As I walked into the Woody a few days later, I was met by Everett who crushed his lips into mine with such desire that it caught me off balance. I stumbled back into the painted brick wall behind me.

This was the first time we kissed, it was the first time I was kissed. I wished that it was more magical than this, maybe after a romantic meal or a walk in the park. It was nothing like what I saw on movies. He took that kiss so casually that it made me think that maybe kisses weren't supposed to be special.

"Are you alright?" I asked as he pulled back. His salted taste lingered on my lips, making me want more. He rested his hands on either side of my shoulders and stared at me for a second as if trying to sort out his own thoughts.

"I'm better now."

"What is it?" I asked with fear.

"I just need to get out of here." He forced a smile. "It's nothing. I'll talk to you later?"

"Hey, Nora, your dad's looking for you!" Tad's voice rang out.

I turned my attention towards him and smiled politely. As happy as I was to see him, I wished he didn't bother now. "I'll be there in a minute. I just need to talk to Everett." But as I turned to him, he was nowhere to be found.

I couldn't help a frown appearing on my face. He had this habit of vanishing like this, and it bothered me. Why couldn't he just tell me things without running off?

"I guess I'll see him now. Thanks for letting me know."

The halls around me seemed to close in as I made my way to his office. The kiss swirled around my mind. It was supposed to be different than that, but something was going on in his mind.

"Nora, I need you to be calm about the next sentence I am going to say. But you need to hear it from me before anyone else," Dad said as I walked into his space.

There was no time to talk about school or pleasant things. Dad wanted to get straight to the chase, which was not like him.

He took a deep breath in. "Charles is joining practice today."

And that was why Everett wanted out. That's why he kissed me. It was a distraction. He heard the news and left. Through gritted teeth I asked, "and how long have you known about this?"

"Since last night."

We had dinner together last night. He never once mentioned this. "And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I was trying to find the right way to tell you."

My hands flew into the air. "And this is the perfect time?"

"Nora... I'm trying my best with the cards I was given." Dad sighed.

"Just like everyone else." With that, I left the office knowing there was nothing left to be said.

As my feet carried me to the practice field, all I thought about was how wrong this was. Charles shouldn't be here. He was a villain but the school didn't care because no one knew what Charles had done except the people in the team.

________________________

I glared quietly at the field, watching Dad talk to the team as Charles stood beside him like some kind of equal. The image made me sick to my stomach and for a second I had to look away as my stomach lurched. I couldn't understand how Dad could put up with this. This was his team and he was destroying it by putting him back on.

"So all of you may know Charles, but he's going to be watching practice today," Dad said as he pointed to Charles.

A few team members held back gasps, shocked. Others smiled, happy with the news. I couldn't help but glare at the people that smiled, making a mental note not to trust them. A few of them made eye contact with me before quickly looking away, realizing they burnt a bridge with me.

"Now, no funny games or jokes, I expect everyone to be on their top behavior as if the president of the university was watching." Dad looked around the team then pointed to an assistant coach. "Ok, Andy's going to show you the drills."

Andy stepped forward as Dad walked up to me. "I'm watching him closely."

"That is good enough." I frowned as Charles high fived Rick.

"The school told me they put him through some kind of disciplinary action, and he has shaped up . They promise he's changed."

I shook my head. "And you believe them?"

He frowned as he stroked his mustache.

"Belief and hope are two very different things."

"Well if he steps out of line, I can take that to the school and they can kick him off the team again."

I eyed him. "Will they do that?"

He fell silent because we both knew that it probably wouldn't happen.

"The school's going to destroy this team." With that, I left the field, unable to watch the practice.

As I walked back into dad's office, I looked at my phone again, hoping to see a text from Everett. I already texted him and wanted to text back. He was probably sorting things out and I should give him space, but it was so hard to do.

I wanted to hold him, tell him it would be ok. But most importantly, we needed to stop Charles.

My fist hit wall with force as if that would help my raging emotions, but it only left pain shooting up my hand.

"Damn it," I mumbled as I shook my hand.

"You owe your father a dollar," Shelly said as he walked over to me.

I glared. "This is not the time Shelly."

"Damn, ok. What's up?"

"Charles," I spat out before I even thought about it.

Shelly nodded. "He has that effect on people."

"Does he have that effect on you?"

Shelly shrugged. "Sometimes. But I've learned to ignore him."

"Not everyone is that skilled."

"It's easier when he hasn't abused you."

I nodded. "Does the whole team know about that?"

He shrugged. "Don't know if all, but many do."

"I just can't believe people want to be friends with him after that."

"It's better to be on his side than against it." With that, he left.

_____________________________________

As we left the Woody, my eyes instantly spotted Everett sitting on a bench. A hoodie hung around his muscular frame as he glared down the road.

Silently, I walked up towards him. He didn't' notice as I approached until I spoke up, causing him to shake his head to look at me.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked casually.

He looked up at me and shrugged.

With a sigh I sat beside him.

"So home game is this weekend, are you ready?"

He shrugged again as he let out a sigh.

I nodded as I tried to find the right way to bring up what was on my mind. So many things had happened today. But I wanted to talk about the kiss first. "What happened earlier today? When you kissed me?"

He scratched his neck as if the memory was something he would rather forget. "Sorry if that was a little uncalled for."

"That was my first kiss you know," I said, hoping he wouldn't judge me too harshly.

He raised his eyebrows in shock but remained silent. It was times like this when I wished I knew what he thought. "I'm sorry. You're second kiss will be more memorable."

I smiled. "I hope you're promising that to me."

He held up his pinky finger. "Pinky promise."

My smile grew as I wrapped my pinky with his.

For another few moments we were silent.

