“Walter?”
“You suck!” Since the day Walter had thrown his own backpack at the fence after getting his ass kicked in front of Charlee, Hector hadn’t heard him this wound up. “How could you do that to her, man? If I’d known this is what you were up to, getting your jollies by doing two best friends, I would’ve never agreed that I was okay with you asking her out.”
“Whoa, whoa—” Hector tried to interrupt, but Walter kept on.
“Charlee’s not like one of those skanky whores you’re used to dating, okay? She’s a nice girl, and she doesn’t deserve for some asshole stud like you to come along and trample on her—”
“Dude! What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t trample anything! Everything’s cool with Charlee and me.”
“Oh, you call banging her best friend behind her back cool?”
“What!”
“If everything is so cool with you two, why is your girlfriend passed out on my bed right now after crying herself to sleep?”
Hector spun around, already on his way up his porch steps. “She’s in your bed right now?”
“Yes. She said she didn’t know where else to go, but she did say she’s driving home tomorrow. You know how long that’s gonna take her? All because not even Charlee was enough for you.”
Hector rushed through his house and into his room. Holding his phone between his shoulder and his ear, he pulled off his shorts and pulled on a pair of jeans. “She is enough for me, Walter. I don’t know where she got the idea that I’m doing anything with Drew.”
He sat down and pulled on some socks, wondering if maybe Charlee was too embarrassed to admit to Walter why she was really so upset.
“It’s not an idea. She read the texts between you and Drew. That’s proof, so don’t try to worm your way out of this one, asshole.”
Read the texts? Hector stood up after slipping on his shoes. “Okay, first of all, you really need to stop calling me that,” he said, more annoyed now than ever. The fact that Charlee was in another guy’s bed right now was already annoying as shit, even if was Walter’s. “Second, I have no clue what texts she’s talking about.”
He sort of did, but he wasn’t going to tell Walter about his and Drew’s combined effort to help set Walter and Natalie up so he’d be free to go after Charlee. He slipped a white t-shirt on that was too damn tight, but he didn’t have time to look for another one.
Walter let out an exasperated breath. “Hector, the jig is up. She read a text where you told Drew it was very tempting to continue doing what you two had been doing but it didn’t feel right anymore.”
Hector froze in place. “Shit!”
“Yeah, shit,” Walter agreed, disgustedly. “I can’t believe you. Is it really that difficult to keep it in your—”
“She didn’t read the whole thing?” Hector grabbed his keys, glad Abel was out taking care of business again tonight and his mom was still in Mexico; otherwise, they might try to stop Hector from leaving.
“She said she didn’t get a chance to read all the texts, but what she did read was enough. And she said she wouldn’t put anything past her ex-best friend anymore. Said she’s not the person she thought she was and she doesn’t trust her at all. She’s even dropping out of both chess teams. Says she wouldn’t be able to stand being around you. Talk about screwing with someone’s life for your own selfish reasons.”
Hector rushed out the front door, trying not to panic too much. He stopped for a second to lock the door. “It’s not what she’s thinking. She’d know this if she’d have read the whole text. And she’s not dropping out of anything. Give me your address, and I’ll explain to her when I get there.”
“You’re coming here now?”
“Yeah,” Hector rushed around his truck.
“No! She’ll be mad that I told you where she was. Plus she doesn’t wanna see you right now, and I don’t think—”
“Listen to me, Walter,” Hector spoke very firmly now as he climbed in behind the wheel of his truck. He’d been patient enough with Walter. While he appreciated Walter’s concern over Charlee, there was no fucking way he was letting her leave or drop out of any teams, especially now that he knew why Drew had done what she’d done. He only prayed now that Charlee would agree Drew really hadn’t had a choice and stay. “I have the texts. You can read them when I get there if you want, but nothing is going on between me and Drew, and nothing ever has. I’m in love with Charlee. I meant it when I said I was done with other girls. Now would you please give me your gadamn address so I can explain all this to her.”
Walter told him he’d text it to him, and after waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Hector began to wonder if the jackass had changed his mind. Just when he was getting ready to call him back and tell him off, the text with the address came through.
