Charlotte's Scars

Chapter 22 - Charlotte

"Charlie," I corrected him and pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose.

When he raised his eyebrow, my heart heaved at the familiarity of it. Christian had a tendency to do that.

"I much prefer Charlotte," he interrupted my thoughts. "At least you're named after a famous, role model figure."

"Who?" I inquired, "Charlotte Bronte?"

"I was going to say the badass spider from Charlotte's web, but sure, the less adequate Bronte sister works too."

"Less adequate?" I asked offended. "Jane Erye is a classic, and the romance between Jane and Edward is endearing, and gives people hope that love can conquer all in the end."

He rolled his eyes at me and said unblinkingly, "But Emily's portrayal of the characters in Wuthering Heights is more realistic. We all have a little evil inside of us, and in the real world, there is no such thing as happy endings."

After spending three days reading fairy tale stories, I wanted to disagree with him, but then I thought about my phone call to Christian. I loved him, but obviously, that wasn't enough. I'd been gone for less than a week, and already Christian moved on to a girl who cared no more for him than she did anyone else in the world.

I looked up at the guy sitting on the counter across from me and said bleakly, "Maybe you're right."

He cocked his head, scrutinizing me peculiarly before changing the subject. "Anyways, Charlotte," there was a roguish glint in his dark green eyes when he said my full name. "I'm Rayden."

"Oh!" I said bug eyed.

He smiled knowingly. "You seem surprised."

"You're just not what I expected," I admitted impishly. "Some of the other girls talk about you, and I kind of got the opinion that you were more ...uh, self-reserved."

Rayden chuckled hoarsely. "Ah yes, I do have a bad boy reputation to uphold," he said while rubbing the scar that started at the corner of his right eye and ended about an inch above his jawline. "So please refrain from telling the others what a chivalrous young gentleman I can be."

I couldn't help but smile, and it felt so good after days of nothing but sulking. "I don't think you have to worry about that, I'm not exactly making any friends around here," I murmured and pulled off his leather jacket to pass it over to him, I was getting a little warm wearing a hoody and a jacket. "Thanks for this by the way."

"No problem." He hopped off the counter and took his jacket back. A few seconds past before he spoke again, his voice was grave, "Try not to let the other kids here intimidate you too much. Mack is a bit of a bully, and everyone seems to follow her around because of the influence she has over Mrs. O'Donnell." He shrugged, "That's why I try to stick to myself – I'd rather not be a part of that."

With downcast eyes, I mumbled, "I just don't know what I did to make her-" I stopped mid-sentence and looked up. "What's that smell?"

"Ah, crap!" Rayden turned toward the smoking toaster. "I hope you like burnt toast," he said dryly.

I didn't, but I ate it anyway.

After I was done, Rayden asked me if I wanted to go outside with him to get some fresh air. I agreed, not realizing by fresh air he meant inhaling four hundred different types of toxins. Sitting on the porch steps, I warily watched him puffing on a cigarette as he leaned up against the handrail.

He glanced at me with a crooked grin. "Not of fan of these?"

I tried to hold my tongue, but I started spewing out words before I could stop myself. "Did you know that cigarette smoke has over four thousand chemicals in it, and at least forty-three are cancer-causing compounds? Thirty percent of all cancer-causing deaths are from cigarette smoke alone, not to mention the fact that you are also putting other people's lives at risk from your second hand smoke. If you think about it you are inhaling things like carbon monoxide, which is typically found in car exhaust. Then there is-"

His laughter cut me off. "You're just full of facts aren't you," he said while taking another puff of his cigarette, unaffected by my opinion.

My face reddened, I was surprised he wasn't walking away like most people do. "Yah ... uh, I read a lot."

"Apparently," he said half amused. Flicking his cigarette on the ground, Rayden put it out with his large, black boot before looking up at me. "I'm heading into town, did you want to come?"

"To Bridgewalk?" I asked, hopeful.

He raised his eye brow, and said, "Bridgewalk is a least an hour drive from here – if you're going really fast. No, I was thinking Linshore."

"Oh," I said with a sigh. Although, maybe getting out of the house wasn't such a bad idea. "Do you have a car?"

"Kinda..." he said with a wolfish grin and looked across the yard at a black motorcycle.

I balked. I opened my mouth about to tell him that over four thousand people died each year from motorcycle accidents in the United States alone, but quickly cleared my throat and said, "I-I think I'll pass."

Rayden smiled knowingly. "I guess you're not a fan of those either?"

I quickly shook my head, tightly pressing my lips together.

He chuckled while putting his leather jacket on. "To each their own, I suppose. You like to read about adventures – I like to live them." He winked at me while walking toward his motorbike. "See you around, Charlotte."

~~

N/A So, now you all must tell me what do you think of our newest Character Rayden? Speaking of, I want to thank my older sis KayeSnifeld for helping me think up the name Rayden and by that, I mean I asked her what was a badass boy name, and she said Rayden. Lol! <3