Unintended Consequences

Chapter 17

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Stupid Charlotte... Stupid. Stupid. Stupid Charlotte! How could I have let this happen? I had paced back and forth in my room so many times obsessing over this situation, I'm sure I'd almost burned a hole in the carpet. Once again I'd let my nerves get ahold of me, and had frozen. How hard would it have been to speak up? Clearly, really fricken hard.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone so anxious to see their best friends," Madeline mused from her spot on my bed.

"It's not that!" I objected vehemently. "I miss them I really do. And if we were getting together at home, in our normal element I'd be over the moon right now." But I wasn't seeing Brit and Kayla back home, nope. They were currently on planes flying into LAX.

It had all started a few week ago. Madeline and Emmett were both trying to convince me to go out with them on Halloween. They had made some decent points about not letting what happened to me dictate my entire college experience. They also pointed out that I had more friends now, more people to watch my back.

The nail in the coffin had ended up coming from Archer of all people. I'd texted him to vent about my anxiety around Halloween and he had the perfect solution. The football team was throwing a party. It was the most ideal version of a potentially unattractive situation.

I'd been over to the football house a bit now with Archer, so I felt comfortable there. I'd also met most of the boys who lived there several times and they were all fairly nice. I'd been surprised by how gentlemanly they'd been towards me, but I think there was a lot of residual guilt that I'd been drugged at their event. Not to mention, Archer was always standing over my shoulder glaring at them, practically daring them to step out of line.

As far as college parties went, this would most likely be the one I'd be most comfortable at. That was... until I had told Brit and Kayla. They were just being so frustrating. Going on and on about how I needed to live, and not let college pass me by. So, I had to go open my big fat mouth and tell them I was going to a football party for Halloween.

Next thing I knew, flights and hotels were getting booked as Kayla and Brit decided on their own to come here for the weekend. I'd sat on Facetime willing myself to stop them, but I couldn't think of one good reason I wouldn't want my best friends to visit.

I couldn't exactly tell them that almost every conversation we'd had recently left me frustrated. Or that I was fairly positive they were only coming because of my new connections to a Division 1 football team. I definitely could not tell them, that for some unknown reason I felt an intense need to keep my new USC life separate from them.  As though it needed protection or something.

    "Look I don't know what's going on with you and these girls," Madeline said from the passenger seat of my car as we drove to pick them up. "But, I think you just need to try and enjoy yourself. They're your friends, this is supposed to be a fun weekend! Besides, if anything goes sideways I've got your back."

"Thanks, Mads." I smiled relieved. As I pulled into the Arrivals lane at LAX I took a deep cleansing breath. Madeline was right. These girls were my best friends and I was letting my anxiety ruin the weekend before it had even begun.

I pulled the car to a stop in front of the American Airlines gates where we could park and wait for them. They flew separately but managed to get flights that landed within the hour of each other. If everything went as planned, Kayla would already be here and waiting at the luggage pickup for Brit.

    The Exit doors slid open and a rush of people came piling out. Scanning the crowd, I looked for the matching blonde heads of my friends. When I caught sight of Brit pulling an oversized suitcase I honked my horn to grab her attention. A laugh burst from my lips as she and Kayla ran over, waving their arms excitedly. Maybe I was overthinking this.