by L B Pavlov
“Hello!” Grace called as she and Tom came through the front door. Grace had made two salads to share, and they would be joining us for dinner.
My dad sat around gabbing with Tom while Grace, Lenora, and I visited about the new school year and the boys played basketball. They laughed and tormented one another until dinner was ready. We all ate together at our large table out back. It was a perfect Indiana evening.
Lenora began cleaning up after dinner. My dad sat out back, drinking wine with Tom and Grace, and my brothers went out to see some old friends.
Daniel sat in my bedroom with me while I organized my school supplies for the first day of school on Tuesday. I went over my checklist to make sure that I had everything.
“You are a funny little bird, Charlotte Rose Ford!” Daniel said, laughing.
“And why is that?” I said, annoyed.
“Because you still pick out pink notebooks and get excited over school supplies. Maybe that’s why you’re going to be the valedictorian of our class. Maybe I should have paid more attention to school supplies,” he laughed.
“Well, you know I have a thing for office supplies, and not to worry, Grace and I got all of your supplies for you last week.” I chuckled, “I even got you the notebooks with the cute puppies on the cover!” I continued, laughing.
“I think senior year is going to be our best year ever. What do you think?” he asked.
“Well, I predict it will be good. You’ll date the girls left in our class whom you haven’t dated and continue to break the remaining female hearts at St. Viator’s. Maybe I will get asked out on a date this year too!” I laughed.
Daniel made a stern face. “No one at that school is good enough to date you, so don’t waste your time.” He did not laugh. “And as far as the girls go, the only one I like to hang out with is you. They are just hookups.” He smiled his bright smile at me.
“That’s rude, Daniel! How would you feel if someone said that about me?” I asked curiously.
He stood up and glowered, “You would never be a hookup, Charlotte, and if anyone ever said that about you, I would take him out,” he said firmly.
Daniel was the only boy ever allowed in my room, not that anyone else was trying to get in my room. I was seventeen years old, and I had never had a real date. My friends Kathleen and Stephanie insisted that Spencer on our cross-country team had a crush on me, but he was someone I considered more of a friend, and I doubted it was true anyway.
Daniel was family, and my dad trusted him. My father was very strict about me doing much outside of running, school, and hanging out with Daniel, Kathleen, and Stephanie. My brothers were also very against me dating and joked that I wasn’t allowed to date until I was forty years old. Daniel was the worst of them all about the topic, so it just wasn’t something that was happening for me. Daniel, however, dated everything that moved. He never called any of them his girlfriend, but he would get together with girls at parties, or so I was told. He rarely talked about that part of his life with me. He would tell me that he didn’t have feelings for them and that would be as much as he would share—and truly as much as I wanted to know.
Daniel was very popular; all the girls wanted to date him, and all the guys wanted to be his friend. I, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. Aside from being the best friend of Daniel Hollingsworth, I wasn’t super social. I had Kathleen and Stephanie who were on the cross-country and track teams with me, as well as all the kids on my team that I considered my friends. I didn’t really have time to go to parties because between running and studying life was busy. I spent all of my free time with Daniel, either running together on the weekends, talking on the phone, studying together, or reading Charlotte’s Web together. Daniel read it to me all the time because he understood how much that book meant to me. Whenever I was stressed or sad, he would lie on my bed or out back in my hammock and read chapters to me until I smiled. We must have read that book all the way through a couple hundred times over the years.
My day always started with a text from Daniel asking how I had slept, and then I always drove to school with him and drove home with him after practice. He was always the last person whom I talked to before I went to bed. On the eve of my mom’s death every year, Daniel would sneak out of his house at midnight, climb the tree outside of my bedroom window, and climb in my room. This started when I was twelve years old and had admitted to him that I always had nightmares on that night, and he came up with this plan to help me. It worked. He would sleep on top of the covers in his clothes, and I would sleep under the covers in my pajamas. He would make me laugh until I fell asleep. He would let me cry if I needed to, and he would hug me when I needed a hug. It would be the most peaceful night of sleep I got all year. He would sneak out early in the morning before anyone in either of our homes had woken up. This was our little secret. Neither of us ever told a soul.
“It’s Saturday tomorrow, so no football practice. Are we running in the morning?” he asked.
“Are you up for an eight-miler tomorrow? I need to get a longer run in,” I replied.
“Are you challenging me, Charlotte Ford? Do you really doubt my capabilities?” He winked at me, and we both laughed and agreed to meet at 7:00 a.m. out front. I loved running with Daniel. We talked the whole time, and we pushed each other to get in a good workout at the same time. I walked him downstairs, and he yelled good-night to my father and Lenora, who both shouted a goodnight back to him.
“OK, good-night, sweet Charlotte,” he said as he kissed me on top of my head.
“See you in the morning, Daniel,” I said as he walked out the door.
He turned back and winked at me.
I said good-night to my dad and hugged Lenora, who was folding the final load of the boys’ laundry. That woman was a saint. I went upstairs and got ready for bed, read some more of my mom’s journal (as I always did), said my prayers, and slipped into bed.
