Way Forward (GirlxGirl) [E-book available on MEB]

Charlie with the C

"Shawn?" Charlie clears her throat and waves with her best pretended smile at Blake who is walking to the batting box. She doesn't mind talking to Nicole with a bit of the invisible distance between them but she doesn't want to talk to Nicole about the one who has replaced her.

"I told you about him." Nicole doesn't want to retell the whole thing. Although Charlie tries her very best to act like she doesn't know whom she is talking about, she knows Charlie knows exactly whom she is talking about.

"You did?"

"Charlie..."

"Right. I guess you did." Charlie puts her fake smile on briefly and still doesn't turn to face Nicole. Nicole is too nice of a person to just give someone a cold shoulder just to seek a peace of mind; however, Charlie is not that nice of a person. She will do whatever it takes to make sure she survives this; even though she has to kill someone she loves so dearly. "I probably forgot."

"He is probably coming to the school picnic with me next week." Nicole explains. What happened between them hurt her and she could imagine that it hurt Charlie just as much. She tries to put bandages all over the wound but the more she tries the more Charlie resists. Charlie doesn't want any bandages. She wants to look at the wound as long as it takes for them to magically fade away.

"That's ball." Charlie whispers.

"Excuse me? Balls?" Nicole questions what she has heard and gets a little offended. Charlie's resistance is getting out of hand. She goes on another rampage and Nicole is the main target.

Charlie springs up on her feet and makes sure what she has said is louder and catching the attention of the man in black by the home plate. "That's not strike. That's ball. That's a walk."

Charlie doesn't waste any more time to explain what she has said. She flees from the invisible confinement where Nicole is an acting guard and enters the unnecessary battlefield. Nicole watches Charlie take her steady steps down the bleacher to the game that is paused by her objection. Since they talked and concluded that Nicole would no longer be introduced as Charlie's girlfriend, everything; even a sigh from an ant, has been holding its priority. Charlie would jump into something else as soon as she gets a chance; just to get away from Nicole.

"Mr. Umpire." Charlie takes the steps past her mom with politeness leaking through her grips. "Sir, are you blind?"

"Charlotte." Patricia sighs. She has taken notice for a little while now that her daughter is in such a weird phrase of her life. She hasn't exactly become a rebellious-teen adult but whatever she has become, it is not entirely new. This breakup has taken such a huge toll on Charlie; bigger than the one she had had with Mia. As a mom, she is beyond worried and she wants to have her hand in putting colors in Charlie's world again. But she knows she can't do that for her. She knows it has to be on Charlie's terms or else it will get far worse.

"The ball could have hit the backstop if the catcher didn't reach and catch it." Charlie is stopped by the chest-high fence as she tries to explain what she saw to the home plate umpire who is surrounded by other umpires, the coach and a few players. "That's a walk."

"Charlotte." Billy reaches her and gently taps her arm to calm her down. He didn't know it but after a while and a few introductions, he recognizes the storm. She is bothered by something or by someone to be exact and she is taking it out on something else entirely. He knows that everyone and everything will be knocked over if he just stands by and watch. "I believe they are sorting things out."