So sorry this is late. Work has been insane and it hasn't helped that I have been busy with other house chores. But here is the chapter.

Song For the start!

The news about Everett and I spread like wildfire, but I expected nothing else. And as the week wore on, we were the only topic of gossip. I tried to pay little attention to it and before long; it worked. Everett, on the other hand, seemed like a pro at avoiding gossip. Maybe it was because other things consumed his thoughts like algae at the bottom of mirror lake, or maybe it was because he was immune to it.

Everett never brought up Charles again, although I was sure it had to be consuming his thoughts. Dad mentioned the name once or twice within passing, like a swear word under your breath, but nothing more about what the university was going to do. A part of me didn't want to ask, fearing that it would remind people that Charles could actually return.

Dad told me if the team shaped up, the university would drop the subject of Charles coming back. But as the team returned from the last away game with no win, Dad, Everett, and I knew what it meant.

Dad didn't say he was disappointed in the loss, but I saw it. Everett saw it too. Everett was probably more disappointed than Dad was. He remained silent for most of the ride back home.

The following Monday, there was something in the air that hung around all the coaches. I felt it as I walked around, running errands.

"Hey Nora, I didn't think you would come in today," Dad said as I walked into his office.

"Got done with class early," I said as I thought about the test I just took. Fear of the unknown grade forced me to be less excited about it than I would have liked. I should have studied more for it, but Everett distracted me by taking me on two different dates.

"Well, aren't you luckier than a rabbit with a carrot?"

I chuckled at his humor. "Is there anything you need me to do?" I asked, dropping my backpack in a spare chair as Melissa walked into the room, looking as uptight as she normally did.

Dad's gaze switched from me to her instantly then looked back at me. "Do you have time to get the drill sheet from the assistant director of football sports performance?"

I nodded, although I wished I could stay here. It wasn't every day that Melissa made an appearance here. Silently, I left the room as Melissa talked about the last failure and how the university wouldn't stand for it.

Her words were harsh if they didn't try, as if they didn't give their blood, sweat and tears into that match. She didn't understand football the way Dad did, but yet she put him down as if she knew more. It made my blood boil. Those guys wouldn't say anything to defend themselves from her either. They would just take it.

"Hey, Nora! So what did you think of the test today?" Shelly asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

I shook my head as I tried to force those questions from my mind. "It was rough. How about you?"

"Taking it tonight after practice. Any words of wisdom for me?"

"Isn't that cheating?"

He winked. "The professor would never know."

"Somehow that goes against my better judgment," I said as I tapped his shoulder, then made my way past him.

"If I fail, I'll blame you," Shelly said.

"Sure. Tell yourself that if it lets you sleep better at night."

"You're turning into a real party pooper, just like Everett."

With a straight face, I turned to face him again. That was supposed to be in insult, but the thing was; I was more of a party pooper than Everett was long before we spent time together.

"Do you think I care?"

He frowned in silence, not expecting that answer from me.

"Shelly, seriously, if you want to do good, you have to work for it. Don't rely on others for that. Not all things are a team game," I said, then left.

The locker room was normally the loudest place in the stadium, but as I walked into the room, the clatter instantly died down as they stared at me.

"Are you all giving me the silent treatment?" I snapped, tiring of their games. It was obvious they wanted me to break up with Everett.

"We just thought you wouldn't be here," one player spoke up.

"Well, I am. Surprised. And why does that even matter?"

"Everett isn't here."

"Do you think I'm attached to the hip with him?"

The player shrugged. "We just thought coach would want as much space between you, Everett and Charles when he came in for an interview with the coaches."

My blood ran cold as his words bounced around my mind. For days, Charles was our secret. No one else knew about that. But they mentioned it so casually, as if they knew for weeks. I wondered if Everett knew this, if that was why he wasn't here. I wondered if that was why Dad told me it wasn't important to come in today or how he was eager to shoo me off as soon as I came in.

"When will him come?" I asked, as I tried to keep cool even though my hands were sweating. Charles had done nothing to me, so there wasn't any reason for me to get worked up yet. I needed to remind myself of this.

"Don't know. Maybe it's happening now," Rick said with a smirk on his face that I wanted to wipe clean off.

"Ah, ok," I said casually. "Do you have the drill sheet? I need to give that to my dad."

"It's here," Tad said as he held them up in the air from across the room.

I made eye contact with him and frowned. He didn't mention this news to me. Was this a game to them? Lie to Nora until she went crazy. I thought Tad was on my side. I thought he would at least warn me of this moment.

Silently, I walked up to him and took the folder from his hands then walked out of the locker room without another word.

As I stormed down the hall, Tad stopped me.

"Nora, wait."

I turned to face him with a frown. "Why? So you can tell me more lies?"

"Your dad made me promise."

"And you listened to him? I thought our friendship was more important."

"I didn't think this would be a big deal."

"Well, it is," I said as I crossed my arms over my chest to help calm my racing heart.

Charles couldn't come back. He would kill the team. I thought Dad would do more to stop this from happening.

"If I knew it mattered so much, I would have told you."

"Does Everett know about this?"

Tad frowned in silence, answering my question.

