by Leanne Davis
“Do you mind?” she asked Charlie as she eyed the joint being passed to her.
He smiled and made a sweeping sign with his hand. “I don’t care.”
Dawson, who was already half-baked, grinned and said sluggishly. “Oh, our Charlie don’t do that stuff.”
“Well, I know that. I’m the one who usually tries to make him join me,” Cami said, laughing at Dawson. She was far looser now than she was at the start of the evening. She took the joint and drew a hit, coughing as she exhaled and sighing in happy contentment.
Dawson put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed it as he grinned at her as if he were a proud new father. “Look at Charlie’s woman. Never would have guessed he’d have a catch like you.”
She let the drug relax her nerves and glanced at Charlie from under Dawson’s arm. But he wasn’t mad or even jealous. He smiled with a look of appreciation that she felt more at ease. She punched Dawson’s muscled arm. “Then you’re a dick if you can’t realize he’s the greatest guy here.”
Dawson laughed out loud. “I like her.” He let Cami go and Charlie took her hand as he grinned at her.
“I do too,” he said right to her face, but quieter so the rest of the loudly obnoxious guys didn’t hear him. But she saw over his shoulder that his words made Rosalie scowl harder as she stared at the back of his head. Cami shifted her gaze to Charlie, shining with love as his mouth descended on hers and he kissed her long and deep.
But as the night wore on, Cami became much more a part of it. Relaxing after the chemical substances began working inside her, she even entered some of the conversations, laughing at the constant ribbing and banter. They were actually a pretty cool group, mean and crude at times, but in a totally kidding and fond way. It wasn’t hurtful to anyone but all in fun. Charlie was at ease with them.
That was the shocking part.
Cami always did better at social events with some alcohol and occasionally, weed. By loosening her natural reserve, she tended to drop her guard and allow some of her personality to emerge to the forefront. She found it harder to fit in without the drugs or alcohol.
Tyrell pulled her out for a dance with a few others who were as inebriated as she was and merely wanted to have fun. She glanced at Charlie to see his reaction. Typical, solid Charlie just raised his glass up to her. She was already pretty buzzed and well on her way to being drunk and she didn’t want to upset him. No rise from Charlie, who just lay back and smiled. He was as sober as the day he was born. Laughter escaped her throat and too many smiles made her cheeks hurt, but everyone responded to her. Usually, her stony face and shyness made her seem standoffish. Even after her hands-off goth look ended, most people didn’t care to get to know her better.
She started having fun and was not just tolerating it for Charlie. Later in the evening, she spotted Charlie holding Rosalie up by her biceps. She was laughing so hard, she undulated like a wet spaghetti noodle. Rosalie said something into Charlie’s ear and she nodded towards the hallway. He helped her walk down it.
Cami followed and hung back to listen at the door.
“You weren’t making her up.”
“Making who up?” Charlie asked as he helped her down onto the bed.
“Cami. The girlfriend. I thought she was like… I don’t know, the hometown girl you were stringing along. But you’re really into her.”
“Yeah. I’m really into her,” Charlie said as he moved away from Rosalie.
“I was really into you,” she muttered, slumping over.
“Well, okay. But I’m not going to apologize. I told you from the start about Cami.”
“She’s not what I expected with you.”
“How so? Too good for me?” Cami almost let out a laugh at his dry tone and blunt words.
“No. She’s short. And she has weird hair. She was smoking pot out there.”
“You’re drunk. How’s that so different? And she’s not weird at all, she’s hot.”
“She’s just… different.” Her words slurred, and her head bobbled forward.
Charlie stepped back from her. “Are you okay?”
“No. Maybe you shouldn’t leave me alone. I was just feeling sick.”
“You just admitted you were after me and didn’t believe how serious I was about my girlfriend. I’m not staying here. I have to go get Cami.”
Rosalie sat up straight. “Your girlfriend? Didn’t you hear me?”
“I heard you.” He spun around and started out the door only to run directly into Cami where she hovered in the hallway. His eyes widened, and his brows shot up. “Cami?”
She merely threw herself at him and he caught her of course. “I am short with weird hair and you told everyone about me anyway.”
He glanced down at her. “Did you doubt I would? I’m not available. I certainly don’t go around pretending I am or encouraging anyone.”
She gripped his forearm and squeezed, a huge grin splitting her face. “I love you, and I love how you hightailed it out of there to find me and get away from the girl who was crushing on you. You don’t even hang around to let anything stupid happen.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want anything stupid to happen. I wouldn’t set myself up for it.”
“I’ll sit with her.”
He swept her hair back from her forehead. “By the way, I like your weird hair.” Cami always dyed it black. Always. Ever since she was eleven years old. She wore dreadlocks for many years, which made it dry and natty. Sometimes, she wore it long and free, while at other times, she wrapped it up around her head.
Cami entered the room and sat down near the catatonic girl. After a few moments, Rosalie said, “It didn’t seem like you really existed.”
Startled, Cami sharply turned her head. “Pardon?”
