Chapter 8 - Charlotte

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Chapter Eight

Charlotte

By the end of the week I still couldn't get that kiss out of my head. I tried to emerge myself into books, homework, and studying, but no matter how much I tried to distract myself I would still lay in bed for hours thinking about him. Even when I was in class, I would find my thoughts drifting toward Christian and his strong arms wrapped around my waist pulling me tightly against his body.

I spent the week avoiding him entirely, and although I succeeded with this, Karla seemed to be suffering the consequences. I had barely spoken to her all week aside from a couple sentences exchanged during lunchtime, and this is how I found myself on the wrong end of a bad tongue-lashing in the middle of Westside Foods.

"-and you can't try and pretend like you aren't avoiding me, Charlie, because I saw the shadow of your big frizzy hair peeking out of your bedroom window last night!"

"I was listening to music – I didn't hear you knock."

"And what about my ten thousand text messages I've sent you all week! I mean, it's one thing if your busy with school work, I know how important getting a scholarship is to you, but you won't even let me drive you to school! Seriously, Charlie, why are you so pissed at me? Is it because of that stuff with those college boys? Because I was just playing around." Karla placed her hands on my shopping cart so I couldn't try to avoid this conversation – she knew how much I hated confrontations.

I looked down the aisle and sighed. The one thing the sucks about living in a small town like Bridgewalk is that it's easy for people to find you. We only have one good grocery store in town, and Karla knew I went shopping every Friday after school.

"No, Kare – it's not that," I said.

"Then what is it, Charlotte? I have been having a really crappy week, and having my bestie avoid me like I'm a plague is really getting frustrating."

"Look, I have a lot of frozen groceries, so I should just get going."

She folded her arms and that Steele stubbornness glinted in her eyes. "The hell you are going anywhere. You aren't avoiding this conversation. Seriously, Char, what's your deal?"

I turned to face her, but I still couldn't bring myself to tell her what happened. What would I say? Well, I made out with your brother in the library and now I am terrified to be near him because I don't trust myself. She would probably kill me, or she would kill Christian – actually, she would probably kill both of us. He was her slutty, older brother, and I was her nerdy, virgin friend. She would kill me for my stupidity, and then kill him for his douche-baggery.

"Honestly, it's not you. It's just been a busy week, I swear." Well, if I wasn't going to tell her what happened then the least I could do was stop avoiding her. Maybe I could still hang out with Karla and evade Christian at the same time.

Karla titled her head and asked, "Is it your parents again?"

I shrugged and said, "Well, nothing is different there, if that's what you're asking, but you know I'm used to it." I started to push my shopping cart toward the checkout counter and Karla walked with me. "But hey, how about to make up for lost time, I will be yours all weekend – well, after I drop off these groceries first."

"Anything I want to do?"

"Sure, whatever you want," I said, but when I looked up at Karla I instantly regretted it. She had a wicked smile etched across her face and her eyes gleamed with mischief. "Dear, god. What have I gotten myself into?"


"Really, Char, that's what you're wearing?" Karla looked at me incredulously as I climbed into the cab two hours after I left Westside Foods.

I was becoming more and more worried with every minute because if Karla called for a cab, then we must be heading to the east end. "Yeah, why not? I'm wearing capris and a cardigan – what's wrong with that?"

"204 Eastshore," she said to the cab driver confirming my fears, and then turned to face me. "You look like a librarian."

I looked down at Karla's cleavage, which was trying desperately to burst out of her tight tank top, and I pulled my cardigan closer together. She was wearing short-shorts, and her tank top left half her belly exposed. I felt naked just looking at her, but I wasn't in the least bit surprised. Karla and I had been friends for over eight years, but we were nothing alike. We often joked that we were like peanut butter and jelly – completely different from one another, but somehow we just worked together.

"I look fine." I said and pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose.

Karla raised her eyebrow but didn't say anything else on the matter. Instead she filled me in on her week, and how horrible it was to see Ben and Rikki all over each other. I was trying to listen to her but my mind kept wondering other places – dangerous places. I heard her say something about Rikki being a whore, and that Ben isn't going anywhere in life, but every time I looked at Karla, I thought about Christian.

Karla's eyes were bright blue just like Christian's, but her eyes didn't have the little green specks that his did. They had similar skin though – flawless and lightly tanned. I felt utterly pale in comparison. I just couldn't understand why Christian would kiss me. The Steele family were the most attractive people I had ever seen in real life, and I was just me – plain, ol' Charlotte Locke from the lowest economical background possible. My best friend might be the prettiest girl in Bridgewalk, but I was still that girl who bought her clothes from the Salvation Army and lived in a house that couldn't possibly pass a residential inspection.

The only realistic conclusion I could come to was that Christian was playing some kind of sick joke on me. Maybe he was dared by his cousins like in the 1999 movies, "She's All That". Whatever his morbid explanation was, I could not let myself be victimized by him. I was supposed to be the smart girl, not the delusional, love-sick puppy who throws her life away for a guy. I refused to make the same mistakes my mother made sixteen years ago.

