“No, don’t.” I buried my face in his chest and hugged him tight.
Nick squeezed me tighter, lifting me off the floor. Tears suddenly welled up—it had become so hard recently, saying good night to him.Always, I thought.I want to be with him always.
But a minute later, he was zipping up his raincoat. “So I have a question,” he said as I straightened his collar. “Do you want to go to homecoming together?”
My hand immediately dropped down to my side, and I sucked in a breath, hoping to god he didn’t hear it.
He did. “I know we’re not—”
“No, it’s not that,” I said quickly. “It’s just, Charlie’s always my date to homecoming.”
“But he’s still with Val.”
“Well, yeah,” I said. “But he’ll break up with her before then.” Granted, Charlie hadn’ttold metold me, but I knew he would. We’d gone to homecoming together every year.
“Oh…okay.” Nick glanced toward my bed, pillows and blankets everywhere.Please don’t let Charlie in your bed again.My heart plummeted. He still didn’t believe me, and I wasn’t sure what else I could say tomakehim believe me. I was worried only Charlie could do that.
Someday, I hoped.Someday.
“Feel free to take someone else,” I added. “You know, if you want to.”
“Do you actually mean that?” he asked.
“Yes!” I tried to sound upbeat. “I totally don’t mind if you take a date.”
“Do I need your, uh, approval for whoever I ask?”
I shook my head, even though my mind went to Emma Brisbane, and the idea of Nick with his arm around her… “No, Nick,” I said. “Of course you don’t!”
Then after successfully sneaking him back downstairs, I let him pull me outside and kiss me in the rain.
Sparks fly, I thought, while at the same time a creepy feeling formed in the pit of my stomach.Sage, what’s happening? You’re going to end up doing exactly as Charlie predicted back on the beach.
CHAPTER 12
CHARLIE
The musical’s after-party was seniors only.Despite the serious rain, Greer and the guys and I met up at the baseball field around 11:00 p.m., armed with Gatorade and Grey Goose. “Mikey never disappoints!” Josh Dennings said, pulling down two handles of vodka from the dugout’s rafters.
Mikey was this guy who worked for Bexley’s Building and Grounds crew, and it was no secret that if students wanted something—alcohol, pot, etc.—he would get it for us. So far, I’d only visited him once this year, my inner pirate requesting some Bacardi. “Charlie,” he’d said, giving me a fist bump. “I was wondering when I was gonna see you, man. How you been?”
I mixed the drinks, spilling Josh’s Grey Goose into everyone’s orange-flavored Gatorade and then advising people to shake well before sipping. Or in Greer’s case,chugging.
“Oh, man,” Josh said. “Cinderella’s come to play!”
Then we all followed her, to prove that we too were capable of greatness. I killed my bottle first and chucked it at the dugout’s concrete floor.Victory is mine!
“Okay, okay, Charlie,” Greer said later, when she was halfwaythrough another screwdriver. “I want to know the truth.” She sighed. “Why did it never happen between us? You can’t deny it, we’re sogoodtogether.”
I shrugged as I topped off my drink again. And then while Samir Khan and Josh argued over whether or not the rafters were strong enough to be used as a jungle gym, I began humming “Come and Get Your Love.” A sign that I needed to slow down, because whenever I got really drunk, I acted like it was my own personal karaoke night. The last time Sage’s ringtone went off, it was a voice memo of my latest performance. I’d groaned, but Sage cracked up. “I’ll have to get Reese to send me the video,” she said. “None of us knew you were so good at flipping your hair!”
“Pleasetell me, Charlie,” Greer whined again.
“You know I’m with Val,” I said.
“But—”
Josh cut her off. “Greer, why do you even want to be with Charlie? I don’t understand the hype.” He looked at me. “No offense, dude.”