The morning came quickly. I dressed in my running clothes and went outside to meet Daniel. I saw Tom and Grace, who were up early and working in the front yard.
“Good morning, sweetie,” Grace called.
“It looks like you’re going to have to go and wake his lazy butt up,” Tom said. “He went out after leaving your house last night, and I think he had a pretty late night. I say you go rustle him out of his splendor!” Tom chuckled.
This was not odd for Daniel. He was very social, and I’m sure one of his friends called when he left my house, and he jumped right on board.
I rolled my eyes and said, “I’m on it!”
I had woken Daniel up many times. I ran up the stairs, and when I got to the side of his bed, I looked at him for a minute. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. He was growing more handsome with age, and I rarely had a moment to stare at him because he hardly ever stood still for any length of time. I sat on the side of the bed, and when I went to touch him, he sat up swiftly, grabbed me, and flipped me on my back. I lost my breath and stared at him in shock.
He was on top of me, laughing, “Were you going to wake the bear, Charlotte?” He smiled his brightest smile.
His face was flushed with pink cheeks and bright eyes, and his wavy hair was all tousled atop his head. He was beautiful.
Breathlessly I said, “You’re late, Daniel, and your breath definitely could use some toothpaste.” I started giggling.
He loved it when I teased him, so he began to breathe loudly right into my face. We were almost nose-to-nose when we both paused awkwardly, and I felt his heart pounding as fast as mine was.
I pushed him up and jumped off his bed and onto my feet. “Get ready, it’s getting warm outside,” I said.
Daniel laughed as he jumped up. He was only in his boxer shorts, which I had seen him wear a million times before, but for some reason I felt embarrassed this morning. I felt my face flush hot, and I turned away. When I turned back, I stared for just a moment at his ripped stomach. Across his right bicep was a tattoo that read Hollingsworth in bla
ck, bold lettering. It curled around his large arm muscle. All of the Hollingsworth boys had the same tattoo. Preston, Devon, and his dad, Tom, had all had the tattoo done on their sixteenth birthdays. It was a Hollingsworth tradition. I had gone with Daniel on the day that he had it done. I remember being surprised at how brave and stoic he was about it. He never showed any signs of discomfort, and he was very excited to finally have it. I continued to look at him while he got dressed. He was shockingly good-looking. He was thin and muscular and really a sight to look at. Sometimes I forgot how handsome he was because I was used to everyone staring and gawking over Daniel, and I saw him every single day of my life. I must be coming down with something, I thought, because my heart was racing and my face kept flushing.
Daniel began explaining to me how Sean had thrown a party the night before. Sean was Daniel’s best guy friend. He and I were also good friends, but he would never ask me to come to a party because he understood that I didn’t really go to parties. Daniel continued without noticing that I was kind of staring at him in awe and told me how Crystal Bryant was all over him last night.
I shrieked, “My gosh, Daniel! How many times is she going to try with you before she gives up?”
He laughed and said, “Well, I think making out with her at the party may have been a bad idea. Now I will never be free of her.”
I froze. “You kissed her?” I said, shocked. “But I thought that you didn’t like her?”
He just stared at me, confused by my question, and led me down the stairs and out the door to begin our run. “I don’t like her, but she isn’t bad to look at,” he chuckled.
“That’s terrible, Daniel. I can’t believe you kissed her,” I said admonishingly.
We had started our run, and we were both breathing heavily at the start. “You don’t have to be in love to kiss someone, Charlotte. I take that back. You should definitely be in love when you kiss someone, but God knows I have kissed a lot of girls, and I’ve never been in love!” He continued laughing and then smiled at me.
“I don’t want to hear any more, Daniel. Let’s talk about something else,” I said. The thought of Daniel kissing Crystal actually made me feel queasy.
Why did this bother me so much? I had no idea! I knew Daniel had kissed many girls, and it never bothered me before. I was definitely coming down with something. Crystal Bryant had been after Daniel since freshman year. She was a cheerleader with big, blonde, ratted hair that was always stiff from hairspray, and she wore very heavy makeup. She had a very voluptuous figure, and she looked much older than she was. She was never friendly to me, and I think it was because she resented my friendship with Daniel. I avoided her as much as possible.
Daniel and I finished our run, and I told him that I was going home to shower. We agreed to meet up at noon and go get lunch together.
My brothers being home made for such a great weekend that it flew by. We had dinner every night and family game night on Sunday, which of course Daniel won. Jack’s girlfriend, Sydney, came over for dinner Sunday, and she joined us for games. Jack had been dating her for two years, and I loved her. She also went to Notre Dame; it seemed everyone I loved attended that school. It was as if I had a big sister in the house when Sydney was over. She and I would sit and have girl-talk while the boys tortured one another any way that they could.
Monday we all just hung out at the house until the boys loaded up and headed out to pick Sydney up on their way back to school. I hated saying good-bye to my brothers. The house would get quiet again, and Dad would disappear into work mode again.