"I have to text him," I said as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"Don't," he said as he lowered my phone.

"Why? Tad, has a right to know."

Tad took a step back.

"Nora, it's great to see you again," Charles' voice rang out from behind me.

My hair stood on edge as I turned to see Charles approaching. Quickly, I put my phone back into my pocket as I took a step out of his way.

"So how's the coach's daughter doing?"

"Fine," I spat out.

"Good to hear. I like your shoes, by the way." He pointed at them, then left towards Dad's office.

I glanced at Tad. "We can't let this happen." My face twisted up before following Charles. I wanted to walk into Dad's office but when I tried; I saw the door was locked, causing my frustration to soar like a helium balloon. Unsure what to do, I rested my back against the wall, allowing me to hear muffles through the door.

Minutes passed in silence as I waited for the conversation to end. It wasn't until I heard my name called that my attention turned to something else.

"Nora, where is he?" Everett called out as he walked down the hall towards me.

I frowned at him. His face was full of anger. He found out, but I wasn't the one that told him.

At that moment, Dad's office door opened and Charles stepped out with a grin on his face.

"Long time no see, Everett," Charles said casually.

Without wasting a moment, Everett punched Charles, causing him to clasp on the ground. Charles' smirk faded as he scurried to his feet just in time to push Everett over. He punched Everett in the stomach, then pushed him against the wall. As Charles raised his fist to punch him again, panic shot through me.

"Stop!" I shouted. However, they paid little attention to me as they continued to throw punches at each other. Wanting to do something about it, I ran up to them and pulled on Everett's arm, hoping it would stop him.

"Stop," I said again, pulling on his hand, but in the process got elbowed by Everett as he tried to free himself from my grasp.

I let go of him as a metallic taste filled my mouth. I took a step back and brought my hand up to my nose, seeing red on my fingers.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Dad's voice rang out as he emerged from his office. He looked at all of us, then stared at Charles. He pointed down the hall. "Get out."

Saying nothing more, Charles ducked his head low then walked down the hall.

As Everett rubbed his side, Dad ran to me. "Nora, are you ok?" he asked.

I nodded as I wiped my nose from the blood that kept falling. Finally, Everett stared at me, realizing what he had just done. A look of horror filled his face, although he didn't say a word.

"Yeah, I'm ok."

Dad dabbed my nose, making me wince.

"It's not broken, right?" I asked with hope.

"No, not broken."

"Good." I looked around, trying to find Everett who was already walking off. I was about to call out to him, but Dad stepped in front of me, blocking him from view.

"Leave him. You can talk later. We should get you back home."

I wanted to protest, but the pounding pain in my nose made me stop. "Fine."

_________________________________________

The ride back home was silent although through side glances, Dad checked to make sure my nose wouldn't fall from my face.

With fast food napkins shoved up my nose, I thought about how Everett threw punches at Charles. He wanted to hurt him, maybe as much as Charles did to him. Each punch he threw was all this pent-up anger and trauma. But when he got me, he didn't say anything, barely looked at me. In fact, he hadn't texted me which added to my anxiety.

I tried not to linger on that thought. We were only going on dates, we weren't an item, but I didn't want to end what we had. It was fun and light when he was away from campus. But when he was there, he was someone different. OSU did something to him. Football forced him to change.

Finally, I couldn't take the silence anymore. "Charles will bring an explosion."

"Do you not think I know that?" Dad said, raising his voice as we sat at a red light. He sighed as his body relaxed slightly, realizing his tone. "But this is all Melissa and the board. I don't have a choice. They are pushing me against the wall."

Not happy with the response, I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted. "If they really cared about the team, they wouldn't do this."

"And I told them that. But they think Charles will bring them to their goals."

I frowned as we pulled up into the driveway. Maybe Dad did all he could, but there had to be something I could do.

"So, what are you going to tell Mom about this?" Dad asked, gesturing to my nose. "I'm going to just stay silent as you figure out how you want to precede."

"Training accident. I tried to show the guys the right way to do the tires and I tripped on them, falling on my face."

"Sounds believable," Dad said as he turned off the car.

I shot him a look before following him into the house. "Gee, thanks."

He just mealy shrugged as a grin appeared.

"Hey, guys, you're just in time. Dinner is ready," Mom called out to us.

"Great," I mumbled as I braced myself for the conversation that would follow. With my head held high, I walked into the kitchen and watched as shock came to Mom's face as she stared at me.

"I'm ok."

"It doesn't look like it." She looked at dad, fishing for answers. "What happened."

"Just a training accident. It really isn't a big deal. I was just a klutz. Dad says it's not broken so that's good," I spoke up before Dad said anything.

"Paul, seriously," Mom frowned as she shook her head.

"She's fine. Like she said, nothing to stress about."

"She has Wendy's napkins stuffed up her nose. How can I not be worried about that?"

I took them out of my nose and tossed them in the trash. "And now I don't."

"I guess you don't," Mom sighed while looking at dad, trying to read him.

"You know how klutzy I can be," I said, as I tried to convince her more.

"I guess you're right."

