“We have to get back to work,” she snapped impatiently. “Come on.”
“So I don’t have time to change then?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes and started walking. “Come on, Madison!”
I guess that was a no. I sighed and looked at Charlie, who raised a hand in goodbye.
“See you soon,” I said. As I followed Courtney back toward the office, I was pretty sure I heard her murmur under her breath, “You better not.”
* * *
I leaned against the outside stone wall next to the school’s back door as I waited for Charlie to come outside. I rested my head back, allowing the sun to shine directly on my face. I’d done my best to dry off my clothes under the hand dryer in the locker room, but they were still a little damp, so I was happy it was so warm outside and felt like I was actually drying off now.
The door beside me opened, and I turned to look who was there, half-expecting it to be some random lifeguard like it hadbeen the last five times it opened. But this time, it was Charlie in all his glory. Maybe it was because I’d barely seen him in the last year after he and Matt started college, but I felt like he had a new glow about him lately.
He grinned at me. “Hey! Ready to go?”
I nodded and followed him through the parking lot to his car. Even though this was a completely different situation, something about seeing him walk in front of me with his dripping wet hair reminded me of that party two years ago. I could barely remember the conversation we had earlier in the night—all other memories had been overshadowed by the one of the kiss—but I never forgot the way he looked. He had to be the most beautiful boy to ever walk the earth.
“Here,” Charlie said once we were settled into his car. He passed me his phone. I held it in my open palm, not daring to hold it properly, as I looked at him in confusion. “You can pick the music. Whatever you feel like.”
“Really?” I asked in surprise. I’d driven with Charlie and Matthew tons of times and there had never been a single time where I saw Charlie pass over his phone. “But you never let Matthew pick.”
Charlie grinned cheekily. “Well I trust you to have better taste in music than Matthew.”
I picked out a playlist then put Charlie’s phone in the empty cupholder and pulled on my seatbelt while he started the car.
“I assume I don’t need to give you directions to my house,” I said.
“You know, I think you do,” Charlie said. “Not sure I’ve ever been there before.”
“Never, ever,” I said, enunciating my words with a shake of my head.
“So how’s graduate life treating you?” he asked. “Having fun?”
“Well, considering it’s been less than a week, I can’t say it’s really hit me yet,” I said. “But yeah, I guess it’s pretty good. No homework is always great.”
“You’ll start to feel it soon,” he promised. “But then again, Courtney will probably start working you so hard that you’ll wish you were still in school.”
I groaned. “Don’t even put that thought into the universe.”
“Come on, you know it’s true.” He laughed.
“Yeah…” I muttered, pressing my lips together. “But whatever. I’ve promised myself this summer will be better than last summer, and I’m determined to make that come true, no matter what it takes.”
“I wish you good luck,” Charlie said.
“What about you?” I asked. “Do you have any goals for the summer?”
Charlie let out a long breath. “Honestly, the only thing on my mind is avoiding Courtney at all costs. I don’t care how I do it as long as it gets done.”
I nodded. “Not a bad plan. Although, avoiding her might not be as fun as messing with her.”
“Messing with her how?” Charlie asked slowly.
I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I just knew that messing with Courtney was the only thing that had kept me sane last summer, so it seemed like a good suggestion now. I wondered how long they had been together if he was even considering my idea. If it was just some short weekend fling or something like that, I didn’t know why he would care enough to bother her. Had they been together for longer? My heart hurt at the thought of that. I knew that I had no say over what Charlie did with his life, but I hated the idea of him being with Courtney. I wanted to believe it was because I knew he deserved better than her, but I knew it wasn’t that.
I just wished that if he was willing to be with anyone for a long period of time that it would be me.
