Page 7 of Not that Impressed
I close my eyes, irritated with myself. Charlie is my best friend, and I should trust his judgment of the women he dates. Kara called Janelle the sweet one when she was talking about the Bennet sisters, but Janelle being a reality TV star has my guard up. I don’t want to see Charlie get his heart broken. I doubly don’t want to see that happen on one of the most popular shows on television right now.
Janelle stands at one of the folding tables in the middle of the gym, arranging boxes of supplies. Charlie makes his way right toward her, and I scan the room for anyone else I might know. Ellie Bennet is working right next to her sister, and even thoughthe point of me tagging along with Charlie today was to prove to her I’m better than her first impression of me, I’m not looking to make friends with her. Or deal with whatever else she has to say to me after our confrontation on Friday.
Charlie and I are the only football players here. Colby didn’t even come with Gabriella, and unfortunately I don’t know her well enough to walk over and interrupt her conversation with the man she’s talking to just to avoid Ellie.
Janelle hugs Charlie when he reaches her, and I hang back, pretending to study the gathered supplies.
“Will,” Janelle says, drawing my attention to her. She beams at me. “Thanks so much for coming.”
“Yeah, I’m happy to be here.” I nod at her and try to smile, but my glance keeps straying to her sister, working just down the table from us. Ellie catches me looking at her and scowls then raises an eyebrow questioningly. I quickly look back at Janelle.
“I have to go and welcome everyone,” Janelle says, “but if you find a place along this table, we can work together.”
“Awesome,” Charlie grins at her, and all of my ESP for Charlie to choose another table goes unheard. They could spend time together after the event, right? What’s worse is that he falls into conversation with Ellie.
“It’s cool of you guys to come,” Ellie says, shifting a box near her and then giving Charlie a knowing look.
Charlie laughs, the sound tinged with embarrassment. They both know why he’s here, and though my friend has made no secret of his interest in Janelle, I still feel compelled to defend him.
“We actually do a lot of service stuff like this. You know, with the team,” I say. I try to make my voice friendly and not defensive, but I think I fail, because Charlie whips around to look at me, scowling for a second before he smooths it out and widens his eyes in question.What, I mouth and shrug.
“Yeah, I know.” Ellie’s voice turns chilly. “The show makes it seem like my sisters and I have nothing to do with my dad’swork, but we’re at every game and we’re very involved with the team. I’ve helped plan several of the team service events.”
“I don’t watchBeing the Bennets.” Now my voiceisdefensive. I don’t know much about Ellie’s life on or off the show. How would I have any idea how much she’s involved in the Pumas?
Her expression shifts into a glare. “So your opinions yesterday are based totally on social media? Got it.”
“Listen—” Before I can apologize for accepting a conclusion without any foundation, she spins around and stalks to the other end of the row of tables. Why is she making this so hard? Interacting with people isn’t my strong suit. It’s the reason I spend most of my off time either alone or with Charlie, someone I’ve known almost ten years.
I turn to see Charlie pinching the bridge of his nose. “Can you try not to start a fight with Ellie Bennet for thirty seconds, Will?”
“I wasn’t trying to start a fight. I was trying to apologize.” I look to where Ellie is needlessly shifting around the boxes of pencils, notebooks, and crayons, trying to appear busy.
Charlie’s head tilts back. “That was an apology?”
“I was trying to point out that I don’t know anything about her because I don’t watch the show. I wasn’t trying to insult her.” I spread out my hands.
Charlie shakes his head in exasperation. “I’m going to work here,” he says gesturing to his spot at the table. “You can work there,” he points to the other side of him, “and stay as far from Ellie as you can. I like Janelle, bro. I like her a lot.”
I’d rather walk right out of here, but that’s selfish. I can get over myself for a couple hours to help kids of refugees. “I know,” I say.
“Yeah, and she and Ellie are really close. One thing the show isn’t lying about. Try not to make Ellie mad on purpose, please.”
“I’m not trying,” I mutter.
Charlie laughs. “You’re just naturally talented.”
I roll my eyes and turn to Janelle, who’s on a stage at the front of the room and calling everyone to attention.
Every time someone believed that stupid rumor about me last year, it made me want to send messages and make more posts and try to convince people it wasn’t true. I’ve even had to remind myself the last couple days that they’re joking around and bite my tongue to keep from insisting to them that I didn’t sleep with Coach’s wife. It’s crazy, because no matter how many times I defend myself, then or now, it doesn’t help. Those memories of how helpless I felt make me want to prove to Ellie that I regret trusting a rumor about her, even if I’m just one person. One person can mean a lot when there are thousands of people willing to believe the worst of you. Ellie gets that as well as I do.
I keep my mouth shut the rest of the time we’re volunteering, limiting my responses to short phrases when Janelle asks me questions to make sure I don’t accidentally say the wrong things, like I did with Ellie. Ellie doesn’t work at our table with Janelle, which is kind of a relief, but I can’t help that my eyes are drawn to her.
Like when she first walked into Charlie’s house, I reluctantly notice how beautiful she is. It’s not something I can ignore. She’s wearing a pair of wide-leg pants and an oversized sweatshirt, but she somehow still looks put together. I think it’s more her self-assured vibe than her perfect makeup or the way her hair is styled. I keep telling myself not to stare at her like some kid with a crush on a movie star, but it’s hard. Her beauty is probably why she gets away with tearing people down like she did with me.
I hate to admit it, but her smile is devastating. She has bright green eyes, and they light up with genuine happiness every time she smiles at someone. She buzzes around from table to table, and after a few times, I can tell it’s to pull people back on task who are spending a lot of their time chatting. But the way she does it isn’t bossy. She’s so friendly, moving in and leading byexample when she packs up the backpacks quickly and efficiently. The volunteers don’t even notice what she’s done.
And of course she catches me watching her more than once. It’s clearly not flattering, though, since she glares at me and always looks away.
