, but my shaky voice gave me away. I couldn’t stop remembering the scornful look on their faces. Those tears did fall then, as my face crumpled.
Seth’s expression immediately became concerned.
“Hey,” he said softly. He came to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
I looked down at the ground, avoiding his eyes.
“It's nothing,” I bit out, but my voice cracked as fresh tears spilled down my cheeks.
Seth tugged me into his arms, cradling me carefully. He rested his chin on the top of my head as I buried my face in his chest and fought to stop the tears. As awful as it was to have those assholes act like that in front of the two of us, it was even more humiliating to have broken down in front of him like this.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice muffled in my hair. “I don’t know what’s going on so I don’t know what to do.”
I let out a slow sigh, my heartbeat calming.
“This helps,” I told him, snuggling into his embrace.
He pressed his face into my hair and tightened his arms around me. It was almost enough to make me forget those snickers and smirks.
“How can I help?” he asked.
“Take me home.”