I smiled at her, happy that she believed this lie. "Great. Now that is settled, I want dinner," I said as I clapped my hands, ready to change the topic.

"But don't let this be a habit."

"I promise it won't."

"Sure," she replied offhandedly as we sat at the table to eat.

Quickly, the conversation changed to practice and what mom had done during the day. They dived into conversations about their chores, allowing my mind to wander back to Everett. My eyes skimmed my phone, noticing that it was still silent. My fear grew into frustration wondering why I hadn't gotten a message from him. He made my nose bleed, the least he could do was send a text.

"So Nora, how was school today?" Mom asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

I shook my head to clear it then smiled even though I thought about the C+ grade in my last paper, sitting in my backpack. She didn't need to know about that, no one did. I just had so many things on my plate. Next paper would be better.

"Nothing too exciting."

Mom nodded, taking that simple response as she changed the topic again, talking about Vera and what she was doing for her job.

As dinner wrapped up, I started to believe that Everett wouldn't text me back. It wasn't until Dad called me from the kitchen when I thought otherwise.

"Hey, Nojo, Everett's here," Dad said from the hallway.

I frowned as I looked at my phone, which sat silent on the counter. He had hours to text me, saying he was sorry, but he let me think he ghosted me. Instead of lingering on the frustration, I put my plate in the sick and said, "Coming."

Quickly, I rubbed around my nose, hoping there was not lingering blood. As I approached the front door, I locked eyes with Everett who wore a frown.

We stared at each other in silence as Dad moved out of the way.

"I'll let you two have some privacy," Dad said as he walked into his office, allowing us to have the hall to ourselves.

However this wasn't good enough for me. Within the hall, my parents would still be able to hear bits of conversation. So before Everett said anything, I pulled him out to the front porch were the cool autumn air sank into our bones instantly.

He looked at me then at the ground as if not sure what to say. He crossed his arms over his chest then looked at my nose one more time before asking, "Are you ok?"

Besides the pounding headache and a bruised nose, I was fine. My nose would heal, but I wanted to know why it took him so long for him to ask such a simple question. "I'm ok," I said simply, waiting for more from him.

"I'm sorry."

I nodded. If that was all he was going to say, I wasn't impressed. He could have said that in a text. He came here in person so he wanted to say more, I just would have to wait for that. But that didn't mean I wanted it right now. Couldn't he provide me with something more than just an 'I'm sorry'?

He sighed as he sat on the front porch step. For a moment he looked silently into the night, as if he would find the words on our front yard. "Shit, Nora."

I raised my eyebrows as I sat down beside him. Shit what? What did I do? If he would say more, I could wait as long as it took for him to get his thoughts in order.

"Charles, he just gets the best of me. And when I saw him smiling at you, all I thought was getting the best of him. I didn't mean for you to get hurt in the process."

"You know, something my mom told me is fighting always gets other people involved. It hardly ever remains just between two people. If you have a war on Charles, you can be sure other people are involved."

He nodded. "Your mother is wise."

"I know she is." I placed my hand on his and sighed. "I know you didn't mean to get me."

"But I did. And as soon as I realized it, I didn't know what to do. I felt ashamed and I knew texting wasn't good enough. You needed an actual response. That's why I'm here, but as you can see, I'm not fantastic in apologizing. You deserve more than an 'I'm sorry'."

"I can wait."

His lips turned upwards for a moment as silence came between us.

I thought about that fight over and over again. Him hitting me was an accident. Who did I think I was to stop it? They were in the heat of the moment, two men that weighed almost twice as much as I. I should have kept my distance. But even thinking back about it, somehow, I couldn't let myself do that.

"I just hate him so much."

"I know."

He frowned as he ran his hands on his thighs. "What did your dad say about the nose?"

"Not much. Mom panicked more than Dad did, maybe it was because Dad actually saw what happened. The shock factor wasn't there for him."

He flinted slightly at my words. "I'm surprised that seeing that wasn't enough to send me away."

"I think because my dad's giving you a second chance."

"Your dad has given me more than a fair share of second chances."

"He's good at that."

He nodded although his eyes were distant.

Wanting nothing more than to hear what was on his mind, my fingers pushed his chin to look at me again. "Speak to me, Everett."

"No mater what I do, even when I think I'm getting over it, Charles comes back, ripping scared wounds up. He's the ghost that haunts my dreams and now he'll haunt my days."

"What are you going to do about it?"

He shrugged.

"Listen, if he really has caused so much damage, I'll help you do whatever you need."

"I'll think about it."

"Sure. I'll support you no matter what choice you make."

We both knew that the only way to make a change was if the school was pleasured by something. I had thought about it and a news article would be enough of an outcry for the university to stop. But that was up to Everett to do.

"Thank you."

I leaned my head on his shoulder hoping to steal some of his heat. I wasn't dressed for this weather. "Want to come in?"

He shook his head. "I probably should go home and work on homework."

"Ok," I said as he got up from the step and started to walk down the road. "Did you walk here?"

He turned back towards me and smiled. "I always do."

"Do you want a ride back?"

He shook his head. "There's a reason why I walk, Nora." And with that, he walked down the driveway.