*Charlie’s POV*
She was such a nice girl, Emily. You could tell just be looking at her. Her brown hair was perfectly straight, her braces the one imperfection. Eye’s so blue it was amazing. Freckles splashed across her cheeks and nose. She was the kind of girl who would smile at you if you walked past on the street.
And we were dating now. She’d asked me this morning ,and tonight at my party, we were going to announce it. I was so excited. My dad would adore her and her easy going kindness and my mom would be so happy for me. I don’t really know how I felt about it though.
It was the end of the day and we were walking home together. I didn’t take the bus. The kids on the bus were… mean was a terribly under exaggerated word. And now I knew for sure Riley was going to mess up my birthday. Just because I bumped into him.
“Charlie, are you okay? You seem kind of down?” Emily probes, her eye’s sparkling with concern. I give her a weak smile. I am kind of down. It’s my sweet sixteen and I’m worried about Riley Fallen for fuck’s sake. Typical.
*Flash Back*
I smiled big, my eye’s turning into upside-down half moons. My mom was off talking to someone about business, but for once I didn’t mind. All my friends were here for my seventh birthday and I was thrilled. They were singing to me now.
“Blow out your candles!” Emily shouted as they finished their song.
I was about to blow them out, when suddenly another voice I knew very well called out from beside me. “Hey dweeb!” Riley Fallen shouted to me. I shrunk back into my birthday boy chair like the little baby I was. I didn’t retaliate as he threw my untouched cup-cake to the ground, and picked up my cake. All at once vanilla icing frosted my face.
“That’s what you get” Riley whispered in my ear. I shied away, but then Quinn and Tyson had appeared from nowhere and suddenly ice-cream was going down the back of my shirt. I shrieked, and all the party guests laughed, except Emily, who had large frightened eye’s.
She stood, shaking a little. “Quinn! Tyson! I’m telling mom!” she wailed.
Being only a year and a little older, Quinn and Tyson took this threat as seriously as any kid would. “Emily! No, don’t tell mom! Emily come back!” they cried, chasing after her. Riley watched all this with annoyance, saw me watching, and pushed me from my chair before stalking away.
*Flashback over*
“Charlie?” Emily asks again, and I shake my head to clear it, brown hair whipping every which way.
“Sorry” I mumble, giving her a nervous smile. We’ve been friends forever , but never had we been how were going to try to be now. I’m nervous, but I guess some excitement is buried into the mixture. My first real girlfriend. I awkwardly take her hand. “Just excited for tonight”
She blushes, not looking at me. “I’m excited to” she admits. Except she means it.
“What did you get me?” I ask eagerly. She leans her head on my shoulder, an uncomfortable gesture considering she’s taller then me. Her hair smells like girly shampoo, a not altogether pleasant smell. Our hands swing together, and I worry about our friendship.
“A new girlfriend isn’t enough?” she teases.
“You got me a new girlfriend?!” I joke. We chuckle gawkily.
I was relived immensely when I got to my house. Suddenly this whole relationship thing seemed like an awful idea. It was stupid! I wasn’t even attracted to Emily like that, she was my friend! We’d been friends all our life’s. How did I break up with her without hurting her?
