Hector (51 page)

Walter let out an exasperated breath. “Hector, the jig is up. She
read a text where you told Drew it was very tempting to continue doing what you
two had been doing but it didn’t feel right anymore.”

Hector froze in place. “
Shit
!”

“Yeah, shit,” Walter agreed, disgustedly. “I can’t believe you.
Is it really that difficult to keep it in your—”

“She didn’t read the whole thing?” Hector grabbed his keys, glad
Abel was out
taking care of business
again tonight and his mom was still in Mexico; otherwise, they might try to
stop Hector from leaving.

“She said she didn’t get a chance to read all the texts, but what
she did read was enough. And she said she wouldn’t put anything past her
ex-best friend anymore. Said she’s not the person she thought she was and she
doesn’t trust her at all. She’s even dropping out of both chess teams. Says she
wouldn’t be able to stand being around you. Talk about screwing with someone’s
life for your own selfish reasons.”

Hector rushed out the front door, trying not to panic too much.
He stopped for a second to lock the door. “It’s not what she’s thinking. She’d
know this if she’d have read the whole text. And she’s not dropping out of
anything. Give me your address, and I’ll explain to her when I get there.”

“You’re coming here now?”

“Yeah,” Hector rushed around his truck.

“No! She’ll be mad that I told you where she was. Plus she
doesn’t wanna see you right now, and I don’t think—”

“Listen to me, Walter,” Hector spoke very firmly now as he
climbed in behind the wheel of his truck. He’d been patient enough with Walter.
While he appreciated Walter’s concern over Charlee, there was no fucking way he
was letting her leave or drop out of any teams, especially now that he knew why
Drew had done what she’d done. He only prayed now that Charlee would agree Drew
really hadn’t had a choice and stay. “I have the texts. You can read them when
I get there if you want, but nothing is going on between me and Drew, and
nothing ever has. I’m in love with Charlee. I meant it when I said I was done
with other girls. Now would you please give me your
gadamn
address so I can explain
all this to her.”

Walter told him he’d text it to him, and after waiting for what
seemed like an eternity, Hector began to wonder if the jackass had changed his
mind. Just when he was getting ready to call him back and tell him off, the
text with address came through.

Taking what felt like the deepest breath he’d ever taken, Hector
skidded out of his driveway, ready to do or say whatever he had to make Charlee
stay.

~*~

Feeling the familiar soft kiss against her temple and
her hair being caressed, Charlee smiled. Then her eyes flew open, and she sat
up suddenly, whacking her head against someone else’s. “
Ow
!”
They both said at the same time.

She massaged the spot on her head, realizing it was Hector whose
head hers had just collided with. He sat there on the edge of the bed, his
fingers at his own temple wearing a very pained expression. As nice as it was
to see him first thing when she opened her eyes, reality hit and she began
kneeing him until he toppled off the bed.

“Why are you here?” she demanded, sitting up on the edge of the bed
now. “How did you know I was here?”

She turned to a remorseful-looking Walter and let her shoulder
drop in utter disgust. “Isn’t there
anyone
I can trust anymore?”

“You can trust me,” Hector said, standing up.

Refraining from giving into the urge to kick him, she glared at
him.
“Really?”

“Yes, babe.”
Hector held his hands up in
front of him. “Look, I know what you’re thinking, but you have it all wrong.
There are a few things I do need to come clean about, but none are as bad as
what you’re imagining.” Charlee stood up ready to bolt. If she had to get a
room for the night, she was prepared to, but she wasn’t about to stand here and
listen to him
come clean
. She already
knew enough. “Please, Charlee, I have proof that I didn’t do anything with
Drew.”

“Oh, and what is that? You’re going to bring her in here to
attest to that? Are you both gonna stand here and tell me that neither of you
are as bad as all those bastards that made my life miserable? Because I know
the truth about her now and about you, Hector!” She cried. “Walter told me
every bit of it!”

The stunned look on his face made the hurt in her heart even
deeper because he didn’t deny it. She’d still hung on to the hope that maybe it
wasn’t true. Maybe Walter had misinterpreted things. Maybe Hector wasn’t just
like Danny. But, no, she could see the truth in his guilty eyes. He was
just
like him, only worse. At least
Danny didn’t think he’d deserved to kiss Charlee after the party.

