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She was right, of course. But common sense told me that I was just fooling myself if I thought I could truly be friends with her.
Still, I nodded and said, “Yes.”
She smiled and extended her hand. “So, friends?”
Without a pause, I shook it, feeling like I was making a huge mistake. “Friends.”
17
CHARLOTTE
You and Casey. Don’t come today.
I blinked down at the text, unable to believe what I was seeing.
It was another Friday, and we were already ready for the weekly date with Zane, as agreed. I’d even taken Casey shopping and forked out a good chunk of my paycheck bonus to get him new sneakers. I didn’t know if he needed sneakers or not because Zane fought barefoot, but Casey insisted the sneakers would give him some bounce, which apparently helped with fighting.
And, in my opinion, he needed all the help he could get when going up against an opponent like Zane.
Zane had seen me all of yesterday and the day before. He could have told me if anything came up. There was no mention of rescheduling in his text either. For him to just cancel with no explanation? No notice and alternative schedule?
Unacceptable.
Are you okay?I texted back, giving him the benefit of the doubt. He didn’t look sick the last few times I saw him, but who knew? Maybe he came down with something. Plus, a few times, I saw him walking around with his face crumpled up in a look of perpetual constipation. Maybe he had a business emergency or something.
I watched my phone screen for a few more seconds, but no answer appeared. I thought about calling him, but before I could complete the act, Casey’s head popped through my door.
“Hey, are we going yet?” he asked, excitement glowing on his face.
“What are you wearing?” I asked, distracted by his ensemble—an oversize tank that looked like it was one of my dad’s wife beater and some Superman shorts.
“What?” Casey glanced down at his clothes. “Zane said I should wear more comfortable clothes the next time I came over. He also recommended me a few people to watch on YouTube to improve my technique, and this is what they wore too. I think I might surprise him today. I’ve been studying my ass off. I think I might have seen every single match by Manny Pacquiao since I wanted to learn more about boxing. Plus, I’ve been practicing and doing more pushups to get stronger. Look.” He pulled back and delivered a punch that looked pretty solid to me. “Do you think Zane is going to be impressed? I don’t know, but I think he might be, right?”
The excitement and anticipation glowed very clearly on his face, and my heart gripped tightly because I knew I would have to crush it.
He frowned when he took note of my expression. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Zane texted. Something came up,” I said as quickly as possible, trying to pass it off as an off-handed comment in the hopes that maybe it would hurt less. Maybe he wouldn’t see it as such a rejection.
But I still saw the way his face fell, the way the glow on his face instantly dissipated.
“Oh,” he muttered. “I get it.”
And just that sentence completely destroyed me. I wanted to cry for him because, to other kids, it might not be a big deal. But I already knew Casey was having problems at school and had probably faced a lot of rejection already from kids his age. I knew what he was thinking—that Zane had only pretended to like him to get close to me. It had happened before, and it was part of the reason why I didn’t date much. I didn’t want him potentially getting close to anyone who would only disappoint him.
And the fact that it was his own father pulling this bullshit was extra heartbreaking.
If Zane thought I would let him treat Casey like this, he had another thing coming. Despite his jovial personality, I knew Casey was a very sensitive boy, and things like this got to him.
And now this happened. It was partly my fault. I should have protected him better.
“I’m sure he just had a work thing come up,” I said immediately, quickly trying to alleviate some of the pain I could see on his face. “He runs a lot of businesses and—”
“It’s fine.” He pasted a smile on his face—one that was so fake that it hurt because I could see the pain behind it. “I get it. I know how I can be sometimes, so it…anyway, I’m going to go up and change.”
“It’s not you, baby,” I said as I rushed to grab his hand. “I promise it’s not you, okay?” I wanted to cry, but I kept it together. It was Zane who should cry over what he was doing to his son.
“Don’t worry, Charlie, I’m not going to off myself or anything.”
