Char

by Amare, Mercy

  “You’re pretty on the inside too.”

  “Thank you, Landon.”

  “For what it’s worth, you deserve better than me. I hope someday that we can be friends again.”

  “We will be,” I say.

  “I’ll talk to you later, Char.”

  “Later.” I hang up my phone, and am surprised at how much better I feel. I totally and completely needed that. Tristan was right. I did need closure.

  My phone vibrates in my hand, and I look to see a text from Tristan.

  Tristan: How was school?

  Me: Meh. School is school. What about you? I’d much rather hear about your day.

  Tristan: I’m actually still in class. Human Sexuality. Totally boring.

  Me: LOL. Pay attention!

  Tristan: Whatever. Can I call you later tonight?

  Me: You don’t have to ask permission to call me.

  Tristan: You didn’t answer.

  Me: YES I would LOVE it if you called. Better?

  Tristan: MUCH. You. Me. Phone date. 7pm.

  Me: I’ll be waiting ;)

  When I get home, I decide to hit the gym. Maybe I’ll get a personal trainer. I miss the intense workouts Candi and I used to have.

  7pm

  Not Stopping

  I end up spending three hours at the gym. Something about working out makes me feel better about life. It also makes me feel better about me. I feel so good about myself after a hardcore workout.

  As soon as I get home, I get a shower and change into a pair of black sweatpants and a white tank top. Nobody is going to see me the rest of the night anyway, so it doesn’t matter. While I’m waiting for Tristan to call, I decide to read a book. I like to read every night while I’m going to bed.

  Every couple of minutes I check the time, and I want to smack myself for it. Since when did I become the girl who waits for a guy to call? Ugh.

  There is a knock on my door.

  Weird. Dad normally doesn’t come up to my room.

  When I open my door, it isn’t my dad standing on the other side. It’s Tristan.

  “I couldn’t stay away,” he says.

  I’m suddenly aware of the fact that I’m not wearing a bra. My realization comes at the same time as Tristan’s. I cross my arms over my chest. “Maybe next time you could warn a girl.”

  “I wanted to surprise you.” He steps inside my room. “So Tuesdays and Thursdays I don’t have class until ten. So I’m thinking I will come Monday, Wednesday, and then I’ll spend the weekend on the east side so I can be close to you. Because for some reason, when you’re not there I miss you.”

  This makes me smile. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had a crush on me.”

  “Oh, I definitely have a crush on you,” he says.

  “I talked to my ex today.”

  Tristan stiffens at my words. “Oh…”

  “He called to apologize, and pretty much tell me that I was the best thing that ever happened to him. And he wanted to tell me that he was being an entitled prick. Which I agreed with,” I tell him. “You were right. I did need closure. I feel a lot better.”

  “Did talking to him bring back any… old feelings?”

  “I was surprised. When I talked to him, he felt like a stranger. There were absolutely no… feelings. And it felt good to know that I was strong enough to move on. I was able to forgive him. And we both decided that someday we would like to be friends again.”

  “But only friends, right?”

  “Yes. Only friends,” I say.

  Tristan smiles at my words. “I don’t want to sound like a total creeper, but you’re boobs are like really distracting.”

  I laugh. “Well I wasn’t really expecting you to come over. If I would have known, I would have put on a bra. But I’m comfortable like this.”

  “I’m not complaining. I’m just saying — don’t be mad if I look.”

  I roll my eyes, but pull on a hoodie. Its a hoodie Chloe gave me. It says Drama Queen with the TV show logo on it. I had all the cast sign it. I was fifteen at the time, and had a huge crush on one of Chloe’s co-stars. It was my excuse to actually talk to him.

  “It doesn’t help. The image is permanently burned into my memory.”

  “I’m really glad you’re here. I figured you would find a new girl today, and would have forgotten all about me.

  “You’re kind of hard to forget. In fact, I thought about you all day. I think I’m addicted to you. How am I going to survive not seeing you on Tuesday and Thursday?” Tristan pauses for a second. “Oh my God. I sound clingy don’t I?”