Seeing Hector’s Adam’s apple move as he gulped hard, she tried
not to fall apart completely. “I’ve apologized to Walter, Charlee.” He turned
to Walter his face pale now and full of regret. “Did you tell her that too?”

Walter nodded. “I did and that you weren’t the one actually
harassing me, just your friends.”

When Walter had mentioned this earlier, she felt sorry for him.
Just as she’d been so quick to glorify Danny’s noble behavior because he hadn’t
actually thrown food at her like the other kids, Walter gave into the obvious
man crush he had on Hector and overlooked that he allowed his friends to treat
him that way—ostracize him until he dropped out of school. Now it pissed her
off.

“Oh well, take a bow, Mr. Ayala,” she said, her words dripping
with venom now. “I guess that makes you better than them. But don’t talk to me
about proof, Hector, because if you think I’m going to believe a word Drew
says—”

“You don’t have to! I can show you the texts.”

“I’ve seen the texts!” She tried walking by him.

“Charlee, it’s true,” Walter said. “He showed me. You didn’t read
the whole thing, but it’s really not what you’re thinking.”

Pathetically, Charlee felt a glimmer of hope that maybe, at the
very least, this part was explainable. She turned to Hector, her chest now
heaving. She was so worked up.

“I can explain it,” Hector said, the remorse still so heavy in
his eyes that it scared her. “I can’t take back what happened in high school
with Walter, but I swear to you I tried to make up for it. I nearly sacrificed
the best thing that’s ever happened to me just so I could make up for it. And
that’s
you
, Charlee.”

Charlee turned to Walter, wondering why he hadn’t told her this,
but he looked just as lost as she felt.

“Have a seat please and I’ll explain,” Hector said then turned to
Walter.
“You too.
I have something I need to come
clean to you about also.”

Confused, Charlee and Walter exchanged glances then took a seat
on Walter’s bed. Suddenly, Hector seemed nervous, and that made her nervous
again. Did she even want to hear this?

To her surprised, he addressed Walter first. “Walter, I think
I’ve been in love with Charlee since the night of the speed tournament. I tried
to fight it. I really did.” Charlee, whose weak heart was already swelling,
stared at him, trying not to give in so easily. He turned back to her now. “I
felt so guilty about the shit my friends had done to Walter in high school I
just couldn’t justify going after the girl he was so infatuated with.”

“Dude,” Walter said, squirming in his seat.

“It’s okay, man.” Hector assured him. “She already knows, but
only because I had to tell her.” Feeling the need to, Charlee smiled at Walter,
and he glanced away quickly, obviously embarrassed. “Anyway,” Hector
continued,
his attention back on Charlee now. “That’s why
the texts between Drew and me started. Your friend really does have a sixth
sense. She was right about me, and she was also right about Danny.”

The smile completely vanished as Charlee stared at him, confused
now. “She came to 5th Street the day after the keg party.” He smiled a little
crooked. “She called me an asshole. She said she knew I had feelings for you
but was under the impression that I just didn’t want to commit to one girl.”
Now he turned to Walter and explained the whole Operation-get-Nat-and-Walt-together
scheme.

“You and Drew planned that?” Charlee asked, surprised it never
occurred to her that her scheming friend had had a hand in that.

“Yeah,” Hector winced. “But that’s a good thing, right, Walt?
Things turned out beautifully.”

Walter smiled, nodding, so Hector turned back to Charlee and
explained the texts. “She was offering to text me a list of your favorite
things, but it didn’t feel right to continue being sneaky when I didn’t have to
anymore. But there was never anything inappropriate about our texts. I can show
you them, and you could read them all from the very first to the very last.”

Relief sunk in, and she could already tell her heart would be
willing to overlook his past mistakes about not standing up for Walter. Walter
seemed to be okay with it, and Hector did make a great effort to make it up to
him and do right by Walter by staying away from Charlee for so long. She could
certainly attest to that. He did try to keep things between them from happening
for
too
long. Sadly, it didn’t change
the fact that Drew had still betrayed her in such a horrific way.

