Anderson Means A

Chapter 1 - The Stranger

The cool breeze of the night found its way under Charlottes partydress and made her squeeze her arms closer to her body. It was cold outside, although it was already summer. She had been partying with her friends for four hours straight, but the tiredness had eventually caught up with her. Normally, she would have stayed to look after her best friend, Evelyn, who had way to much to drink, but she really needed a break from the heat inside.

Charlotte was sitting on the large stairs of the big party-hall, where Evelyn celebrated her 18th birthday with two-hundred-forty of her closest friends and some strangers who slipped through the security at the entrance. Charlotte watched the drunk people. On a wooden bench across street, a girl and boy were practically eating each other's face without paying attention to anything else. A group of younger girls giggled when they passed them. Charlotte wondered why all the girls looked the same, with the same skinny jeans, the same sneakers and the same type of top. Then she figured she probably also looked the same as all of her friends.

Suddenly, her gaze was captured by someone who did not look like the typical partier. A guy was standing in the shadows across the street, watching every car that passed by as if he wanted to know exactly who was inside. It would have been creepy, if he wasn't so handsome. He must have been in his early twenties, with a mature, serious expression and dark hair, sharpening the strong lines of his face even more. He looked quite tall, with broad shoulders covered in a classic black coat. It was not something boys of her age would wear. The boy looked at his watch and when he lifted his head, he looked right into Charlotte's staring eyes.

For some reason, she did not look away. She was probably too drunk to react. He stared at her with suspicion and after ten seconds, Charlotte yelled: "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"What?", he asked calmly and although he didn't yell, Charlotte could hear him perfectly. The boy started walking towards her.

"Why were you staring at me? Is there something on my face?", she asked, sarcastically. She knew there was nothing on her face, she'd checked it in the bathroom-mirror only ten minutes earlier.

"Because you were staring at me", he answered, while he stopped at the beginning of the steps. Now that he was closer, Charlotte could see a small smile on his lips. His eyes had the color of the sea and seemed to stare right through her. But maybe that was just the bottle of wine talking.

"I did not", she laughed. She actually couldn't remember who looked first. Maybe it was her?

"You look like you're done partying", he smiled. "Maybe you should go home before you start staring at the wrong people, like some creepy stalker."

"And you aren't a creepy stalker?", Charlotte teased. She leaned back on her elbows and smiled, not knowing why. "It's my best friend's birthday party, I promised to stay until the end."

"And where is your best friend?"

"Inside." Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Do you want to join our party? I could get you in?"

"No, thank you. I was waiting for someone, but I don't think he'll come."

"If he's not coming, you can come party with us", Charlotte tried again. She knew she shouldn't flirt with some stranger while she had a boyfriend, but she couldn't help herself. Alcohol had the strangest effect on her. Liam would probably not even care, he was probably also flirting with some girl inside. And flirting wasn't cheating, right?

The boy smiled and tilted his head at one side while staring at her for a moment. "I'll go home and you go party with your friends, inside."

At that moment, the doors behind them flew open and Evelyn stumbled out of the party hall. Some boy Charlotte had never seen was holding her by her waist.

"Charlotte!", Evelyn screamed, as if she hadn't seen her friend in ages. "I'm done partying, I'm going with... " Evelyn looked at the boy holding her waist.

"Tommy", the boy said.

"Tommy, of course!", Evelyn giggled. "I'm going to have sex with Tommy now."

Charlotte frowned and stood up, trying to hold her balance. "You can't just go home with some random guy in the middle of your own party!"

"It's my party, I can do whatever I want", Evelyn defended: "Besides, they can drink and dance and hump each other without me." Charlotte opened her mouth, ready to list all the reasons it was a bad idea to go home with some stranger, but Evelyn shushed her: "Don't start, C. He's not taking advantage of me. It's my decision."

It was quite clear the Evelyn wasn't going to listen to her. "Do you have your cellphone with you?", Charlotte asked, hoping Evelyn was at least smart enough to contact her in case of an emergency.

"Duh", Evelyn answered. She climbed of the stairs while the boy – Tommy – held her hand. They disappeared into the darkness of the night and Charlotte could hear a car starting.

The boy in front of Charlotte gave her a mocking look and Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"If that was the birthday girl, we can both go home now", he said, again with a little smile on his lips. Was he mocking her?

Charlotte stared at him for a moment, thinking. "I think I want coffee", she said, ignoring his proposal. "Yes", she added: "I definitely want coffee."

The boy looked as if he was considering different options. "You can go home and drink coffee there", he said, eventually.

"Why do you want me to go home so badly? You don't even know me?", she snapped. Her voice sounded more agitated than she wanted it to be. But she was right: this guy did not know her, so why was he so protective? Did he have some hatred against girls being drunk and alone? When she thought about it, he did look at Evelyn with a disapproving expression on his face too. "I can't go home drunk. My parents disapprove of such behavior. I need to sober up if I want to go home."

"Where were you going to stay otherwise?", he asked. It seemed like he was genuinely interested.

"At the birthday girl's house", Charlotte answered and she couldn't help but laugh. How could she ever think that was a good idea: Evelyn always ended up somewhere else than her own bed. She could ask Liam to stay at his place, but she didn't want to. They had only been dating for two months, and staying at his place would be like agreeing to have sex.

"I know a place", the boy said. There was hesitation in his voice: "You can get coffee there."

"You want me to go to a place. With you? Alone?", she asked suspiciously.

"I've just tried to make you go home like a dozen times. Would a serial killer do that?" He raised an eyebrow. "Besides, I could just pick you up right here and throw you in the trunk of my car. No one would care."

Charlotte looked around. The couple on the bench across the street was still busy exchanging saliva, disconnected from the rest of the world. "Good point", she admitted and she laughed, although it sounded more like a giggle. "Let's go."