With a yawn I walked into the sleepy stadium. With the freezing rain we had throughout the night, It killed most tailgaters except for a few Die Hards.

After Dale left the stadium the previous night. His words swarmed my mind like mosquitos on a late summer day. I could barely focus on anything else. All I wanted to do was talk to Everett but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Nora, I know you're mad at me," Dad said as I sat in his office.

The mention of my name caused my eyes to fall on him.

"I'm sorry if I disappointed you."

"It's a little more than disappointment," I said, giving a humorless chuckle.

"If you knew the position I was in, you would understand."

I shook my head as anger rolled through me. I had seen first hand how this affected Everett. If Dad really cared, he would have tried harder to prevent this. "I really don't think I would," I said as I stood up from my chair and slipped on my knitted hat to shield me from the cold. "I'm going to see Everett." With that, I left his office.

I walked down the halls until I found him resting his back against the wall. His normally cool look was replaced with worry. He had to be stressing about today. This was the first game that Charles would join and it was getting under his skin.

"Hey." I waved as I walked up to him.

Instantly his expression softened as he pushed himself off the wall and smiled. "Hey." He pressed his lips against mine in a rushed greeting.

"You're early."

"I wanted to beat the crowd. Rather not walk in with everyone today."

"Makes sense."

He wrapped his fingers around my small hands as he let out a sigh. "Today's the day."

Not only was today the day Charles would play, but it was also the day of the interview. I was sure there were so many things going on in his mind. "Are you ready for it?"

His face scrunched up as if he ate a lemon. "I'll have to be."

I nodded, not sure what else to say to him.

"So, we never talked about it, but how was the afternoon with my old man?"

A smile came to my face as I thought about Dale. "You know I love that man. He was just fine."

"You're too kind."

I shrugged. "It's not hard when he's kind back." I sighed as Dale's words popped into my mind again. I looked around the empty hall to make sure we still had privacy. "Your father told me about Charles and you dating."

The sentence caused him to take a step back and glare at the ground. "I wouldn't call it that. But it's frustrating that's what he tells people."

"Then what was it?" I asked as I met his eyes. "Everett, I feel like there's more to this story that I don't understand. I think it should be hammered out before the interview today."

He kicked his shoe against the brick wall beside him. He looked around us to make sure the coast was clear before giving a small cough. "Yes, I did go on a date or two with him. But I realized quickly that he wasn't a good person. When I tried breaking it off with him the abuse happened."

I nodded as his words sank in.

He leaned against the wall again as he bit his lip. There was silence as he glanced at the ground.

I grabbed his hands and gave them a squeeze to comfort him.

He gave a sigh. "I had never gone on a date with a man before. I didn't even think I liked men until Charles welcomed me to the team. There was something about Charles that drew me in. I thought maybe I could at least try."

"I just wish you told me these things before hearing it from your father."

"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, I just don't know how to bring it up."

I nodded as Tad's voice echoed the hall.

"Oh, hey Nora and Everett," Tad said as he swung a bag over his shoulder.

"Hey Tad," Everett said as he zipped his coat up. He turned back to me and shrugged. "I should get ready. I'll see you out on the field." He gave one last kiss to me before walking off.

Tad's mouth hung open as he stared at me. "Did he just greet me?"

I chuckled. "I guess he did."

"Well look at that." He stared at Everett's backside as he walked into the locker room. "So, girl, you have to spill. What's going on with Charles back on the team. I thought they would have kicked him off with the intention to never have him back."

The mention of Charles name made me queasy. "It's the university. They want to win and will do anything to get there."

"Damn."

"My thoughts exactly."

"And your dad can't do anything about it?"

I shrugged. "He said he has tried but I haven't seen much effort. All I know is that Charles will be the death of this team."

"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" Charles' voice rang out.

My eyes met his with furry. My cheeks turned hot as he walked closer to us. Seeing him caused my insides to coil and my blood to run hot. He was the cause of all the problems but yet he stood around like it was no big deal. "This an A B conversation. You can C your way out."

He chuckled as he adjusted his sweatpants. "You're cute when you're fiery."

With my head held high, I took a step closer to him, ready to give him a piece of my mind.

A smirk appeared on his lips as he stared down at me.

I was close enough I could feel the heat from his breath.

"What are you going to do, Nojo?"

My hand started to sweat as I balled my hands into fists. "Don't you dare..."

"Nora, can you help me out here?" Paul asked.

My head snapped towards him, seeing him struggled to carry supplies.

"Don't think we are done," I threaten to Charles.

As I approached Paul, he looked at Charles then me. "What was that about?" Paul asked as he handed me some empty water bottles.

"Nothing important."

He nodded. "I'm not saying this because I want to boss you around, but because I want to watch out for you. But you should stay away from Charles. He's just no good."

________________________________

No good.

Those words raced through my mind for hours. It consumed my thoughts. If he was no good, the school should do something about it. Dad should have tried better, the assistant coaches should have tried more. Instead, they were failing the team. Frustration slowly brewed within me. Before I knew it, I was standing beside Dale, talking to him during half time.

"Man, your father wasn't lying about getting me the best seats in the house." Dale grinned at the field in front of him as the band played.

"He's a man of his word, isn't he?" I asked with venom in my tone.

He nodded, not picking up my tone. "Hell yeah he is." There was silence as Dale as he took a sip of his beer. "This is really amazing. Man, everyone's playing so well! I just wish I saw more of Everett. We all know he's the star."

