Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

W here Are You, Charlie?

Finn

Coach called a late day meeting to go over some plays before our game in Wisconsin this weekend. When he’s finished, Alice walks up to the front of the class and introduces the app that Charlie and Ruby created. I obviously saw it at home while they were working on it. It’s super cool. After Alice encourages everyone to share the app on our social media sites, the meeting comes to an end.

I check my phone for any messages. Really, I am hoping that Charlie messaged me. We’ve been cooking meals together all week and it’s become the favorite part of my day. When I don’t see a message from her, I text.

Me: Are we cooking dinner tonight?

I leave the sports complex with some of the guys and drive home. Cade is sitting up front with me.

“Have you spoken with Charlie today?” I ask.

“Why, trouble in paradise?” he retorts.

“Bro.” I draw my brows together. “We aren’t a thing. I’m just worried because I haven’t heard from her.”

“Uh.” He’s thinking, which is weird.

“Dude, it was a yes or no question,” I clarify because I don’t understand why he isn’t answering me.

“Shit,” he mutters. “Bro, I’m not supposed to say anything.”

“About what?” I ask, my hackles rising.

“About anything,” he replies.

“Does this have to do with Dean Anderson? Did she reach out to Charlie?” I ask as I pull into the driveway. Cade pinches his lips like he’s trying hard not to spill the beans. “Cade, what the hell is going on?”

“All I know is that Dean Anderson met with Charlie today,” he admits, raising his hands in the air. “I don’t know anything else.”

I feel sick to my stomach. If Dean Anderson had good news for Charlie, then she wouldn’t be MIA.

We leave the car and head into the house. “Have any of you heard from Charlie?” I ask Aaron, Macklin, and Luc.

They all shake their heads.

“Fuck.”

I knock on her and Ruby’s bedroom door but they are clearly not home.

I find Hayden in the kitchen, “Hayden, have you seen Charlie or Ruby?”

“No. What’s going on?” he asks, shoving a long sub sandwich in his mouth.

“The Dean got back to Charlie, but I don’t know what happened,” I state.

“Wouldn’t the Dean reach out to you too?” Hayden asks.

“I don’t know,” I reply, feeling so on edge.

I walk out of the kitchen and head up to my bedroom, only I can’t settle, I just pace back and forth. Where are you, Charlie?

Charlotte

“This is insane, Charlie,” Annie says. When I felt like my world was crashing down around me, I called Ruby who then called Annie. Now, Annie, Ruby, and Briar are all in Annie’s room with me as I try to figure out what to do.

“So let me get this straight. Dean Anderson knows that Raphael is a big cheater, who is a complete nut job, but she still feels the need to punish you?” Briar asks flabbergasted.

“It’s insane, I know,” I agree. “She feels that if she doesn’t penalize me somehow, then she is setting a precedent for future students to break the fraternization policies.”

“That is messed up. You told her that you met Finn before the internship, right?” Annie clarifies.

“I told her everything, guys.” I sigh. “It was my responsibility to come forward and ask them to place me elsewhere, when I saw Finn was on the team. Maybe if I had been thinking straight that’s what I would’ve done, but my boyfriend humiliated me and I made out with the hottest guy on campus. So, you know, forgive me if I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Ruby huffs out a heavy breath. “What now?”

“Now I need you guys to help me decide what to do. I walk away from the internship and Finn gets to keep his position on the team. I don’t have anything on my record for the indiscretion, and I can come back for an extra year and receive a totally new internship,” I explain.

“This is so fucked up. Did Dean Anderson see the app we created? Riverside U should be kissing our asses for making something so amazing for the team, not penalizing you,” Ruby rants.

“Trust me, I’m super frustrated too, but I knew better. I’ve never been a rule breaker so this is a challenge I’ve never faced before. I get where the Dean is coming from. Honestly, she’s been nice about the whole situation, and Professor Burton has been so sympathetic. She agrees that it isn’t fair to take an incomplete on my social media class. I’ve put in so much time and work.”

“Finn is never going to let you take the blame yourself,” Ruby argues.

“Ruby, he is going to the NHL next year. That’s huge. I can’t screw things up for him. He has a solid life plan.”

“And you had one too,” she reminds.

I blow out a breath. “I want to finish my degree, but I am also training to try out for Team USA. Coach thinks I can, you know, maybe do very well in that setting.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Ruby squeaks, her voice bubbling with excitement.

“Initially I just agreed to train with Esa and Christina, but I think I’m going to go for it. Running is my happy place. Social media is not. Even though I am walking away, I feel like I am not losing. I just don’t know how to tell my father that I’ll be here another year, or that I’ll be travelling with the Olympic team if I make it.”

“He’ll understand,” Ruby says. “And I think your spot is practically guaranteed with your stats.”

“I’m going to disappoint him,” I confess. “And it’s the last thing I want to do. He seems to be doing better. I don’t want to be the reason he regresses.”

“Then have some faith,” Briar says. “At the end of the day, I’m sure your dad wants you to be happy.”

She has a point, but I’ve seen his ups and downs. I’m scared to be the trigger of a down because I’ll feel so guilty. I’ve changed the plans we’ve worked toward.

“Does this mean you and Finn could actually be together?” Annie asks.

“That’s complicated. I think for now it’s best I go to Adler Hall for a bit. It isn’t hot anymore. It should be fine. I don’t want Finn knowing about the deal I’ve struck with the Dean.”

“That’s because you know he won’t let you do it,” Ruby rebuts.

“Ruby, please, it’s best for everyone. I don’t feel like I’m losing. I’m giving myself a chance to do something I was scared to do before.”

“I’m really proud of you, Charlie,” Annie says. “I know it must have been a hard decision. It can be scary to follow your dreams when you don’t know what may happen, and the social media job was practically a sure thing. It takes balls.”

“Gee, thanks.” I chuckle. “Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Sorry.” She winces. “But yes, like I said. You have girl balls and that’s awesome. You’re my hero.”

We all burst into laughter.

“I’ll move my stuff out of the hockey house this weekend when the guys are at the game,” I tell Ruby.

“And what about Thanksgiving?” she asks. “I thought you got your dad on board.”

“Shit. I totally forgot.” I hit my forehead. “What will I tell my dad? Finn is his favorite person right now.”

“How so?” Briar asks and the girls watch me with interest.

“He’s been calling my dad weekly,” I reveal, feeling shy about that revelation.

All of them have some version of a shocked face.

“He really likes you, Charlie. Guys don’t just call dads to chat for their health,” Ruby declares.

I have thought about that, but they don’t know Finn. He cares about people. He wants to make a difference. My dad is just another good deed on his good deed list.

“Annie, can I crash here tonight? I need to think on my next move.”

“Of course,” she says.

“I can bring you some clothes in the morning,” Ruby offers.

“Thanks, Rubes, and please don’t say anything to Finn,” I tell her.

“I won’t but he won’t accept silence from me,” she warns.

I know.

The girls all leave and I take a shower in Annie’s house. She also gives me a pair of pajamas. When I check my phone, I see a bunch of missed calls and text messages from Finn, Cade, Hayden, and Aaron, but I ignore them all, hoping things will have some clarity in the light of day.