Page 52 of TJ Powar Has Something to Prove

Charlie clears his throat, and TJ drags her eyes hastily back to his face. Right. The plan.

She crosses her arms. “So, obviously, we need to clear the air. Let me be totally honest. Okay?”

Charlie nods slowly. TJ takes a deep breath.

“So, elephant in the room: We kissed. A lot. I ran off without telling you why and I’m sorry, so here’s your explanation. Last weekend... I had just broken up with my boyfriend. I was a wreck and, um, not making the best decisions. Then with you I freaked out because it was all too much. That’s all. It was fun, but it was a mistake.”

Charlie barely blinks at any of this, but then again, he’s a master of poker face. Once in tenth grade, TJ absolutely thrashed him in a cross-examination, but he looked bored thewhole time she was cutting his contentions to pieces. “Okay.”

“Okay?” For some reason she’d expected more.

“Yeah, okay.” He raises his piercing eyes to hers. “But if we’re clearing the air, you should know, it wasn’t a mistake for me.”

TJ tries to swallow, but her throat is too dry. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I like you and I wanted to kiss you. You can do whatever you want with that information.”

He says it so blandly he could be talking about the weather. But the way he looks at her is somehow more intense than usual, and his body is very still, like he’s entirely focused on getting those words out rather than on less important things like breathing.

“Youlikeme?” she squeaks, stunned.

Without breaking their staring contest, he lets his shoulder bag slide down his arm to the floor. “Yes, TJ. Ilikelike you. Should I provide a definition?”

TJ resists the urge to fan herself. Her longtime debating rival isintoher? It feels like a revelation, even though it probably shouldn’t, given that the last time they were alone together he gave her a hickey.

And now they’re partners for the biggest debate tournament of her life. Not two minutes in and he’s already thrown her way off-balance. How can she possibly respond?

Finally, she bursts, “You’re so weird, Charlie! Why would you say that? Are you trying to make this more awkward than it already is?”

“As much as I enjoy making things awkward,” he replies, “I’m telling you in the interest of honesty, in case that was any partof the reason you avoided me afterwards. I won’t bring it up again.”

Her heart is beating so hard she can hear it in her ears. “It had nothing to do with you.” That much is true—she never even gave him the chance to disappoint her.

Something flickers in his eyes but that’s all. “All right. Should we brainstorm some contentions?”

That’s it? They’re diving right into debating? He’s taking out his notepad, so he must be serious. Hedidsay he wouldn’t bring it up again, but now of course it’s all TJ can think about.

She doesn’t want Charlie to like her. Because if he does, there’s only one reason why, and it’s that he hasn’t been paying attention to her appearance. Well, she can help him with that.

She collapses into one of the chairs and props her hairy legs on the desk.Come on, look.

Charlie barely gives her legs a glance before sitting next to her. “I’ve come up with some contentions—”

“I bet you have. I mean, you’ve had more than a week already. In which you never thought to tell me I was your debate partner.”

Charlie flips through his notepad. “Simran said she’d do it. Besides, I wasn’t sure whether it’d end up being you or Nate.”

So he thought she might chicken out. Even though he was almost right—a fact she will be taking to the grave—she forces a laugh. “Let me get this straight, you were so conceited you thought I’d give up my chance atNationalsbecause ofyou?”

“I didn’t say it was likely.” He looks up at her. “But you’re hard to predict.”

TJ can’t tell whether that’s an insult, but the way he’s staringinto her eyes is extremely disconcerting. She crosses her legs again, but he still doesn’t look away. So she yawns and stretches her arms above her head. Exposingveryhairy underarms.

And this time he does look. She watches his face closely, but again, complete poker face. Maybe he’s just not showing his distaste. That’s fine. If she keeps this up, eventually he’ll become so grossed out he’llhaveto slip up. Until then, she can be as much of a freak as she likes. It’s actually kind of a freeing thought.

“Well, I came up with some contentions, too,” she announces, and pulls out a piece of paper with a flourish. It’s heavily scribbled on. He raises his eyebrows, voice settling into a familiar condescension.

“Did Simran write those for you?”