Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

S ome Things Are Beyond Our Control

Charlotte

I sit down beside Mila in my Advanced Social Media lecture. I open my laptop and check my university email. I see I have an email from Professor Brenda Burton.

From: Professor Brenda Burton. [email protected]

To: Charlotte Morgan [email protected]

Subject: Advanced Social Media SM04

Charlie, please meet with me after class.

Kind regards,

BB

Brenda Burton, PhD

Professor of Communications

Riverside U

My stomach sinks.

I answer the email, saying I agree to meet.

“What’s going on?” Mila whispers.

“Professor Burton wants to meet me after class,” I whisper.

“She’s been meeting with a lot of students. It’s probably a check-in for the internship,” Mila replies. That puts me at ease until Raph walks into class and smiles at me. Only his smile seems distant and cold.

“What’s gotten into him?” Mila asks.

“I don’t know,” I retort, but something about his demeanor isn’t sitting right with me.

I try to refocus my energy on the lecture. About midway through, I get a text from Ruby checking in. She’s been worried about everything going on with Raph. She thinks I need to file a report with the police, but what am I going to say? He hasn’t really committed an offense.

I text her back that the prof wants to meet me after class and she wishes me luck.

Five minutes before the lecture ends, I get a text from Finn.

Unknown caller: Should I meet you outside the lecture hall?

Me: Not a good idea. Prof wants to speak to me after class.

When the lecture is over, I pack my things.

“Do you want me to wait for you outside?” Mila asks.

“That’s sweet of you to offer but I don’t want to hold you up,” I tell her.

“Okay, good luck with Burton,” she says.

“Thanks.”

She leaves and I head to the front of the lecture hall. I wait for a few minutes off to the side because a number of students are asking her questions.

Once everyone has cleared, I step forward.

“How is the internship going, Charlotte?”

“Surprisingly well. I’ve settled in. I’ve been learning a lot from Alice,” I tell her.

“That’s great. I didn’t doubt you could do it,” she smiles warmly, adjusting her frameless glasses on her nose.

“I was worried about taking on a sport I wasn’t familiar with,” I confess.

“But you were up for the challenge. It shows a lot about your character that you didn’t quit,” she praises.

“Thanks.” I blush.

“I wanted to let you know I informed the Dean of what happened in class with Raphael’s video being streamed to the classroom.”

If I was blushing before, my cheeks feel like they are burning now.

“Was it necessary?” I ask awkwardly.

“When porn gets streamed in my class then, yes, it’s necessary,” she scoffs but in a friendly way. Her eyes soften. “Your friend, Finn Heaton came, to speak with me about Raphael following you around.”

“Sorry about that,” I apologize but I don’t know why I do.

“Don’t be sorry. Have you been friends with Finn a long time?” she asks.

“No, we met the night the video streamed. I was in a rush to get away from this place and I wasn’t looking where I was going, and I barreled right into him,” I explain.

Her lips turn down in an awkward frown. “I see.”

“I didn’t know anyone on the hockey team before I met Finn that night, and I met the rest of the team at practice the next morning,” I mumble because I think I know where this is going.

“Raphael went to make a complaint to the Dean alleging you are having an inappropriate relationship with Finn Heaton. I told the Dean I want to do a little investigating of my own before she speaks with Coach Heaton about Finn.”

My stomach is not only twisting but I feel like I am on a roller coaster, about to lose my dinner.

“Finn has become a friend. Because of the circumstances we met under with Raph running after me, trying to explain after humiliating me. . . well, Finn quickly found out about what happened in class. He stood up for me and he’s been worried about me. You know my friend, Ruby, and I are staying in the hockey house with her brother, Hayden, and his friends. Finn is one of those friends. They are a nice group of guys and we’ve become friends. I have nothing to say to Raphael. I know he’s spreading rumors about me. I dated him for seven months and I didn’t see what a horrible human he was. I feel stupid and used.”

“I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all that,” Professor Burton says, looking so sympathetic I wonder if she knows how the burn of someone cheating on you feels.

“Thank you. I was the one who was hurt and Raphael has somehow managed to make himself feel like the victim. He is spreading rumors about me cheating on him, which aren’t true. He’s called me all kinds of names, and he knows that he’s scaring me when he follows me after class.”

“This situation is complicated. You know you can report him to the police and ask for a restraining order if he is scaring you,” she suggests.

“But will they believe me? He hasn’t laid a hand on me. He’s only cursed me,” I explain.

“You can try and see what happens. But in terms of the university, the Dean is insisting on an investigation. If it is determined that you are involved with Finn Heaton in an inappropriate manner that goes against the outlined fraternization policy, then it means you are at risk of losing your internship this year. You also will not receive the credit for my class. Finn can face probation or suspension from the hockey team.”

