Chapter 4

CHARLOTTE

“No.”

“No?” He looks stunned. “You really aren’t going to come back down to help?”

“No. See, Chase, I was really hoping you would be a lot nicer. I know back then you weren’t such an asshole. I have another class in about an hour, and I need to wash up. Is that all you wanted to talk about?”

My hands tighten on the doorknob.

“I was right about you, and the guys will see that, too.” He steps closer. “You will regret it.”

“Are you threatening me, Chase Tucker?” I close the tiny space between us. The air around feels like it will suffocate me.

“Not a threat, ~Charley,~ but a ~promise~.”

He steps back and goes downstairs. I must call Martha from the administrative building and see if they have any new openings.

Whatever Chase has in store for me will leave me in tears for sure. Closing and locking my door, I strip out of my clothes and take a nice long shower.

Getting dressed and strolling around my room, I finally make my way downstairs. The guys are still in the living room as I walk in. “Hey, Everett, can we talk?”

He looks over at me and then turns back to his book. Figures. I wonder what lies Chase has told them.

“Please, Everett? I just want to talk. It won’t take more than a minute.”

He sighs and stands up, walking my way. “What?” He is being rude. I shouldn’t have thought he would be any other way but this.

“I’m sorry. I—I just don’t think I should he—”

“It’s cool, Charley, no worries. Like Austin said, no rush, but how you went about it wasn’t cool. I got to get back.”

I didn’t think my not helping would cause such a huge problem, I want to say, but some things are better left unsaid. I look over to Chase, who I know is staring at me.

A smirk tugs at his lips, and then his eyes are back in his book.

Vincent clears his throat, catching my attention. “Where are you headed?”

“The Albert building.”

“I’ll walk with you; I am not needed here right now, anyway.” He stands. “Catch you guys at football practice.”

He and I walk out of the house in silence.

“I want to apologize on behalf of the guys,” he said once we were a few feet away from the house. “I know you don’t mean any harm. Chase can do that to a person.

“You just have to grow a thick skin and tough it out. I like you, Charlotte.”

I stop walking to look at him.

“Shit, not like that. You aren’t my type, but as a person I like you. You clean the house and cook dinner for us. Like a mother would d—I am not trying to call you our mother, because we have moms bu—”

“I get what you're trying to say,” I chuckle.

“Thank you. Earlier, Darren mentioned you not wanting to focus on business after graduation. What are you thinking about doing then? If you don’t mind me asking.”

I began to walk again. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I want to be a photographer.”

“Really?” My face lit up. “That’s so cool.”

“Yeah? Thanks. I love to take pictures, and I'm really great at it too. The guys want to be billionaires. Don’t get me wrong, I want that too, but I don’t want to be cooped up in an office for the rest of my life.”

He looks down at me. “You feel me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you feel me? Like, do you get what I'm saying?”

“Sorry, that totally went over my head.”

“It’s all good.” He places his arms around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. “So, tell me Charlotte, what is it that you want out of this thing called life?”

“RCA, which stands for the prestigious Ramona Culinary Academy. That’s my first step towards my career, and then from there I want to own my own restaurant, to be ~head chef~.”

I sigh dreamily, just picturing myself years from now.

“Alright. So do you want one of those star thingies?”

“A Michelin star? No way. Too much pressure to get one and keep it. I do not want to add more stress onto my plate.”

“But that star thing means a lot to chefs, right?”

“Some. I just want to be the greatest chef I can be, that’s all. Nothing more and nothing less.”

“Makes sense. I think you should work on the project with us.”

“Vincent, did you just want to walk with me to talk me into helping with the project?” I try to shrug his arm off, but he isn’t budging. “What is the big deal about the project anyway?”

“No, like I said, this is their business, not mine. I am just part of it because we always do group projects together. That has always been our thing.”

“So, what is it about?”

“Food,” he deadpans.

“Okay. Go on.” Now he has my undivided attention. Anything food-related, I am so down.

“If you want to know so much about it, just help us out.”

“Why can’t you just tell me?”

“Not my pro—”

“Vincent, nice seeing you on this side of the campus.” A red-haired female walks up to us, a cheerleader. “Who’s the tramp?” She eyes me.

“Watch your mouth, Dove,” he snaps.

“You screwed me for an entire semester last year. Then I don’t hear from you the whole summer, and now you are with a blonde?”

She shifts her attention. “He is going to just screw and leave you too. That’s just what he ~does~.”

Well, I don’t want him. What the hell is going on here? I look up at Vincent and back to Dove. Whatever the hell they have going on I don’t want any part.

“Dove, that’s enough.” He drops his arm from my shoulder. “You don’t want to get into this right now with me.”

“No, I think I do. You haven’t returned any of my phone calls since the last party you guys had. What’s up? Besides you finding a new shiny dumb blonde to screw.”

She folds her arms at her chest. I want to walk away from this situation, but I don’t want Vincent doing anything stupid. He seems pissed at her. It’s all in his body language.

“No, Dove, I haven’t. I stopped messing with you when I found you that night bouncing up and down on my brother’s dick. You knew it wasn’t me, and don’t use that excuse you were drunk, you weren’t. We got to go.”

He grabs my hand, walking around her. “And next time you talk about Charlotte that way, I’ll personally make sure your last year here is hell.”

If looks could kill, I would be dead. She doesn’t like that her ex is defending me. Dove Dorothy wasn’t someone you wanted to mess with.

The campus is crawling with shit tons of Regina Georges, and she is one. Dove Dorothy will have it out for me, regardless of what Vincent told her. I was now on her shit list.

Vincent walks off, pulling me with him, and I must jog to keep up.

“Hey, can we slow down a bit? I am going to trip and fall flat on my face.”

“Sorry.” He slows down. “I’m sorry about what you just witnessed back there. Dove is a handful. She just gets under my skin and—fuck…” He stuffs his hands into his pockets.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I think you cared for her a lot. You still do.”

“I did, but that’s in the past. So where were we?” He changes the topic.

“Raincheck on the conversation. We have arrived at my destination.” I stop and look up at him. “Thank you for walking me. I hope things work out with you and Dove, or ~not~.” I smile.

“I’ll take that rain check.” He leans down kissing my cheek. “See you later on tonight.”

“Umm, y-yeah.” Why did he just kiss me? Maybe it’s how he says goodbye to his friends. Are we even friends? ~Stop overthinking it, Charlotte,~ ~I tell myself.

“If Dove bothers you again, let me or one of the guys know.” His face is serious.

“Okay.” I wave bye and head into the building. I see Raven leaving a lecture hall with our mutual friend Kat. I wave at them. “Hey, girls.”

“Hey, Charley. Raven was just telling me that you are playing Charlotte ~White~ and the seven frat brothers this semester.”

I look over at Raven and roll my eyes. I hope she isn’t running up and down campus telling people this.

“No one is living out a fairytale here. I just so happened to get stuck with them until the university can find me a real place. So how was your talk with Professor Duggan?” I ask.

“It was fine. She said if I go, it will count against me, so I’m not going to go. It sucks, but I’ll be fine. There is always next year. How was your ~meeting~ with Everett?”

“Good. Look, I have to go, can’t be late,” I say, heading into the building.

Talking to Raven about anything at the moment might just get around campus. I trust her, she is my best friend, but after the stunt she pulled back in cooking class, I wasn’t so sure what was going on with her.

I’d rather have a sit down about what is going on before telling her any more secrets.