Set In Stone

Chapter 1 ( 1228 w.)

    A blushing Lily is coldly trying to pay no attention to Charlie and is failing miserably at doing so. Charlie, a high school senior, had finally gained the courage to attempt to speak to Lily. Lily graduated high school two years ago and is now in college. He spotted Lily inside of a small cafe reading a book on a tablet. He has pined over Lily since he saw her back when he was in tenth grade, but never got the guts to speak to her.

 Anxiously, Charlie had stuttered out a simple "Hello..." and waited in silence for a response from the stunning young woman before him. Though, what he received was not what he was expecting.

 "Go away, Charlie." Lily quietly scolded, not once did she let her eyes stray from the book before her. He was in utter shock, for he did not realize Lily even knew of his existence let alone his name. Startled, he faintly asked how she knew who he was.

 "Rumors travel quickly, it's not like I've forgotten your affection for me, " she rudely stated in a louder tone than previous. Not comprehending why it was such an appalling thing for Lily, so he took a deep breath and sat himself down in front of her.

 "Why do you want me to go away? Because I've had a quite insignificant crush on you?" he furiously questioned her. This got her to finally put the tablet down. Looking at him now, she inhaled sharply. She instantly noticed a couple of things about Charlie. Back in high school, he always had black straight hair, always. Everyone always thought it was his natural color because even his eyebrows were always black, but now, it was a bright scarlet red, and insanely curly. His face has evened out some, he had lost much of his baby fat. Quietly chuckling to herself, she thought he was still a pretty scrawny kid. The word kid echoed in her mind. She knew he was 16, even though he is a senior now because of the grades he has skipped. All while she was thinking away, she was giving him a stare that could burn through metal. Needless to say, Charlie was ready to vanish into thin air before he ends up wetting himself.

 "Lily? Are you okay?" he cautiously tempted to bring her out of her thoughts. 

"Huh? Oh. Look, you're 16, right?" She practically demanded.

 "Well, yes I am, but, I turn 17 in three months. I don't see what that has to do with anything," he replied, slightly annoyed at the ridiculous question.

 "Exactly! Charlie, you are 16 years old. I'm 20. 21 soon enough. I can't have any child as a friend, especially since school is starting again in a week," lily exclaimed quite loudly, causing many heads to turn. They got multiple disgusted and annoyed looks from the people inside the cafe. Defeated, he sat back in the chair and sighed heavily.

 "Can I at least get your number?" he barely whispered to her, his voice cracking a few times in the process.

 "Charlie... you seem like a good kid you really do, but we really shouldn't be friends. It just isn't right..." Lily hated this. He really is a good kid, least he was as far as she can remember, but, he's 16 years old and she just can't ignore that.

 "Fine. Nice seeing you again," and with that, he stood up, and without another glance, he walked out of the small cafe and didn't look back.     

 ☯☯☯☯ ☯ ☯

Charlie couldn't believe how rude she was. All he truly wanted was to be polite and possibly gain a friend. Sure, he had a major crush on her a couple years ago but, that doesn't mean they can't be friends now right?

 "Maybe college made her go crazy..." he thought to himself. He was on his way home now as the cafe was only a couple blocks away from where he and his family lived. He lived with his father's and his little sister, Annmarie, or as he calls her, Annie. Annie was just 4 years old and was quickly becoming fascinated by plants just as much as he was. So, earlier this morning he had went out and bought his little Annie a small little Bonsai tree of her own. Charlie preferred cacti, but that didn't seem suitable for a 4-year-old. 

He was excited because Annie was out on a play date, and should be home shortly. Reaching his tiny but cozy house, he unlocked the door, yelled a quick "I'm home!" to his parents, and went down the narrow hallway to his bedroom. He quickly found the small tree, and the little spray bottle of "Magic Fairy Water" and rushed to his little sister's room. He delicately placed it on her table for her to find once arriving home.

 Annie's room was covered in everything Fairy related. The walls were a beautiful light pink, and she had paintings of fairies on every wall. Luckily, one of their fathers was a brilliant artist and didn't mind a bit of extra work. The two fathers being James and Mike. James had a wife prior to meeting Mike, but the mother passed a few hours after having Annie. Annie was Charlies gift from god he believed. He adored his mother, but she left him with Annie and he promised he would take good care of her. James soon found Mike, and it was an instant love even fairy tales couldn't beat. 

Charlie really didn't mind Mike, but it was quite clear it took a toll on him. He was only 12 at the time.  He changed, though. Every minute he was awake or wasn't taking care of a basic human need he was in his room or in school studying. Thus leading to him skipping grades. But that wasn't all that he changed. He completely dyed his hair, dressed in a way that would hopefully intimidate others and he isolated himself from all his friends. He was a pretty popular kid but after his mother's death, he put up walls millions of miles high and a couple hundred feet thick. Now, though, he was back to his natural hair color, still pretty lonely, and owned a lot of tiny plants. His appearance though based on clothing is just about the same, though. Black pants, band shirts, sweaters, leather jackets, the boots, and the same grey beanie from Hot Topic in an attempt to tame his curls. 

Annie was home now, and he tried so hard to not giggle to himself as he waited for the small girl to find the present in her room. She ranted on and on about how the kids mother let them get ice cream and how they played with a lot of Lego's and how they even played with a puppy. And then he heard her little gasp of excitement and the pitter patter of her little feet running to find him. As soon as Annie found him she gave him a huge hug and said "Thank you Thank you Thank you!" to him. Soon enough she was running back to her room to care for her new little tree. He was very happy now and had completely forgotten about Lily by the time he went to bed.