The Great Unknown *ON HOLD*

Chapter 3

Charlotte collapsed onto the plush surface of her bed and stared at the light pink wall. Her room was large, but that only made it feel emptier at times like this. She could hear everything going on in the house; downstairs she heard her parents chuckle as if a perfectly normal conversation was continuing.

“I don’t know man; I don’t know anything about this girl.” Antonio said from behind his humongous slice of pizza. Lucas settled down in his chair with faint disappointment.Antonio, sensing this, ran a hand through his short blonde hair and sighed.

“I mean I’ve heard some stuff…” Antonio added. Lucas stared unhappily at the bottom of his soda glass, too lazy to search Rob’s fridge for another drink. He looked up at his friend, who simply shrugged.

“Haven’t we all?” Rob retorted from his comfortable position on the thread-bare couch, “Come on Luke, this is Charlotte Lockwood we are talking about.” Though he was talking to Lucas, Rob eyed Antonio’s pizza slice. He then looked around his family’s living room for any untouched food. He settled on a half-empty bag of chips.

Lucas looked from Antonio to Rob with obvious confusion written on his face. What had they heard that he hadn’t?

“I mean I’ve heard the basics,” Lucas began, "Lawyer dad, model for a mom, insanely rich… she’s pretty too.” Lucas half-smiled as he thought about her but then quickly snapped back to the conversation. “…But what have you heard?”

Rob snickered, “That she’s good in bed.”

Antonio elbowed him hard in the ribs. Rob flinched and threw his hands up defensively, “Just a joke, man, chill.”

Lucas turned to Antonio, the only one who appeared to be giving real answers. Antonio finished chewing his bite before starting.

“Guess you wouldn’t know since you’ve only been living here for a year now, but Charlotte gets a lot of talk. That’s what happens when a bunch of people are stuck in a small town with nothing better to do but gossip.”

“One says she used to have a sister, but then she killed her in cold blood.” Rob pitched.

“Another says she was adopted at the age of two, after her real parents disappeared.” Antonio added

“She has a secret twin sister that no one knows about.”

“That she was murdered four years ago and that her ghost still haunts the manor.”

Rob and Antonio took turns spouting out one rumor after another, until Lucas’ head reeled with information.

“That she caused the fire in the old church on Main Street.”

“That she talks to ghosts since she has no other friends.”

“She was bitten by a radioactive spider.”

“She’s really a Vampire…”

“You guys are just screwing with me now.” Lucas interjected. His two friends broke out into laughter. Lucas faked a smile and swirled a fry in the remaining ketchup. The fry was still partially frozen in the middle from Rob’s faulty microwave.

Lucas could not help but wonder if one of the rumors could actually contain an ounce of truth; after all, he didn’t really know this girl. He did know, however, that this girl, and all the mystery shrouding her, intrigued him on a level that he never felt before.

Who was she? 

“Do you even know where you’re taking her on Friday?” Rob asked, diverting Lucas from his train of thought. Lucas shrugged, but welcomed the change in topics.

“I’m still trying to get over the fact that I’m going on a date with Charlotte Lockwood!” Lucas smiled to himself and popped another fry into his mouth.

“You and me both, dude.” Rob teased, “…But come on, look at you, you’re a stud.”

Antonio rolled his eyes, “Take her to dinner, or to the park or something romantic like that. Girls like that stuff.”

“Take her to the movies.” Rob suggested with a wink, “It’s all about what’ll happen when the lights go out!”

“Please... You really think Luke-y here is going to make a move on the first date?” Antonio asked. Rob opened his mouth to debate but Lucas interrupted before anything was said. He did not want to listen to an argument on his skills with girls.

“You guys I don’t need help deciding on a place… really.” Lucas surveyed his friends’ faces. Rob pouted childishly and looked back down at his chips.

“Whatever bro; it’s your girl, not mine.” He murmured. Antonio shrugged and got back to work on his third pizza slice. The TV flickered as a commercial break ended. Rob and Antonio both diverted their attention back to the screen.

My girl, Lucas thought. He liked the way those two little words sounded together.

But he didn't like the weird feeling he felt in the pit of his stomach that warned him that one of those rumors was, in fact, true. But which one?

********Note from Briana :)

What do you think of the story so far? too slow? too fast? interesting? boring? funny? not funny at all? Any suggestions? ;) I want to hear all your brutal critiquing so i can make my writing better for you!  I know the mystery part of this hasn't really showed up yet, but it will soon, i promise. Thanks for reading this far you guys!