I shut the door behind me as I walk in my house. I just stood there for a second to remember the flavor of Nate's lips. The tingles I felt when he kissed me. My stomach received the kind of butterflies you get when you are on an air plane and you're landing. I couldn't help but smile at that the thought of him kissing me again.
It was such a simple kiss. It didn't even last more than ten seconds. But those ten seconds were enough to make my mind go wild and my stomach launch in every which way.
"Oh, you're home?" Wendy asks me, interrupting my overwhelmed self.
"Yeah," I reply standing up straight. Wendy looks out the window.
"Was that a boy dropping you off?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"What's his name?" She interrogates. I smile, harshly.
"Doesn't matter." I tell her vaguely. I begin to walk to my bedroom.
"I washed your laundry, Charlie." Wendy sighs. I turn back to her and see her facing me. "I noticed you really like wearing the color blue..." She continues. She isn't looking at me. I raise my eyebrows. "And I also noticed the smell of alcohol." Her eyes meet mine. "I didn't tell your father." She reassures me.
"And?" I ask.
"I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. I know your father might not understand exactly what you're going through." I fold my arms and give a slight laugh.
"And you think you do?" I scoff. "How could you possibly know how it feels to be me?" Wendy gives a long sigh. Like she was expecting that reply.
"I am just saying that if you need anything, I am here for you."
"Thanks, but no thanks." I turn back around and begin to stomp away from her. What makes her think I would ever talk to her about anything? I stop when something else pops into my brain.
"Actually, you know what? Maybe there is something you could help me with." I march back over to her. "If there was anything you could fix for me it's that you whored your way through my family, splitting us up. Can you fix that for me, Wendy?"
The look on her face was utter shock. I can't believe I just said that. I was going to be in deep, deep shit. I bit my tongue from saying more and went upstairs.
What happened to the happy Charlie I was just minutes ago?
Later that night my dad came in to talk to me. I thought he was going to yell at me for what I had said to Wendy.
"Lottie?" He says, carefully as he knocks on my door, coming in. I was sitting on my bed, prepared for the lecture of lifetime.
"Yeah, dad?" I spring up in my bed.
"Spring break is coming up."
"I know?" I was not expecting him to say that.
"And Demi has a trip to San Diego for a track meet."
"Okay?"
"Wendy and I have to chaperone the trip. We were wondering if you were okay with taking care of Andrew while we were gone?" He was sitting next to me uncomfortably on my bed. He wasn't mentioning my barking at his wife. His silence about it only made me feel guiltier. "Charlotte?" He asks, regaining my attention.
"Yeah!" I say literally jumping out of my train of thought. "Yeah, I can totally take care of Drew over the break."
"Great," He says. He puts a gentle hand on my leg. "I love you Charlotte."
I smile, pursing my lips together, but don't say anything back. Why wasn't he saying anything about Wendy? My dad got up from the bed and left my bedroom.
Dad, Wendy, and Demi were at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. Drew most be still getting ready for the day. I clutch my stomach and make a convincing cough.
"Dad?" I ask weakly. "Can I stay home today, I don't feel very well." I give a few more coughs. Demi looks thoroughly unconvinced. Before my father could answer, Wendy answers for him.
"Sure honey." She says smiling. She looks at my dad. "If Charlotte's not feeling well, she should stay home." What was she doing? Did she forget I had yelled at her less than twenty-four hours ago? I give a weak smile.
"Right," I say.
"We will be leaving right after school today for San Diego." Demi says to me braggingly, like I actually cared that they were going on vacation. She cleared her breakfast plate. "Sorry you can't go too, Charlie." She said my name like acid was drippng from her mouth. I smile at her.
"It's cool."
I didn't want to go to school. I didn't know what to expect from Nate. I wanted him to kiss me again. I wanted him to kiss me over and over again, until I was going to die from the lack of oxygen. But I didn't know why he did it. Did he just think, "oh this would be a great time to kiss, so I'm just gonna go for it", or did he actually want to kiss ME not just any girl? Me. It was best to just ignore him. Besides it's not healthy to fawn over some guy who has many girls fawning over them already. I need a self-help day.
