When I got back they were talking amongst themselves. As though they were sharing secrets they didn't want anyone else to hear. Anyone would have thought they had known each other forever. Even I did as he let out a laugh at what she said. Hopefully she wasn't saying anything to embarrass me. Maybe she knew I liked him. I did speak about him often, without mention of his name.
But as she looked at me and winked I knew she did.
Clearing my throat to get his attention he stood up from his seat and I walked forward. "He stopped by to drop off your homework, I'll put it in your room."
She was sly and devious in her tone. But Charlie didn't seem to notice as he kept staring at me. He could be oblivious to everything else in the room but me. It was off putting so I took a seat to you do something. To keep my eyes away from his. "Is that all you came by to do?"
I was never forward so I kept it subtle. Enough that if he wanted he could act like he didn't know what I was insinuating. And maybe he didn't as he nodded in response. "Are you sure you don't want to stay we could–"
"I should be going," he said as he looked nervously around the room. I stepped to the side and smiled at his nervousness. He saw the exit and smiled in goodbye as I led him to the door.
Sometimes I wondered why I didn't think he liked me. This was proof otherwise.
~~~
The moment I had finally gone back to school k was relieved beyond words. I had made my way to the girls as Diana spotted me and waved in greeting. I saw as they all turned back with smiled on their faces. I had a skip in my step as I approached them and hugged them. It might not have been long but it felt like eternity.
Hanging my arm over Ruby I put my head on her shoulder as they continued discussing the topic they were talking about.
It wasn't like I hadn't noticed. All their eyes were on me, rather behind me, as they stopped talking. It had been a few minutes on non stop talking and then suddenly no one was saying a word. Of course I knew what it was they were looking at.
From the looks on their faces I knew Charlie was behind me. I could hear him clear his throat and I turned to look at him. I had dropped my arm from Ruby and straightened my posture.
Staring back at him I could see his eyes shift to my friends and this time they took the hint and left. I smiled as they rushed to leave stumbling on top of the other. My smile matched his as it widened. "Are you finally going to tell me what you've been wanting to say?"
Through all my subtle hints he never got what I meant, what I wanted, so I tried a different approach. His eyes widened at my words and I couldn't contain the laughter building up inside. I could tell he was surprised but I didn't know what he's been trying to say. Maybe he thought I did.
With a sigh he hung his head low and brought his eyes to me. "I think we both know how we feel about each other."
He paused after his sentence and I nodded which was enough to assure him I understood. I felt a little embarrassed feeling my face heat up but it wasn't news. I think everyone knew, whether they wanted to or not. "What I wanted to ask was if I could court you?"
It brought a smile to my lips in the face of his nerves. He bit his bottom lip waiting for an answer and I shook my head yes. I had been waiting for years and now it had finally happened. It was beyond what I had expected but exciting nevertheless. "You can come to my house after school."
"Can I walk you?" He asked as i was about to leave to my seat. I opened my mouth to speak and agreed. With a smile on both our faces we ran to our desks, at least I did, and the girls rushed over. I could hear it in their footsteps they were impatient to hear what we had talked about.
Courtship (Charlie Sloane)
Start from the beginning