Finally, Everett sighed. "I think I want to reach out to the Columbus dispatch about Charles and have an article published. I had enough silence in the matter. I want people to know what kind of person Charles is."

I smiled, happy with his response. As exciting as this was, the choice to write was just the first step. Now we needed to find a place that would be willing to run the article. Plans flew around my mind like jet planes. "Great. We can get that started."

He nodded as he grabbed my hand. "That's something we can start tomorrow. For now, I just want to be here, with you."

"And I can be here as long as you want me to."

He rested his head on my shoulder.

"The sunset's beautiful today."

He chuckled. "Yeah, it is."

____________________

"Nora, I need you to do something for me," dad said as he walked into my bedroom that same night.

I looked up at him with a frown as I turned my music down. For a second, I worried would ask what Everett and I talked about. We both decided that telling Dad would not be smart, at least not until we got a story together. Writing the story of Charles was our secret until we wouldn't be able to hold it in any longer.

"Charles is going to be participating in practice tomorrow and I think it would be best if Everett had the day off."

Every time Charles name was brought up, it caused my hair to stand on end. I didn't like this as much as Dad did, but he seemed to fake it better than I could.

"I told him to take a day off, but he won't listen. I figured you could talk to him. You have him in the palm of your hand like a kid would hold a lighting bug."

Even though the situation made me sick, his analogy brought a smile to my face. Never did I think I could hold that effect on anyone. "What do you want me to do?"

"Suggest skipping. I need you to do this for me."

I chewed on his words for a second before picking up my phone and texting Everett quickly about skipping. "You owe me."

Dad smiled as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Shelly told me he caught you swearing so technically we're even."

"So Shelly's the swear police now?"

Dad shrugged then walked out of my room without another word, leaving me back to studying.

As soon as Dad vanished, my phone buzzed with a text from Everett. He said he had an idea about tomorrow and to be ready by 9AM.

_________________

The next morning, I waited on the front porch with a sack lunch in my hands that Mom insisted I bring and a jacket around my shoulders. I still had no idea what we were doing but Everett told me to dress for the weather.

As punctual like normal, he drove up into the driveway.

"Hey," I said as I ran to his car.

"Morning," he said with a smile then kissed my cheek. "You look ready to hike in the woods."

His comment caused my eyes to drift to my appearance. "You told me to dress for the weather. Is it not good enough?"

He shrugged. "It'll be fine." With that, he backed out.

For a second, I tried piecing clues together of what we were really doing today. His normal sporty look was replaced with blue jeans and a flannel shirt. It made me believe that we were doing something I had no experience doing. All my life I had lived in cities, I didn't know anything about life outside of them. But a sinking pit in my stomach told me I was about to learn.

"So was skipping your idea or was it your fathers?" Everett asked as we got onto the freeway.

My palms instantly started to sweat, worried he might be mad at the truth. "Dad asked."

"It's because of Charles, isn't it?"

I nodded. "He's going to be practicing with the team today, not just watching."

With a heavy sigh, Everett rubbed his worn and angry face. "I never thought the university would move so quick on this."

"What I don't get is that we are doing good enough."

"OSU will always want more; nothing is good enough for them."

"They want those wins."

"Whatever it takes."

Without saying anything, Everett turned the music up to some poppy song that I don't think I heard before, telling me he didn't want to talk about the subject any longer.

Even with the music playing, the feeling of silence engulfed the car like smoke in a room, filling every space. As songs changed and buildings became sparce and few between. I let the smoky silence remain in the car until it was suffocating.

"So what are we doing today?" I coughed out, hoping to clear the smoke from the car.

Everett turned the music down then got off the freeway. "We're helping with the harvest on my father's farm."

Fantastic. Our relationship was so new, the last thing I wanted him to see was the city girl fumbling on the farm. "I don't know if I'll be much help."

"Oh trust me, you will. Dad needs all the help he can."

"I'm not sure if he will want my help."

"You will be surprised. Plus, you're coaches daughter, just being there will be the highlight of his day."

I swallowed my concern as concrete and street lights were replaced by dead and dry corn, ready to harvest.

"Do you help your dad every harvesting season?" I asked as we moved deeper into the farming community.

Everett nodded as he turned down another road which quickly turned into dirt. "Every year when I was in high school but last year I didn't help because of football."

"Ah, football."

"But this year, with the break, I thought why not."

He turned down another road. There was not a house in sight. I wondered if he liked growing up in such a desolate place.

"Look, please don't bring up the conversation about Charles and the Columbus Dispatch to my dad."

I nodded, expecting as much since we didn't even tell my father. "I'll keep my lips sealed."

He smiled as a house came into view. "Thanks. The last thing I need is worry from him."

As Everett pulled into a drive way I saw his father waiting on the porch dressed almost the same way as Everett was.

Everett parked the car and got out, waving to his dad. "I brought help."

I got out of the car and waved to him.

"Hey, it's Nora Orban!" Everett's dad smiled.

"Yeah. Great memory."

He got off his porch and started walking to the red barn beside the house. "I hope you are ready to get your hands dirty."

A chuckle escaped my lips at the thought of getting muddy. "I work with 18–22-year-old football players. My hands are always dirty, what's a little more dirt?"

"Oh Everett, she's a funny one."

Everett nodded as he locked the car even though there was nothing around us. It must have been a habit he picked up in Columbus. "Yeah, she is. Ok, dad, let's get this started."

"So Nora, have you helped in harvest before?"

"I've never been on a farm before."

"My goodness you haven't lived until you helped in a harvest."

"Well, I guess I haven't lived yet."

"The key word is 'yet'. You'll live today," he said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders instantly making me feel at home.