I was distracted by the first day of school the next day, so that made the good-bye easier. Daniel and I agreed to meet out front at 7:30 a.m., and he would drive us both, as always, to school. I had a convertible VW Bug that I rarely drove because Daniel preferred to drive his truck, and I wasn’t the most comfortable driver anyway. I laid out my outfit for the first day, which didn’t take a lot of thought because we had to wear uniforms, and I packed up my running clothes for practice after school. I couldn’t believe it was the first day of my senior year. Everything was going to change after this year, and I didn’t even want to think about it. With my stomach in knots, I was ready to tuck in for the night.
I checked my cell phone, to plug it in to charge for the night. Of course there was a text from Daniel: Sleep tight, sweet Charlotte! I will see you in the morning for the first day of our senior year! Stop worrying, we have a whole year!
Daniel knew me better than anyone. He knew how much I dreaded change. I found peace in the fact that someone understood me like that. I said my prayers, and I slipped into bed for my last night of summer break.
chapter 2
back to school
I sat in my car in front of her house, waiting for her to come bounding down the driveway. As she came through the front door, I stared as she smiled her dazzling smile at me. Charlotte was my best friend, my absolute favorite person to spend time with. I watched her closely as she approached my car, smiling. She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen.
She stood a petite five-foot-three-inches tall and was very thin, but she had soft, feminine muscles, especially in her legs. She had beautiful long, golden-brown hair that was wavy when she didn’t straighten it. Today it was straightened because she always straightened her hair for the first day of school. She had large, dark-brown eyes and tanned, sun-kissed skin that looked like the sun had shined just for her. She had full, soft-pink lips, and she nervously chewed the bottom right corner of her lip all the time. Charlotte wore very little makeup and had natural beauty. She was sweet and kind, and her inner beauty made her all the more lovely.
I had always wanted to take care of her, ever since the day that I had met her when I was only five years old. Something about Charlotte was very fragile, and I adored her immediately. I loved all the time that we spent together, and I dreaded this, our final school year together, as much as she did. Charlotte would go off to Stanford, and I would go to Notre Dame. I was very aware of Charlotte’s fear of change, so I would not share that I, too, hated that we would soon be apart because it would only add to her anxiety.
“Sorry, were you waiting long?” she asked softly.
“Nope, not at all. We have plenty of time to get to school. Are you ready for the first day?” I asked, trying to relax her nerves.
“Yes! Guess what I thought about when I got in bed last night?” she asked. “Ohhh…I hope you were thinking about me when you got in bed,” I laughed loudly.
She flushed and rolled her big, brown eyes at me.
“I was thinking about our first day of kindergarten. Do you remember what you did to Chandler Hoboken?” she said, giggling.
“Of course I do. That prick threw sand in your face because you wouldn’t play with him!” I shouted. We were both laughing now.
“You got sent to the principal’s office on your first day of kindergarten, Daniel!” she said, giggling so much that her eyes started to well up.
“Well, listen, that kid had it coming,” I said, laughing with her.
“That’s when I realized you really were my best friend, Daniel,” she said, flushing at the memory. It really was a sight when her cheeks blushed against her tan skin.
“Why? Because I punched that punk?” I said, smiling at her.
“Yes, anyone willing to go to the principal’s office for me in kindergarten is surely a perfect best friend,” she laughed.
As we pulled into the parking lot and parked the car, Charlotte turned to me and said, “Daniel, thanks for being such a good friend all these years. Thanks for helping me make friends and sticking up for me if someone was being mean, for driving me to school, for coming to all my races, for making sure I eat lunch…”
I put my hand on her shoulder. “Charlotte, there isn’t anything that I wouldn’t do for you. You are my best friend. I should be thanking you for all that you do for me. I would have gotten into a lot more trouble if I didn’t have you keeping me on the right tr
ack!”
We hugged each other and stared into each other’s eyes for just a moment until she nervously bit her lip.
“Don’t bite your lip, Charlotte. Everything is going to be OK, I promise.” She nodded and jumped out of the car.
When we walked into school, we heard everyone making a big fuss over something. As we approached, we realized there was a new kid, and he was certainly getting a lot of attention.
Sean rushed over and gave Charlotte a quick hug. “Hey, Charlie! Are you ready for our first day of senior year?”
She hugged him back, gave him an encouraging smile, and started chewing the inside of her lip. I frowned at her, and she released her lip—at least for now.
Sean went on, “So, Daniel, see that dude over there? His name is Blane DiAmico. Apparently he is quite the football player. He just moved here from California. He plays running back and wide receiver, and Gomez is freaking out!” Michael Gomez was also a senior, and he was starting running back on our team, as well as wide receiver.
I turned to Sean and said, “Gomez doesn’t need to worry. I throw the ball, and I throw to Gomez first. Always. Anyway, how do you know he is a good football player if we haven’t seen him play? Did you hear this from Coach?”
Sean looked awkward for a minute and replied, “Blane told us he was All State in California and that he is being recruited by several schools.” This comment disgusted me, and Charlotte could tell. I can’t stand self-promotion, and she knows that.
“Well, if he had to tell you, he probably isn’t that good. Usually you let your playing speak for itself! And what the hell kind of name is Blane?” I said.
