Page 15 of Not that Impressed
“Bless his heart,” Kara says. “He used PowerPoint.”
“He didn’t!” Janelle cries.
“Luckily Will put in a good word for me with the Clemson coaches.” Charlie heaves a big sigh in faux relief, grinning the whole time.
Will shakes his head. “Your stats spoke for themselves.” His voice is gruff, but there’s some red in his cheeks.
“Because you got them to look at my stats.” Charlie doesn’t let up.
I catch Will’s eye again, but this time he’s the one who looks away uncomfortably.
Charlie guides the conversation through the rest of dinner, and though my sister is quieter than usual, she’s besotted with Charlie. She stares at him whenever he talks, and he’s so animated and naturally excited I don’t blame her.
I try to catch her eye in the middle of one of Charlie’s stories about him and Will playing football in college so I can silently ask her what she thinks is up with Will. I’ve even figured out how to stealthily sign a question to her in case she doesn’t get my silent communication. But all her attention is for Charlie, and her gaze doesn’t even stray from him.
Except, she looks kind of pale and tired. Strange, because it’sonly a quarter after nine. Also, she hasn’t made a move for the peanut butter cookies. That’s the oddest thing of all. She might be full from the great dinner Charlie and Kara prepared, but my sister sense says there’s more.
I get up and go into the kitchen for a cookie. When I make my way back, I stop by Janelle’s chair. “Everything okay?” I murmur.
Charlie glances over at us, but he doesn’t pause in his story or draw attention to Janelle.
“I don’t feel great,” she whispers back.
“You want to go?”
She gives me a pitiful smile. “No,” she whines, looking over at Charlie and smiling again.
I chuckle, squeeze her shoulder, and go back to my chair. When I catch Will looking at me again, his expression has shifted ever so slightly, and he holds my gaze long enough that I see concern.
That feels right. Everyone likes Janelle, so if he’s picked up on the fact that she seems off, concern is natural. Sometimes I get a little jealous that America adores my sister, and maybe even right now as I watch Will’s eyes dart toward her.
“Um, excuse me,” Janelle suddenly says, shoving back her chair and popping up out of it in the middle of Kara saying something. I have no idea what it was. I haven’t been paying attention to her. I follow Janelle as she hurries down the hallway toward the bathroom.
I reach the door of the bathroom in time to hear my sister puking, Charlie right beside me.
“What does she need?” he asks, brows pulled down in concern.
“I’ll let you know,” I promise. I pull open the door just enough to slip inside and kneel next to her, taking her hair from her shaking hands and using the hair-tie on my wrist to pull her thick curls back from her face and out of the way.
I stand to grab a washcloth from a basket on the counter and wet it, then kneel back down next to her.
She leans over the toilet for what feels like forever.
“Food poisoning?” I ask when she hasn’t thrown up for a full thirty seconds.
She shakes her head. “I was feeling … off before we came. But I didn’t want to cancel.” Her voice sounds spent.
There’s a soft tap on the door, but though she isn’t puking, Janelle doesn’t move. “This is so embarrassing,” she whispers.
“No way,” I whisper back.
“Is she okay?” Charlie asks when I open the door and slip out. Coco hovers next to him, shifting back and forth anxiously. Janelle will not want Charlie to see her like this, even though his pleading expression says he desperately wants to be the one comforting her right now.
“She’s sick,” I confirm with a grimace.
“Something at dinner?” Charlie’s eyes widen with dismay.
I shake my head. “She doesn’t think so.”
