Getting Out

by Afton Brinkman

  CHARLIE’S TEAM had a game tonight and the entire school was pumped. I hadn’t seen Charlie much because he had an early morning practice and also a team meeting before they had to get suited up. Tess was joining me for the game completely against her will, saying ‘the last thing she wanted to do was see Zach play hockey’ but I had begged her and she finally caved. “Should we see if Noah wants to go?” I asked her as I grabbed Charlie’s sweater throwing it over my head.

  She was putting on some overly large earrings when she answered “Hmmm yeah why don’t we go ask the boy who pines for you to come sit with you while you drool over your sex on ice boyfriend that sounds like a great idea.”

  I shot her a dirty look at her obvious sarcasm. “I get it, geez just thought it would be nice to include him, especially since you two are little buddies now.”

  She shook her head as she checked herself out in the mirror one last time. “Fine I will text him.” Noah was surprisingly down to go with us, so we all piled into his car and headed for the rink.

  This town was definitely a hockey town, so nearly the entire town was in the stands. We made our way to the student seats just as the guys were finishing up their warm ups. I found Charlie skating towards the side of the rink, he took off his glove and motioned with his finger for me to come down. I smiled and made my way down the stairs.

  As usual, his face was lit up like a Christmas tree. “I need my good luck kiss.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and maneuvered around his helmet to get to his waiting lips.

  “Win for me, k?” He nodded and gave me a wink before skating back to his waiting teammates. I stopped at the concession stand before heading back to my seat. I handed Noah a popcorn and Tess a bottle of water. The game was high energy as always but I could not take my eyes off of Charlie. He played like a professional. Skating and stopping and strategically shooting the puck. He was a great team player, making smart passes and running all of their plays perfectly. It was second period and the score was tied. Both teams were giving it their all when the puck was shot onto the opponent’s side with no defense. Zach had gotten to it first and was skating towards the goal on the right side, close to the wall, when two giant guys slammed him hard. Zach fell to the ice, not moving. The entire place gasped watching his limp body crumple to the ice. Tess immediately grabbed my hand and a “No” had escaped her lips. The whistles blew and Charlie and Coach and the rest of the team all huddled around the still motionless Zach. It was minutes but it all felt like it was going in slow motion as the medics came onto the ice. Zach was then helped skate out of the rink. For the rest of the game my stomach hurt as I watched Charlie continue to play. I was worried for Zach and hoped he would be alright but my anxiety came more from my worry for Charlie. It was a contact sport and while they had pads and helmets, at any given moment there was a chance that Charlie could be injured and that was a hard pill for me to swallow. Everyone had pretty much vacated the rink by the time Charlie came out of the locker room, still wearing his warm up clothes that he wore under his pads. I instantly went to him hugging his body tight. He kissed the top of my head.

  “That was scary.” I said muffled into his chest.

  “I know babe but he will be okay.”

  “Did he go to the hospital? Do you want to go there?”

  “Nah, there isn’t anything I can do for the guy. I saw him before he left, he was talking and everything. I am sure he will be a little sore but like I said, he will be fine. He got rocked pretty hard but it happens.” I couldn’t believe he was playing this off as something that wasn’t serious. I was just about to launch into a giant spiel on why he should take it all more seriously when I felt Charlie’s arms tense around me and then I heard the reason why, “Charles.” His dad was here, that’s just great. I turned in Charlie’s arms but he kept a tight hold on me. My eyes met his fathers as he stood there looking at us.

  “What was going on out there son? You could have played much better, you were being lazy.” And there it was. Charlie didn’t say anything but his body felt like a hard slab of stone behind me. Then his father turned his icy glare onto me, “Ashton I am surprised to see you here. I thought the two of you had called it quits, but I see my son isn’t as smart as I give him credit for.”

  I could hardly believe the words he just said to me. “Excuse me?” I said in a tone that could not be mistaken for anything but anger.

  “Ashton, don’t. It’s not worth it, trust me.”

