Chapter 10

“Hellloo,” I said in a singsong voice as I slid my crutches into Hanna’s car the next afternoon.

I’d already annoyed Mom in the morning before work with my mood, but nothing was going to stop how good I was feeling after last night’s date. I wasn’t even annoyed by the boot on my foot at the moment.

“I take it the date went well,” she said, laughing at my behavior.

“Did it ever.”

“So, spill.”

“Well, she kicked my ass two games in a row. Turns out, I suck at bowling. We had pretty good burgers and talked for a while about all kinds of stuff, then I got dropped off back home.”

“Is that all?”

“I might have kissed her while we waited for Jordan to pick us up,” I said, knowing what she was fishing for and weirdly a little embarrassed to say it out loud.

“From what I hear, you two were sucking face in front of the bowling alley.”

“Jordan called you?” I asked, turning, and glaring at her.

“Don’t be like that. We got you to ask her out and helped you pick where to go for your date. We’re invested now. You’re like a little puppy we found and nursed back to health. Plus, it’s good gossip.”

“Little puppy?”

“Take it as a compliment and think about the upside of having older girls look out for you.”

I gave her my best glare. Of course, I wasn’t actually mad. For another, nothing was getting through my good mood today. Plus, she was right. I might have asked Rhonda out without prompting, but I also might not have, and the bowling alley idea would have never occurred to me. Having them in my corner was a plus. Even if it did come with getting shit from time to time.

“Uh-huh. Well, don’t be mad if I pee on the carpet from time to time.”

“You’re a boy, it’s almost expected. You also haven’t thought through the flip side of Jordan calling me this morning about your date yet.”

“Huh?”

“Jordan. You know Rhonda’s sister. The person Rhonda would have talked to after her date, who would have then talked to me about it.”

“What did she say?” I said, turning suddenly, pushing myself up on the center console with both hands.

All I really needed was a tail to wag to perfect my imitation of an excited puppy.

“Haha, down boy. Rhonda is, if anything, in a better mood than you this morning. Jordan says she can’t remember the last time she saw Rhonda so happy. She went on and on about how great you were. Apparently, your kiss also got pretty good marks.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You did well. She’s looking forward to going out with you again. Make sure you don’t mention you’ve heard anything, though. For as bad as girls gossip, we hate to be gossiped about.”

“So she can give every detail of our date, but I can’t say anything?”

“Exactly. If I have anything to teach you about dating, this would be my number one piece of advice. Girls hate it when guys brag about what they did. If you do anything beyond holding hands, keep it to yourself. That one thing alone will make sure you get future dates, as long as you aren’t a jerk.”

I realized at that moment how dense I was. Here I was with older female friends, and it never occurred to me that they were a resource that most guys would kill for.

“Got it. So how was your date?”

“Apparently not as successful as yours.”

“You didn’t have a good time?”

“No, I did. It just didn’t put me in the kind of mood you’re in. Of course, I’ve been on a lot of dates, and you said that was your first actual date. You’re lucky, actually. Most people’s first dates are in middle school where one of your parents drives you to the mall or a movie, and you’re both too young to really know how to act. There might be some benefits to waiting ‘till you’re a little older today.”

“I’m not sure I agree with that. I do think you dodged my question, though.”

“I wasn’t dodging this time, just thinking back to when I was twelve and awkward as hell. I understand you were the one who actually put the move on Rhonda, and it was smooth, just leaning in and kissing her. My first kiss, the guy closed his eyes, moved in too fast, and ended up headbutting me. I would have killed to have confidence when I started dating. Anyways, my date was fine. Marcus was a perfect gentleman, which is rare when it comes to high school sports stars.”

“They’re usually all hands?”

“And then some. He didn’t even try to cop a feel when we ... anyways, that gets him extra points.”

“Look at you, all shy and modest.”

“Bite me. Look, my friends have always been girls, and the conversation there is ... different. It’s weird to talk to a dude about this stuff.”

That was my second realization during this conversation. Not only did I have older female friends for advice, but currently, this one was the person I was closest friends with. Not that we were BFF’s or anything, but between rides to school and work, sitting together at lunch when I wasn’t with Rhonda, and working together at the Blue Ridge, I spent more time with her than pretty much anyone else.

Thinking about what I knew about Hanna, that was probably true for her, too, since she didn’t hang out with the lunch group much outside of Jordan. My understanding was that they only hung out once every couple of weeks.

“So, there’ll be another date?”

“If he asks, sure.”

“I bet he will. He seemed into you, so unless you sucked on the date, he’ll be back.”

“Please, I’m a catch.”

We pulled up to the Blue Ridge, which cut the conversation short, but Hanna did give me a hip bump on the way in, flashing me a smile before she broke off to put her stuff in the room behind the bar that servers used to keep their stuff safe since it stayed locked and only the bartender and chef had the key. I gave her a smile in return. When her mom volunteered her to help me out with getting to school and getting a job, I don’t think either of us imagined things would turn out this way.

