Picture This

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Charlotte

When I got home, I rushed up to Freddie’s room and flung open his door.  He looked surprised when he looked at me.  I still had tears streaming down my face and when he saw them, he immediately started toward me.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice hard. 

“I hate you!” I screamed at him.  “Why did you have to tell him where I was going, huh?”

When he reached for me, I shoved him away. 

“He was going there anyway!” Freddie said, his voice rising.  “He would have known you were there just by seeing your car!”

“What did you tell him when he drove you home?” I asked, my voice still raised. 

“Nothing much, just how broken you were when I first met you,” he said.  “And that if he really wanted to apologize, it would take a lot because you’re so stubborn.”

I screamed out of frustration and stomped off toward my room. 

“You’ll thank me later!” he yelled down the hall. 

“I doubt it!” I screamed, and slammed my door.

I went over to my bed and jumped onto it, burying my face into one of my pillows.  I screamed into it until my head hurt…and then I started crying again. 

It was about ten minutes later when I heard the door open.  My bed dipped on the side and I looked up to see Liz looking down at me, a sad smile on her face. 

“What’s the matter, darling?” she asked, pushing a strand of my hair back that had fallen into my face.

“Everything,” I moaned.  “Why does your son have to butt into my business?”

She laughed and made herself more comfortable on the bed.  “What has he done this time?” she asked.

“You remember when I told you about Ian Macpherson?” I asked her, moving to lie on my back.

She nodded slowly.  “Let me guess.  You saw him today?”

I groaned.  “Yes!” I said.  “Freddie thinks that I should let him apologize for everything that he’d done before we went to England.  He got Ian to drive him home just to talk to him!  I don’t even want to think about what was said during that car ride!”

“So besides that, what’s got you all upset now?” she asked, reaching over to wipe away my tears that started flowing again.  I leaned into her touch, loving the mothered feeling it gave me.

“Ian showed up to the dance studio.  His mom owns it,” I said.  “He was watching me dance and when I was done and saw that he was still there, I just lost it.  He was trying to talk to me again but I just started hitting him.  And then the next thing I knew he was pulling me in to hug me to his chest and I was crying.” 

She took my hand as I reached up with my other to wipe my tears away. 

“It didn’t feel like it did before when he held me,” I whispered. 

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking confused. 

I sighed, pretty much admitting the defeat of my emotions.  “It felt so good,” I said quietly.  “I just wanted to stay there forever in his arms.”

A small smile spread on Liz’s face.  “If you’re feeling like this, why don’t you talk to him and let him apologize?”

I shook my head.  “Because I just can’t right now,” I said. 

“Well, with what you’ve told me about him, he’ll be pretty persistent,” she said, running a hand over my hair.

“I know,” I said, sighing.  “I’m going to go to him tomorrow.  But I’m going to tell him that I need time to think about everything that happened.  I’m still not ready to trust him against.”

“But then when you do, you can run to him and he’ll sweep you into his arms and give you a grand kiss!” a voice said dramatically from my doorway. 

I sat up quickly and threw a pillow at a laughing Freddie.  He retreated into the hallway and I could hear him still laughing. 

“Shut up, Fredrick!” I yelled, but I was smiling.  “I still love you, though!”

“And even after you hit me, I love you, too!” he yelled from down the hallway.

Liz started laughing at our little exchange. 

“I think that’s a good idea, telling him that you need time,” she said.  She got off my bed and started for the door.  “Just don’t take too much time or you’ll make him go crazy.”

“He should go crazy,” I said. 

“Maybe for a little while,” she agreed, smiling, and walked out of my room. 

I got up off my bed and walked over to the humongous cork board on my wall where I had pictures tacked to it.  Most of them were of me, Freddie, and our friends back in England. 

But in the top right corner there were two pictures.  They were the same poses, only taken six years apart – one on my sixth birthday and the other on my twelfth.  They were both of me and Ian.  He’d tickled me both times and then when my mom took the picture, he’d kissed my cheek.  I looked so happy in both of them. 

I couldn’t help but think that I wanted Ian and me to be friends again before my eighteenth birthday so we could keep up the tradition of the picture.  I really hoped I could get past everything that happened in the past before then. 

As I reached up and touched both of them, wondering if Ian still had the pictures also.  I knew my mom had given him a copy of both after she’d gotten them developed.  If he did still have them, that had to mean something right?

Again, AWW!!!!1 

<3 you guys! 

Comment, Vote, and Like!!!1