To Love A Stranger // Young Love Book 2

PROLOGUE

Please note that only the Prologue is in third person, NOT the rest of the book.

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"Charlie, what's up with this?"

It was the eightieth time that he had heard her say his name yet it still seemed just as bittersweet as the first. He twisted around, narrowing his eyes at the purple dress she was examining with her meticulous blue-eyed stare. Charlie felt a pang of nostalgia hit him hard as he briefly pictured himself buying it almost a year ago. The memory of her face that day, it was never lost on him. The way she looked--the way she became awestruck--it was absolutely breathtaking. He could still see it, her features lighting up upon seeing the dress. And her eyes. She'd casted a spell on him with those eyes, vexing him in his every waking hour without even trying.

Looking back at her, Charlie briefly wondered if she'll ever look at him that way. He wondered if she'll ever look at him the way she looked at that little purple dress. Love at first sight, he thought to himself. He wished, longed for it even, but it couldn't have been that. She had seen him far too many times for it to be simply that.

And then, as if on cue, the memory materialised in his head.

"Look, Charlie, it's so pretty," Elouise had said to him, and then she yanked him by the shirt. He was so unsure of what to make of her actions; so much so that he only managed to shake his head at her in poorly contained amusement.

Charlie felt guilty as the memory continued to play in his mind like a movie. He wasn't proud of what happened next. He was an idiot, that much he knew. His means of trying to impress the girl he'd been secretly harbouring feelings for was completely dysfunctional. It was so dysfunctional that instead of saying something nice, Charlie insulted her.

He looked at her dead in the eye. He wasn't sure of what to say to her. He wanted to tell her he'd buy it for her. He wanted to tell her she'd look good in any dress. However, his brain could only manage to conjure words fit for an asshole. And so, out of all the things he could've told her, he said, "You don't look good in purple."

He could still remember the disbelief in her saddened, wide eyes, and her slightly open mouth from the shock of it all. Her emotions that she wore so carelessly on her sleeve took over her entire face and it nearly cost him his undoing. Nothing could be as ever-present as the hurt in her eyes that day. He had given her the ultimate blow to the self-esteem and he wanted nothing more than to bury himself in his own grave the instant the words flew from his lips. He had felt like a jackass for the rest of that day--because he was a jackass. And a heartless jerk. A total douche bag, really.

Quickly shaking the memory out of his head, Charlie brought his attention back to the girl with wildly untamed hair; undefined, dark brown curls that ended at her waist, just the way they always had. She was clearing her throat, her lips slightly pursed in that cute, impatient manner that only she could do. Now, he was all for talking to her--hell, he'd clear his entire day if she wanted to sit down and talk to him--but, out of the blue, Charlie began to feel scared.

He feared the expressions that might flash on his face as he answered her burning questions about the dress. He didn't want her to see the burdening memory attached to it, the one she wouldn't even know she was once a part of. So, with no warning at all, Charlie twisted around and made sure that she could only see his back. As he did so, his gaze immediately gravitated towards his favourite photograph, stuck to the wall, no bigger than an A6 piece of paper. It was of him and Elouise; he'd been secretly cherishing it for quite some time now. They were asleep on her bed at the time the picture was taken and Penny, her twin that looked nothing like her, had immortalised the moment without their knowledge. She had sent it to both Elouise and him, so he figured he'd hold onto it. Truth was, he couldn't help but keep it; it was one more thing that connected him to Elouise. And that was all he wanted--to be a part of her life. Again.