Charlotte's Tangled Web: L.B. Pavlov (3 page)

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 track!”

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.

Charlotte looked at me. “Daniel, be nice. He probably just wants everyone to know he plays football so you guys will welcome him to the team,” she said.

She had a way of making me soften and bite my tongue.

“Well, I think he’s a douche bag, so I wouldn’t count on it!” I said as Charlotte rolled her eyes.

We approached the crowd around the new self-proclaimed super star, and the crowd opened up so we could face him. He looked like a California surfer dude. He was definitely cocky and enjoying his new-found fame at St. Viator’s.

He smiled at me. “So you’re the famous quarterback Daniel, huh?” he said as he put his hand out to shake.

“I’m Daniel,” I said with a scowl. Blane looked surprised by my lack of excitement.

“Blane is the name,” he said as he quickly turned his attention to Charlotte. His jaw dropped, probably in reaction to her beauty, and he said, “And who is this lovely lady?”

The guy was a douche bag for sure. I wanted to punch him in the face just for the way he looked at her. Chandler Hoboken had nothing on this guy. He just may have been the most annoying person that I had ever met. I was stunned by Charlotte’s reaction to him.

“Hi, I’m Charlie,” she said in a shy voice. She was actually blushing. I couldn’t believe she could fall for this load of crap.

He beamed at her. “Well, hopefully we will see a lot of each other, Miss Charlie,” he said with a wink.

“Miss Charlie? How old are you dude? Who talks like that?” I said, disgusted.

Charlotte gave me a look that let me know she was not happy with what I had said. Charlotte and I walked away, and she was actually beaming because this guy had flirted with her.

“What?” she said to me.

“I can’t believe you’re falling for this guy’s crap,” I said.

“Why? He’s cute, Daniel. He seems really nice,” she said softly.

I felt bad. I had ruined her moment, but I would be damned if I didn’t warn her about poser right away. I walked her to her first class and told her I would see her at second block for marine biology. We had four classes together this year, and we were both happy about that. She said good-bye and turned to walk into her classroom just as Blane DiAmico turned into her class right behind her. I grimaced when he looked at me, but he just flashed his cheesy smile that made my stomach turn.

I took my seat in my AP calculus class and noticed Blane enter the room.

He smiled at me and took the seat next to mine.

“Hey, Charlie. Long time, no see.” He laughed.

“Hi, Blane,” I said nervously.

“Hey, what’s up with your friend Daniel? He seems to hate me, and we’ve barely met. Do you guys go out or something?” he inquired.

“Oh Daniel? No. He’s my best friend. He’s a great guy. You just have to get to know him. He’ll come around,” I said, surprised by his question. Why did he think we were going out? Most importantly, why would he care? I was intrigued.

Everyone was staring. Clearly the girls were all checking out the new guy and were ready to pounce on this novel, beautiful creature that they were seeing for the first time.

“Well, I’m glad he isn’t your boyfriend, but I’m sure you have one,” he said casually, slyly inquiring again about my dating life.