So that's what I did. I caught up on my TV shows, watched a couple movies, downloaded some iTunes, and relaxed. I made Top Ramen for Drew and I that night considering it was the extent of my cooking abilities. We played twenty-questions at dinner and afterwards we played Sorry. He won. At the end of the night I realized I had almost forgot how much I loved that kid.
"I don't wanna go to sleep, Charlie." He tells me with pleading eyes, when I tell him it's time for bed.
"Oh, I know sweetie, but if you don't you will be so tired in the morning." I am awful at convincing. He yawns. I could tell his body was tired but his little first grade mind was trying to tell him other wise.
"But I'm scared. What if something happens while I'm asleep?" He asks me.
"Tell you what, we will go to our parents room, and watch TV. But you have to promise me that you will try to fall asleep okay?" Man, I am such a softie.
He smiles, happy that I gave in.
He brings in his "Baba" which is a light blue baby blanket that looks more like a rag, that he's had since he was born, and an action figure of Spider-Man that he goes to sleep with.
We get cozied up in the master bed and I turn on the television. I search through the channels until I find something worth watching. I settle on an episode of "Friends". Soon enough Drew was fast asleep in my arms. I was dozing off as well. Before I did I looked at the blonde kid who was quietly snoring in my arms. I think back to how he was so worried about something happening to him. I snuggle in towards him gently, so I'm not to wake him up.
"I will never let anything happen to you." I whisper to him, before I slowly drift off to sleep.
"Charlie! Charlie! Wakeup!" I get nudged and shaken a bit until I finally wake up.
"What? I'm up! I'm up!" I say groggily. I wasn't in my own bed. I was in my dad'a bed with Drew beside me. He was going off about something on the TV. "Wha-what is it?" I grumble.
"Look at the fourth coast thingy." He says excitedly. I look at him, confused.
"Fourth coast?" I shake my head and look at the television. There was a weather man on screen from channel seven. The channel Drew and I had fallen asleep to. Drew must've woken up to the morning news. That's when the realization came to me. Drew meant forecast, not fourth coast. I laugh at his innocent syntax.
The weather man was saying it was suppose to be in the mid seventies today. Unbelievably hot for Washington in the springtime. A heat wave like no other.
"Well how do you wanna enjoy this weather, blondie?" I ask him, ruffling his bed hair.
"Let's go clam digging!" Drew says with full fervor in his eyes. I had never actually gone clam digging before. I had always been kind of grossed out by the idea of them squirting in your face. But for Drew I'd move mountains. I sigh.
"Sure, now go get your tiny butt ready!" I order to him. I give him a playful shove, telling him to get a move on. So he does.
For those who don't know how to dig for clams, here is the basic gist. You have to dig them up as soon as they spray water or else they will get away from you. Another thing, you have to have enough arm strength to hold on to them so they can't leave. And trust me, clams are stronger than you think.
We were failing pretty miserably at trying to catch the clams. We couldn't seem to capture any. I was feeling awful for Drew because I wasn't getting any for him.
"Well this isn't working out very well is it?" I say, running my fingers through my hair. Drew looks down at the sand in disappointment.
"Yeah," Drew gives a long sigh. I sigh back at him.
"I'm sorry Drew it's just--"
"Need some help?" Of course he is here. I hear the familiar voice interrupt me and I turn around. Nate was wearing prefect beach wear. He was cladded in shorts and a black wife beater. I'm about to tell Nate that we don't need help when Drew steps in.
"Yes!" He tells Nate. I look at Drew and can tell that he really wants to get some clams.
"What are you even doing here?" I ask as Nate grabs the pale and shovel from beside me. Nate shrugs.
"It's my sister's birthday. Her favorite cake shop is along this side of the beach. I was picking up her cake."
"Shouldn't you be getting the cake then?" I ask.
"We aren't celebrating until later, I have time." He replies. He had an answer for everything. "What's your name, kid?" He asks, gesturing to Drew. Drew smiles.
"Drew." He replies. Nate smiles back.