"Were here!"

I looked up at Karla and then out the window at a well-known frat house. The large house was so packed that people were pouring out onto the sidewalk. I could hear the faint pumping of club music even in the cab with the doors and windows shut. I pursed my lips as I read the large Greek letters that stood for "Sigma Rhomeo".

"Really?" I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. "After what your cousin did to those guys on Monday, you still want to find an older guy?"

The grin on her face was devilish as she paid the cab driver and got out of the car. "My cousins won't be here tonight, plus, I told you I am totally done with high school boys." After nearing dragging me out of the cab, she linked our arms together and pulled me toward the house. "I heard my brother and cousins talking about going to some sorority party tonight to pick up – if you know what I'm saying – so I figured we'd hit up the Frat party, so I could pick up!" She laughed, and then hip bumped me. "What do you think of that guy over there?" She nodded her head in the direction of a guy leaning against the porch handrail.

"I don't know – he looks like a stuck up prep." I really just wanted to get out of here. I already felt like this was a really bad idea, and now the image of Christian picking up some bimbo sorority girl was making me feel that much worse.

Karla titled her head to the side while watching the preppy guy. "I say he is going to school to be a lawyer – wait, maybe a teacher." She readjusted her tank top to make sure half her breasts were showing and then said, "Go inside and fetch us a couple drinks, I'm going to go introduce myself."

"Karla-" but she was striding toward preppy boy before I could get out another word.

I stood there for a moment and watched her with with envy. When she reached him, she leaned her back against the handrail and her bright smile captured his attention within seconds. He laughed at something she said, and then she reached for his drink and took a sip.

I started for the front door, figuring that I had best go get Karla her own drink before she ended up drinking something bad.

It didn't take me long to find the kitchen. I think the hardest part was trying to push through all the people who were flailing around drunkenly.

I grabbed a plastic cup from the counter poured some vodka and cherry Pepsi into it. I stared at the one cup, and knew if I brought it to Karla she would complain that I was being boring. Luckily, I knew her well, so I also knew how to keep both of us happy. I grabbed another plastic cup and filled it with just cherry Pepsi. She would think I was drinking with her, but as usual, I would get to stay sober and look after her.

"I saw that."

I turned around to see a guy leaning up against the refrigerator with his arms folded.

"Saw what?"

"Just Pepsi? Tell me, are you the designated driver, or are you just a prude?"

"Neither." I said and started to leave.

He blocked my path and smiled. "Okay, I'm sorry, that was rude. I'm Tyler, who are you? I haven't seen you around before."

"I-I'm-" I felt like my throat was closing up and I started to feel awkward, and incapable of talking normally. I cleared my throat, and let out a nervous half laugh. "I meant, I'm Charlie."

"So why aren't you drinking, doll?" He gave me a once over and added, "I'm honestly curious."

"Well, alcohol is made up of ethanol which is a psychoactive drug that is toxic. It interferes with the brain's communication pathways and can affect the way the brain looks and works. This can actually cause changes in mood and behavior which makes it hard to think clearly and move with coordination. Did you know drinking can cause arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, stroke, high blood pressure, steatosis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, cancer in the mouth, esophagus, throat, liver and breasts. Alcohol can cause the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis."

In my nervous stupor, I rambled on and on. I could see Tyler's smile fading, but for some reason I couldn't stop.

"You see, alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxyl functional group is bound to a carbon atom. Alcohols can also undergo oxidation to give aldehydes, ketones, or carboxylic acids, or they can be dehydrated to alkenes. I mean sure, other alcohols are substantially more poisonous than ethanol, but-"

I stopped talking when I realized he was walking away from me.

Karla always wondered how I have gone most of my life without ever having a boyfriend, and I was pretty sure this was why. I was a bundle of nervousness, and if I wasn't stammering over my words, I was rambling on about things no one was interested in, or no one understood.

"I don't know why you wanted to come here."

I froze the second I heard Christian's voice. No, no, no! I quickly turned around to see him walking through the living room. My heart stopped when I noticed his arm around the waist of a tiny, blonde girl.

"My Sorority was a total bore, plus I heard the people here were getting real cray out back." The girl flipped her hair and gave him a seductive smile.

When I realized they were heading toward the kitchen, I only had a second to do something so I opened up the cupboard door underneath the counter and climbed into it. It was a tight fit, but I managed to get it closed before Christian and his companion reached the kitchen. I could hear them standing right next to the cupboard, and Christian asking her what she wanted to drink. I pulled out my cellphone and quickly texted Karla.

SOS – ur bro is here. Im hiding in the kitchen! Save me!

I put my cellphone in my pocket and tried to stay as quiet as possible. Christian wasn't really talking but the girl he was with kept going on about some girl who messed up on her manicure. Apparently she was totally like never going there again.

I rolled my eyes and then my phone vibrated in my pocket. My eyes widened right before it started playing the Harry Potter theme song.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net