Taking what felt like the deepest breath he’d ever taken, Hector skidded out of his driveway, ready to do or say whatever he had to make Charlee stay.
~*~
Feeling the familiar soft kiss against her temple and her hair being caressed, Charlee smiled. Then her eyes flew open, and she sat up suddenly, whacking her head against someone else’s. “Ow!” They both said at the same time.
She massaged the spot on her head, realizing it was Hector whose head hers had just collided with. He sat there on the edge of the bed, his fingers at his own temple wearing a very pained expression. As nice as it was to see him first thing when she opened her eyes, reality hit and she began kneeing him until he toppled off the bed.
“Why are you here?” she demanded, sitting up on the edge of the bed now. “How did you know I was here?”
She turned to a remorseful-looking Walter and let her shoulder drop in utter disgust. “Isn’t there anyone I can trust anymore?”
“You can trust me,” Hector said, standing up.
Refraining from giving into the urge to kick him, she glared at him. “Really?”
“Yes, babe.” Hector held his hands up in front of him. “Look, I know what you’re thinking, but you have it all wrong. There are a few things I do need to come clean about, but none are as bad as what you’re imagining.” Charlee stood up ready to bolt. If she had to get a room for the night, she was prepared to, but she wasn’t about to stand here and listen to him come clean. She already knew enough. “Please, Charlee, I have proof that I didn’t do anything with Drew.”
“Oh, and what is that? You’re going to bring her in here to attest to that? Are you both gonna stand here and tell me that neither of you are as bad as all those bastards that made my life miserable? Because I know the truth about her now and about you, Hector!” She cried. “Walter told me every bit of it!”
The stunned look on his face made the hurt in her heart even deeper because he didn’t deny it. She’d still hung on to the hope that maybe it wasn’t true. Maybe Walter had misinterpreted things. Maybe Hector wasn’t just like Danny. But, no, she could see the truth in his guilty eyes. He was just like him, only worse. At least Danny didn’t think he’d deserved to kiss Charlee after the party.
Seeing Hector’s Adam’s apple move as he gulped hard, she tried not to fall apart completely. “I’ve apologized to Walter, Charlee.” He turned to Walter his face pale now and full of regret. “Did you tell her that too?”
Walter nodded. “I did and that you weren’t the one actually harassing me, just your friends.”
When Walter had mentioned this earlier, she felt sorry for him. Just as she’d been so quick to glorify Danny’s noble behavior because he hadn’t actually thrown food at her like the other kids, Walter gave into the obvious man crush he had on Hector and overlooked that he allowed his friends to treat him that way—ostracize him until he dropped out of school. Now it pissed her off.
“Oh well, take a bow, Mr. Ayala,” she said, her words dripping with venom now. “I guess that makes you better than them. But don’t talk to me about proof, Hector, because if you think I’m going to believe a word Drew says—”
“You don’t have to! I can show you the texts.”
“I’ve seen the texts!” She tried walking by him.
“Charlee, it’s true,” Walter said. “He showed me. You didn’t read the whole thing, but it’s really not what you’re thinking.”
Pathetically, Charlee felt a glimmer of hope that maybe, at the very least, this part was explainable. She turned to Hector, her chest now heaving. She was so worked up.
“I can explain it,” Hector said, the remorse still so heavy in his eyes that it scared her. “I can’t take back what happened in high school with Walter, but I swear to you I tried to make up for it. I nearly sacrificed the best thing that’s ever happened to me just so I could make up for it. And that’s you, Charlee.”
Charlee turned to Walter, wondering why he hadn’t told her this, but he looked just as lost as she felt.
“Have a seat please and I’ll explain,” Hector said then turned to Walter. “You too. I have something I need to come clean to you about also.”
Confused, Charlee and Walter exchanged glances then took a seat on Walter’s bed. Suddenly, Hector seemed nervous, and that made her nervous again. Did she even want to hear this?
