The reality of his situation had sapped him of all his energy. Even though it was only eleven o’clock in the morning he could have gone right to sleep. “Take a shower, Joyce, and maybe you can clean off that bad luck that follows you around,” he said aloud to himself. “Go ahead, I’ll wait.” Corey smiled and sat up. Charlie flushed. He hadn’t noticed his roommate lying on his bed. “I saw what happened. I thought Jake cut you off. You definitely got ripped on that call. You should go to Clark or Miller and complain. That’s what I’d do, and if you want me to back you, that’s no problem.” He obviously didn’t know about the ring. “Don’t much care about the race. Bigger problems,” he mumbled. Corey shrugged. “What problems? Did the coaches change the teams around?” Charlie stiffened. What was he talking about? “No,” he snapped. Corey opened his eyes wide. “I get it. The stress level is major-league high, what with the Challenge Game lineup being announced tonight.
