“Oh my God. Dude! Did you piss yourself?” a guy shouts, pointing at Ben.
Laughter follows and I get ready to step in, but Ben looks down at the mess and, to my surprise, bursts out laughing too.
What the hell?
“I did! I peed in my pants. But it was so awesome!”
A few guys break from the group to high-five Ben, making me relax a fraction. I still eyeball the rest to make sure they aren’t talking smack about Ben.
“Hey, Troy. Can you take a picture of me?” he asks.
“Sure.”
I snap a few photos, even a few with the guys who high-fived him. We move on when someone else jumps.
“Hey, I have a pair of sweatpants you can borrow,” I tell him.
“Okay. Cool. I didn’t want to soil your car seat.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. Normally, I would be so embarrassed, but maybe I’m still riding on adrenaline. It’s my fault for not going to the restroom beforehand. I usually have to pee when I’m nervous.”
“I think everyone does.” I laugh.
“Do you ever get nervous before you have to do something?”
I grin. “Heck yeah. I get jitters before every game. But it’s also such a rush.”
“I get that now.”
Back at my car, I open the trunk and pull out the sweatpants from my duffel bag. “Can I be honest with you?”
“Sure,” Ben says as he takes the pants from me.
“I’m terrified of going to LARP.”
“Really? Why?”
“I had a really embarrassing moment during a school play when I forgot all my lines. I’ve avoided anything remotely related to theatrical performances ever since.”
“That’s the beauty of LARP. There aren’t any lines to memorize. It’s all improv. All you need to know is who your character is, what he can do—such as special powers—and then react to the situation given. It’s super fun.”
I nod. “All right. If you say so.”
Ben heads back inside the building to change. While I wait, I snoop on Charlie’s social media profile to check her pictures of past LARP events. It backfires royally when I find way too many images of her with that stuck-up ex-boyfriend. I should put the phone away, but I’m a glutton for punishment and keep scrolling down until I finally come across a few photos of when they were still a couple.
Fuck. Why hasn’t she deleted these?
My pulse accelerates as possessiveness takes over. I know it’s ridiculous to suffer from retroactive jealousy, but it seems when it comes to Charlie, logic has taken a vacation.
39
CHARLIE
Can someone overdose on too much sex? Since I raised the white flag and declared defeat, Troy and I have been doing it whenever we’re together. I can’t get my fill of him. Even when I manage to carve out time to study or work, thoughts of him invade my brain. It’s no surprise that after a week into this sex marathon, I have dark circles under my eyes, and I have to triple my intake of caffeine. I haven’t had much sleep.
I’m not complaining. Far from it. Besides all the mind-blowing orgasms I’ve had, being consumed by Troy keeps my mind from thinking about my parents too much. Dad hasn’t returned home, and after a short and painful conversation with my mother, it doesn’t sound like he will anytime soon. She mentioned going to couples therapy, but judging by the defeat in her voice, it didn’t sound like she believed it would help.
If it weren’t for Troy keeping me busy, I would have for sure succumbed to a depressive state. I am gutted that my parents might get a divorce, but my main concern in this mess is Ben. I’ve spoken to him every day. He sounds okay; the upcoming LARP weekend in a few weeks is keeping his mind occupied. He’s helping Tammara with some of the writing too, which is awesome.
It’s Friday after lunch, and I’m at the newspaper. I’m behind on an article I have to deliver, and Blake is on my case. He didn’t say anything when I came in half an hour ago, but I’ve been sensing him eyeballing me ever since. Ludwig and Angelica are out, and Blake’s constant staring is getting on my nerves. It’s already hard enough to concentrate when my eyes want to shut and I can’t stop yawning.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore and whip my head in his direction. “What?”
“I should be asking you the same question. What’s going on with you? I know Halloween is just around the corner, but it’s a little early to dress up as a zombie.”
“Bite me, Blake.”
“See? What’s with the attitude?”
“I’m tired, if you haven’t noticed, and I have a deadline.”
“I’m quite aware of your deadline. I’m the one waiting for it.”
I grumble, returning to my laptop. I have to squint my eyes behind my glasses to make the words stop dancing on the screen. It’s like I ate magic mushrooms before coming here.
Blake scoffs. “I knew you dating that jock would affect your work ethic.”
I jerk my head up to look at him. “Excuse me? How is my work ethic affected?”
“You’re late in delivering the article, and Sylvana said you haven’t sent your boyfriend’s character sheet yet.”
“The event is in three weeks. I have time.”
“Really? You’re just going to deliver that last minute so the other writers have to scramble to fit him in the storyline? Besides, doesn’t he want to study the character before he has to play it?”
I rest my head in my hand, letting out a groan. Crap on toast. Blake is right. “Shit.”
“You forgot you had to do it, didn’t you?”
Blake knows me too well.
“I totally did. Troy is going to kill me.”
From the corner of my eye, I catch Blake’s condescending shake of his head, which turns my irritation into ire. “You don’t know what’s going on, so keep your judgmental opinions to yourself.”
He glowers at me. “No, Charlie, I don’t know what’s going on with you, and whose fault is that? It’s like you’ve become a different person since you started dating that playboy. You ignore my texts; you don’t call back.”
“Maybe I’m still annoyed that you stopped by the house to warn him off. That was messed up, Blake.”
He sits stiffer in his chair. “It was warranted. Look me straight in the eye and tell me you wouldn’t do the same thing for me if the situation were reversed.”
I want to keep holding on to my anger, but the truth is, if Blake started dating a girl who had been mean to him beforehand, I’d probably do worse than what he did.
Breaking eye contact, I reply, “You also kept badgering me about this stupid deadline. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with Blake the editor.”
“I’m sorry if you felt I was only contacting you because of the article.” His voice softens. “I’ve been under a lot of stress too.”
Guilt takes away the rest of my annoyance. I’ve been neglecting my friends since before I started dating Troy. It all began when I moved in with him. “Why are you under a lot of stress?”
He pushes his dark hair back, mussing it a little. “I’ve applied to a bunch of internships, and so far, I was only called to one interview, and I don’t even know if I did well or not.”