Rosalie waved her arm. “With Charlie, he always talked about you, and named you even but you never came here so we doubted he had a girlfriend.”
Cami’s mouth tightened. “Well, he does. I’m her.”
“I see that now. He’s really into you.”
“Yeah, he really is. What exactly are you saying?” Cami stared at the girl next to her as she looked sad about Charlie.
“I liked him. I know you saw that. You were cooler than most girls. They wouldn’t have let him work with me and all. But he’s like, totally obsessed with you, isn’t he?” She sighed heavily and nodded towards Charlie as she said he.
Cami glared until she finally shook her head before a laugh slipped out. “This is the oddest conversation. What do you want from me? Are you warning me that you’re going after him or… what?”
Rosalie tipped the cup and let it slide down her throat before she gagged and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “Nope. Just realizing he’s totally unavailable. Sorry, I was going to make a play for him after our project finished up, but now I know he’d have only turned me down.”
“He totally would have,” Cami said without scratching the coed’s eyes out. Perhaps she would have if she hadn’t caught Charlie being so faithful already.
“You’re so lucky. You have no idea.”
Cami had every idea. She knew what it meant to feel unlucky and to dare to suggest she didn’t understand the value of a guy like Charlie Rydell made Cami laugh out loud. “You mean because he’s honest and loyal and true? He didn’t encourage you because he’s so true to me? Because he’s intelligent without making others feel stupid for it? Because he’s confident and quiet towards everyone he meets? Because he’s so cute and adorable but also clueless about it? Because most guys his age ogle girls and try to hook up by offering drunken rambles and he’s the exact opposite of that? Believe me, Rosalie, I really do know exactly what I have in him.”
She sighed. “Ahh, shit. So, of course, he has to have decent taste in girls. I’m going to freaking end up liking you too, which only makes this more bitter.”
Cami pressed her lips together, unsure if she should smile and laugh or punch the girl in the nose. But she was totally honest. “Why
should I be friends with a girl who is trying to steal my boyfriend under false pretenses by taking him in here?”
She giggled. “You knew that, and it’s so damn nice he didn’t know that. He helped me here just to help me. And went running off as soon as he realized my agenda. Sending you in. Best put-me-in-my-place move ever, and he did it without being a dick. Yes, Cami Reed, you are so lucky.” Rosalie shook her head. “Why didn’t you try to scratch my eyes out?”
“Because I didn’t need to.”
“Right, Charlie takes care of himself.”
“Uh huh. Are you really in need of babysitting? Or are you just practicing your manipulation?”
“I’ve been caught. But Cami, I’m really sorry. I just liked him so much.”
“So do I.”
She flopped her head back. “Maybe someday you can forgive me. I really enjoy being his friend.”
“I’m sure he’ll still be yours. I won’t try to stop it. As you already saw, I trust him.”
She sighed. “Yes, and you’re the luckiest woman I know.”
She left the mumbling girl, feeling so lucky. Seeing that someone like Rosalie also appreciated that, wow. They were a long way from River’s End High School, a place where no one saw something so damn obvious. She came back out to the living room where his friends still danced or talked in small groups, or just hung around. Taking Charlie’s hand, they eventually left for his dorm, and only hours later, she woke up sick as a dog, spewing and heaving her guts out off and on for hours. Bending over the toilet of the dorm and wishing someone could end her misery made her rethink why she ingested such poisonous substances. She’d never done them consistently. Only sporadically and usually in a group setting that was brought on by her need to socialize.
Girls came in and out of the community restroom in the mornings, to shower and pee and style their hair as she sat miserably in a stall, rethinking why she did those things to herself. Maybe it was time to socialize without the aid of poisons that made her feel as if her stomach could expel her guts.
Finally, she hoped everything would stay inside. With nothing left to expel, how could any more come out? She took a shower, trying to wash away the hangover and its residual queasiness and shakes. Her mouth, dry and burning, felt as bad her head ached. She dried off and dressed before stumbling back towards Charlie’s room. He turned at her entrance, looking bright-eyed and obviously fine. Wonderful. He grinned at her. “Any better?”
“Barely.” She curled up on his bed, pulling her legs up to her chest.
He sat near her, patting her legs. “Well, you made a distinct impression. Seems you improved my reputation.”
“I should never touch that awful stuff again. If I do, please take it away from me.”
He leaned back. “It never interested me. I get ribbed about it every weekend at a minimum around here.”
“Well, I’m no glowing recommendation for it,” she said swiping a hand down the front of her. “Honestly? I’ve always wondered why you didn’t try to dissuade me more often. Given my history, and coming from a place where drugs were so prevalent and you being so against it—”
“You rarely do it except with new groups of people. Like you need it to function in a social environment. So, I guess I don’t see that as a problem. If you did it all the time? No, I wouldn’t be supportive of that.”
“You must hate seeing me when I’m high or drunk.”
“I don’t love seeing you the morning after usually, but you’re pretty loose and easygoing and you smile a lot. So that’s a point in your favor, and maybe I like that.”
“I can’t believe there is a world where you and I are well-liked by a group of people. People like football players and pretty girls and hot guys. How could this be us?”