To her surprised, he addressed Walter first. “Walter, I think I’ve been in love with Charlee since the night of the speed tournament. I tried to fight it. I really did.” Charlee, whose weak heart was already swelling, stared at him, trying not to give in so easily. He turned back to her now. “I felt so guilty about the shit my friends had done to Walter in high school I just couldn’t justify going after the girl he was so infatuated with.”
“Dude,” Walter said, squirming in his seat.
“It’s okay, man.” Hector assured him. “She already knows, but only because I had to tell her.” Feeling the need to, Charlee smiled at Walter, and he glanced away quickly, obviously embarrassed. “Anyway,” Hector continued, his attention back on Charlee now. “That’s why the texts between Drew and me started. Your friend really does have a sixth sense. She was right about me, and she was also right about Danny.”
The smile completely vanished as Charlee stared at him, confused now. “She came to 5th Street the day after the keg party.” He smiled a little crooked. “She called me an asshole. She said she knew I had feelings for you but was under the impression that I just didn’t want to commit to one girl.” Now he turned to Walter and explained the whole Operation-get-Nat-and-Walt-together scheme.
“You and Drew planned that?” Charlee asked, surprised it never occurred to her that her scheming friend had had a hand in that.
“Yeah,” Hector winced. “But that’s a good thing, right, Walt? Things turned out beautifully.”
Walter smiled, nodding, so Hector turned back to Charlee and explained the texts. “She was offering to text me a list of your favorite things, but it didn’t feel right to continue being sneaky when I didn’t have to anymore. But there was never anything inappropriate about our texts. I can show you them, and you could read them all from the very first to the very last.”
Relief sunk in, and she could already tell her heart would be willing to overlook his past mistakes about not standing up for Walter. Walter seemed to be okay with it, and Hector did make a great effort to make it up to him and do right by Walter by staying away from Charlee for so long. She could certainly attest to that. He did try to keep things between them from happening for too long. Sadly, it didn’t change the fact that Drew had still betrayed her in such a horrific way.
“Are we good?” Hector asked, looking very worried still. “I think I covered it all, but tell me if you need anything else clarified.”
She stood up now, anxious to hug him and so incredibly happy that at least he hadn’t betrayed her. Immediately his arms were around her, and even though they’d just spend the entire weekend together, it felt as if she hadn’t been in his arms in so long. He kissed her softly, and after the kisses they’d shared all weekend, she got the distinct feeling he was holding back, but she didn’t blame him. They were standing in Walter’s room, and he was sitting there watching them.
“But now I have a question for you,” he said as he pulled away. The worried expression was back. “Did you go see Danny when we were in Maryland?”
“No.” She shook her head immediately but braced herself to tell him the truth. “That letter I said was from Gwen,” she paused, waiting for him to nod. “That was from him. Gwen ran into him last week, and she mentioned I’d be in town and was hoping to get together with me. So the night before, he brought it to her and asked her to give it to me. She brought it to our lunch, and the only reason I didn’t tell you it was from him was because, at the time, I wasn’t planning on even reading it, so I didn’t think it mattered.”
Charlee paused once again because the emotion of knowing what Drew had done overwhelmed her again. Before she could continue, he pulled her to him again and kissed her head. “I know that had to be a blow, babe.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t even believe it at first. I thought for sure Danny was lying, and then she admitted it.” Charlee glanced away, wiping the tears that had once again begun.
“Charlee, please don’t be mad at me, okay?”
Not liking the sound of that, her brows furrowed, and she stared at him. “What?”
“Drew is outside.” She pulled away from him. “Listen to me, baby,” he said, reaching for her and holding her to him. “She explained it to me, and trust me, I felt ready to spit when she first told me about what she’d done too. But after hearing her explain why, I think, maybe, you’ll understand.”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing that could excuse what she did.”
Hector bobbed his head from side to side. “Well, maybe not, but I think you should at least hear her out. If I really didn’t think you’d understand, I would’ve told her to go to hell instead of where she could find you. But it’s up to you.”
Suddenly choked up, Charlee wanted nothing more than there to be a good reason for what Drew did, not just so she could forgive her, but so that her heart wouldn’t hurt so much. It literally ached, mourning the loss of her best friend.
