Page 14 of Not that Impressed
He scowled at me the whole way through helping pack school supplies at Janelle’s charity drive, but now he’s rescuing me?
I think that’s what just happened? His question was aggressive, but an obvious subject change. One minute I was deciding if I was going to put Kara in her place and detail exactly what my exercise regimen and menu from the show’s trainers and nutritionist looks like or if I was going to be quiet because Janelle likes her—The next minute Will is bringing up my pet project.
Things just feel weird.
Coco has alternated between hovering beside Janelle and me, and when she pads over to me again, I let my fingers trail into her fur. She leans her weight against my legs in a comforting way. Why can’t Charlie’s dog be the only best friend he needs? Coco accepted me without judgment from day one.
As we all sit down around the table, I catch sight of the bakery boxes again and scrutinize them. Will and Kara have some sort of inside joke about them. I’m not convinced their relationship is entirely platonic.
I end up sitting next to Kara on one side of the table and Willis across from us. From me, to be precise. Maybe there’s a whole brother’s-best-friend thing going on here and they’re trying to throw Charlie off.
I push the thoughts out of my head and focus on dishing up my food. I do not care about Will and Kara’s secret relationship.
Whatever’s going on, the peanut butter cookies are for Janelle. He’s probably trying to be friends with her because Charlie told him to play nice.
I can concede that it was a nice thing to do.
Kara’s voice snaps me from my thoughts. “Basically, you’re trying to convince usBeing the Bennetsis all a lie.” She’s looking at Janelle. Responding to something I missed? Kara’s smiling, but there’s an edge to it, like when she insinuated that I can eat whatever I want.
“Not all a lie,” Janelle replies easily, reaching for her water to take a sip.
“But not really the truth,” Will says, his tone unreadable. He scoops some pork onto a gourmet bun Janelle brought and sits back in his chair.
“It’s a television show,” I interject. “Meant to entertain. Of course there’s more drama than real life.”
Will tilts his head at me, his eyebrow going up in a challenge. “So … fake.” His gaze flickers to Charlie and something passes between them. It’s not surprising they have a silent language the same way Janelle and I do. They’re close, and they’ve been playing football together a long time.
“Crafted,” I argue. “Just like everything you put out there on social media or in interviews or whatever about you,” I can’t stop myself from adding. I clasp my hands together over my plate and lean forward, zeroing in on Will. What am I doing? I know better than anyone that the narrativeBeing the Bennetsportrays to the world isn’t the whole story. If Charlie had brought this up, I would have agreed. Why do I let Will push my buttons?
Will stiffens.
“Well,” Kara breaks in with a falsely light voice, “he’s not starting fights with Charlie so his videos go viral.” She laughs, and I join her just to get under her skin. Janelle shoots me a look since she knows what I’m doing. I make a quick circle on my chest with my fist, sayingSorry.
“I’ve never tried to make people think I’m someone I’m not,” Will defends himself. He’s sitting back in his chair, but his arms are folded warily.
“Sure, yeah. Your story on social media is precisely who you are: the guy who had to work his tail off his whole life to make it.” I force my tone to be casual, conversational. Pretend this isn’t a confrontation.
“Exactly,” he says.
“Whose parents paid thousands for elite camps and moved you across the country to one of the best football high schools there is,” I add. My turn to raise my eyebrow in challenge.
Will blinks at me. His expression is tight, but he’s not scowling. Maybe contemplative? It’s hard being on this side of someone who schools their expressions so carefully.
“I thank my parents for their sacrifices for me all the time.” The way he keeps eye contact is intimidating, and probably quite effective on the field. There’s a touch of broodiness to his expression, and if I hadn’t already committed to hating him, I’d think it was sexy.
“Yeah, I know.” I lift my knife and fork from the sides of my plate and move to cut my pulled pork sandwich in half. “I must have missed the posts and interviews where you talked about how much they paid for the recruitment video they had made for you that could have won an Oscar in filmography.” I can’t help my smirk.
Will lifts a hand to his chin, still studying me like he can stare me into submission. Like every quarterback he faces on the field, he’s going to have to come at me head on. He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table and tilting his head like he’s considering my point that he also crafts his story.
That’s … unexpected.
It’s Charlie who laughs. “Didn’t the director who made your video go on to make that movie about the soccer player, right?” he jokes. Will releases me from his stare to roll his eyes at Charlie. “I should’ve sent outyourvideo to colleges,” Charlie goes on. “I got enough screen time in it.”
“You went to the same high school, right?” Janelle asks. She doesn’t bother looking at Will. Her eyes are all for Charlie.
“Yeah, but my recruitment video wasn’t as impressive. My dad’s cousin did mine as a favor. Gave him a ‘deal.’” Charlie widens his eyes. Janelle laughs, and as I relax and cut off a bite of my sandwich, I catch Will still watching me.
He’s not glaring. That’s an improvement, I guess.
