Page 62 of TJ Powar Has Something to Prove
Shit. “Can you... rephrase your question?”
Charlie raises an eyebrow. “There was no question.” Damn him. He holds up the Canadian history book he’d been reading. “I was just saying the War Measures Act is a good example of loss of freedom of speech we could use. Since you loveevidenceso much.”
She knows he’s referring to their debate back in December, but she can’t seem to muster up a comeback for once.
He sets down the book. “You’re off today.”
The way he says it, so sure of himself, pisses her off. “Maybe you’re just not funny.”
Charlie doesn’t even smile, so intent is he on studying her. She fights the urge to hunch, to hide. She hates it—theuncomfortable sense that he sees right through her. Right to her soul.
I like you and I wanted to kiss you.
She rubs her temples. Those words pop into her head at the strangest times. Sometimes she could swear he said them just to mess with her.
The other option is that he meant it. She can only hope she’s done enough to make him change his mind. Whenever they meet, she makes a point of dressing in more skin-revealing clothes, andnotin a flirty way. In a look-at-my-shockingly-hairy-body way. She’s still waiting for a reaction; the final evidence she needs to get over him. But his poker face is too damn good.
“Does this have to do with your game?” Charlie asks finally. “I saw the first few minutes before my meeting, but you weren’t playing. Aren’t you supposed to be a starting midfielder?”
His creepy observation skills are starting to get real annoying. “I didn’t play the first bit,” she says shortly. “Coach wanted to give other people a chance.”
She thought she was fine until she said it out loud. But the realization crashes into her again. Never again is she going to get that adrenaline rush right before kickoff. She hadn’t appreciated it enough at the previous game. She hadn’t realized it would be the last.
To her horror, her eyes start burning. No way is she letting Charlie see her be a baby about this. “It’s hot in here, hasn’t Whitewater heard of air-conditioning?” she mutters, and pulls up her jersey to wipe her face. Really, to wipe the tear that was threatening to spill.
Charlie has gone suspiciously quiet. That’s when sheremembers something that slipped her mind while desperately trying to hide her distress: her stomach ishairy.
She peeks over her jersey hem. And there it is. His poker face has slipped.
It’s almost nothing, but because she’s searching for it, she sees it. He looks... uneasy.
It brings her back to her breakup with Liam, and his face when he saw her hairiness. The way ithurt, the way it burned into her memory so she could remember it over and over and hurt every time. His disgust was more obvious than this, but Liam’s also just easier to read. For Charlie to slip at all means exactly the same thing.
He recovers quickly, but too late. It already hurts.
She presses deeper into it. “What, does my hair bother you?” She says it so boldly he probably wouldn’t guess she’s holding her breath for his answer.
“No.”
But he won’t look at her. He’s lying. She’s never known him to lie before.
Charlie thought he could handle her hairiness. But he didn’t really understand, did he? She needs to paint him a nice vivid picture so they can both move on. “That’s the least of it. I’m hairyeverywhere,” she informs him with a bitter laugh. “Do you get it now?”
He actually looks pained. “Yes, TJ. I get it. Can we get back to debate now.”
She drops her jersey. He exhales. There’s a silence.
Well. She’s officially cured him after weeks of hard work being a freak. Mission accomplished. So why do her insidessuddenly feel like lead? She should behappy. Finally, they can just be debate partners.
After a pause, Charlie says, “By the way, I ran into Amy West today at district council.”
TJ blinks. His tone is casual again. And he’s looking at her now, the same as before. As if the awkward moment never happened. That’s good, isn’t it? Even if he finds her repulsive, he’s still able to talk to her like a normal person. She’s one step closer to proving her new resolution.Still worthy of respect, beautiful or not.
She feels a little better at that. Then she catches up to what he said. “Amy?” She makes a face. Thinking about the photo shoot will do that. “What’d she say?”
“That you participated in her campaign.” At her surprise, he explains, “She’s going through district student council to get it into the other schools. I just wanted to ask how it went.”
TJ scoffs. “She’s pretty set on her creative vision, if you know what I mean.” At his silence, she wonders if she’s being harsh. Just because Simran’s not involved doesn’t mean the project is automatically trash. “Um... but, I guess it’s still a good campaign. To get the message out there.”