  “No, he can’t say those things to me.” Charles Senior’s eyes were taunting and he had a small grin on his face. He was enjoying getting me all worked up.

  “Babe, meet me outside, I will be there in a minute.” I gave him a hesitant look but he gave me a light push, so with heavy steps, I exited the building and left Charlie and his dad standing there to talk.

  MY EYES followed her retreating back, all the way out the door, and then I looked at my father trying to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to do.

  “I heard about your little meeting in Portland.” Of course he had, as hard as I tried I could never do anything without the man finding out.

  “Yeah, and?”

  “Charles you know just as well as I do that that team is beneath you. The only people who play for them are the ones that can’t hack it. I can’t sit by and let you make one bad decision after another.”

  I let out a chuckle. “This is you sitting by huh?”

  “Charles I am going to say this only one more time. Lose the girl before she costs you your future; believe me, you don’t want to end up like I did…”

  Cutting him off, I pointed directly at him. “Careful old man, don’t think that I am going to stand here and let you talk shit about my girlfriend and my mother.” He shook his head back and forth and looked at the ice rink like I was the biggest disappointment of his life.

  “This could have gone much easier Charles but since you’re being hard headed, I guess I will have to take matters into my own hands.” Then he walked away and all I could think about is that I was never going to be rid of the son of a bitch.

  Ash was in my truck waiting for me and when I got in I could tell she was pissed. “I’m sorry about him, you know he is an asshole.”

  She continued to look out the window. “Yeah he is, but what I don’t get is why you let him walk all over you? Why don’t you stand up for yourself?”

  “It’s not that easy, I mean, yeah he is an ass but he is still my dad and I guess on some level that still means something to me.” She turned and looked at me…. no, make that scowled at me.

  “Well don’t expect me to hold my tongue if he disrespects me, or our relationship again. I am going to let him have it.”

  I smiled and reached across the cab and pulled her body closer to mine. “You going to fight my battles for me beautiful girl?” Kissing her on the head, I felt her sigh.

  “Our battles remember? Toughing things out together.” I loved this girl so damn much. When she cared about something or someone, she put her-all into it and even though she still had her moments of insecurity and moments when she didn’t think she was strong enough and wanted to run, I knew that no matter what, I was going to be there right next to her picking up the slack if I needed to.

  I HAD thought for sure when Charlie and Ashton broke up that I had succeeded in my mission, and that everything was falling into place. Imagine my surprise when they reconciled only a week later. Not only reconciled but they seemed even more into each other than before. It made my blood boil. Every damn day I would see Charlie standing outside her class, waiting to walk her to her next one. He was spreading on the PDA gestures heavy, always kissing and touching her and all I could do was stand by and watch. I hated it. I hated her. So when I received the phone call from Mr. Ingram saying that we need to double our efforts, I was game. My first plan hadn’t worked out so well, but my second one would be a doozy that nobody would walk away from unscathed. Especially Ashton.

  TESS WANTED to go visit Zach
, they had only kept him at the hospital for about four hours. He had a mild concussion with some bruising on his ribs but other than that he was okay. Tess seemed concerned anyway and was going to go see him at his house. I just knew the two of them were going to get back together. As much as she denied it, I could see she still had feelings for him and who knows, maybe the cheerleader was just a one-time drunken mistake that he wished he could take back. People change, right?

  A week passed and things were back to our foursome again. Zach swore he would never cheat and he even went as far as telling Tess he loved her. Only time would tell. Things with Charlie and I were perfect and I felt myself falling more and more in love with him as every day passed. I never thought I could be so happy.

  After school I told Charlie I had a sweet tooth so he decided to take me back to the ice cream parlor that we had our sort of, not really, nightmare of first date. I had stormed out before ever trying any of the ice cream. I just hoped that girl, Eve, wasn’t working today. She wanted my boyfriend and I couldn’t blame her because so did everyone else. Damn him, and his amazingly good looks sometimes. Luckily, Eve was not there so we ate our sweet treat in uninterrupted peace. The ice cream was good but when Charlie put a spoonful in my mouth and then kissed me, it became the most heavenly treat in the world. We were walking out of the shop when Charlie spoke

  “By the way, I forgot to mention that one of my buddies is having a bonfire this weekend, you want to go?”