My good mood came to a crashing halt Monday morning when I was called to the office before my first-period class even got started. The front office lady directed me to one of the chairs outside of the counselors’ office to wait.

I kept watching the time tick down on the clock, waiting to be called. After more than thirty minutes, his door finally opened, and Mr. Packer stuck his head out, “Charlie, come on in.”

I got up and hobbled into his office, sitting in the same seat I had on the first day of school.

“So Charlie, we’re a couple of weeks into school, and I wanted to check in and see how things are going. I’ll say upfront you aren’t in any kind of trouble, I just thought that considering your unique situation, it was important to find out if you were adapting to the new environment already.”

“I’m fine,” I said.

He might have said I wasn’t in trouble, but every vibe I got off this guy screamed not to trust him.

“I see. First, how’s the foot? Is it healing, okay?”

“It’s fine.”

“Look, Charlie, I know kids your age don’t do well with adults and authority, and that’s okay. It really is. I’m not one of those twenty-something guidance counselors who try and be friends with all the students and wants to ‘rap’ with them.”

It took a ton of willpower to keep from rolling my eyes at that last comment. Even using it as a slam against other people, there was no way to say something like that without coming off like a tool.

“I’ve been checking in with your teachers, and they mostly say you’re very quiet in class. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, since it means you aren’t disruptive, it also means you aren’t engaging all the way, which could be a problem down the road. Doing the classwork and readings is good, but it’s important to take part in class if you want to excel.”

“Except for Mrs. Rowe’s class, there haven’t been a lot of chances to participate.”

“Yes, Mrs. Rowe did say you were active, which is good, but I’ve also talked to Coach Bryant, who says you refused to participate in the class and are sometimes disruptive in class. He said he even had to separate you by yourself to work on the group project you’re currently doing in class.”

“That’s not true,” I said, pissed but not surprised. “On the first day of school, I was late for his class since I was here meeting with you. He said I had to be in a group by myself because I missed the first day of school and was late to class, even though they hadn’t even picked groups yet.”

“Well, Coach Bryant has been teaching for many years, and I’m sure he has his reasons for making that decision. As he said, you did miss the first day of school and could have missed important information needed by the group. While it’s not your fault you missed class, it’s also not the fault of your classmates either. Perhaps he felt you being paired with other students who did attend the first class would unfairly hurt them. I’m certain he’ll give you every opportunity, even working in your own group.”

That was so much bullshit I almost couldn’t hold my tongue. My understanding was practically nothing happened the first day, beyond going over the syllabuses. From the sheets passed out later in the first week with grading requirements for the project and what was expected of us, I was positive he hadn’t even talked about the specifics of it yet.

Of course, it should have been a surprise one teacher would stick up for another. Kids came and went, and the staff had to keep working with each other. Plus, it wasn’t like I had any kind of actual complaint beyond the coach being a jerk.

“That aside, I just want to make sure you know my door is open if you are having issues. I do think you need to make an effort to not be disruptive in Coach Bryant’s class. I don’t know if you have some kind of misplaced anger at him because of what happened with Aaron. Still, you mustn’t let that disagreement hurt your grades or relationships with one of your teachers.”

I tried, but I wasn’t’ able to keep my mouth shut.

“That’s BS. I have never been disruptive in his class, and I didn’t even know he was Aaron’s coach until a couple of days into the week. He started making snarky comments at me the minute he saw my name on the tardy slip. When I answer a question in class, even when it’s right, he takes shots at me. He clearly has problems with me, not the other way around.”

“Look, Charlie, I know it’s been a tough transition, so I’ll let that pass this time. Coach Bryant has been teaching here at Carr for over ten years. He’s a good teacher, and there’s no reason he would inappropriately treat a student. Now, I know you’re still a teenager with all the hormones and anger that comes with that, and I know how easy it is for someone your age to take things out of proportion. All I can tell you is to think twice and consider what he’s really saying to you before you jump to any conclusions.”

I did manage to hold my tongue. I’d known as soon as the words had gone out of my mouth, I wasn’t doing myself any favors. There was no way a school counselor would take the word of a student over a teacher, not without a lot of history, witnesses, and documentation. I was new to the school and the town, meaning there was even less of a reason to listen to me.

Mr. Parker looked at his watch as the bell rang, interrupting anything else he was going to say.

“Well, I don’t want to keep you from missing any other classes, but I want you to think about what we talked about today. I really do want you to succeed here at Carr, and I promise you every other teacher here does as well. Remember that, as important as all the stuff that happens in high school can seem, none of that matters. What’s really important is to make sure you learn the skills here that can get you into a good college, which can make the difference in how you start off your career. We’re a stepping stone for young minds, but it’s up to you to get all the way to the top.”

I could just imagine the over-wordy, stupid motivational poster he got that off.

“Now, I know with your injury it’s hard to hurry, and we’re already well into the passing period, so ask Mrs. Morgan to give you a tardy pass, just in case.”

“Sure,” I said, collecting my bag and crutches and swinging past him as he opened the door.