Welcome to Corbet's Inlet, North Carolina, where the teenagers act like adults and the adults act like teenagers. It's Griffin Connolly's favorite place in the world. And while she may not be good at making decisions when it comes to her own life, s...
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Griffin stared at Charlie.
"Wait," Evan waved his hands around. "What—?"
"You're an asshole, Charlie," Griffin snapped. She didn't care she was on the clock. She'd never been so close to taking a swing at someone in her life.
Charlie tucked his chin back. "What? Deadline's tomorrow, darlin'. Doesn't matter who knows at this point. You're either going, or you're not, right?"
Griffin almost lunged over the counter at him, too enraged to get a coherent thought out. "What the—who the hell do you think you—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Evan stepped halfway in front of his cousin and looked back at Griffin. "Everyone calm down. You guys love each other, remember?"
That startled a hysterical laugh out of Griffin before she could stop it.
Charlie ran a hand casually through his hair, and his dimple popped like he'd just hit the I Pissed Off Griffin Connolly jackpot. "Come on, Griff. It's about time you started telling people."
Griffin wanted to throw this back in his face harder than he was throwing it in hers, but right now, Evan had the one question in his eyes she'd wanted to avoid all summer. She needed to do damage control. Now.
"Telling people what exactly, Charlie?" she asked. "That I'm not going to Wake? Kinda obvious at this point, with the whole Washington and Lee thing."
"So confused right now..." Evan muttered.
Charlie's eyebrows knitted together, and Griffin mustered up the most condescending grin she could manage. "I signed with Washington and Lee back in February, remember, Charlie?"
"No, I—what?" Charlie said. Then it was like a lightbulb turned on over his head. "Oh, gimme a break, Griff. This is how you're gonna play it? That's so weak."
"I'm not playing anything. Me going to W&L is old news, Chuck."
Charlie stared her down, eyes narrowed.
"Are you guys gonna catch me up here, or?" Evan asked.
Charlie turned to his cousin but pointed at Griffin. "She's been talking to some dude named Bill Hammond all summer about going to Wake Forest in the fall. He's, like, an admissions rep or something." He glared back at Griffin. "And now she's trying to cover it up."
"I'm not covering anything up," Griffin growled, furious she was starting to tear up.
"Wait." Evan looked like he was trying to do the math in his head. "I thought you said Bill Hammond was some guy that your mom knows from Krispy Kreme..."
Charlie ignored him. "You know, Griff, I still don't get why you're so worried about being secretive over this. It's not a—"
"There's nothing to be secretive about!" Griffin bit out over the lump in her throat. "I'm not going, alright?! It's done."
