Charlotte's Tangled Web: L.B. Pavlov (23 page)

A bunch of guys on my team had taken me out the night before to celebrate my birthday, and Sean had a big poker game at his house after. Girls were not included in our guys’ night, but Charlotte was happy that I was celebrating with my friends. She liked them all a lot, and they all thought I was a lucky guy to have such a cool girlfriend. I think she was exhausted from all of her races and training and was happy to have a night to catch up on sleep. I was finally eighteen, and time was moving too fast for me.

“Hey there!” she called, walking up to the truck.

I jumped out of the truck to open her door, and she fell into my arms and gave me a big hug. “Hey, beautiful!” I said, giving her a big kiss. “How was practice?”

“It was great! We are running some tough repeats these next two weeks, and then we start winding down. I can’t believe we only have four more weeks until state,” she said excitedly.

“Have you decided what you’re going to run in state yet?” I asked. She ran different events from week to week but usually didn’t run all four events in the big meets.

“Well, Coach Miroballi feels like this is my year. He wants me to go for it. We are talking about doing all four events in state this year,” she said cautiously.

“Do you think that’s too much?” I asked, concerned.

“Not really. I mean, I’d like to run good times, and of course I would like to finish out my senior year getting first in my events, but it will definitely be a big challenge if I run four events. But the way it’s spread out over two days, I think it may be possible,” she said hesitantly.

“Well, if anyone can do it, it’s you!” I said, squeezing her leg, and she squealed.

“Thanks, we’ll see. We have time to decide. I will do whatever Coach Miroballi wants me to do. I trust him one hundred percent.”

“What will Katrina run?” I asked.

“Most likely the sixteen-hundred-meter and thirty-two-hundred-meter with me. Her times aren’t great so far this season, but there are still four weeks left, so I’ll have to see what she does. I don’t think she’ll do the eight-hundred-meter with me, or the four times eight-hundred-meter relay that I’m for sure doing. She isn’t much of a relay girl!” she said, laughing.

“Why doesn’t she do the relays?” I asked, curious.

“Katrina wouldn’t use her energy when it’s not for herself individually, but it’s actually my favorite event. You’re counting on three other girls, and you’re trying your best to win together. It’s much more rewarding, actually,” she said, beaming.

“Katrina and Blane would have made a nice pair,” I said, laughing.

She laughed with me as we pulled in the driveway.

“So, have you thought about prom dresses, Miss Ford? You only have three weeks till the dance, and you’re not getting out of this,” I said, smiling at her.

“I’m going with Kathleen and Steph this weekend, and I wouldn’t dream of getting out of spending a night with you,” she said with a flirtatious and tempting smile that always caused my heart to race.

I leaned over and kissed her. Before I knew it, she was in my lap, kissing me back. We were both panting as our tongues had found one another, and her hands were tangled in my hair. My hands were traveling down her back. My cell phone rang, and we both jumped. We stared at each other and laughed, realizing that it was still light outside and anyone could be watching us.

The problem that Charlotte and I were having was that a simple kiss was turning into a heated, panting, wandering hands, make-out session within seconds now. It was becoming more and more difficult to turn things off when we were together, and we were desperately trying to keep things from progressing. Too say it was challenging would be an understatement.

She jumped off my lap. “Sorry, I don’t know how that happened. You are becoming more difficult for me to resist every day,” she said shyly.

“Well then, I’d stop biting that lip right now if you want me to resist you as well,” I said, leaning over her and gently tugging her bottom lip with my teeth to release it. She moaned as I reached over her to open her door.

“I think we need to get out of this truck now, we have an audience,” I said, laughing.

She sat up and looked through the windshield to see four little neighborhood boys gawking at us.

“Oh. My. Gosh. This is so embarrassing,” she said, and we both laughed.

.

chapter
10

the petite bosom

Prom dress shopping would be challenging, but being with Kathleen and Steph made it tons more fun. I was going to miss them so much next year. We had already made plans for them to visit me in California next year. They were both going to Indiana State University, and I was so envious that they would get to be together. But we were close, and we would stay close. I would come home for every vacation if it were possible.

“OK, Charlie, we are all three leaving with a dress today, got it?” Steph said, laughing.

“I know you two will find one easily because everything looks so good on both of you,” I said, “but I will look like a twelve-year-old playing dress-up in these gowns,” I lamented, shrugging my shoulders.

Steph was a beautiful girl, and she oozed sex appeal. She had shoulder-length, blonde hair that was always styled or slicked back off her gorgeous face. She had bright, blue eyes and great cheekbones. Steph was the most stylish dresser that I knew. Fashion was her hobby, and she always looked amazing. She also had a figure that filled clothes out perfectly.

Kathleen was an absolute classic beauty. She also had gorgeous, big, blue eyes set against beautiful, porcelain skin topped off with long, wavy, auburn hair. Kathleen looked amazing in anything she put on as well. I was jealous of how she looked in clothing, especially when we were prom dress shopping. They both had perfect figures for every gown they put on, and I was drowning in everything I tried on. I did not have a lot “upstairs,” but the sales lady liked to call that “a petite bosom,” which made Kathleen and Steph fall over laughing.

“Great,” I laughed, “do you have any gowns for petite bosoms?”