  “Maybe I like clingy?” Okay, I so don’t. I’ve always hated clingy guys. But for some reason, I like it with him. Maybe it’s because of the fact that I’m over a thousand miles away from all my friends, and I don’t know anybody here? Or maybe it’s post traumatic stress disorder? I’m still obviously shocked over the move.

  “You don’t like clingy,” he says. “But you do like me.”

  “You’re so confident. And I thought we weren’t going to date…”

  “Well, we technically aren’t dating. But I never said I wasn’t going to date you. I just said I wasn’t going to be your rebound. You’re clearly over you ex.” He steps closer. He lifts his hand up, and grabs a piece of my hair. It’s still wet from the shower. “Your hair is darker.”

  “Because I’m not surfing everyday. The sun lightens it,” I say. I’m a little self-conscience about my hair since I talked to Aaron this morning. “Aaron thinks I should get highlights because I don’t look good with brown hair.”

  “Aaron is a moron. You’re beautiful just the way you are.”

  “Thanks.” I am now looking at Tristan’s lips. I want to kiss him. His lips are so close, but not close enough.

  “You need to stop looking at my lips like that.”

  “Why?” I whisper. Why do I whisper? I don’t know. I’m pretty sure that I am scared that if I talk too loud it will ruin the moment.

  “Because I want to kiss you so bad right now, and we can’t.”

  “Why?” I ask again. Really? Is there no other word in my vocabulary?

  “Because if I kissed you, I wouldn’t want to stop.”

  His words make me shiver. I’m pretty sure I would enjoy not stopping with Tristan. “Maybe I wouldn’t want you to stop.”

  “And that’s why we can’t. I know you think you want me, but your best friend is in love with you. I think you need to figure out what is going on between the two of you before I kiss you. Because when I kiss you, I want you to be mine forever. I’m so not sharing.”

  My phone vibrates, almost as if on cue. It’s a text from Aaron.

  I ignore it to prove a point. “You have my complete and full attention right now.”

  “Too late.” He backs away. “Moment is ruined.”

  My phone vibrates again. This time Aaron is calling.

  “Besides, I’m pretty sure he’s not going to give up unless you answer him,” he says. “I’m going to go grab the popcorn. Answer that.”

  Tristan leaves the room, and I answer my phone.

  “What do you want, Aaron?” I answer.

  “Geez, who pissed in your cheerios.”

  I roll my eyes. “You have impeccable timing. Do you have a hidden camera in my room?”

  “Don’t I wish. Why? What’s happening in your room?”

  “Tristan was going to kiss me, and you ruined it.”

  I can hear Aaron’s disappointment through the phone. “Seriously? Tristan? I thought we talked about this. You’re not supposed to fall in love with him. You’re supposed to get through the next year and come back to California. Hell, you could come next month. You’ll be eighteen.”

  “I kind of like New York. I was thinking about staying here indefinitely.”

  “What the hell? Why? Because Tristan? Didn’t I tell you not to fall in love with him? He’s just going to break your heart.”

  “I’m not in love with him. Bu
t what would be the big deal if I was? It wouldn’t be the first time my heart was broken,” I say.

  “But I’m not there to pick up the pieces for you. You didn’t even love Landon and he still broke your heart.”

  “Landon was my friend. I felt betrayed when he cheated on me. And you don’t know what I felt for him.”

  “It wasn’t love. And I can tell you like this Tristan guy. He will break your heart, Char.”

  “How do you know he will break my heart?”

  “I just do,” he says.

  “You will get to meet him Labor Day Weekend,” I tell him. “And then you will see. Tristan is a good guy, and I really think he likes me.”

  “We will see,” he says. “Can he surf?”

  “No. He’s not from California. But I’ll teach him.”

  “He’s going to ruin our weekend.”

  “No, he’s not. You’ll see. He’s cool.”

  “Whatever, Charlotte.”

