"I'm sorry- Kylie! Please just listen to me... I'm sorry." Charlie whispered, grabbing Kylie's arm and stopping her from running out of her house. After Logan had kissed Charlie at the cinema, Charlie drove Caleb to his house and brought Kylie back to her place to talk to her. No one waited for Logan's reaction.
"Just let me go, okay?" Kylie snapped, yanking her arm away roughly.
Charlie's eyes fluttered to the floor. Kylie's phone started ringing. She checked the caller ID and snorted.
"Kylie, I knew this was a bad idea. I knew we shouldn't have made that stupid deal." Charlie pleaded.
Kylie shook her head, "He doesn't love me. God, I can't believe I gave him my virginity. I can't believe I thought he loved me. I can't believe he just kissed you."
"Listen to me, Ky." Charlie said, meeting her friend's eyes, "Any guy would be lucky to have you. Logan's a dick, okay? Forget about him. You're so out of his league!"
Kylie shook her head, "None of that matters, Charlie. I love him..."
Charlie shook her head, "That's what you think now. But it's not true. You don't love him. He hurt you."
"Oh, yeah?" Kylie yelled, "Is that what you said about Luke? Huh Charlie? That you didn't really love him? Well maybe you and I should both just take a reality check, Char, and maybe you just aren't fucking good enough to be with him. Maybe, just maybe, it was your fault that he left." As soon as the words slipped out of her mouth, Kylie regretted them. "Char- I didn't mean that-"
Charlie cut her off, disbelieving. She couldn't believe her best friend had just said that to her. "Get out."
"Charlie- I'm sorry, Logan hurt me, I swear to god none of that is tru-"
Through gritted teeth, Charlie calmly said, "I said. Get. Out."
"Please, Charlie. Pl-"
Charlie let go of her friend and turned her back on her, "I don't want to see your face right now, Kylie. And I swear to god if you don't leave in the next two seconds, I will never speak to you again."
Kylie nodded slowly, with regret in her eyes. That, and sadness, about Logan. She quietly walked out the front door, but didn't close it. She stared at Charlie.
Charlie calmly walked up to Kylie, and without saying a word, slammed the door in her face. She loved Kylie, and she knew how upset she was about Logan, but when she said things like that, Charlie just needed some time to forgive her.
She walked up to her room without an interruption from Crystal, thank goodness. A grin spread across her face as she saw a post it note stuck to her window. Caleb wasn't in his room, but she walked over to the window and inspected it.
The words "Everything Okay?" were sprawled across the sheet in pretty cursive.
Below those words, Charlie wrote "Just peachy(: "
She opened her window and reached across to his window, plastering it onto his window.
She called Caleb, and he picked up on the first ring, "Hey babe."
Her heart fluttered. "Hey you."
"Is Kylie alright?" He said loudly.
Charlie could have sworn she saw a woman's voice in the background. "Yeah, she'll get over it. Hey, where are you?"
"Oh" He paused, "I just went out for a bit."
"To where?" Charlie asked nosily.
"Stop being so nosy, Char!" Caleb joked.
"Right... sorry." She sheepishly mumbled, "I think Crystal's home. I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow... babe."
He chuckled, "You're so cute when you try to be sexy."
"You don't need to tell me twice." She said with a smirk on her face.
"Note the sarcasm, Harper!" He growled playfully.
"Yeah, yeah. See you later." She muttered, clicking her phone off before she heard his response and was tempted to keep talking to him.
Crystal barged in, "Were you just on the phone with Caleb?" She said with her mouth agape.
Charlie crookedly smiled, "I have something to tell you."
"Oh my god." Crystal inwardly gasped, "Are you pregnant?"
Charlie chortled, "Please! She said in between laughs, "You and I both know I havent had sex, and wont be having it for a long, long time."
She shrugged, "So what is it, then?"
"Me and Caleb... we're dating now."
Crystal squealed, seemingly more happy than Charlie herself, "Oh my gosh! Seriously?! That's so great, Char. I'm so happy for you. That was the last thing I was expecting you to say. Does this mean you're over Luke? "
"Yes. I'm trying my hardest to rid myself of Luke forever. Caleb is my boyfriend, and he deserves my full, undivided attention."
Crystal grabbed Charlie's hands and squeezed them, "I'm so glad you can be happy again, Char."
"Me too, Crys." Charlie barely whispered.
-----
Crystal and their mom squealed, "I'm so excited, girls. We haven't had family game night in three years." Their mom said with a big grin on her face.
Crystal nodded proudly, "Yeah! I know this was a tradition with me, you, Charlie, and Luke. But since Luke, we haven't played it. And since Charlie's trying to forget about Luke, I thought we could put that to the test."
Charlie groaned. Crystal raised her eyebrows, "Having second thoughts, Char? Or are you suddenly feeling an undying love for Luke."
"As if!" Charlie muttered, "I'm fine with Luke" She wasn't quite yet, but she was trying to be, "It's just family game night that I hate. Mom always takes it way too seriously, and the neighbors end up calling to complain!"
