She shook her head. “There’s nothing that could excuse what she did.”

Hector bobbed his head from side to side. “Well, maybe not, but I think you should at least hear her out. If I really didn’t think you’d understand, I would’ve told her to go to hell instead of where she could find you. But it’s up to you.”

Suddenly choked up, Charlee wanted nothing more than there to be a good reason for what Drew did, not just so she could forgive her, but so that her heart wouldn’t hurt so much. It literally ached, mourning the loss of her best friend.

Visions of Drew on her knees, sobbing on her front lawn came to her now. If that wasn’t genuine regret, she didn’t know what was. She nodded and followed Hector outside. Drew stood across the street, leaning against her car. She straightened out when she saw Charlee.

“I’ll wait here to give you your privacy if you want, but if you prefer, I can go with you too,” Hector said, squeezing her hand. “Up to you.”

She smiled, feeling a little shaky already but decided she needed to do this alone. “I’ll be okay by myself.”

Drew started toward her when she saw Charlee coming to her, and they met at the curb. Drew’s face was a mess, and Charlee hated that she already felt like hugging her. For a moment, she didn’t even care why Drew had done it. She could see it in her friend’s sorrowful eyes she regretted it immensely, and that’s all that mattered.

“They had a picture of me,” Drew began her voice so broken it choked Charlee up instantly, and she brought her hand to her mouth in an effort to not break down too. “The one I’d sent of my br**sts to that ass**le Greg I’d gone out with. Apparently, he’d forwarded to someone who was threatening to go viral with it. When you turned Danny down the first time, he came to me to confess about the party and asking you to it, but only because he knew you’d say no. He didn’t want to do it. They were pressuring him. They told him to ask me to try and convince you, and if I didn’t, the picture would go viral.”

Charlee nodded. She understood why Drew felt she had to. It made total sense. She’d be applying for college the very next year. That could’ve ruined her.

“I told them to f**k themselves and I didn’t give a shit about the picture.” She shrugged. “There were more scandalous things out there than a girl flashing her boobs. I’d live. Danny was really happy. He thought for sure I’d agree to convince you.”

Charlee stared at her confused now. “But you did.”

Drew nodded. “He went back and told them what I’d said, and few days later, he came to me again.” She scrunched her face up and looked away. “You remember what was going on around that time with my mom and my brother’s coach, right? My dad was already so devastated.” She shook her head. “Well, my idiot mother and that f**king coach taped themselves having sex. Someone got a hold of that too, and they were threatening put a like-mother-like-daughter video together, alternating my stupid tit’s picture with her video and going viral with that. They sent me a snippet of the disgusting video, and there was no way I could let my dad to see it or be publicly humiliated that way.

“Danny assured me that it was an inside-joke thing and that you would never even know it. He said all the girls at these parties never knew about it, and they kept it on the down low so the next year when it happened again no one would know. It’s the only reason I agreed to do it.” Her face suddenly crumbled again. “I wanted to die when they did what they did on Facebook,” she cried. “I swear I wanted to kill all of them. I went to Danny’s house and physically attacked him, but he swore to me he didn’t know they were going to do that. I didn’t believe him, until there was this huge brawl at school, and I found out it was Danny and his closest friends against some of the bigger ass**les behind the whole Facebook thing. It really divided the whole,” she lifted her fingers to do an air quote, “popular crowd at school after that. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I just couldn’t. You were so devastated. I was terrified you wouldn’t understand. And earlier when you confronted me about it, I couldn’t tell you because my dad was there. I just—”

Charlee hugged her, and Drew cried openly now against her shoulder. She’d heard enough. As hurt as she’d been just hours ago, she now felt for Drew and all she must’ve been going through herself that entire last year. “I love you, Drew, and I understand why you did it now.”

Drew squeezed her tight. “Please tell me you’re not going back home.”

Charlee smiled, feeling an enormous and complete relief come over her now. For several horrifying hours there, she really believed she’d lost her best friend and her first love all at once.

“No, I’m not going home. Are you kidding? And give up our new beginning? Not a chance.”

They both glanced back at Hector, who stood at Walter’s stairs. His muscles were bulging a little through his tight t-shirt, and he was smiling at them now. “You’d be nuts to walk away from that hot thing too. He really is a dream, Charlee, and not just because of his looks. He truly cares about you.”

Charlee mouthed the word, “I love you,” and Hector mouthed them back.

“He is,” Charlee sighed deeply, feeling completely drained but more content than she ever had in her life. “He really is.”

Epilogue

A four-day cruise was exactly what Hector and Charlee needed after the grueling Junior World Olympiad. As a team, they came in second, which was excellent because they hadn’t even been expected to place in the top three. The Ukraine had been favored all along to take it all, and they did. But the U.S. pulled a major upset against Hungary, and now Hector and Charlee could celebrate in style.