Jackson and I broke apart and looked toward the house. Preston stood there. I’d thought he had looked angry inside when he was yelling at Anderson, but that seemed playful compared to the way he looked now.
A vein throbbed in his forehead, his eyes were narrowed slits, and a sneer overtook his mouth. “Get away from my sister!” he growled through clenched teeth.
Jackson stood up, took a few steps away from me, and put his hands in the air. “I don’t want any trouble.”
I jumped up and took a couple of steps toward my brother. “Pres.”
He shook his head at me and I stopped. The three of us stood there in tense silence until the door opened, and a couple of people poured out—including Anderson. The look on his face was pure glee.
Preston started cussing Jackson out. All the while, Jackson stayed silent.
“Preston, stop!” I finally yelled after the verbal attacks became too much to listen to.
“This is why you’ve been acting so weird, isn’t it?” he spat. “How long have you been hooking up with the enemy behind my back, Charlotte?”
I recoiled slightly at the use of my given name. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d used it and knew he must be blind with rage to say it now. “I haven’t been...” I started, considering Jackson and I hadn’t been technically dating until that night. I turned to Jackson and saw the flash of hurt across his features. “What I mean is...”
Tears fell down my cheeks, and I was unable to say anything. Not that there was anything I could say to make things better. My eyes went from person to person.
Preston looked at me with anger. There was no doubt he felt betrayed by finding me making out with his biggest rival.
Jackson watched me with hurt in his eyes for the second time that evening. He’d done nothing but put himself out there time and time again, only to have me act wishy-washy about our relationship.
Anderson’s face looked like it would split if his smile got any bigger. He was having a field day watching this play out. Not only had he gotten to embarrass me in front of everyone, but he also got to watch the moment when Preston found out my secret anyway.
I felt overwhelmed by so many emotions as everyone stood watching me. They were all waiting for me to say or do something, so I did the only thing I could think of.
I turned and ran.
Chapter Seventeen
Thank goodness I still had Sammi’s pink jacket.
I’d left the scene at her house in such a hurry, I hadn’t really thought anything through. I ran for about a mile down the long road that led to her house. But once the cold air became too much pushing in and out of my lungs, I stopped.
It was then that the weight of everything began to sink in.
It was nearly midnight, I was walking through an area that was not densely populated, and it was near freezing.
I pulled the jacket tightly around my torso, and I continued to walk toward my house. It was several miles away, and I’d never make curfew. But I didn’t know who to ask for help.
Several cars drove by me as I did my dramatic walk of shame on the side of the road. Some would honk, some would holler, but not a single person stopped to see if I was okay.
And I was so not okay.
I continued for several more minutes before my entire body shook. This wasn’t going to work. I needed to have someone come get me.
When I spotted a tree stump a short distance from the street, I walked over and sat down. I pulled out my phone and called my dad. It didn’t even finish the first ring when he answered.
“Charlie? Where are you? Are you okay?” His voice was full of panic.
“Dad, I need you to—” My voice broke off into violent sobbing. But I eventually managed to get out enough words to ask him to come get me.
I heard the jingle of keys through the speaker. “I’m on my way.”
We stayed on the phone, not exactly talking, but more of my dad reassuring me he was on his way, and me telling him where I was once I was able to speak.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it away from my face. There was a message from Daria on the screen.
11:30 PM
Daria: WHERE ARE YOU????? I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I lost you in the crowd. Veronica said you ran away from the party! Tell me you’re not dead in a ditch.
I put my dad on speaker—who was still talking to me like a spooked animal—so I could text my best friend.
Charlie: I’m on the side of the road.
Daria: WHERE??? Put on Find My Friends and I’ll come get you!!
Charlie: My dad is already on his way. I’m going to be in so much trouble, but I didn’t know what to do. Pres found out about Jackson.
Daria: Girl, I am so sorry.
“Okay, Charlie-bear, I’m heading down Oak right now. Where are you?”
I switched the speaker back to normal and held the phone to my ear. “I’m going to stand near the edge of the road. I’m wearing a pink jacket.”
He made a coughing sound. “Pink?”
“Yeah, pink.” I saw headlights nearing, and I waved my hand. “Is that you?”
“Yep. I’ll see you in a sec.”
We hung up, and I stepped aside as my dad pulled over onto the shoulder. I wasted no time getting into his SUV. “Thanks, Dad,” I said without looking in his direction.
He made a U-turn and started driving to our house. “Where’s Preston? I cannot believe he’d just leave you at a party. When he gets home—”
“He didn’t leave me,” I interrupted. “I ran away from the party.”
“You what?” My dad’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Do you have any idea what could have happened to you out here? What if you were hit by a car, or someone drove by and snatched you up?”
My dad’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. After checking his mirrors, he pulled back over to the side of the road, put the car in park, and turned to look at me. “After your mom died, I was afraid I would fall apart. I loved her so much. But then I realized I had this little girl who needed me to be strong and take care of her. And so I was.”