  Charlotte? Really? He never calls me by my full name. “I’m serious. It’s going to be fun. You’ll see. Now I am going to hang up, and you’re not going to call again tonight unless you’re dying. Because I am hanging out with Tristan.”

  “Fine. But when I come up for Labor Day, I better at least get one uninterrupted night with you.”

  “I can agree to those terms as long as you are nice to Tristan. Good night.”

  “Fine. And good afternoon,” he says, and then we hang up.

  I always forget about the time difference. And I already feel like I’m on a New York time schedule. It’s weird how my body adjusted so quickly.

  A few minutes later, Tristan comes in with a huge bowl of popcorn and a couple of sodas.

  “So Aaron definitely won’t be bothering us anymore tonight,” I tell him. “Also, Aaron has agreed to be nice on Labor Day as long as he has one uninterrupted night with me.”

  Tristan laughs. “He is so going to make his move then.”

  “Shut up.” I throw a piece of popcorn at him. “He’s so not. Besides, I will turn him down. He’s been my best friend for way too long to screw it up by getting involved in a relationship. It’s so not happening.”

  “I changed my mind,” Tristan says.

  “About what?”

  “About kissing you. I am going to kiss you. Before Labor Day. That way when Aaron kisses you, you will be thinking of me.”

  I’m loving the idea of kissing Tristan. “Oh my God. I’m not kissing Aaron.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Instead of responding, I start the movie and cuddle up next to Tristan. I know he’s wrong.

  FRIDAY, AUGUST 23

  6pm

  Not everybody can have the genes of a goddess.

  Since Monday night, I’ve been wanting to know when Tristan is going to kiss me. And I swear he enjoys teasing me… coming within inches of my mouth, and then just not kissing me. I’ve thought about kissing him, but then I realized that I sort of like the teasing. The anticipation and the build up is why our kiss is going to be so epic.

  School has been the same. All the girls pretty much ignore me, except Layla. She’s annoying, but she is growing on me. In fact, tonight Christian is throwing a party. Layla wants to come, but she’s convinced that she’s not invited. So, I told her she was coming with Tristan and me. When I did her face got all red and she mumbled something about the Tristan Becker. Which caused me to roll my eyes. No wonder Tristan and Christian are so confident. Girls practically throw themselves at them.

  “This is going to be so much fun,” Layla says.

  I offered to fix her hair, and make up for the party. I’m also going to let her borrow one of my dresses. She says that there is no way she will fit into one of my dresses, which I think is completely crazy. Layla is tiny, which is odd considering how much she eats. She’s one of the lucky ones that can eat a million calories a day and still be a size zero.

  I take the braids out of her hair, and grab a pair of scissors.

  “How do you feel about bangs?” I ask her.

  She looks nervous. “I don’t know… How would it look?”

  I don’t have bangs in my hair. Mostly because Candice does have bangs, and if I got them we would look that much more alike. “Like Candice,” I tell her. “Only hotter. Seriously, you need them.”

  “Okay, fine,” she says. “But I’m totally trusting you, and if I look ugly it will be on your conscience for the rest of your life.”

  Did I mention that Layla is dramatic? It’s one of the many things that I love about her. I part her hair to the left, and then cut her bangs at an angle. I can already see a huge improvement. “Wow. You already look better.”

  She stands up and looks in the mirror. “I like it.”

  I smile, because if there’s one thing I know, it’s fashion, hair and makeup. I fully blame my two older sisters. They liked to do makeovers every weekend, and since I was the youngest, I was always the victim.

  Layla’s hair is naturally straight, so I use a big curling iron on her hair and fan it out. This is how Chloe always fixes her hair, and it looks really good on her. I go light on her makeup. Since she’s not used to wearing makeup, I don’t want to shock her. I don’t even use eyeliner, just mascara. Afterward, I pick her out a dress. I pull out the shortest, tightest dress I own. Candi bought it for me, and I refuse to wear it because it makes me look like a slut. Layla is shorter than me, so it’ll be the perfect length on her. It’s white, which will look good against Layla’s dark hair. It’s strapless and goes half way down her thighs. On me, it barely covered my butt. Of course, my butt is a lot bigger than Layla’s. She hardly has any curves. Or I thought she didn’t until I saw her in this dress.

