Coming to Terms ✔️

9: Jesse or Becky

The following weekend, Charlie and I hung out.

We got some gas station soda cups and went to sit on the beach at night time, just talking about life. He told me about his mom and how she moved across the country when she divorced his dad. That was only a year and a half before he met Georgia's mom. I smiled when he said Patty, Ms. Montgomery, went above and beyond to take over the motherly role in his life.

"Sounds like her," I said honestly. "She's one of the nicest people I've ever met."

There was one time in high school when we snuck out of Georgia's house and borrowed her stepdad's sports car. It was right around the time Charlie's dad proposed and Georgia was in her rebellious phase, displeased by the new man in her life. We got in trouble at a party, got busted for stealing the car, and sent home with a slap on the wrist.

Her mom was pissed. She yelled at both of us as if I was one of her own. Georgia got her car keys taken, a laundry list of chores, and we were grounded from one another for two weeks.

But after she was done yelling, she took me home and on the ride home we had a heart to heart. She explained that she doesn't usually act like that. And that she was just worried about us. It wasn't every day that you got a call from the police that your teenage daughter got caught with a stolen vehicle and was to be escorted home via cop car.

As Charlie and I dipped our feet into the water, we kissed frequently and laughed even more.

I didn't even think of Xavier. Well, until I did.

On the drive home, before he kissed me goodnight. I wondered what Xavier was up to as we pulled onto my street. I shook the thoughts away quickly and easily, looking over at Charlie and grinning at him from the passenger's seat.

We agreed to meet the next day for some coffee and maybe something else afterwards. I went inside feeling jittery, like I was in middle school again after my first date with a girl.

"Date go well?" Dakota said from my bed as I walked into my room.

I jumped half a foot in the air upon seeing her. "Ah! Fuck! Why are you here!"

She giggled for a second, holding her phone up at me. "I got you."

I rolled my eyes and dove for her phone, and we laughed together about the video for ten minutes. She asked for the details about me and Charlie so I filled her in.

My sister was sort of like my backup best friend. I couldn't actually be best friends with her because I already spent way too much time with the girl. But she listened to all my gossip and we liked most of the same things. I loved having a sister so close in age because we got each other, in a sense.

I left out any information about my little side crush. It was bad enough that Georgia knew, so I didn't need Dakota giving me shit for it, too. We stayed up late watching Love is Blind and eating candy.

~:~:~

The next day, I got a call from Xavier.

"I got an idea for a segment. I'm free right now, if you wanna' come over."

Damn you, Xavier de León.

"I can't. Plans, sorry," I said with a huff. "I got a date."

There was no point in saying that part, but I did anyway. He didn't need to know what I was doing. I think a part of me, that evil little corner of my brain, wanted to strike a reaction out of him. Which was stupid.

"Bring him with you. It'll take twenty minutes tops."

I sighed. "It can't wait until tomorrow?"

"I can't tomorrow. I only have, like, two and a half weeks to finish this because we've been slacking and I wanna' get as much done as I possibly can, with time to edit after. Please, Bradford."