“I always assumed it would be you and me against the world. But then I met Kathy, and I discovered I was able to love again. I love her and Preston very much, you know that, right?”
I nodded, unsure of where he was going with this.
“I love them, but you are still my little girl. Charlie, if anything ever happened to you, I don’t know what I would do. It would break me.”
“I’m sorry, Dad. I wasn’t thinking. Everything happened so fast.”
I relayed what had happened to him, conveniently leaving out the part where Jackson and I were making out when Preston found us. When I was done, my dad pulled back onto the road and started driving back toward the house.
He didn’t say anything else, and I didn’t either. The silence in the car was unbearable. I couldn’t decide if my dad was angry, disappointed, or something else. I hated not knowing where I stood with him.
The traffic was light, and it didn’t take long until we got home. I opened the car door, and raced to the front door, looking forward to being alone in my room.
“Wait,” my dad called. “I want you to go to the living room and wait for me.”
He pulled out his phone, hit a couple buttons on the screen, and lifted it to his ear. I lingered at the front door of our house and listened.
“Preston, I need you to come home right now. No stops, do you understand?” He paused, his face contorted slightly as he listened to the voice on the other end. “I don’t care, you have ten minutes.”
When Dad hung up, his gaze zeroed in on where I stood eavesdropping.
“Inside, Charlie,” he said, his voice firm.
My dad didn’t have to tell me twice, and he followed right behind me as we walked into the house. When I turned toward the living room, he went down the hall to his bedroom. And even though he shut the door, I could hear his and Mom’s voices speaking in hushed to
nes.
I sat down on the couch, and as my body adjusted to the warmer temperature inside, I finally shed the pink jacket I’d inadvertently stolen from Sammi. I’d have to return it to her somehow, though I had no desire to talk to her or anyone at Rosemark after that party.
The idea of getting expelled and going to the Hope for the Future Academy for the rest of the year was looking a lot more appealing than it was a few weeks ago.
I groaned and slumped against the back of the couch. I covered my eyes with my hands as the murmuring voices continued in the other room. I couldn’t make out the words they spoke—wasn’t sure I wanted to.
The sound of the front door had me jerking up. Preston loomed in the doorway. The donut from his costume was gone, and he just wore his basketball shirt and pants. That and a massive black eye.
“Oh, my goodness, Preston.” I jumped up from where I sat and took a few steps in his direction. “What happened?”
His eyes narrowed in my direction. “Your boyfriend happened, Charlie. You know, my rival you’ve been dating in secret and were making out with at Sammi’s house? Thanks for that, by the way. I really love being made a laughing-stock. It was really fun.” His voice was cruel, and he reminded me too much of Anderson.
“It wasn’t like that, Preston.”
“You know he’s my nemesis, and you’ve been sneaking around my back to meet with him!”
“You mean like you were sneaking around and skipping school to do that basketball training session?”
Our mom’s voice came from the door of our parents’ bedroom. “What are you talking about, Charlie?”
Our heads both snapped in her direction, but not before I saw the murderous look in my brother’s eyes.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Did you say Preston was skipping school to go to basketball training?”
I took a deep breath and nodded.
“Preston, how could you?” our mom asked, her voice anguished. “Where did you even find something like that?”
“In Denver. I wanted to beat Brooks this year. Not that it mattered, Charlie has been feeding him secrets behind my back.”
My dad now interjected. “Charlie, why would you do that?”
I lifted my hands. “It wasn’t even like that. We were dating, not conspiring against Preston!”
“What about that Jackson kid you went to the corn maze with?” my dad asked. “I thought you liked him.”
“Wait.” Preston pointed his finger at Dad. “You knew she was dating him?”
Mom spoke again. “No, honey. This was some guy named Jackson.”
“And his name is Jackson Brooks.” Preston’s eyebrows were raised.
Mom took a seat on the couch. “Oh, my. This is getting complicated.”
“It’s really not.” Preston forced a tight smile. “Charlie has been dating my biggest rival behind my back, you guys knew about it, I caught them making out at the party, and then he punched me in the eye. Sound about right, sis?”
My eyes narrowed. “Why did he punch you? Did you say something to him?”
He practically growled. “Because this is suddenly my fault? Real nice, Charlie. You’re my sister, you’re supposed to have my back. And you’re taking Brooks’ side?”
I opened my mouth to say something. What, I wasn’t sure. But Dad beat me to it. He stepped between us. “Enough. Your mother and I have a lot to talk about.”
He turned to me first. “Charlie, you’ve not been completely honest with us, and you left a party in the middle of the night endangering yourself.”
His head swiveled to Preston. “You skipped school and got into a fight. It’s safe to say you both have made some terrible choices in the last few weeks. Consider yourselves grounded until further notice.”
Preston started to grumble.
“I don’t want to hear it. Now, go to your rooms. We’ll talk more in the morning when we’ve all had a chance to cool off.”
Preston and I walked down the hall. He was only a few steps in front of me, and I tried to catch him as he entered through his door. I wanted to yell at him for being such a jerk. I wanted to apologize for not telling him sooner.
