The socks and sandals and cargo pants were gone.
They were replaced by flip flops and a backwards baseball cap and a well-worn pair khaki shorts. Based on the way his t-shirt stretched over his shoulders and how tall he'd gotten, he probably wouldn't look anything close to awkward swinging a tennis racquet now. The hair sticking out from underneath his hat wasn't blond but it wasn't fully brown either, and there was a softness to his jawline that didn't match the rest of his face, like he still hadn't grown into it yet...
But, when Griffin looked hard enough, she saw it: a tiny shred of resemblance between Fourteen-Year-Old-Charlie and Present-Day-Charlie. It wasn't much, but it was definitely there. And it freaked her out.
Charlie held out his hand. "Griffin, right? Good to meet you."
Whoa—wait.
Was he serious?
"Yeah," Griffin said, scrunching her eyebrows at him. She made sure to squeeze his hand as hard as he squeezed hers. "We've met."
He gave her a crooked smile and readjusted his hat with is free hand. A single dimple pressed into his cheek. "Ah, yeah. My bad."
"Chuck, remember Matty and Lauren?" Evan asked.
Matty and Lauren had materialized on either side of Griffin with matching grins. Matty pressed his finger into the small of Griffin's back, like he was trying to get her to pay attention to something. Griffin reached back and smacked his hand.
"Yeah, great to see y'all again," Charlie said, pulling his hand away and dimpling at her two best friends.
Charlie clapped Matty on the shoulder when they shook hands (apparently a go-to move), and he full-on hugged Lauren when she breathlessly re-introduced herself.
Griffin sat down at the picnic table. So Matty and Lauren get a 'great to see y'all again'? Cool.
Lauren and the boys followed once everyone finished bro-hugging it out. Griffin made accidental eye-contact with Charlie as he perched himself at the end of the opposite bench. She looked down before he could see how awkward she felt about it.
A waitress stopped by the table to take drink orders.
Meanwhile, Lauren was still in megawatt status. "Charlie, it's been so long since the last time we saw you! Did you guys just get in from Raleigh?"
Charlie pointed a thumb at his cousin. "Evan did. I came up from Mount Pleasant this afternoon."
"Where's that again?" she asked.
"South Carolina. Near Charleston."
There was enough interest in Charlie's tone to sound polite, but not enough to pass as sincere. Griffin wanted to ask him if they were boring him already. Lauren wasn't the type who needed someone to step in and defend her, but Griffin still wanted to.
"So, you're going to be a freshman this year, too?" Lauren tried again.
"Yep," Charlie said. "Y'all too, right?"
Did his memory just suck, or was he purposely playing dumb?
"We'll all be freshman, yeah. Except Matty. He's a sophomore," Lauren said. "Where are you going to school next year?"
Evan chimed in, "Chuck and I are gonna be roommates at College of Charleston." He elbowed his cousin. "Good thing this kid is too smart for his own good and got into the honors program, or else I'd be living with a complete rando."
Lauren beamed. "Oh, how great! Are y'all excited?"
Again, the question was aimed at Charlie, but Evan answered by launching into a story about how College of Charleston's Housing Office messed up their room assignment at first.
Charlie didn't offer anything. He seemed more interested in kicking back and making sure he was there to catch Griffin every time she looked over to see if he was still pretending to humor Lauren. It was like he knew he was pissing her off and wanted to emphasize it with as much awkward eye-contact as possible.
The conversation shifted to where everyone else was planning to go to college, and Lauren wasted no time with talking about UCLA. Matty said he was a sophomore in NC State's PGM program. Griffin was gearing up to mumble something about Washington and Lee, but then Charlie asked Matty what a PGM Program was.
"Professional Golf Management Program," Matty told him. "It's basically a business major with a shit ton of golf involved. And a ton of internships. They basically count more toward our degree than our actual grades do."
Charlie pushed out his bottom lip, impressed. "That sounds cool, man. Wish there was something like that at Charleston."
"Yeah, that's how my major's going to be, too," Lauren said, then started listing off all her internship responsibilities with the club's upcoming events.
Halfway through the explanation, Charlie interrupted to ask where the bathroom was. They pointed him back inside and to the left, and the second he was out of earshot, Lauren turned and grinned at Evan.
"Uh—okay, whoa."
"Knew this was coming," Evan sighed. "OK, come on, let's have it."
Lauren squealed. "What the hell is in the water down in Mount Pleasant? He's gotten so hot since we were fourteen."
"What do you want me to say to that, Lauren?" Evan asked. His followup laugh fell a little flat. "You sound like every girl who's seen Charlie since the tenth grade."
"It's true, though!"
"Cool?"
Lauren started laughing too. "Aw, come on, Ev. Don't be all jeal—"
"I'm not jealous," Evan snapped.
