The Fumble Of A Quarterback

Chapter 30: Charles

As I walked into the stadium a few days later, I was met by Everett who placed a kiss on my lips quickly. He smelt like body spray which caused my head to spin. The first I thought was how lucky I was to have him in my life. 

"Hey," I said with a smile, welcoming the pleasant surprise of the kiss. 

He brought me into a hug and took a deep breath. The way he held me; he didn't have to say anything to know that something was wrong. 

"What is it?" I asked with fear. 

"I just need to get out of here but before I did, I wanted to say hello to you." 

"I always like your hellos. But what is going on?"

He forced a smile. "It's nothing. I'll talk to you later?" 

"Hey, Nora, your dad is looking for you!" Tad's voice rang out. 

I turned my attention towards him and smiled politely. As happy as I was to see him, I wished he didn't bother just when I was about to push for answers.  "I'll be there in a minute. I just need to talk to Everett." But as I looked around for him, he was nowhere to be found. 

I couldn't help a frown that appeared on my face. He had this habit of vanishing like this, and it bothered me. Why couldn't he just tell me things without running off?

"I guess I'll see him now." 

Tad nodded as I passed him. "See you on the field later." 

"Of course." 

The halls around me seemed to close in as I made my way to his office. There was a thought in the back of my mind telling me that there was something not great about it.

"Nora, I need you to be calm about the next sentence I am going to say. But I want you to hear it from me before anyone else," dad said as I walked into his space. 

There was no time to talk about school or pleasant things. Dad wanted to get straight to the important things, which was not like him. Quietly I waited for him to go into the details that I wasn't sure I wanted to hear.

"Charles is joining practice today." 

And that was why Everett wanted out. He heard the news and left. Frustration about being the last one to know filled my soul. Through gritted teeth I asked, "and how long have you known about this?"

"Since last night." 

We had diner together last night. He never once mentioned this over the evening. Why did he want to hide it from me when it was clear Everett already knew. "And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I was trying to find the right way to tell you."

My hands flew into the air. "Gosh, and this is the perfect time." 

"Nora... I am trying my best with the cards I was given," dad sighed. 

"Just like everyone else." With that, I left the office knowing if I stayed any longer I would not say anything nice to him. 

As my feet caried me to the field, all I thought about was how this was wrong. Charles shouldn't be here. He was a villain in this but the school didn't care because no one knew what Charles had done except the people in the team.  

Before I knew it, I was watching dad talk to the team as Charles stood beside him like some kind of equal. The image made me sick to my stomach and for a second I had to look away as my stomach lurched. I couldn't understand how dad could put up with this. This was his team and he was destroying it by putting him back on.