Visions of Drew on her knees, sobbing on her front lawn came to her now. If that wasn’t genuine regret, she didn’t know what was. She nodded and followed Hector outside. Drew stood across the street, leaning against her car. She straightened out when she saw Charlee.
“I’ll wait here to give you your privacy if you want, but if you prefer, I can go with you too,” Hector said, squeezing her hand. “Up to you.”
She smiled, feeling a little shaky already but decided she needed to do this alone. “I’ll be okay by myself.”
Drew started toward her when she saw Charlee coming to her, and they met at the curb. Drew’s face was a mess, and Charlee hated that she already felt like hugging her. For a moment, she didn’t even care why Drew had done it. She could see it in her friend’s sorrowful eyes she regretted it immensely, and that’s all that mattered.
“They had a picture of me,” Drew began her voice so broken it choked Charlee up instantly, and she brought her hand to her mouth in an effort to not break down too. “The one I’d sent of my breasts to that asshole Greg I’d gone out with. Apparently, he’d forwarded to someone who was threatening to go viral with it. When you turned Danny down the first time, he came to me to confess about the party and asking you to it, but only because he knew you’d say no. He didn’t want to do it. They were pressuring him. They told him to ask me to try and convince you, and if I didn’t, the picture would go viral.”
Charlee nodded. She understood why Drew felt she had to. It made total sense. She’d be applying for college the very next year. That could’ve ruined her.
“I told them to fuck themselves and I didn’t give a shit about the picture.” She shrugged. “There were more scandalous things out there than a girl flashing her boobs. I’d live. Danny was really happy. He thought for sure I’d agree to convince you.”
Charlee stared at her confused now. “But you did.”
Drew nodded. “He went back and told them what I’d said, and few days later, he came to me again.” She scrunched her face up and looked away. “You remember what was going on around that time with my mom and my brother’s coach, right? My dad was already so devastated.” She shook her head. “Well, my idiot mother and that fucking coach taped themselves having sex. Someone got a hold of that too, and they were threatening put a like-mother-like-daughter video together, alternating my stupid tit’s picture with her video and going viral with that. They sent me a snippet of the disgusting video, and there was no way I could let my dad to see it or be publicly humiliated that way.
“Danny assured me that it was an inside-joke thing and that you would never even know it. He said all the girls at these parties never knew about it, and they kept it on the down low so the next year when it happened again no one would know. It’s the only reason I agreed to do it.” Her face suddenly crumbled again. “I wanted to die when they did what they did on Facebook,” she cried. “I swear I wanted to kill all of them. I went to Danny’s house and physically attacked him, but he swore to me he didn’t know they were going to do that. I didn’t believe him, until there was this huge brawl at school, and I found out it was Danny and his closest friends against some of the bigger assholes behind the whole Facebook thing. It really divided the whole,” she lifted her fingers to do an air quote, “popular crowd at school after that. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I just couldn’t. You were so devastated. I was terrified you wouldn’t understand. And earlier when you confronted me about it, I couldn’t tell you because my dad was there. I just—”
Charlee hugged her, and Drew cried openly now against her shoulder. She’d heard enough. As hurt as she’d been just hours ago, she now felt for Drew and all she must’ve been going through herself that entire last year. “I love you, Drew, and I understand why you did it now.”
Drew squeezed her tight. “Please tell me you’re not going back home.”
Charlee smiled, feeling an enormous and complete relief come over her now. For several horrifying hours there, she really believed she’d lost her best friend and her first love all at once.
“No, I’m not going home. Are you kidding? And give up our new beginning? Not a chance.”
They both glanced back at Hector, who stood at Walter’s stairs. His muscles were bulging a little through his tight t-shirt, and he was smiling at them now. “You’d be nuts to walk away from that hot thing too. He really is a dream, Charlee, and not just because of his looks. He truly cares about you.”
Charlee mouthed the word, “I love you,” and Hector mouthed them back.
“He is,” Charlee sighed deeply, feeling completely drained but more content than she ever had in her life. “He really is.”