Lauren sat back for a second, hurt and confusion on her face.
Matty threw Griffin a subtle eyebrow raise, then looked back to Evan. "Ev, buddy. She was kidding."
Lauren held up her hands. "Yeah. You've known me how long? You know I'm a ball-buster."
Griffin had known Lauren for almost a decade, which made her well-versed in Lauren's passive aggressive tells. She was the most non-confrontational confrontational person Griffin had ever met, but she was still someone you wanted in your corner. No Matter what. Evan and Matty knew that, too. Whatever was going through Evan's head a second ago seemed to be gone now.
He broke out into a wide-open grin. "Nah, I know. Sorry, Lauren. I was kidding, too."
He still looked a little embarrassed, though, and like he wasn't sure how to recover the conversation.
"So, what's up with the Charleston lacrosse team?" Griffin asked him. "You excited?"
Evan's entire demeanor changed.
"Yeah! Well, it's just club lacrosse for now," he said. "I figured I'd start there and then hopefully work my way to varsity after a year or two. When does your tennis stuff start this summer, Griff?"
Evan loved talking to Griffin about her tennis stuff. He always wanted to know how she was doing and if she was still holding down the number one seed at school and when her next tournament was. He was probably more excited than Griffin's parents were when he found out she was recruited to play at Washington and Lee. And real talk, that was saying something...
"Preseason starts in August," Griffin said. "So I'll be working out all summer."
Evan fist pumped. "Sweet! So you'll get to stay for pretty much the whole summer, then! We should sync up workout schedules—"
"Y'all, I have the best idea," Lauren said suddenly. "We should throw a party at the end of the summer. For all of us. Griffin's gonna be here until then, and who knows what we'll all be doing next year?"
"LOVE that," Matty said. "I know for sure I won't be here next year. We're not allowed to intern at the same golf course twice."
Charlie returned to the table. Griffin made a point to not look at him.
"Charlie, thoughts on a big, end-of-the-summer party?" Lauren asked.
"Hmm?" he said, sitting down.
"We were talking about how this is probably going to be our last full summer here," Lauren said. "So, we're going to throw a party before we all leave, since it's probably going to be the last time we're all here together."
Evan clapped Charlie on the back (apparently a family thing). "Chuck's birthday is July 31st," he said. "We should combine forces and throw the biggest rager in Corbet's history."
Griffin peeked over at Charlie, half-expecting him to shoot the idea down. She found him looking right back at her. Again.
"Sounds like a good time to me," he said.
Lauren clapped her hands. "I'll plan the whole thing! Because I sure as hell won't be back here next summer. Gotta go out in style."
That was a such a depressing thought, but no one could argue it wasn't true.
Well, true for everyone else. Griffin was going to keep coming back to Corbet's until they kicked her out. She couldn't imagine a summer anywhere else. Her friends back home gave her a hard time about never seeing her during the summer, but they knew there wasn't anything they could say to convince her not to go. Corbet's was Griffin's favorite place in the world.
"Yo, Griff. You're zoning out on us again," Matty said.
"Yeah, what's the deal with you, dude?" Lauren asked. "You seem...distracted. Is this about Peter?"
Griffin knew it was only a matter of time before someone brought Peter up. She was actually surprised it wasn't Matty.
"Is what about Peter?" Griffin asked. She side-eyed Evan and Charlie to make sure they weren't listening. They were talking about their housing at Charleston again.
"You being all quiet and weird tonight," Lauren said.
"Why would he have anything to do with that?"
"Because he was your boyfriend?" Lauren said. "Do you miss him?"
Griffin started to argue that he definitely was not, and that she definitely did not.
Matty cut her off with, "Even if he wasn't, he still thought he was. The dude followed you around everywhere when I came to visit you in the fall. Thought I was trying to steal his girl..."
Griffin held off an eye-roll. She could admit Peter was exactly the kind of guy she could see herself dating: way too smart for his own good, cute in an unconventional way, an unapologetic nerd to the core...
They'd hung out a lot senior year, and he'd never been shy about telling Griffin how much he liked her. But that didn't add up to dating in Griffin's mind. So it was weird when Peter told her he wanted to end things—that he was tired of trying to get a commitment out of her. Griffin hadn't realized there was something there to end.
...Now she was starting to feel guilty.
"I don't know," she said to Matty and Lauren. "I guess he thought we were together, but we never really talked about it."
Across the table, Charlie asked, "So you let this poor dude follow you around for a year and never thought to set him straight?"
A dead-silent pause followed.
"Sorry, what?" Griffin said.
Charlie folded his arms over his chest. "I think you heard me the first time."
Startled, Griffin glanced around the table to gauge everyone else's reactions. At least Matty and Lauren seemed as thrown as she was. Evan looked down before she could catch his expression.
