At home with Ryan and Taylor over mimosas, Lauren agreed to tell the long version of her history with Junior Trocci. She explained that they grew up attending the same church, and during a spring church fundraiser in high school, they flirted while volunteering. That night, Junior pulled Lauren into the shadows and initiated an intense make-out that led to him getting her off during the fireworks, beginning a secret period of frequent hookups guided by notes she slipped him.

Lauren revealed that her friend Kelly discovered her diary during a sleepover, photographed the entries, and posted them to Instagram. The posts spread quickly, and by Monday the school was plastered with printouts. Lauren stayed home for a week and, when she tried to return, the bullying intensified. Making matters worse, Junior denied that anything had happened between them, reinforcing a narrative that Lauren was a lying stalker, while Kelly publicized Lauren’s fan fiction hobby to further humiliate her.

Lauren said the harassment grew so severe that her grandmother withdrew her for the final weeks of the year, after which Lauren transferred schools. She credited Ryan, whom she met at the new school, with helping her heal through steady, quiet support. When Taylor asked about consequences for Kelly, Lauren recounted that Kelly was later caught with a large quantity of marijuana at school and more at home, leading to a plea deal; Lauren and others had been shocked because Kelly had seemed straitlaced.

Turning to the present day, Lauren described what happened at church: Junior waited for her outside the bathroom, with his brother Alec keeping watch, and pinned her against a wall. Lauren admitted she initially froze and physically reacted to Junior’s presence, but she pushed past the moment and escaped to the safety of her grandmother’s group, after which both brothers left. She insisted she had no intention of seeing Junior again and rejected Taylor’s teasing about hate sex, though she conceded the encounter stirred old feelings.

Ryan proposed going to a club that night so Lauren could redirect her energy and regain control of her dating life, and Lauren agreed. Afterward, Lauren took her dog Walter for a walk. Outside, she noticed a recurring, helmeted man leaving on an expensive motorcycle; he acknowledged her with a nod. The sight intensified her arousal, underscoring how long it had been since she had been intimate, and she hoped the night out would change that.