Page 186 of Right Man, Right Time
“What are you talking about?” I ask. “Was it released?”
“Yeah, and it’s already trending.” He shakes his head. “I can’t believe you wrote that about Silas after you promised him.”
“Wrote what?” I ask as I grab my phone and search for the article. When it comes up and I read the headline, I already know something is off. That’s not the headline I chose. My eyes scan over the text, rapidly floating through the text until it gets to one part.
One single paragraph that causes all the blood to drain from my face.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “I . . . I didn’t write that.” My eyes scan through the paragraph over and over. “Ross, I didn’t. I would never do that.”
“It has your name on the article,” Ross says.
Tears fill my eyes as I look up at him, panic causing my throat to grow tight. “But I didn’t put that in there. I would never do that to Silas. I . . . I don’t understand.” My breath escapes me, and I panic for air, my breathing becoming labored.
“Shit,” Ross says as he scoops up our things and then takes me by the hand, right out of the classroom and into the hallway. “Deep breaths, Ollie.” He guides me to a corner and then sits us both down.
“I didn’t do it. I w-would n-never.” My teeth start to chatter, my body spasming with every second that goes by where this article is published.
“If you didn’t do it, then who did?” Ross asks.
I glance at him and say, “You’re . . . you’re the only one I accidentally told.”
His brow creases. “If you’re implying—”
“No, I’m not.” I shake my head. “I know you wouldn’t do that to me.” I press my hand to my forehead and try to think. “I just don’t get it. That’s not how I turned in the article. Who changed it? Can someone change it? That’s not allowed, is it?”
“I have no idea,” Ross says. “Obviously, someone did change it. Who did you turn the article in to?”
“Roberts,” I say. I sent it directly to him. “I don’t get how he would know about the cheating. Silas hasn’t told anyone. And I don’t know who else would know about the article.”
“The only correlation is . . . you,” Ross says, stating the obvious.
“Fuck,” I say as I pull out my phone and dial Silas’s number. I bring it up to my ear, and it rings three times before going to voicemail. When the phone beeps, I say, “Silas, it’s me. I really need to talk to you. Please call me.”
I hang up and then lean my head against the wall.
“Why didn’t you tell him that you didn’t write that part in the article?”
“Because he’s not going to listen to the voicemail,” I answer, knowing Silas too well. “There’s no point.” I draw my legs up to my chest and grip them tightly. “I think I’m fucked.”
* * *
**SILAS**
“Man, you have to eat something,”Posey says as he takes a seat next to me at a table in the arena while my phone buzzes on the table. Another phone call from Ollie, but I let it go to voicemail.
“I did. I had a protein bar,” I say.
“That’s not enough, and you know it.” Posey passes a plate of pasta salad toward me. “Come on, man. Eat something.”
“I don’t want to fucking eat something,” I say as I lean back in my chair. “Fuck, Levi, does it look like I want to eat something?”
He pauses, studying me. “It looks like you want to punch your fist through a wall.”
“Accurate,” I say as my leg bounces up and down at a rapid pace.
“Have you spoken to her?”
“What the hell would I say? Thanks for throwing me under the bus for your own career gain? Thanks for spreading my dirty laundry for the fucking world to see?” I shake my head. “No. Fuck her.”
