Hector

“I never agreed that he was jealous.” Charlee said as she took a seat outside of Starbucks. “I agreed he was angry and rightfully so. Here I was being all friendly to the guy he’d saved me from and who put his good friend in the emergency room just weeks ago.”

Drew sipped her latte, shaking her head. “Difficult.”

“I am not being difficult,” Charlee insisted. “I just think playing head games is going make him think even less of me than he already does. I’ve made the most awful impressions on him already—each one worse than the last. First, I come off as a total bitch trying to show him up in front of the chess team on his very day there. Then, I easily give into making out with him at his party the very next day, after showing him up no less. And then,” she squeezed her eyes shut at the very thought, “then I make myself sound like a total slut just to cover up the fact that I care that that night didn’t mean everything to him like it did to me!”

“I don’t think you made yourself sound like a slut—”

“Oh, yes, I did. You weren’t there. You didn’t see the look on his face. Oh, but the absolute worst part is that now he not only thinks I’m a slut but he thinks I’m the dumbest slut on the planet, because now even creepy guy Ross is someone I’d consider doing . . . whatever it is he thinks I’m considering doing with him.” She peered at Drew. “Did you not see the look in his eye when he asked me if I was considering doing something with Ross?”

“Yes, yes,” Drew said. “I saw and heard everything. He was jealous, Charlee. I’m telling you the guy’s got it bad. And it wouldn’t be head games we are playing. It’s not like you’re seeing him or anything and then trying to make him jealous. You’re free to do what you want with whomever you want. Though I forbid you spend any more time being friendly with Ross. He is creepy.”

Charlee sipped her coffee but nodded in agreement. The only reason she’d been pleasant to Ross at all and agreed to talk to him later was because standing so close to Hector had brought back all the pain, the pain she was trying so desperately to rid herself of. At that moment, she didn’t want anything from Hector, not even his help, and she wanted to show him she had things under control. That she didn’t need him. “Well, I don’t flirt. You know that. Even if I did, I’m not flirting with anyone in the chess club. It would be too awkward. And since it’s the only place I get to be around Hector, then this little plan of yours is not going to work.”

Drew pulled her lips to one side. Good. Charlee had her. They could just forget about this once and for all and accept that anything between her and Hector was impossible.

She didn’t know why she’d ever allowed herself to even think it a possibility. For starters, Charlee was so pathetically inexperienced when it came to romantic relationships even getting involved with a less assuming guy would be a challenge. But to think she could work something out with a guy like Hector was almost laughable, not to mention daunting as heck. Though she had to admit, after being alone with him for a while in that room that night, talking to him had surprisingly become easier and easier.

“So how long do you think we’ll be at that old peeps home with Walter?”

“Just a few hours,” Charlee said. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, Drew. It just sounded like something neat to do. He said they were really excited when Hector played them. So when he told them about the girl from U.S. team that also lived in town, they asked him to try to get me in there.”

“No.” Drew smiled as they stood up, putting her arm around Charlee’s shoulder. “I don’t mind going with you at all. You’re too sweet.”

Charlee smiled. “You know better than anyone this isn’t so selfless. I have a hunch this is going to feel as good as it does when we do the Special Olympics. And you know how addictive that is.”

Drew’s face lit up. “I can play checkers or Yahtzi.”

That made Charlee laugh, and she leaned into Drew. “I’m sure you’ll find an opponent there.”

Glad that they’d at last canned this idea, Charlee could only hope it was the very end of this. She really needed to move on. The main reason she agreed to move out here in the first place was to get away and leave the nightmare behind. The last thing she should be trying to do now is create a new one.

***

“I got it!” Drew burst into Charlee’s bedroom.

Charlee looked up from her laptop with her pencil still in her mouth. Her friend dropped her purse on the floor with a huge smile on her face. Uh oh.

Removing the pencil slowly from her mouth, Charlee watched as Drew made herself comfortable on the other end of the bed. “I didn’t know you were home.”

“I just got here,” Drew said quickly. “Okay, remember that guy Miguel I told you about? The one I went out with a few times a couple of weeks ago?”

Charlee frowned. “The one you said was nice but you didn’t like the way he laughed so you stopped going out with him just because of that?”

Drew’s huge smile disappeared. “Charlee, you have to hear it. It’s awful. Like a horse spazzing out or something.” The huge smile was back instantly, and she waved her hands in front of her. “Anyway, I ran into him the other day. When we’d gone out, I talked about my dad collecting old records but how hard they are to get these days. He’d told me about some place in East L.A. that still sells all that. Long story short, he took me there today. Sounds of Music in the heart of East L.A, totally retro record store, something out of Pretty in Pink. So I go up to the register and pay, and there are all these flyers and stuff on the counter. Then I notice the pictures under the Plexiglas. Photos of what looked like the guy behind the counter with some rappers and singers, and then there it was—a photo of the guy and Hector standing by a boxing ring.”