Call Me Crazy

Chapter Ten

The next day everything returned to normal, but things between Lucas and I were much better. I was more civil, not threatening to kick his ass every five minutes, and I discovered that he was actually a pretty cool guy. Not that I’d tell him that.

I was lounging on one of the sofas with the stolen wifi password, sorting out my phone. A bag of gummi bears rested in my lap so I was one content girl. That was until I opened Facebook. I was greeted with the sight of 157 notifications and 245 messages.

My stomach dropped.

Scrolling through the messages I discovered they were all from the three friends I was meant to be meeting. And they did not sound happy.

“SHIT!” I screamed.

A second later Lucas came crashing into the room, half dressed with shaving cream on his face. Fighting back the urge to drool I jumped on the sofa and began panicking.

“What is it?!” He asked, his voice cold and eyes searching the room for danger.

I frantically pointed to my phone and he took a few steps closer. My breathing was going crazy and I thought I was beginning to hyperventilate.

“You know when you kidnapped me?!” I all but scream in his face. Just to make it clear, I was screaming in panic, not anger.

“I didn’t k-“ He said exasperatedly.

“Yeah yeah I know, you didn’t kidnap me. I just came here on my own will. Whatever. But I was on my way to my friend’s batch and it’s been a week and they were expecting me and they haven’t heard from me and I’m a terrible friend and I feel so bad and I can’t r-“ My voice got higher and higher, the words blending into one huge word. I was cut off by Lucas clamping his hand on my mouth.

“Breathe,” he said calmly. He was too calm! Could he not see the problem here?!

I took a shaky breath, which helped with the whole hyperventilating issue.

“Sit,” and like an obedient dog I sat. He jumped over the sofa and sat next to me. I crossed my legs and faced him, wide eyed and red faced.

“Just call them and tell them where you are. They’ll understand.”

“I DON’T KNOW WHERE I AM DO YOU NOT SEE THE PROBLEM?! YOU’RE LUCKY MY PARENTS DON’T CARE WHERE I AM OR YOU WOULD BE BEHIND BARS RIGHT NOW!” I screamed, tears escaping out of my eyes and snaking down my face. Great, turn on the water works. That was sure to fix things.

I wiped my face angrily and closed my eyes, counting to ten. When I opened them Lucas was looking at me with concern and pain.

“What do you mean your parents don’t care, Charlotte?” He said gently, looking me directly in the eye. I looked down and played with the hem of my shorts.

“They don’t. Never have. They’re always travelling...for work. I used to spend about 300 days of the year with a babysitter but as soon as I hit 14 I was on my own. They never loved me! I hate that!” That was the first time I had ever talked to anyone about the situation with my parents, and it felt like such a burden was taken away from me.

I didn’t realise I was crying until I started making those really unattractive noises. I didn’t want to look up in case Lucas was looking at me like I was a freak.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I’m sorry, I’ll just...” I got up to leave, but a strong hand pulled me back down onto the sofa. I landed right next to Lucas who wrapped his arms around me without any hesitation.

That moment, in his arms, with my tears staining his t-shirt and my problems being talked about, just felt so right.

He pulled back slightly and put a finger under my chin, making me look at him through a sheet of tears. “You will never feel alone again, alright?” I bit my lip and a fresh batch of tears streamed out. Ducking me head back against his chest, I nodded slightly.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I could feel his smile against my head.

We sat like that for a long time, until my tears dried up and I got cramp in my leg. For the first time in 17 years I felt...content. Fully content, like things were going to be okay. Something about Lucas made things better, and I was not complaining!

I thought about the last week, everything that had happened and began laughing. Honestly though, my life had turned into some kind of bad reality film. The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t stop laughing. I pulled away from Lucas to see him watching me with amusement. I fell back on the sofa, lifting my head to the sky and doing those deep belly laughs that I was so deprived of.

Soon enough, Lucas was laughing too. They do say laughter is infectious! I was laughing so hard that my stomach hurt and I fell off the sofa, landing on the floor. That made Lucas laugh even harder.

Our laughter eventually died down and I sat back on the sofa, my eyes closed and head resting in Lucas’ lap. Don’t ask me how that happened, because I’m not even sure myself. One minute I was on the floor and the next I was on Lucas.

“Hey Charlotte?”

“Mmm?”

“Don’t worry about your friends. I’ll fix it, okay?”

I smiled, and believed him for one. “’Kay.”

He picked up a piece of my hair, which I had thankfully washed the night before, and started playing with it. I couldn’t help but smile. I was a sucker for people playing with my hair.

Back at school, when we were little, we would take turns doing each others’ hair.

School! Holy cheesecake! I had completely forgotten about that!

I opened my eyes and started at Lucas. “What’s gonna happen Lucas? When does your school start again?”

He smiled at me. “I don’t go to school anymore.”

“Why? Too cool for school?” I giggled at my little joke, which in reality wasn’t very funny.

“I wish! Nah I graduated two years ago.”

I sat up, almost bashing my head against his nose. “What? Really?”

“Yeah, I’m 20.” I know I should have felt weird about him being three years older than me, but for some reason, like every other freaking thing associated with Lucas, it felt right.

I sat back down. “How old are you?”

“17...” I said apprehensively.

He grinned at me and tapped my nose, making me scrunch it up. “How cute.”

I hit his chest with my hand and closed my eyes again. Within minutes I had fallen asleep, again. Wow I was really making a habit of falling asleep on Lucas. Not that I minded or anything.