  “Where have you been hiding that body?” I ask her. “Seriously, you need a new wardrobe.”

  She pulls at the bottom of the dress. “It’s really… short.”

  “It’s supposed to be,” I tell her. “Trust me, everybody will be hitting on you tonight. Even the girls.”

  She giggles like a twelve year old. It’s then that I wonder if she’s ever had friends. “What about my glasses? Do they look stupid?”

  “No way. Glasses are hot,” I say. “You look like a naughty librarian.”

  I pull my own dress out of the closet. Mine is a red, A-line dress. It’s a little shorter than Layla’s dress. I put on a pair of red pumps. “What do you think?” I do a twirl.

  “You make me look ugly.” She frowns. “Seriously, how is anybody going to notice me next to you?”

  “Your lack of confidence in yourself is kind of depressing. You look hot. The sooner you believe it, the sooner everybody else will,” I say.

  She looks at herself in the mirror again. “You’re right. I do look good. At least compared to how I normally look. Not everybody can have the genes of a goddess.”

  This makes me laugh. I look at the time, and see that it’s time to go down to meet Tristan. “Are you ready?”

  She takes a deep breath. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  9pm

  Christian’s party.

  When Layla, Tristan, and I walk into Christian’s party, it’s already pumping. I have to admit, when Christian throws a party, he goes all out. There are girls dancing in cages, a live band, and a huge bar. It feels more like a club than a high school party.

  “Wow,” I hear Layla say. “Is this what all the parties are like?”

  “No,” Tristan answers. “Christian just likes to go all out."

  Layla looks thrilled to be here, and I have to admit this is a good first party to come to. Tristan is right, Christian does go all out.

  “Do you want something to drink?” Tristan yells over the music to me.

  “She doesn’t drink.” I hear Christian’s voice right before I feel an arm go around me. “Hey, friend! You came to my party!” His eyes land on Layla, and his arm immediately moves from my shoulders to hers. “Who is your hot friend?”

  I give Layla a look that says ‘I told you so
’. Because I so did. “This is Layla. From school.”

  Christian’s eyes get big. “Layla Black?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’m stealing Layla,” Christian tells me.

  Layla goes with him, but I wonder if I should intervene. Soon they get lost in the crowd and it’s too late. But Layla is smart. Hopefully she won’t fall for his moves. He’s really not that smooth, because he doesn’t have to be. He’s used to girls falling in bed with him because he’s Christian Becker.

  “Is it really that easy for you to get a girl?” I ask Tristan.

  “Yes,” he answers. “But I don’t want just any girl. Not anymore.”

  “Oh, so you were like Christian in high school?”

  “Worse. But I’ve recently decided that one night stands bore me, and I want something more serious.”

  “Oh really. And when did this life altering decision come about?” I ask.

  “The night we met,” he says. “I wanted you. You wanted me. But I could tell you weren’t a one night stand kind of girl. After talking to you, I quickly decided I didn’t just want one night with you. I want many nights with you… and days.”

  “You’re right. I’m not a one night stand kind of girl. I’ve never had one before.”

  “They’re not all their cracked up to be. It might feel good, but then the next morning I would always wake up feeling like crap.”

  “So just how many one night stands have you had?”

  He doesn’t look at me as he answers. “I don’t know. A lot.”

  His answer scares me. “I haven’t been with a lot of guys.”

  “How many?”

  I clear my throat, sort of afraid to answer. “Two.”

  I’ve never been self-conscience before. Especially when it comes to sex. Probably because both of the guys I’ve been with before were virgins. But now I am in a whole new playing field, and I am nowhere near Tristan Becker. He’s like a sex god or something. What if he thinks I suck? What if I do suck?