  I held his hand that he had around my shoulders and put my other one around his waist. “Sure we could do that if you want, I don’t think I will be drinking though.” He smiled and kissed the top of my head before inhaling the scent of my shampoo.

  “It’s at my buddy Cam’s house, you will love it. He graduated last year but his house is huge and he always goes all out for his parties.” I wasn’t really one for parties. Before coming here, I hadn’t really attended any; not like the ones here anyway, they were pretty crazy.

  “Would it be okay if I invited Tess?”

  “Yeah of course, but I don’t know if she will want to come since Zach isn’t going.”

  “Why isn’t Zach going?”

  “It’s kind of a long story, and it has to do with Jaimie so I doubt you want to hear it.”

  My nose wrinkled at the mention of her name, “I despise her….. Tell me anyway.”

  “Well to make a long story short, when Cam was a senior and Jaimie was a freshmen, one night at a party, Cam took her virginity. The next day he pretty much treated her like she meant nothing, which isn’t a surprise, that’s how Cam always treated girls. Of course Jaimie got upset and told Zach. They duked it out and haven’t really talked since.”

  I thought about the story he just told me. When I first met Charlie he sounded very similar to this guy, Cam. A total player, not caring about the girls he used. “So you and Cam are still close even if Zach doesn’t like him?”

  “Zach is like a brother to me, but that was between those two, it had nothing to do with me.” I could already tell I wasn’t going to be a fan of this Cam guy and I bet he wouldn’t like the fact that Charlie was in a relationship. I really hoped Tess would come with me just in case Charlie left me alone all night to hang out with his former wingman.

  Tess hesitantly agreed to go with me after already hearing the story from Zach, a much longer, more detailed one then I had heard, I am sure. Charlie picked us up and we headed a few miles out of town. Cam’s house sat in the backwoods off the highway that led to Portland, very secluded with no neighbors to complain about all the cars or noise, how fitting. We pulled up into the driveway and Charlie pulled his phone out. “Camdawg, I am here.” A moment later, the large garage doors opened and Charlie pulled in. I glanced at him with a questioning look.

  “I always park my baby in here, like I said, Cams parties can get a little out of control.” I looked at Tess, wondering what we just got ourselves into. We got out of the truck and walked out of the garage and onto the front porch where a tall guy with short brown hair and blue eyes came striding out. He was a big guy. Charlie was just over six feet tall and this guy was a bit taller. They embraced in the boy handshake hug thing that guys do and that’s when Cam’s eyes landed on us as we stood behind Charlie.

  “Bro you brought me party favors I see.” Turning around Charlie smiled and pulled me into his side. “Sorry Cam these two are spoken for.”

  Cam laughed a hearty laugh and clasped Charlie on the back. “Two bombshells at once, that’s my boy, I taught you well.” Charlie shook his head.

  “No just this one is mine. Cam this is Ashton, Ashton this is my buddy Cameron.” He reached his large hand out and clasped mine, bringing it to his mouth and kissed the top of it. I jerked my hand away, making his smile grow wider.

  “Got a feisty one here Charlie.”

  Kissing the top of my head, Charlie whispered to me, “don’t worry beautiful girl he is harmless.” I guess what I did was a little rude but this guy instantly made my skin crawl.

  “Thanks for having us.” I could try and be civil for Charlie.

  “My pleasure, who’s your friend here?” He eyed Tess like he was going to devour her.

  “This is Tessa, Ashton’s roommate and she is also...”

  “Thirsty, she is also thirsty.” Tess interrupted him before he could mention Zach. She was so smart, if Cam had known Tess was Zach’s, he would have done anything to get into her pants. Charlie looked confused but then looked at me and I winked at him so he played along.