Mom chuckled, "That's because Crystal is the biggest cheater when it comes to these games!"
"Do we even have enough players for your stupid games, mom?" Charlie sighed.
Her mom winked, "Monopoly can be played with two players."
Crystal's eyes had a sudden spark in them, "Or... you could invite Caleb. Then we could do, like, Pictionary!"
Her mom gleefully clapped her hands together, "What an amazing idea. Now go call your boyfriend, honey! This is so exciting."
Charlie dramatically sighed, "Guys. This is so weird. Can we just play Monopoly and get it over with? I don't want it to feel like Caleb's replacing Luke. Because he's not. He's a new chapter in my life, not simply a re-edited one."
"Don't be ridiculous, Charlie." Her mother scowled and Crystal quickly nodded.
Knowing that neither of them would take no for an answer, Charlie pulled out her phone and dialed Caleb's number. She had memorized it. For emergencies... or whatever.
"Charlie?" Caleb asked as he picked up on the second ring. Charlie sighed, "Um... hey, Caleb."
"What's up?" He asked.
"Are you at home?" She beat around the bush. Her sister slapped her arm, "Get to the point, idiot!"
"Yeah?" Caleb said uncertainly. Charlie groaned, "My mom and sister are having this dumb family game night and we're short one player."
"Say no more. I'm in." Caleb said happily. It brought a small smile to Charlie's face and she realized maybe the game night wasn't going to be so bad after all.
"Okay. Well, be here in 5, okay? And just a fair warning, they are very, very competitive."
"I'm game." He said, laughing, and hung up on the phone.
After a few moments of silence while waiting for Caleb to show up, Crystal squealed again, "I'm so excited aren't you two?"
Her mom nodded, and Charlie sighed, laying down on her back with her eyes closed, "Bursting with enthusiasm" She muttered, and her mother and sisters laughs followed shortly afterwards.
A few minutes later, Caleb showed up at the door. Charlie's mom got there before she did and opened the door. Both ladies blushed to see a bouquet of flowers in Caleb's hand.
When did he even have the time to buy that? Charlie thought.
"They're for you, Mrs. Harper." Caleb said with a charming smile.
Both girls hearts melted while Crystal sat impatiently waiting on the floor. "It's nice to finally meet the boy my daughter has been dating." Her mother cooed, taking the flowers and setting them n a vase before heading into the game room.
Caleb grinned, "The pleasure is mine, Mrs. Harper."
Her mother waved that away with her hand, "Oh, please, Mrs. Harper is what they call my mom. You can call me Miranda."
"Alright, Mrs. Ha- Miranda." He corrected.
Everyone softly laughed and Charlie's mom grilled Caleb with questions while Crystal went in search for a whiteboard and eraser for them to draw on. "Mom!" Charlie occasionally groaned, but Caleb wasn't phased. He was prepared for all the questions her mother shot to him.
After ages, she finally came back. "Found it!" Crystal smiled.
"Thank god." Charlie muttered under her breath. Her mom must have heard since she playfully slapped her on the arm. "Okay, let's pick teams."
"I call Caleb!" Charlie eagerly said. She realized how desperate she might have sounded so she said, "Unless anyone else wanted him. But I doubt it." She joked, winking to Caleb. He rolled his eyes but had an amused expression on his face.
"Sure, the two love birds can be a team. We can easily beat them with your wits and my beauty, mom." Crystal said with a wide smirk on her face.
"We'll see about that." Caleb challenged.
After countless rounds of Pictionary, everyone was tired so Charlie went to go grab a couple of bottles.
When she came back in, she winced at the latest drawing on the board, "What the heck is that?" She questioned Caleb, who was in the middle of drawing it.
He glared at her, as if saying it's not that hard, idiot.
"Um... a box? A house? Um... a bird? A tree? What the heck is that supposed to be Caleb!" She yelled, laughing. "Is it a nest? OH- it's a-" The timer cut her off and Crystal and her mom high-fived each other and added a point to their side, since Charlie couldn't correctly guess her partner's drawing in time. "It was a birdhouse, idiot." Caleb mumbled, defeated.
"Remind me to never be partners with you again." Caleb said, sighing, but there was a look of amusement lingering in his eyes.
"Says you! You're the one who can't draw a birdhouse!" She rolled her eyes and smacked him. As he was about to reply the doorbell rang.
"Who could that be?" Crystal asked unsurely.
"I'll get it. Let's hope it's not an axe murderer." Charlie joked, walking over to the door.
"Just scream my name and I'll come save you." Caleb said, kissing her cheek. She blushed a fiery red.
"Oh like that one time I was stuck in the tree? You were totally my night in shining armor!" Charlie said sarcastically over her shoulder. She swung the door open carelessly, and she froze in place as she saw the one person she never wanted to ever see again. Not after she was just starting to forget him. Charlies heart pounded in her chest. Her breath got stuck in her throat, and she suddenly felt naucious as she faced the sight before her.
After a moment of silence, Charlie asked in a choked whisper, "Luke?"