Heartless Page 13

  Just wanted to wish you good luck today

  Her phone pinged almost immediately.

  You too, babe

  Charlie felt her cheeks flush hot. He called me babe. She shoved her phone and schedule into her backpack, grabbed her helmet off the table and headed out to her bike.

  Time to face the music, she pulled out of her driveway and headed toward the school. It wasn't far from her house at all. When she pulled into the parking lot she scanned for Jules' car but didn't see it. Charlie backed her bike into a spot under a tree and shut it off. A small group of kids stood around another car started walking toward her and yelled "Hey nice bike."

  "Thanks," she said, nodding in their direction as she walked away. Her boots clunked each time they hit the linoleum, the sound echoed down the hallway. She found her locker and pulled her schedule out of her bag to try her combination, making sure it worked. Pulling out her phone, she had a missed text from Sam glowing on her screen.

  Hey beautiful, I'm stopping by for a kiss after work. Its been too long, Can't wait to see you

  Jules voice startled her when he spoke. "Talking to lover boy?"

  Charlie looked up to see him standing before her grinning. Her smiled fell when her eyes caught the sneer on the face of the girl she assumed was Courtney. Charlie gave her a quick once over, not impressed with her small frame or bouncing blonde curls. She wondered if the girls make up would crack if she made any facial expressions it was caked on so thick. Courtney was sizing her up. Charlie watched the plastered look on her face, she knew the evil little troll's claws were out.

  "Babe, this is my cousin, Charlotte."

  She was glad he didn't introduce her as Charlie. That name was reserved for family and friends only. She watched as the girl's facial expression quickly changed to the most plastered fake smile she'd ever seen. Courtney acted like she was sweet but Charlie knew what kind of wicked little bitch she really was from this encounter alone.

  "Hi Charlotte, it's so nice to meet you. My name is Courtney but everyone calls me CiCi. I've heard so much about you. You totally need to hang with me today and I will introduce you to all the right people."

  Charlie cringed at the high pitched tone of her voice and pulled her hand away quickly when Courtney grabbed it. Charlie raised her eyebrow and grabbed onto the straps of her backpack.

  Don't touch me, ever. "I'm good on my own, but thanks."

  Jules laughed and shook his head, it was like he knew she wouldn't be social. The look on Courtney's face was priceless, she was dumbfounded that someone had said no to her.

  "I'll catch you later dude," Charlie said, and pushed off of her locker walking down the hall in the opposite direction, leaving Courtney screaming at Jules in her wake.

  ♥♥♥♥♥

  Charlie was happy the morning went by fast. The teachers droned on and on about winter break and she wanted to bang her head into a wall. She knew she was the topic of conversation in almost every class. The kids weren't very subtle when they looked at her and whispered to one another. It was the same everywhere she went. Her third period was a total bore and she couldn't wait to go to her next class. Honors creative writing was the only class on her scheduled she'd actually been able to choose.

  Writing had always been a constant outlet for her no matter where they lived. When the bell rang she shoved out of her desk and hustled out of the room. She tried to read her crinkled schedule and ran into someone. She looked up to find Jules smiling at her outside the door of her next class.

  "Oh, you mean your little troll isn't in this class with us?" she said, with a smirk.

  "Nope, it's you and me, Toots."

  He led the way into the almost empty classroom. She sat down in the last row at the very back of the room and Jules sat at the desk beside her. There was no teacher in the room but the top of the board said, "Mr. Greyson AP Creative Writing" in perfect print. Jules pulled her attention back to him when he spoke.

  "So how's it going so far?"

  She shrugged and made a face. "All I know is this class better not suck."

  He laughed as the bell rang and when she looked back up the class was full. One student ran in after the bell and she heard a familiar voice say, "You're late."

  She slowly lifted her eyes at the the sound of his voice and panic rose inside of her as Sam walked to the front of the class. Holy fuck, this can't be happening right now. Time stood still. Each beat of her heart was deafening as she sat there in shock, and looked to Jules for help. He watched her wide eyed and mouthed, "What's wrong?" She shook her head and fought back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Sam was her teacher. How the hell could he be her damn teacher?

  Knowing she couldn't stay in that room a moment longer, she shoved out of her desk. Charlie tripped over a backpack in her row and fell onto another student's desk, knocking a stack of books to the floor. When she stood, her eyes locked with Sam's and the horror on his face mirrored hers. She sprinted past him and slammed the classroom door behind her as she ran down the hall.

  Bile burned the back of her throat. She needed to leave and nothing was going to stop her. Her chest throbbed and she ran as hard as she could through the parking lot until she got to her bike. She couldn't stop her body from shaking as she kicked her gearshift into first gear and peeled out of the parking lot.

  Not really sure how she'd gotten home, she felt numb and everything was a blur. She walked back to the pool and stripped to her underwear before she dove in. I need to swim, I just need to do laps. I don't want to think, I don't need to process, I just need to swim. She powered through the water. Swimming was her therapy. She liked how she could lose herself in the water, not focus on anything but her breath and her stroke.