"Well I'm Nate." Nate looks at me, continuing to grin. "You're doing it all wrong."
"Really?" I say, sarcastically. He stands up straight holding on to the shovel, coolly.
"You aren't even digging in the right place." Nate starts to walk away from us, so we follow. "Clams aren't going to be in the dry sand." I felt kind of stupid after that comment.
A clam sprayed from beneath me making me wet. It startled me so I screamed making both boys laugh. "And you aren't going to catch any if you scream every time they spray."
I roll my eyes. "That was the first time I screamed." I tell him.
"Uh huh." Nate says unconvinced. He looks to Drew. "You look pretty strong, Drew. You wanna help me out?" Drew giggles a little, flattered that he was considered "strong".
"Yeah!" Drew says and runs to Nate. I stay back breathing the tranquil salty air and observe them. Nate shows Drew how to catch the clams. They catch one. Drew gets extremely excited. "Look Charlie, we got one!"
I clap my hands and smile. "Good job!"
The clam looked nasty. The tongue or whatever you want to call it. The long scaly thing that is attached to the clam shell was especially gross looking.
"You want to give a try?" Nate offers, hands out.
"I'm good." I reply, cocking my head. Nate smirks knowing I am too proud to have him show me how to catch a clam.
"Come on, Charlie! It's fun!" Drew tells me, in a pleading seven year old voice.
"Yeah, come on, freckles." Nate begs, mimicking Drew's tone. I roll my eyes and go over to them.
"Okay," I sigh. "Show me."
"Alright, so you see those doughnut shapes in the sand." Nate says, quietly, like he was giving me a pep talk before a race. He was behind me, flirtatiously.
"Yes," I roll my eyes.
"Those are how you know that they are the big ones." He explains. He reaches around me to hand me the shovel. I can guarantee he brushed my arm on purpose. "As soon as you see a new doughnut hole, dig." I purse my lips together.
"Okay." I say. I failed the first few times I tried to dig. Note to self- don't go into the clam digging profession, you're not good at it. "This isn't very fun." I say, giving up.
"That's because you aren't fast enough." Nate replies bluntly.
"Thank you!" I quip back, wryly. I wanted him to show me how to do it, like guys do in the movies, but I wasn't about to ask.
"Try one more time." He tells me. "This time push the shovel far enough in so you don't have to dig very much." He pantomimes a digging motion.
"Fine," I say, grudgingly. I do as he tells me and I actually caught one. I tried to hide my excitement.
"Nice," Nate says, beside me. I just smile back.
We ended up with a decent amount of clams. Drew and I were going to take them home, even though we didn't know what to do with them, but it was a red tide. A red tide meant that the water was contaminated or something. At least according to Nate. So we let the clams back into the water.
I let Drew play in the sand for a little bit. Nate and I sat on rocks, over-looking the sand where Drew was playing. Nate was sitting relaxed, leaning on his elbows. I was sitting up straight, cross legged, next to him.
"I think he kinda likes you." I say, refering to Drew.
"I'm hard not to like." He replies, easily.
"Right." I roll my eyes at his arrogantness.
"He's a cute kid."
"Yeah, he is." I agree. I loved the smell of the salty air. My hair waved naturally and I had sand in uncomfortable places. I wanted to talk about the other day.
"His eyes are the same color as yours." Nate says looking up at me. I look back at him. He had sand in his hair. The sand contrasted with the hair's dark color. Before I can reply, Nate stands up. "I gotta go," He says. I stand up with him.
"Yeah, we better go too." I say. I put my hands in my sweatshirt. "Tell your sister happy birthday." I smile. Nate makes a cute small laugh.
"I will." He looks like the same way he did right before he kissed me but looks over to Drew and sighs. He looks back at me. He leans in and kisses my cheek, making me tingle. I forget to breathe for a second. "Later, Freckles." He grins. Nate puts his hands in his pockets and pivots. He starts walking towards the street. I holler at Drew and tell him it's time to go.
