CHAPTER TWO
Cyrus knocks again.
I know its Cyrus because he’s the only person stupid enough to be up this early. There’s a tiny bead of light visible on the edge of the window curtain, but I close my eyes quickly in hopes I can ignore it. If I could fall back to sleep after my roommate snuck out for practice this morning, I can sleep past this.
“Princess.”
Ugh. “Go away, Cyrus!”
Hejiggles the handle. “Let me in.”
“No.”
“It’s time to get up, Charlie. Fresh day and all that shit.”
I roll over, putting my back to the door. “Go away!”
“Don’t make me repeat Aspen.”
I toss back over. “You wouldn’t?”
He’s silent for a minute…too long of a minute and I panic. Leaping from the bed, I cross the room and unlock the door, allowing my most annoying best friend in the room. He’sstanding on the other side with the biggest shit-eating grin I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of his smiles over the years.
“You’re lucky.” I release a breath and walk back to the bed.
“What?” he laughs, plopping down on the end of the bed before I have time to stick my feet there and block his way. “It worked, didn’t it?”
“Not funny, Cyrus.” Three years ago at a snowboarding event in Aspen,I refused to get out of bed, so Cyrus demanded the hotel staff do a wellness check. He had a whole story involving a night of partying and general debauchery. It worked and they let him in my room, but he hadn’t planned on a hotel staff member selling the story to a two-bit gossip column.
My mother was not happy, but weirdly I found it rather exciting. I mean, me, Charlie Wilson, semi-importantenough to be a story in a gossip magazine. Who would have guessed? Certainly not me or my seventh-grade gym teacher who said I had less flexibility than a tree trunk.
Of course, two weeks later the same gossip magazine ran an article on Peter Sufferage. If you’ve never heard of the one-time tennis pro, don’t worry about it. Most of the world hasn’t either. The gossip rags’ definition of “celebrity”is a bit sketchy.
“Come on, Charlie. We have people to see and places to go today.” He shakes my side causing the whole bed to move.
I cover my head with the comforter. “No. Go away.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.” He shakes me again.
“Don’t you have practice today?”
“Not until later this afternoon. I have hours to kill.” He tries to pull back my covers, but I maintain my death grip. We’ve beenin this position before. “Let’s go.”
I kick him with my uncovered feet but he doesn’t even budge. “I won a medal yesterday. I get to sleep in today.” Even my mother understands and follows this one simple rule.
He scoffs. “Yeah a silver medal. Next time go faster.”
I roll my eyes but flip over to really glare at him. Unfortunately, I don’t realize that’s what he wanted me to do until it’stoo late.
“Ah,” he smiles. “There’s my girl. Beautiful as always.”
I snarl in his direction, my eyes squinty with my ponytail lopsided and half falling out. “Screw you.”
“Come on, Charlie. I have an entirely fun day planned for us. I’ll even buy you lunch.”