  ♥♥♥♥♥

  Sam stood stock still after Charlie stormed out of his classroom. His heartbeat echoed in his chest and he didn't know what to feel. A mixture of confusion and anger coursed through him as Julian Montgomery rushed out behind her and the realization that he was Jules hit him. His classroom faced the parking lot and he couldn't force himself to move as the sound of her bike echoed through his windows. It sounded like she revved the engine as high as it would go and peeled out of the lot. He needed to talk to her but he knew he couldn't just leave class.

  His planning period started as soon as that class ended. He knew what he needed to do, confronting her was his only option. Going through the motions for class was all he was able to do. Thankfully it was the first day back and no one seemed to notice or care. As soon as the bell rang, he yanked his desk drawer open, grabbed his keys and headed for the parking lot.

  As he drove to her house, he tried to figure out what to say. He replayed all of the conversations they'd ever had in his mind and she'd never said she was in high school. If she had, he never would have pursued her. Confusion turned to aggravation as he pulled into Charlie's driveway. His lips were pinched and he had no idea what he was going to say to her. As soon as he got out of his Jeep he heard water splashing and figured she was in the pool. He stood on the edge of the the water with his stomach turned inside out. Betrayal swept through him as she surfaced and climbed out of the pool.

  Charlie walked toward him with water dripping off of her.

  "What the fuck, Charlie?" Sam's chest rose and fell as anger consumed him.

  "Oh like this is my fault?"

  "You're in high school?" He yelled at her.

  "I'm fully aware."

  "You should have told me! God, when you told me you finished school in the spring, I thought you were in college."

  She stood there with a scowl on her face.

  "Did you know I was your teacher? I mean, you lied to me." His nostrils flared and he locked his jaw.

  "No, I didn't fucking know. You never told me what you did and I've never lied to you." Her brows were furrowed and her face distorted with anger. He knew it mirrored his but he couldn't stop the words before he spit them out at her.

  "You failed to mention you
were still in high school." Sam paced back and forth in front of her and rubbed his face with his hands. He knew he should try to stay calm but calm flew out the window when he saw her in the back of his classroom.

  "Oh, so this is my fault?" she demanded, her face flushed crimson.

  "I can get fired for this. You're not nineteen either, are you? Hell I'm probably going to jail." He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself to hear the word no.

  "You can't go to jail because I am nineteen," she growled.

  "What the hell am I supposed to think? This all feels like a giant set up."

  "A set up? Are you kidding me?"

  "I don't know Charlie. Don't you think it's a little convenient you and your best friend are both students in my fucking class? This was a giant mistake. You were a mistake." Sam sat down on the edge of a pool chair and buried his head in his hands. Looking up at her defeated, he had no idea what to do or what to say.

  His heart sank. What they had, meant more to him than anything, but he knew in that moment it was over. There was no way it could go on. How could it?

  "You need to go," she said through gritted teeth.

  Shaking his head, he stood. "This, can't happen again. You need to transfer out of my class. I... I don't even know what else to say." He just shook his head not believing the situation he was in and walked down the driveway without another word to her.

  Sam got into his Jeep and hit the steering wheel with his hands again and again. His palms stung but he didn't care. He sat there a while before he started it and tried to wrap his head around the last couple of hours.

  Pulling out of her driveway, he sped down the street. He knew it wasn't going to be the end of it. He had to get her out of his class and pray to God she never said anything to anyone. Not only was the girl he'd fallen in love with off limits, but his life, his job and his reputation were on the line.

  ♥♥♥♥♥

  Charlie ran inside and tripped up the stairs as she fled to her room. She collapsed into a heap on her bathroom floor and replayed the day in her mind. Her stomach coiled as she dry heaved and sobbed.

  Her pulse thumped in her ears as warm arms wrapped around her wet, shivering body. Charlie didn't have to look up to know it was Jules. The smell of his cologne tickled her nose and gave him away. She sank into his lap and held onto him for dear life as the sobs rocked through her all over again, thankful he didn't ask what was wrong.

  She woke up frantic and realized she had on a dry t-shirt and panties. Charlie was alone in her bed and couldn't remember how she got there.

  Rolling back over, she buried her face into her pillow and screamed. The intimacy she shared with Sam... it was more than just physical. He saw her damaged, bruised and broken soul and still showed her that he cared. It wasn't real then, it couldn't be if he can just walk away that easily, she thought.

  Soon she'd have to face Jules and explain everything but she didn't want to. Her body was drained and her eyelids were heavy as she drifted off to sleep again. The mattress shifted under her when Jules crawled into bed and woke her up. She rolled over to face him and she couldn't stop the flow of tears that ran down her cheeks. Jules reached over and wiped them away as they fell.

  "Hey, hey hey, its okay... don't cry." He smoothed out her hair.

  "I can't stop it." Charlie wiped her nose with the back of her hand and tried to fight the sobs but there was no use.

  "What happened? I tried catch you, but you were gone by the time I got to the parking lot. I had to wait until the next period to leave. Teachers were prowling the parking lot after you took off."

  "He's Sam, Mr. Greyson is Sam."

  "I figured that out...once I saw your face. Did you know who he was? Did he know you were in high school still?" Jules wide eyes watched her.