But he didn’t even look at me before shutting his door. The click of the lock was the only sound I heard.
I stood outside of his room for a few moments, waiting for him to open back up. I wanted to talk to him—hash things out. I thought maybe we would agree to sneak out later and shoot some hoops in the freezing weather as we talked about everything.
But he never came back to the door.
I walked to my room and did the same as Preston. I shut and locked my door. Then I turned my phone off and went to bed. I was so tired after everything that had happened, my head barely hit the pillow before I fell asleep.
Chapter Eighteen
School on Monday was just as horrible as I imagined.
No, scratch that. It was much worse.
Preston and I had spent Sunday giving each other the silent treatment. We’d both mainly stayed in our rooms the entire day, only surfacing for an awkward family dinner. But with the start of another school week, we were forced to ride together in our shared vehicle.
We’d never been this angry with one another, and the space in the front seat was charged with our mutual animosity. Not only was he mad that I’d been seeing Jackson behind his back—which is why I’d kept it a secret, by the way. But Preston was also upset I’d ratted him out for skipping school, even though it had been unintentional.
I turned the music up in hopes of drowning out my thoughts, but Preston immediately turned it down. I turned it up once more, he turned it off.
This was turning out to be the longest fifteen minutes of my life.
I was mad about his stupid rivalry with Jackson. I’d had a lot of time to stew over it, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought the entire thing was crap! Who cared that they played against each other? It was just a high school game. It didn’t mean anything in the long run.
But what did matter was the fact that I’d bailed on Jackson in front of everyone. I wasn’t sure if that was the final straw for Jackson and I’d been too afraid to text him.
Preston had barely put our car in park in the school lot before he jumped out of the driver’s seat and slammed the door. I could see him stalking toward campus through the windshield.
I texted Daria.
6:50 AM
Charlie: Are you at school yet?
Daria: 5 minutes!
I sighed and opened the text that Anderson had sent in the night. I’d been too afraid to click the link to YouTube before this moment, but I figured it might be good to know what I was up against now that I was at school. Especially since I was one-hundred-percent positive everyone at Rosemark had seen what he posted.
I clicked the link while I waited for Daria.
It was a shaky video of the scene inside Sammi’s house. I was dressed in all my naughty schoolgirl glory, and Preston had just walked in. Whoever had filmed it knew what was going to happen beforehand.
I watched the scene unfold as a fresh wave of embarrassment washed over me. The corner of the video said two-thousand views, and I couldn’t imagine this could be that interesting to anyone other than those involved.
Then, the music started.
Someone had auto-tuned the entire thing. Me saying Anderson was the hottest guy in school. Anderson saying I was crazy. The whole song was frustratingly catchy, and I had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time I heard it.
I bit the inside of my cheek and looked at the parking lot, willing Daria to get here sooner. Without my best friend by my side, I wasn’t going to make it. I might as well go to the alternative school now.
Thankfully, she did show up. She linked her arm in mine as we walked up to the school building.
“I’m guessing you saw the video?” she asked under her breath.
I nodded. “Anderson was so kind to send it my way, and everyone else in a ten-mile
radius, I assume.”
“Yeah, it’s been making its rounds. It’s everywhere.”
“Gee, thanks,” I mumbled.
“Look, I know this is easier said than done, but you need to walk through those front doors with your head held high. Don’t let Anderson see he’s gotten to you.”
I stopped outside the front doors of Rosemark High and pulled Daria out of the way as people shuffled in. I tried to ignore the looks I got from my fellow students. “You don’t get it,” I said to her. “Anderson has done more than just get to me. He’s won. I’m waving my big white flag.”
“Oh, Charlie.” My friend’s brows were tipped up as she tilted her head ever so slightly.
“Don’t pity me. Just let it be, okay?”
I stormed into the building wondering just how bad the day was going to be.
Turned out, it was even worse than I thought.
Preston didn’t sit with me at lunch, which wasn’t a huge surprise. But no one other than Daria kept me company in the lunchroom. People stared and people laughed. It was like I was untouchable—and not in the super popular sense.
Even Anderson refused to look at me. I couldn’t decide if I was relieved by the possibility of finally being free of him or if the radio silence was disconcerting.
But as bad as all of that was, it was basketball practice that was the hardest.
We had our first preseason game coming up, and Coach Scruggs wanted us working hard to prepare. She divided the team for a scrimmage, putting Jasmine, the team captain, on one side, and me on the other.
Daria was sorted with the opposing side. She raised her shoulders and mouthed “sorry” at me before turning and walking to the other side of the court. I watched as she made her way over to Jasmine. Instantly, her team started huddling around her to listen to what she had to say.
Coach walked over to them with a nylon bag of tacky orange pinnies. They all put them on without argument before facing Jasmine once more. I was happy they were so attentive to the team’s captain, but I was feeling less confident.
Courtside Crush: Varsity Girlfriends Book One Page 13
