Page 64 of TJ Powar Has Something to Prove
“Dickhead,” she stage-whispers. But really, she’s glad. Once he puts it to his ear, she’s practically vibrating with anticipation.
A tinny voice on the other end. She stills. He listens. “Hi. This is Charlie Rosencrantz speaking. I’m—I’m—I’m sorry I haven’t been able to pick up your calls.” He pauses. “Yes, ab-ab-about the polio event.”
TJ mouths,Ask!
“The reason I—I was getting in touch with you is—” He pauses, swallows. “Is—”
A long silence. He’s blocking again. The tinny voice in the phone is sayingHello? Hello?over and over. Charlie’s expression shutters. He pulls the phone away from his ear, and TJ knows he’s about to end the call.
She leans over and once again snatches his phone. “Hi, sorry,” she says into the receiver, dodging Charlie’s swipe. “I’m the, uh, secretary for Whitewater’s student council. Charlie just dropped something, but basically we were hoping we could book you for our event?”
“Well, of course.” The voice on the other end sounds pleased. “I was hoping that was it. It sounds like a great cause.”
“Great!” TJ smiles. “We’ll be in touch to sort out the details. Um, can I get your email?” She has zero idea what she’s doing. This is Charlie’s realm.
As if on cue, Charlie takes back his phone.
“Actually, can we meet to talk more?” Pause. “Today? In anhour?” He glances at TJ, who nods rapidly. “Yes, that works. See you then.”
He ends the call. There’s a pause.
“I think you might have a career in school politics ahead of you,” Charlie says.
“Ha.”Her jokes die on her lips, though, when she sees how warmly he’s looking at her. Maybe she should be a nice person more often. “So you’re meeting him soon?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry to cut this short.” Then he pulls anactual tieout of his bag and drapes it over his shoulders. She would make fun of him for having an emergency tie, but she’s too riveted by his deft fingers. He stares into space as he smoothly weaves a Windsor knot. She looks away and wishes the librarian would turn down the thermostat.
But as he’s reaching for his bag, she stops him. “Wait.”
He turns to her. His tie is slightly crooked, just as she thought. He must really be preoccupied. She scoots across the aisle on her knees to his side, reaching for the tie knot. His breath hitches when she wraps her fingers around it. She’s not sure why her heart is beating so fast as she straightens it out, carefully, her hands brushing his chest. He holds absolutely still in the seconds she’s touching him, as still as the bookshelf he’s leaning against. He may even be holding his breath.
She withdraws her hands and places them in her lap. “There.” Her voice sounds strange.
Charlie, who still hasn’t moved, exhales. His eyes are dark pools. “TJ.”
“What?”
“Thank you.”
She flushes. She’s not even sure why. Maybe because she just made a clown of herself on the phone, to some rando, forhim. “You should go.”
He nods. “Let’s pick this up again later?”
Yes.Absolutely, her brain screams, although it seems to have a different idea of what they’d pick up. This is a new level of pathetic. She knows he’s not attracted to her anymore—she can’t forget his face, the revulsion at her hairiness—yet here she is sweating over his tie.
Some dormant self-preservation instinct kicks in, and she scoots away again, her back hitting the bookshelf opposite him. “We’ve figured out our cases. All that’s left is to write speeches. Do we even need to meet up on our own like this anymore?”
His smile has faded as she talked, and now it’s settled back into a poker face. “I guess not.” Pause. “Good night, then.”
He gets up and shoulders his bag. TJ pretends to be absorbed in her notebook until he finally walks away. Once she hears the library doors swing closed behind him, she exhales. This—distance—will be good. She’s already played herself enough when it comes to Charlie. The less she sees him, the better.
Because what she feels for him isn’t warm and light anymore. No; her heart is beating too fast, skin flushing too hot, hands trembling too much to be that. And all those symptoms are terribly familiar. TJ can’t keep ignoring it. Just like debate, and soccer, and all the rest of the things she loves, Charlie Rosencrantz gives her an adrenaline high.
EIGHTEEN
***
TJ’s favourite method of dealing with things she’d rather avoid is simple: just stop thinking about it. It’s working for both the soccer jersey gathering dust in her duffel bag and Liam, so why not Charlie, too? The longer she ignores them, the easier it’ll be.