He laughed and leaned over, pulling her against him. “I know. I felt that way at first. It started with luck of the draw in getting Rupport as my roommate. We hung out just naturally due to close proximity. He and his friends needed some help here and there with some of the classes we shared and for some reason, they seemed to like me. So, we hung out some and I was accepted. Maybe I never tried too hard to be accepted back home. Most of the teens there, at least the ones I grew up with, annoyed me and some of them drove me nuts so I never cared about being friends with any of them. Here, I guess I cared more. Wanted to make my experience here more exciting. Being away and going somewhere should be worth writing about. Plus, since I had to be away from you, I wanted something to show for it.”
“And this does.”
“Yeah. You should have come here sooner. You should come more often from now on.”
“Honestly? I didn’t think you wanted me to. I wondered if you preferred to keep me and all of this separate. I mean, I could understand that—”
“No. It wasn’t that. I just didn’t think you’d like it. You know, considering…”
She grinned despite being so tired as she snuggled down against him and let her eyes fall downwards. “Considering how I am. I get it. And you know what’s even weirder? I like the people here. The ones that are our age at home I just never did. I even kind of like Rosalie. She, at least, was honest from the start.”
“I figured you’d forbid me from seeing or working with her.”
“No.” She tilted her head up to peek at him. “It helps a lot by being here, experiencing it, and seeing you in this new world, with these people, and this new environment. It also reminded me that outside things don’t change you. And it totally reinforces how much I trust you.”
“You ever consider applying to some kind of schooling?”
“I could never get in a place like this.”
“Not here. But there are vast choices for this. You could think about community college. Even one close to here.”
“I thought you needed this for yourself. You know, to establish more space and independence and all that.”
“I just needed to get out of River’s End. And see something more and meet different people. It wasn’t to leave you or to get away from you.”
“Sorry, but I still have no desire to go to college.”
He squeezed her. “I get it. It’s not for everyone.”
She hesitated to mention she’d come here but not as a student, if she could live and work and mostly be near him. But she knew that wasn’t what Charlie meant. Or wanted.
The rest of the week was idyllic, and just as full of surprises and discoveries as the first few days. He continued with his classes but at every opportunity, Cami was beside him. He hung out with his friends more often and Rupport slept in the room with them even if it seemed odd. He tolerated her presence without any issues. When the day arrived that she had to leave, her heart felt like a rock inside her chest. Every separation they experienced struck her so hard. For close to three months she would have to go without seeing him. But then it would be summer. She’d have him with her again for almost four months then.
She lived for that moment.
He kissed her lips several times, and she held on to the front of his sweatshirt, trying to keep her tears back. They embraced and exchanged words of love and longing, reiterating how much they’d miss each other. Cami believed Charlie would miss her, but not quite as much or as badly as she missed him.
Seeing how true he was to her while being away, despite his new and exciting life soothed a deep, needy fear inside her. She usually acted narcissistic and clingy with Charlie, when he had already earned and deserved her trust. Witnessing him in action did a lot to improve her confidence in him and their relationship.
When the three months trudged by, Charlie announced he was bringing Dawson, Tyrell, and Rupport back with him for the whole summer. Cami dreaded any interruption to her reunion with Charlie, but she smiled and pretended it was great. Fine. Wonderful.
One week past their one-year anniversary, Charlie returned home after his finals. Dawson had a car, so he drove them to the ranch. When they pulled in, Charlie stepped out of the car to greet Cami and she
hung back, unsure if she should make a spectacle in front of his friends. He swung his bag to the ground when he spotted her, and a huge grin broke out on his face as he opened his arms as if to say come here. She had to quit doubting him. He seemed to always want her, even in front of his friends. Be they new or old.
The football players were amazed by the ranch, just as much as Cami was at the college. Charlie took them to the beach and the stables and barns. Their mouths dropped open in disbelief at the number of the horses being boarded and trained, as well as the resort, the arena, and all of the outbuildings. “I had no idea you were like a… freaking land baron!” Dawson exclaimed, shaking his head in amazement.
“Yeah, you keep yourself pretty humble, Rydell. I had no idea either,” Tyrell agreed.
“I told you I was from a horse ranch.”
“Yeah, this isn’t the impression you gave us though.”
“Damn. This will be one fine-assed summer.”
And it was. The guys stayed in the trailer to give a little privacy to Cami and Charlie. But any time they managed to sneak away was valuable and precious to both of them. They got so desperate to see each other more intimately that they drove his truck into the hills above the ranch late at night and make do inside the cab or on a blanket. It didn’t matter though, since everyone had fun. They were loud and obnoxious and funny and raunchy. They loved to ride the horses and the ATVs, as well as swimming in the river or floating down the rapids. When Brianna and Jacob showed up, the boys spent their time competing with each other in order to grab Brianna’s attention and woo her affections. It was Brianna’s best summer. She confided to Cami that she slept with Dawson and later, made out with Tyrell. When they almost entered a fist fight over her, however, she finally stopped seeing both of them.