I nodded. I knew why Dad would not play him. This whole week Everett hadn't practiced with the rest of the team. They were trying to ease Everett back towards Charles, but it wouldn't work. Everett would never forget or forgive what Charles did.

"Maybe he will play in the second part," he suggested. "If they put my boy in, I'm sure we would have a stronger lead. But I'm sure your dad knows what he's doing."

He didn't. "Maybe."

"You know the saying, keep the best for last." He nudged my shoulder.

I forced a dry laugh as I pulled out my phone to see a text from Tad asking where I went off to. I responded to him before pulling on my hat to shield my ears from the cold breeze.

Silence spilled between us as we looked onto the field. I tried to rack my mind with something to say but came up with nothing. I was in no mood to visit when I knew there were more important things to think about.

"Well, I don't want to keep you. I know how busy you can get."

I nodded as I looked towards the exit. "Yeah, I should get back."

"See you," he said as he looked back out at the field as the band got off.

With one last smile, I left, heading back to the field.

As I walked the halls to get back, I mentally counted backwards, hoping it would help clear my mind when I returned.

"Nora, where have you been?" Dad's voice rang out from behind me.

I turned to face him with his polo shirt and headset. "What do you need?" I asked dryly.

He wrinkled his mustache and scratched the back of his neck. "Nothing," he mumbled then turned to the field again.

"That's what I thought," I mumbled as the players ran onto the field again.

"Dang Nojo, the heat between you two is burning this place down," Tad said as he walked up to me.

"That's what he gets for this mess we're in."

The thing is, maybe I wouldn't care if Charles was on the team if I wasn't with Everett. But Dad wanted me to get close to Everett so this was really all his fault.

He shook his head with a small frown. "Do you really think he can do anything about it?"

"So, you are on his side now?" I snapped, glaring at him.

He raised his hands, stepping back. "I didn't say that."

Anger boiled within me. He should have been on my side. He knew what Charles was capable of but he was letting it slide. "You know, I'm not much help out here. I'm calling it," I said as I turned on my heels and left.

___________________________________

"The game could have gone better," Everett said as he drew a circle with his finger into the table in front of us.

I shrugged. The game was the last thing I wanted to talk about as we waited for the interviewer to come to the cafe. But if it help calm him, I would listen. "You guys won, isn't that enough?"

He shook his head. "We didn't win by much."

"Don't beat yourself up," I said as I pulled out my phone to check the time. The interviewer should be here at any moment.

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

The game was just adding to his anxiety and waiting wasn't helping. "Are you ready for this?"

Everett nodded as he let out a breath. He no longer smelt of BO, instead it was replaced by the smell of soap and some cologne he got from Name, Image, and Likeness agreement. "Yeah. This is the only way I can fight back against the university."

"Okay," I said as a middle-aged woman walked into the nearly empty cafe.

She shook off the rain drops from her black hair. She locked eyes with Everett and smiled. With sure steps she walked to us, pulling out a laptop from her oversized purse. "Everett?" she asked before taking the empty seat beside me.

"That's me. And I suppose you're June."

She beamed as she took a seat at the table. "That's me."

"Nice to meet you in person."

"Likewise," she said as her eyes lingered on me.

"Oh, this is Nora. I hope it's not a problem that I invited her."

"Not a problem at all. Pleased to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well," I said as I took a sip of my hot tea.

She quickly pulled out a few other things in front of her and cleared her throat. "I'll just give you the run down really quick. This should take no more than 30 minutes. I'll compile a rough draft of the paper and send it to you by Tuesday. If you approve it, I'll send it to the final editor who will send it back to you for the final approval then we will release it. This is such an important story, so we want to publish it as soon as possible."

"So when do you want to publish?"

"In the next Sunday paper."

He raised his eyebrows. "So eight days from now?"

"Is that okay?"

Everett chewed on his lip as he thought about it. Maybe he didn't think it would be published so quickly, but he had to understand that an article like this was incredibly important. If the university got word about it, they would shut it down. This needed to be released now and especially during the season.

"I hope you don't mind if I record this," June said.

He took a deep breath as he looked at me. "Of course not."

She smiled at us. "Okay then. Let's start with your name."

"My name is Everett James Clark and I am the starting quarterback for Ohio State University."

"Perfect. Well, the floor is yours. Share your story."

He placed his hands on the table. "OSU covered up my sexual abuse and now they want to put the abuser back on the team. I am not looking for revenge, I just want it to not happen again."

She leaned forward as she started to type on her keyboard.

I couldn't help but lean forward as well, waiting for him to share. It didn't matter if I had heard the story before, what excited me was that Everett was finally going to get solace. Then maybe then, he could start to heal.

"Charles Roberts was a big brother for me. Coach Orban assigned him to me even though he knew he had a questionable past. Me, as a wide-eyed freshman gave him room to take advantage of me. It started during fall camp and lasted all season until he was taken off the team. It took the University weeks, even months to act even after I shared the news."

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I tried to remain cool. There was so much Dad should have done differently. This internship only taught me that he wasn't god, he was flawed, just like we all were. But the thing was, I wasn't sure if I would ever forgive him for this.

"While the season continued, the abuse continued until he was kicked off the team. But the university swept it under the rug. Very few know what happened."

"You are so brave for sharing your story," the reported said softly before turning back to her key board to type. "You are a true quarterback. They are leader of the offense, and what you are doing shows that."

I would agree with her, Everett was brave. He was more than what I thought he was and I was glad I had this moment to understand him.