Griffin's eyes flicked back to Charlie's, and she settled for somewhat-politely saying, "I mean, even if I did, I'm not really sure this conversation needs your input."
Charlie smiled like Griffin had just proven his point. "Of course that's your response."
"Yo," Lauren jumped in, "take it easy there, new guy. You don't know anything about this."
Charlie shrugged. "Doesn't seem hard to guess."
Dead silence again.
Griffin went hot, then cold, then hot again.
"Hey, are y'all ready to order? Because I am," Matty said. He raised a hand to flag down a waitress.
"Chuck..." Evan said, glancing nervously at Griffin.
"What?" Charlie asked. He looked at Griffin, too. "It isn't hard to guess. Sounds like you left the dude in the dark so you wouldn't have to deal with him, but still kept him around because you kind of dug the attention. Right?"
Griffin stared at him.
Then she started laughing, because what the fuck? Was he for real with this?
Thirty minutes ago he acted like he wasn't even sure he remembered who she was, and now this was how he wanted to play it? OK.
"Yeah? What makes you say that?" Griffin said.
Charlie's eyebrows rose a fraction, like her reaction wasn't what he'd been expecting but he was still game to be a dick about it.
"Just seem like the type," he said.
"Lot of experience with girls leaving you in the dark so they don't have to deal with you?" Griffin asked.
He smirked. "Definitely not recently, no."
Griffin hummed. "Interesting. So when you say 'not recently,' you mean, what, like not in the last four years, or...?"
Charlie's dimple popped. Griffin didn't remember him having that when they were fourteen.
"Haven't put that much thought into it," he said.
"Really? Never would've guessed."
"I just call it how I see it, darlin'."
Griffin's temper flared on 'darlin.'' And based on the look in Charlie's eye, he could tell.
"That at least makes sense." Griffin raised and lowered her hands, juggling the options. "Calling it how you see it... Thinking you're doing everyone a favor with unsolicited commentary... Same thing."
"Or," Charlie said, "it's just saying what everyone else is already thinking but won't say to your face. Your call."
"Oh, really? What everyone else is already thinking? Glad you're here this summer to translate then," Griffin said, and she knew her next line was going to be way below the belt, but if Charlie was going to try and peg her as an insensitive bitch on night one, then she had no problem playing the part. "I'll consider it an upgrade from the last time you were here. And don't worry. No one'll keep you in the dark about it this time around."
Charlie looked absolutely delighted. "Yeah? No one? Or just you, Griff?"
The only thing Griffin hated more than that cocky ass question was the tiny flutter it put in her stomach.
A waitress appeared next to Matty with a pad and pen in her hands and asked if they were all ready to order. Which was great, since Griffin had no idea how to respond to Charlie. She was so angry—two seconds away from just letting him have it—and all she could do was nod at the waitress and order the crab cakes. Even the waitress picked up on the tension ricocheting around the table. She gave a quick nod when everyone was done ordering and headed back inside Driftwood.
"Alright, Evan, I wanna hear more about this lacrosse thing you've got going on in the fall," Lauren said, shifting the conversation back into neutral territory. "I mean, damn, it looks like you've already been working out like crazy."
Evan pretended to bat the compliment away, but jumped into talking about how his dad put him on an intense, six-month workout schedule.
Griffin spent the next fifteen minutes using all the willpower she had to not look at Charlie again. The more she thought about what just went down between them, the more her irritation teetered toward confusion and, to her complete dismay, a little hurt. Charlie calling her out like that was so unnecessary, right?
By the time their food arrived, Evan and Lauren were jawing back and forth about their senior years again, and Matty was still fighting to get a word in edgewise.
Griffin stayed quiet.
So did Charlie.
And no one attempted to bring either of them into the conversation.
As they all sat waiting for the server to bring back the checks, a shattering clap of thunder caused the entire back pier to shudder. Griffin's eyes locked with Charlie's as the storm echoed around them, and a wave of nervous tingles ran over her shoulders.
"You think we should get home before it gets worse?" Lauren asked.
"Or we could wait it out inside," Matty said.
"Or we could go back to my place and meet up with the girls later," Evan said, giving Matty a conspiratorial look.
Lauren eyed them suspiciously. "What, y'all've got some no-girls-allowed clubhouse plans in the works?"
"Absolutely not. We'd never," Evan said, the grin at the corner of his mouth confirming that was complete bullshit.
Griffin couldn't tell what the little shared smirks between Evan and Charlie meant, and it bothered her way more than it should have. She was annoyed they wanted to leave, weirded out that she cared so much, and something else that she couldn't really put her finger on...
Griffin's eyes flicked over to Charlie's one last time, but he wasn't looking back anymore.
A/N: Hehehehe
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Copyright © 2023 by Alex Evansley
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