  “Well come on back to the fire baby and I will quench that thirst of yours anyway I can.” Okay this guy was sleaze and a half. Following Cam into the backyard there were a slew of obviously already intoxicated people and the bonfire was a full blaze. Tess got her drink and we stood a ways away from the blaze. Cam went inside to make sure people weren’t in the house and Tess leaned into me.

  “Okay this guy is like my worst nightmare, please tell me we don’t have to stay long.”

  Charlie heard her and quickly jumped into the conversation to defend his friend. “Come on girls, give him a chance I know he comes off a little strong but trust me, he is a fun dude.”

  Tess shook her head and took a drink from her cup scanning the people all around us. Charlie was drinking a beer with one arm still wrapped around my shoulders. Cam came back out handing Charlie another beer, he and Charlie talked animatedly and told us many stories about their past drunken escapades. Tess was ignoring everyone while texting on her phone, and I couldn’t blame her. We didn’t really know anyone at this party and everyone was way too drunk, I had unfortunately already seen two people get sick on the lawn. Charlie had about three beers and I could tell he was starting to feel good. He never left my side though and was being very affectionate, kissing my head and temple numerous times or rubbing my back lightly. About an hour later Tess was ready to go and I was too. My feet had gotten wet and it was getting late.

  “Charlie I think we need to go.” His eyes were a little glossy in the light of the bonfire and he had a cheesy grin on his face.

  “Kiss me.” I could smell the beer on his breath and for a moment I was swept back into my past. Turning my head away from him, I kissed his shoulder.

  “I don’t think you can drive, can you?” He looked at the fire and took another drink.

  “I probably shouldn’t.” Great now how were we going to get home.

  “Charlie we have to get back to the dorms.” Pulling his phone from his pocket he eyed it and then handed it to me.

  “Text Zach, he will come give you guys a ride.” I looked at his phone and then back up at him.

  “You’re going to stay here, all night?” I wasn’t very keen on that idea.

  “I don’t know about all night but at least until I sober up enough to drive.” I didn’t like this situation one bit but there was no rational reason for me to object. It would just cause a fight that I didn’t want to have, so I repeated the mantra, “I trust my boyfriend, I trust m
y boyfriend,” Over and over again in my head.

  “Okay, will you text me when you make it home safe?” He nodded and gave me a lopsided grin.

  “Of course love.” Tess had already texted Noah instead of Zach because Zach would be irate if he knew Tess had come to this party. Noah showed up almost half an hour later and we headed back to the dorms. I left my drunk boyfriend there hoping that it wasn’t a huge mistake to do so.

  I WOKE up and instantly wished I hadn’t. My head was in a fog and my temples felt like they were being crushed in vice grip. After Ashton left, Cam had taken the opportunity and got me completely shit faced, “just like old times,” he kept saying. The last thing I remember was going into his guest room and passing out. A movement from the other side of the bed startled me as I turned over and found my worst nightmare in bed with me in only a bra and panties.

  “Jaimie what the fuck are you doing? Get out of here.” She blinked sleepily at me and smiled not even caring that I was throwing her ass out. What the hell did I do? No, this wasn’t happening, I would never cheat on Ashton. I was so in love with her. I still had my pants on but my shirt was off. I jumped off the bed looking for my shoes and shirt wanting to get the hell away from her and the situation.

  “What’s wrong Charlie?” She asked like she was clueless.

  “What’s wrong is that you are in bed with me when you know you shouldn’t be.”

  “You wanted me in your bed last night.”

  I froze. No, there was no way I had sex with her. “I was drunk but I know I came to bed alone Jaimie.”

  She sat up and stretched her arms, not even bothering to cover up her mostly naked form. “I came to check on you and you told me to stay, so I did.”

  I shook my head and found my shoes. “So you slept by me, big deal, you didn’t need to strip down to your underwear. When did you even show up here last night anyway?”