Steph found a sexy, black, fitted gown with spaghetti straps. It clung to her shape all the way down to the floor, and it had black rhinestones across her “non-petite bosom.” I wondered what it must be like to look that good in a dress like that. She had found her dress quickly and announced, “This is it. This is exactly what I want. Fave will love it!” she crowed proudly.

We all laughed and agreed that she had found the right dress. Kathleen and I continued to search while Steph gave us a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Kathleen found a beautiful, sapphire-blue, satin gown. It sat off the shoulders and had a fitted bodice with a full, floor-length skirt. She looked like a regal princess. I got teary-eyed just looking at her in that gown. Steph squealed with excitement, and Kathleen turned to look at me. “Charlie, do you like it?” she asked, smiling encouragingly at me.

I gazing at my gorgeous friend and said, “You have never looked more beautiful. Edward is going to be speechless.,”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. I’m done,” she announced, satisfied.

I was about to try on one more dress that was clearly going to be “wearing me” when I saw a dress out of the corner of my eye that made me gasp out loud. Steph and Kathleen turned to see what had caught my eye as I rushed over.

“What are these?” I asked the sales lady.

I was holding one hand over my chest to keep the dress I was currently wearing on my body.

“Oh, those are vintage gowns, honey. They are one of a kind, but they only come in whatever size you see them in,” she said nervously, obviously assuming that they wouldn’t fit my misfit body, “and you are going to pay quite a bit more for them because we pay full price for them. They aren’t replicated,” she added.

“We understand,” Kathleen snapped at her, obviously annoyed by her constantly pointing out that nothing was going to fit me.

“Which one do you like?” Steph asked eagerly.

I pulled it off the rack. It was an off-white, strapless gown. It was satin and form-fitted down to the hips, where it met an overlay of tulle to create a full, princess-style bottom. It was breathtaking. Even Steph and Kathleen were impressed, and at the exact same time they both said, “That is SO you,” and we all laughed.

“May I try this one on?” I inquired.

My pulse quickened. I had never gotten this excited over clothes before, but that dress was so feminine and so beautiful. It was exactly what I wanted. Oh, please, please let this fit, I pleaded. I slipped into it, and there it was: a perfect, beautiful potato sack. I felt tears filling my eyes. I loved this dress so much, and it was everything that I wanted.

I was so disappointed. Steph whipped the curtain open and said, “Ooooohhhhhh, nooooo! It’s too big, Charlie. I’m sorry.” She turned and said, “Excuse me! Are you certain you can’t get this in a smaller size somewhere? She needs this dress!” Steph demanded.

I wiped my eyes and reminded myself that this was just a dress, and it wasn’t that tragic. I was obviously just frustrated, and I was sick of shopping.

“No, honey, but let me take her measurements because that way we can call around and get some gowns in her size brought in,” she said eagerly.

I stood in my bra and panties while she proceeded to measure every part of my body.

“My, you sure are a petite little thing, honey, but you’re well-proportioned. You just need a smaller size, and that’s not such a bad thing,” she said sweetly, noticing how disappointed I was over the dreamy gown that didn’t fit.

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“Let me make some calls and get your number, and I will see what I can get in here by next weekend for you to come try on. They won’t be vintage though because I can’t order those in specific sizes, but I will find you some good choices. Does that sound OK, sweetie?” she finished with a kind smile.

“OK, thank you,” I said quietly.

I gave her my phone number and got dressed. I was done trying on gowns for today. Steph and Kathleen were excited about their dresses, but they felt bad that I hadn’t found one. I was thrilled for them that they had found such beautiful dresses, and they would both look amazing.

“It’s not that big of a deal. Maybe Daniel will let me skip the dance now,” I laughed.

“No way!” they both exclaimed.

“Let’s go get some lunch, and maybe we can fill out that petite bosom of yours with some Mexican food,” Steph said, and we all burst out laughing.

I was playing pool with Sean and Gomez, and we had just finished our second pizza. My phone rang, and it was Kathleen. She was having lunch with Charlotte and Steph but had slipped away to let me know what had happened at the dress shop. She knew that Charlotte was upset and gave me a heads up that she was not excited about going to prom without a dress.

I asked her if the dress could be found somewhere else in a smaller size, and she explained that it was a vintage dress. She said that the lady had taken all of Charlotte’s measurements and was going to try to get some other dresses in next weekend that would be in her size.

“But she loved this vintage dress?” I asked.

“She loved it, Daniel. I have never seen her excited about a dress before, and she was
really
excited about it,” Kathleen said sadly.

“The lady took her measurements?” I inquired.

“Yes, to try to find something in her size,” she explained.

“OK, what’s the name of the shop?” I asked. I was excited by an idea I had suddenly had.

“It’s called Saxe Designs, and it’s on the corner of Fifth and Harbor,” she whispered.

“Thanks, Kathleen,” I said, hanging up.

I quickly dialed my mom and explained the dress dilemma. She told me to get down there right away and buy the dress, and to be sure to get the measurements that the lady had taken. She had a tailor, and she was certain that he could alter the dress to Charlotte’s size. Of course my mom had it all figured out, and she called her tailor right after we hung up.

“Put down the pool cues, boys. We’re going to buy a prom dress!” I announced, then I slammed my Pepsi and grabbed my keys.

“We’re doing what?” Gomez asked, annoyed.