CHAPTER 8
CHARLIE
It always cracked me up when people askedif Nick and I were identical—we weren’t. Sure, we had the same red hair and blue eyes, and yeah, our height difference wasn’t too drastic, but if we stood right next to each other, it couldn’t be more obvious who was who. Nick looked like a hockey player, built and broad-shouldered, while I was lean. I was the fastest on the hockey team, but Coach Meyer wanted me to bulk up; hence, a trip to the gym with a customized workout plan. “If you want to play college hockey,” he kept reminding me, “youneedto put on some muscle.”
I was on the slide board when Val Palacios walked by, dark braid swinging. She pretended to do a double take. “No, wait, Charlie, is thatreallyyou?”
Everyone knew I hated the gym.
“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “Wrong, per usual. I’mNick, not Charlie.”
Val smirked as she unrolled her yoga mat. “Nice try, but your twin’s over there.” She gestured to the left. “Singing along to Miranda Lambert while he does medicine ball slams.”
“And to think that I’m the one in the musical.”
She laughed, and I smiled. Val was cool, easy to talk to. She was like Sage in that way. “How’s that going?” she asked. “Clearly you haven’t lost your voice.”
“Nah, not yet.” I continued to slide from side to side while she started doing sit-ups. Her belly-button ring glinted in the light. Val was wearing nothing but a purple sports bra and black spandex. “That’ll be more like mid-October.”
“Stocking up tea, then?”
“More likestockpiling.”
She smiled. “What kinds do you like?”
I shrugged. “Nothing too wild. Lemon with honey, usually. But Morrissey told me that ginger tea is also pretty soothing, so I think I’ll try some of that this year too.”
Val switched from sit-ups to side planks. “Is that Super Cute Luke? The cross-country PG from Michigan?”
I kept my cool, only raising an eyebrow. “Super Cute Luke?”
“I had dinner with Nina the other night.”
“Ah.” I nodded. Sometimes it slipped my mind that Val was casual friends with Nina and Sage. They’d all roomed together in Merriman last year.
“Yeah.” Val laughed. “I think this is…what? Like her tenth Bexley crush or something?”
I stopped sliding and stepped off the board. “Wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Speaking of crushes…” She dropped out of her plank. “I heard about you and Dove.”
“Damn.” I snapped my fingers. “The press release wasn’t supposed to go out until tomorrow.”
Val rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched, fighting a smile. “You’re such a jerk.”
I shrugged again. Dove and I were done. After rehearsal yesterday, I offered to buy her ice cream at Captain Smitty’s in town, then I just sort of did it. As she licked her one-scoop-of-strawberry-in-a-sugar-cone, I told her I thought we should press pause on our relationship.
“What do you mean?” she’d asked, and I watched as her eyes welled up, two heavy teardrops slipping down her face a beat later.
I reached out and took her hand. “I really like you,” I said. “But I don’t think we should be together right now. I mean, with the show and everything, it’s probably better if we go back to being friends.”
To be honest, it wasn’t my best effort.
“So, I heard Dag’s having a mixer with Merriman tonight?” Val asked.
I tried not to smirk—thiswas the real reason for today’s visit to the gym. I had a feeling Val would be here. “Yeah, at ten.” After successfully pitching the idea to our housemasters, Daggett’s house council had been prepping all week for tonight’s get-together.
“Is there a theme?”
