Out of My League

{22} In Motion

To Samantha, my first friend on Wattpad :)

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Lemon's POV

"You don't have to do this."

"I think I do," Charlotte responded.

"Look, this is crazy," I protested. "I don't know what I was thinking. We can call it off. I'm sure there are other ways we can go about doing this."

"But I was just getting excited," Charlotte said, smiling.

"Don't joke."

"Look, don't worry about me," she assured, taking one of my hands in hers. "This was a good idea. All your ideas are good. Just trust that I can do this."

"It's not about trust," I murmured, as Charlotte put on my pair of business heels. I watched as she adjusted the recording device to conceal it underneath her blazer.

"See? Your plan is airtight," she stated, opening the door to my dorm. "We've had a couple days to rehearse what I'm going to say, you'll be just a few feet away from me in case anything happens, and I've been practicing my self-defense skills."

I sighed in resignation. "Fine, but I just have a really bad feeling about this, okay?"

"Wow, thanks for the pep talk Lemon. Don't be a scaredy-cat," Charlotte teased. As she walked out the door, I hastily pulled my phone out of my pocket to reveal a text from Skylar.

Don't try anything.

Oh, I was so screwed.

The subway seemed to take forever, and I could feel my nerves starting to overwhelm me. My foot began to tap nonstop on the floor, and I felt my palms grow sweaty. My mind replayed all the worst case scenarios on a loop.  

"Tell me the secret word," I repeated.

"Lemon, I've said it a thousand times," she replied, exasperated.

"Say it."

"McDonald's," Charlotte finally stated. "Why does it have to be that?"

"It's easy to remember," I answered. "And super obvious, so I can come save you when you're in distress." Charlotte smiled at that. How was she not nervous at all right now?

The subway came to a grinding halt.  As we walked off the underground train together, I wondered what this would mean for my relationship with Skylar. She was so adamant that I never mention the publisher again it bordered on suspicious. But I couldn't think about that now. Not when I was headed towards one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life.

"This is it," I stated as we walked up the steps into the cloudy brightness of the city. I gestured towards a tall gray building in front of us. "That is Stevens Publishing."

"I don't like the color," Charlotte said next to me. "Let's go catch this creep."

The second I entered the first floor of the glass building, I felt my heart pound in my chest as I remembered the last time I was at this awful place. I thought about all the women who had been harassed and pressured by horrible men like Archibald Stevens. At least I could start making a difference now.

Charlotte gazed at me with an unreadable expression on her face. "You ready?"

"As ready as I can be," I replied. She pressed the elevator button in front of us.