Love... or something like it

Part 9

Charles had dropped her off Friday night and Nell was home absolutely alone for the first time in her life. Her mom and her brothers were away until Sunday night and her sister was away at school. Nell walked around the house and realized being alone wasn't so great. She didn't want to have friends over, she definitely wasn't in the mood for a party and there was nothing she wanted to do but couldn't when people were home. The house just seemed dark and empty. 

Nell sat on her bed not feeling tired and scrolled through her phone, Messaged some old friends and then tossed it aside. She pulled up a movie on her laptop and lay down on her bed. She thought of how Charles had been so thoughtful and sweet and how he kept joking about kissing her. She wasn't used to having a flirtatious friend and it was throwing her off a little bit. 

He joked about kissing her in the future and it made her feel warm and alive, she was attracted to him but she just lost her boyfriend and she wasn't ready to open herself up to even the possibility of getting hurt again so quickly. Bash had stomped on her heart and while she was starting to recover, that just meant she wasn't constantly on the verge of tears. She still loved him and the power of that still hurt when she thought about it. 

Her phone dinged and she expected it to be one of her friends that she had messaged to catch up with. It was Charles.

C: Hey Sunshine, Do you know what you want to do tomorrow? I had a plan but I wanted your input.

N: I have karate at 9, but I'm free after that. 

C: Anything you WANT to do?

N: Not really. I had fun today when we could just relax, something fun, but with out the crew. 

C: K

C: What are you up to RN?

N: Texting you dummy. LOL and trying to watch a movie but I can't concentrate.

C: wanna go for a drive?

N: Yes, yes I do.

C: K gimme 5.

Nell hopped out of bed and closed her laptop. She pulled on a pair of track pants and pulled a sweatshirt over her head. She thought of how she liked the smell of Charles' sweatshirt when she had put it on. it was warm and smelled like him. the thought of it stopped her heart. BASH! She had left his hoodie in Charles' truck! Some how that felt like cheating on him more than kissing Charles on a dare ever did. She needed to get it back. 

Charles pulled up and Nell darted across the lawn. 

"Hey Sunshine!" He smiled.

"Your parent's didn't mind you leaving at midnight?" Nell asked buckling up and looking in the back seat where the hoodie was last seen, but it wasn't there. 

"I don't think they even notice me much anymore." He shrugged. "I took your shirt in with my stuff and washed it, if that is what you are looking for. I will bring it back next week." 

"Aww thanks, but that's pretty sad, your parents don't notice you." Nell felt bad for him.

"No not like that really. They just trust me and treat me more like my older brothers. They don't really ask a lot of questions as my grades are good and I'm not getting in trouble. we still talk and like have dinner together and stuff." He said. 

"And here I spent the entire summer away basically unsupervised and mom mom still makes me text her before I go to sleep." Nell laughed. 

"How was that? being away all summer?" He asked as he drove.