When we got home I took a nice warm shower wiping all the beach grime off of me and hung my swim suit up to dry. It was the same swim suit I wore the other day to the falls. I purposely chose to wear that swim suit, today. It was my new favorite. I placed my dirty sweatshirt and soffees in the hamper. I filled the tub full of water so Drew could take a bath. Then I made us both Mac n Cheese for dinner. Drew scarfed it down. It had started raining, outside.
"Today was fun!" Drew tells me, while we are eating at the table. I giggle because his mouth was full when he spoke.
"Yeah, it was."
"Nate's funny." He says, focused on his meal. "He said you need to laugh more." Drew takes a drink of his apple juice, using both hands to hold onto his glass. He was dressed in Transformer pajamas. I raise my eyebrows.
"Oh really. He said that?" I was finished with my Mac n Cheese. Drew nods.
"Yeah, he said your laugh is pretty." Drew yawns and rubs his eyes. "I'm sleepy."
"That's because I let you stay up past your bed time." I tell him.
"Can you carry me to be, Charlie?" He asks, his head beginning to fall. I sigh.
"Sure," He wraps his arms around my neck and I carry him to bed. I go back down stairs to clean up.
Afterwards I go to my room. I wasn't sleepy yet and I was supposed to read a book for English over spring break, so I picked up the book and started reading it. I laid on my stomach on top of my bed. I hear a knock on the glass of my balcony door. It makes me jump. I see Nate sopping wet, outside. I suddenly felt self-conscience in my plain sweats and tank top. I go to the door and open it.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I 'whisper yell' to him. Nate looks into my room and ignores me. Rain was drizzling over him, quietly.
"So this is what your room looks like."
"What are you doing?" I ask again. This time Nate acknowledges me.
"I want you to come outside with me." He tells me.
"Um, it's raining." I say, stating the obvious.
"Yeah, I know," Nate replies in an equally cynical tone. "Please?" He adds, in a softer tone.
"Why?"
He takes a minute to answer. "I want you to dance with me." He says proudly. I vaguely remember talking about this when we got high. He grabs my hand, pulling me outside to the rain.
"This is ridiculous," I announce, still cynical. Nate grins.
"I'm setting you up for disappointment." He shrugs.
"That makes it so much better."
"Just go with it."
"I don't even know how to dance." I tell him.
"Good," He replies, "Cause neither can I". This time I do as I'm told and stop arguing. I wrap one arm around his neck as the other stays clasped in Nate's. He places his hand that wasn't holding mine around on my hip.
This was outrageous. There wasn't even any music. There was only the sound of the rain gently trickling from the sky. We started swaying in circles.
I guess, it felt a little nice. Our dancing started getting smoother. We started getting used to each other's movements and synced our actions with one another. We were close. But I didn't mind, I liked it. He spun me, and just like that, just like the rain, I was falling. Falling hard for Nate Tabor.
"See it's not so bad." Nate whispers to me. I don't say anything back. I'm too focused on my feet. We dance for a little longer. I look up at Nate. I wanted him to kiss me again, so much. He looks like he's about to. I get ready for it. When he leans in, I lean back. But suddenly Nate pulls away. He scrunches his eyebrows in confusion. I was confused as well. Nate drops his arms.
"You're drenched." He says, not looking at me. My stomach was sinking slowly. "You should get back inside."
"Uh, right." I reply, embarrassed. Did I do something wrong? He was biting the inside of his cheek. The easy-going Nate was nowhere to be found. Why didn't he kiss me?
"Goodnight, Charlie." Nate was unsettled. I wanted to ask him what I did but I just go inside. Once I am in my bedroom I close my curtains so I don't have to see Nate leave. I didn't want him to leave, but he obviously wanted to. My clothes dripped water. I was freezing so I wrapped myself up in my covers. I heard the rain pound against my window.
I didn't know what was running through Nate's mind. But I knew one thing. I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.
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•Author's Note•
I hope you guys didn't feel like you were waiting forever for this chapter. And I hope it wasn't a disappointment. Please tell me if you enjoyed it or not! I love hearing your guys' thoughts! They are seriously such a confidence booster for me! Thank you so much for everything you guys do for me!
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