  "No." She sniffled and tried to stop her lip from quivering.

  "So what are you going to do?"

  "I don't know. He told me this can never happen again. He thinks I knew he was my teacher and kept it from him." Charlie took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  "When did he tell you that? He never left class." He pursed his lips like he was trying to figure it out.

  "He came here."

  "He came here? When?" Jules yelled at her.

  "Before you came the first time I guess? I was in the pool and then he was just standing there and started yelling at me."

  Jules pulled her into his chest and kissed her on the forehead.

  "I don't even know what to say to make this better."

  "It doesn't matter, he hates me and he thinks I set him up. He ripped my heart out and made me remember why I don't trust people. They always let you down."

  "Well, you know what? Fuck him. You are the most amazing person on the planet and if he's too dumb to see it. It's his loss." He kissed her forehead again and rubbed her arm up and down.

  She didn't feel like talking anymore. Charlie's eyes were puffy and her chest ached. Sam shattered her hope into a million pieces that would never fit back together again. That's what she got for opening up to him.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The next morning Charlie woke up to an empty bed and rolled back over burying her face in her pillow. She was not going to school ever again. She'd just finish her senior year online like she should have done to begin with.

  Footsteps echoed on the hardwood in the hall coming toward her room. She lifted her head as Jules walked in with a glass of orange juice in one hand and something else in the other. As Charlie sat up, a migraine throbbed behind her eyes. She figured it was from all the crying the night before. He dropped two pills into her palm and handed her the juice.

  "Did you stay here?" She popped the pills into her mouth and chased them with the juice.

  "Yeah, I ran home an hour ago to shower and grab clean clothes." Jules sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her with an uncertainty.

  "Thanks for staying but you didn't have to come back."

  "Yeah I did. You need to get up, were going to school."

  She wanted to glare at him but the pounding in her head was too strong to do anything. "I'm not going back."

  "Oh yes you are. You made your dad a promise and I'm going to make sure you keep it." Jules dropped his chin and looked at her through his obnoxiously long lashes.

  She'd always thought they were too pretty to be wasted on a boy. "Seriously? Don't try to make this about my dad."

  "Tough shit because I am. You promised him you would get a diploma from a real high school. That was the deal. I know you're devastated right now but not going back is not an option."

  "A diploma is a diploma, I'll just finish online."

  "No way. You can't run from this. We'll go to the office first thing and get your schedule changed. That way you don't have to see him everyday. You can avoid him other than that."

  "And what about me running out yesterday?"

  "I highly doubt he reported it. We'll just blame it on your heart or say you had a virus or something and you didn't want to puke at school, I don't know."

  "Ugh," she groaned as she laid back on the bed and pulled a pillow over her face. With one swift motion Jules grabbed the pillow off of her face and slammed it back into her before she knew what happened.

  "Get up now or I'll drag your ass out of this bed."

  Charlie knew he wasn't going to back down and there was no point in fighting him about it. She laid there unmoved until something else hit her. Reaching beside her, he'd thrown clothes at her and she pulled them on.

  Her feet were cold and the floor in her bathroom wasn't any warmer. She washed her face and noticed how puffy her eyes were and the dark circles she wore beneath them. Great now I'm going to look like hell because of that prick. Charlie brushed her teeth and tied her hair into a ponytail.

  Jules was in the kitchen making toast when she walked in. He slid a plate over to her with a buttered piece on it while he worked on the other.

  "By the way, I'm driving you to school today
. That way you can't pull a Houdini and disappear. No arguments." Her headache had subsided some and she glared at him.

  "Glare all you want, it's happening."

  She knew why he was making her go, she just didn't want to have to face Sam. Her heart was shattered and she was devastated. Charlie wondered how was she going to respond when she saw him. It was inevitable that she would and she knew it. Her fight wasn't with Jules and she knew he was only trying to help, so she didn't argue with him. The ride to school was silent other than the almost muted radio. They walked into school and she started to panic. Jules grabbed her by the hand and led her to the office. The office aide lit up when she saw Jules walk in.

  "Hi Julian — what can I do for you?"

  "Hey Holly. We need to get a note for my cousin here for her classes today."

  "Sure." The girl was like putty in his hands, she almost felt sorry for her.

  "She left during fourth yesterday, She was too embarrassed to get sick in class so she went home."

  Holly looked at her with empathy in her eyes, like it'd happened to her before.

  "I understand, just next time can you check in here before you leave campus?"

  Charlie nodded her head and gave a small smile as the girl handed her a note.

  "I will, thank you for being so understanding."

  "Is that all I can do for you?" She asked and swooned over Jules again.

  "Actually, we wanted to see if she can get her electives changed on her schedule."

  The flirting came to an abrupt halt. She watched Holly's fingers dance across the keyboard.

  "I'm sorry but the only classes that are open..." she clicked around some more "It looks like you've already taken. You need an English credit to graduate. You have to stay where you are."

  Charlie's heart dropped into her stomach as she stormed out of the office. She kicked the lockers across from her and fought the tears that threatened to escape. Jules walked over to her and put his hands on her arms.