matters of the heart

38

By the time I get to Charlie's Jeep, my headache seems to be worse due to all the last minute rushing I had to do. "Hey," I try to muster up a smile as I climb into the passenger seat. Charlie stops scrolling through his phone to look at me, his face breaking into a wide ass smile that makes him look so good, it hurts.

God, he is so good looking.

"Hey," He leans in to for peck on the lips before pulling back with a boyish grin, his gleaming blue eyes resting on my face. "I'm so happy to see you, can you tell?" He says before leaning in for another peck. "You look great. I love your hair."

I could have a 100 hangovers and hearing that would make life worth living again. "Thank you." I smile leaning in to wipe lipgloss off his lips feeling genuinely pleased by the compliment. "I feel like sh*t though."

"Rough night?" He asks and I nod as he leans into the back seat. Charlie hands me a big bag of original flavoured Doritos and a bottle of water. "Good thing I've got just the remedy."

"How did you—"

"You called me last night." My eyes widen in shock. I did what now? "It's not the first time you've drunk called me so I kind of put two and two together." I flinch slightly—not because I find his words offensive but because I have no memory of ever drunk calling Charlie. "Figured you'd need something for the hangover until we can get you something better to eat after class so I stopped at anal's—what?" Charlie eyes my gobsmacked expression.

"I've drunk called you before?"

"Yes."

"When?" I exclaim.

"I don't know. Two month ago? It's been a while, I really can't remember."

"Okay. Well, what did I say?"

"Put your seatbelt on." He instructs, pulling his seatbelt back on before starting the car. I know him enough to know that he's trying to avoid my question. "And does it matter?" He pauses, looking at me before turning back to the side mirror and pulling out. "It's been ages."

"Come on Charlie. It's not fair that you have a memory of—"

"You thought it was Rex and you were professing your undying affection for him." Charlie's lips tighten as he speeds past the green light. "I should have hung up the moment I realised the call wasn't for me but I—" Charlie glances at me when I burst into laughter. "—Did I say something funny?" "

"I'm sorry," I sober up but still can't wipe the grin off my face. "That was definitely bad Lorraine." I nod, taking in this new information. For some reason, the embarrassment never comes and I realise that I'm relieved to hear that I spoke about my undying affection for Rex instead of Charlie.

"Bad Lorraine?" He asks.

"It's just code for drunk Lorraine." I inform him. "My friends came up with it the first time I got drunk in freshman year and became a completely different person."

"So bad Lorraine is just you doing the things you're too scared to do sober." Realisation crosses his face. "So that's who I met on the night of the Alpha Sig party after the do or drink game?"

I wince at the remembrance of the night. "Pretty much."

"I'm sure bad Lorraine's lovely but I think I'll stick with good Lorraine." Charlie says.

"And why's that?"

"Good Lorraine's beautiful and sexy as fuck even though she doesn't know how to drive," I laugh. "Or swim," I roll my eyes at that. "She's forgiving and so f*cking kind, it's unreal. She's f*cking unreal. It's a privilege to know her and be around her. Being around her makes me want to be good. To be...better." My smile slowly fades at Charlie's words. He looks at me briefly "it's why I want to be around her because she makes me want to be better."