“Are we good?” Hector asked, looking very worried still. “I think
I covered it all, but tell me if you need anything else clarified.”

She stood up now, anxious to hug him and so incredibly happy that
at least
he
hadn’t betrayed her.
Immediately his arms were around her, and even though they’d just spend the
entire weekend together, it felt as if she hadn’t been in his arms in so long.
He kissed her softly, and after the kisses they’d shared all weekend, she got
the distinct feeling he was holding back, but she didn’t blame him. They were
standing in Walter’s room, and he was sitting there watching them.

“But now I have a question for you,” he said as he pulled away.
The worried expression was back. “Did you go see Danny when we were in
Maryland?”

“No.” She shook her head immediately but braced herself to tell
him the truth. “That letter I said was from Gwen,” she paused, waiting for him
to nod. “That was from him. Gwen ran into him last week, and she mentioned I’d
be in town and was hoping to get together with me. So the night before, he
brought it to her and asked her to give it to me. She brought it to our lunch,
and the only reason I didn’t tell you it was from him was because, at the time,
I wasn’t planning on even reading it, so I didn’t think it mattered.”

Charlee paused once again because the emotion of knowing what Drew
had done overwhelmed her again. Before she could continue, he pulled her to him
again and kissed her head. “I know that had to be a blow, babe.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t even believe it at first. I thought
for sure Danny was lying, and then she admitted it.” Charlee glanced away,
wiping the away the tears that had once again begun.

“Charlee, please don’t be mad at me, okay?”

Not liking the sound of that, her brows furrowed, and she stared
at him. “What?”

“Drew is outside.” She pulled away from him. “Listen to me,
baby,” he said, reaching for her and holding her to him. “She explained it to
me, and trust me, I felt ready to spit when she first told me about what she’d
done too. But after hearing her explain why, I think, maybe, you’ll
understand.”

She shook her head. “There’s
nothing
that could excuse what she did.”

Hector bobbed his head from side to side. “Well, maybe not, but I
think you should at least hear her out. If I really didn’t think you’d
understand, I would’ve told her to go to hell instead of where she could find
you. But it’s up to you.”

Suddenly choked up, Charlee wanted nothing more than there to be
a good reason for what Drew did, not just so she could forgive her, but so that
her heart wouldn’t hurt so much. It literally ached, mourning the loss of her
best friend.

Visions of Drew on her knees, sobbing on her front lawn came to
her now. If that wasn’t genuine regret, she didn’t know what was. She nodded
and followed Hector outside. Drew stood across the street, leaning against her
car. She straightened out when she saw Charlee.

“I’ll wait here to give you your privacy if you want, but if you
prefer, I can go with you too,” Hector said, squeezing her hand.
“Up to you.”

She smiled, feeling a little shaky already but decided she needed
to do this alone. “I’ll be okay by myself.”

Drew started toward her when she saw Charlee coming to her, and
they met at the curb. Drew’s face was a mess, and Charlee hated that she
already felt like hugging her. For a moment, she didn’t even care why Drew had
done it. She could see it in her friend’s sorrowful eyes she regretted it
immensely, and that’s all that mattered.

“They had a picture of me,” Drew began her voice so broken it
choked Charlee up instantly, and she brought her hand to her mouth in an effort
to not break down too. “The one I’d sent of my breasts to that asshole Greg I’d
gone out with. Apparently, he’d forwarded to someone who was threatening to go
viral with it. When you turned Danny down the first time, he came to me to
confess about the party and asking you to it, but only because he knew you’d say
no. He didn’t want to do it. They were pressuring him. They told him to ask me
to try and convince you, and if I didn’t, the picture would go viral.”

Charlee nodded. She understood why Drew felt she
had
to. It made total sense. She’d be
applying for college the very next year. That could’ve ruined her.

“I told them to fuck themselves and I didn’t give a shit about
the picture.” She shrugged. “There were more scandalous things out there than a
girl flashing her boobs. I’d live. Danny was really happy. He thought for sure
I’d agree to convince you.”