I remain quiet.

“I’ll provide the Dean with my input from this conversation,” she relays. “You’re a hard worker, Charlotte. I would hate to see your senior year be ruined because of a guy.”

Her words cause tears to sting my eyes. “Thanks.” I swipe at my eyes. “I don’t know how I allowed myself to get mixed up with Raph, but this internship is so important to me. I’m hoping to make a big enough dent this year that a team will notice my work.”

“I’ll do my best with the Dean, but at the end of the day, it’s at her discretion,” she says.

“Thanks for hearing me out,” I tell her.

She blinks. “Of course.”

I leave the lecture hall and notice Raph standing off to the side with his new girlfriend. He smirks at me but it’s more of a sneer. My heart rate speeds up and I walk away without a second glance, but I am still in earshot when I hear his new girlfriend chiding him for being obsessed with me.

I head home fast, always checking behind me to see if I am being followed. I don’t know when I became this scared girl, but I have Raph to thank for it.

Ruby is sitting at the kitchen table having nachos with Hayden when I walk into the kitchen, after dropping my bag and jacket in our room.

“Charlie, what’s wrong?” are her first words. “You look whiter than a ghost.”

I laugh maniacally. “Raph went to the Dean and told her Finn and I are having an inappropriate relationship.”

“That’s messed up,” Hayden shouts, shooting to his feet.

“Shit,” Ruby hisses.

“Wait, is it true?” Hayden asks, looking between Ruby and me.

“No.” The lie comes easy.

“The prof wanted to hear my side of things. She said she’ll speak with the Dean on my behalf but if the Dean doesn’t believe her, I’ll lose my internship and Finn can be placed on probation or suspension.”

“Does Finn know what’s going on?” Hayden asks.

“I don’t think so. I tried to text him on my way home but he didn’t answer. My prof said Coach Heaton wasn’t informed yet.”

“We need to tell Finn,” Hayden states with urgency, being the good friend he is. He picks up his cell and he’s calling Finn.

“He isn’t answering,” he says, biting his lip. When the phone call gets forwarded to voicemail, Hayden says, “He’s probably in the lab. The guy gets carried away sometimes.”

I sit at the table and burst into tears. All the emotions I have been feeling since my talk with Professor Burton can’t be contained anymore, and I am like a sprinkler without a shut-off valve.

“I’ll let you two have some privacy.” Hayden backs away carefully.

Ruby stands from her chair and gathers me in her arms. “Clearly, my brother can’t handle seeing a girl cry.”

“I screwed up so badly,” I tell her.

“Some things are beyond our control,” she consoles.

I burst into laughter through my tears. It’s something I’ve been doing since I was a little girl. Daddy would call me a little actress when I went so quickly from one emotion to the next. “What do you mean? My attraction to Finn has made me lose my mind, and now I have to face the consequences.”

“You met him before you knew you were working for the team. I’m pretty sure you developed feelings for him then,” she argues. She isn’t wrong. I should’ve been devastated after Raph humiliated me the way he did, but I was on cloud nine after spending the night on the beach with Finn.

“How strong could they have been? It was one night.” I sigh.

“And yet you both wanted each other over and over,” she reminds, raising her right brow.

“Gah! I’m such an idiot. None of this makes sense. You have to hear how Finn and I bicker. I don’t think we even like each other,” I admit, feeling so confused.

“I don’t think that’s what the bickering is about,” Ruby says like I’m dense.

“No, why do you think we bicker?” I am truly curious as to what will come out of her mouth.

“Sexual tension,” she deadpans.

“Yeah, right,” I guffaw.

“Don’t pull that bullshit on me. I watch the two of you. You’re hot for each other. You were never like that with Raph. You didn’t look at him the way you do Finn Heaton.”

“Given my present predicament, I’d say I’m thoroughly fucked then because Finn and I need to maintain a professional distance. I just hope the Dean isn’t going to believe Raph and see him for what he is.”

“A psycho,” Ruby cheers.

I nod.

“I really do need to find Finn and warn him,” I say to Ruby.

“Maybe wait for him in his room or something.” She waggles her brows up and down.

“Have you lost your mind?” I ask. I look at my friend. There is something different about her, but I can’t pin what it is.

“Nah, just having fun tormenting you but I know this is serious, and since we are being real, you need to tuck that needy vagina away and keep her locked up. I don’t care how good Finn is, you need the internship, Charlie. Don’t mess this year up when you’ve been working toward this the last few years.”

She’s right and I need to stay away from Finn, not just for my sake but for his. Finn has been nothing but good and supportive. I can’t be responsible for jeopardizing his future.