Heathcliff sighed as the door closed behind him. There was a lot of information that was just shared with him. Much of it felt like it should have been known already to him. This Arachii might be a good source of information about gates that isn't in any of the records that he has. Maybe even any that he'd be able to find surviving in this world right now.
He moved over to his desk and sat down and let himself get lost in thought about the various possibilities that what he'd just learned presented to him as his gaze centered on his desk. While this 'bicorn' wouldn't be able to help with his mapping plan, it at least did let him know that much of what knowledge of the gates they thought they had might not be as accurate as they'd like. He looked from up his desk as the door opened and Carl entered.
yttt"Don't tell me that you believe any of that bullshit," Carl said.
"Don't underestimate what we probably don't know," He gently rebuked Carl. "That girl isn't stupid. Just because we don't know something is possible doesn't necessarily make it impossible. Some of what she said might be fanciful, but that doesn't necessarily mean all of it isn't true."
"Still, why don't we have any record of these bicorns that she told us about?" Carl asked.
"I can't say why, but you saw yourself that there is now a gate in our basement that we both know hadn't been there before," He reminded Carl. "Unless you can offer a better explanation of how that is, then we'll have to go with what Charlie Rivers told us."
"If what she says is true, and I mean if, what does that mean for us?"
"It means that we now have a means to access the unicorn's forest that won't draw public notice. We can begin sending out expeditions into other worlds earlier than we had originally planned. It also means that we might be able to learn more about the gates than any of the records we have could have possibly contained in the first place."
Carl nodded thoughtfully. "That does sound good, but what if it's still all bull? Can we afford to waste time following leads that won't get us anywhere?"
"If it turns out to be mostly false, then we'll cross that bridge when we cross it. As you have said before, Charlie Rivers is a young girl. If it turns out what she told us isn't true, then that would mean she is trusting the wrong source of information. So, she would not be the problem we'd have to focus on if that possibility turns out to be correct. As a young girl, she could be influenced by others who she wouldn't know not to trust. If that is the case, we'll have to find a way to extract her from their influence and bind her to us. That will need to be done carefully so as to not turn her against us. You've seen it for yourself. She might have even more potential with her magic than I do. Then there's the fact that I think she might be the one that will lead her group of friends, which would mean that if we get her, then we'd get her other friends, who look like they might have as much potential as you yourself did at that age."
Carl shook his head in disgust. "That's the worst of it. A stupid kid with that much power. If she really realized what she can do, what's to stop her from turning everything we've worked at inside out and upside down?"
"What is there to stop her?" Heathcliff asked rhetorically. "I'd say those she cares about." Heathcliff stood up from his desk, and started walking towards the door, motioning for Carl to follow as he left the office. "While I can't find much information on her, the little I've been able to learn through observing her is that she works hard to help those she cares about. I'm sure she doesn't want her family hurt, nor does she want to cause problems for her friends or those her friends care about. In addition, I believe we might have someone who could tie this girl to us in a way that we overlooked in the past."
"What way is that?" Carl asked, apparently not caring to try to hide his disbelief.
"Did you notice the way she looked at my niece, Shirley?"
"Why should I have?" Carl asked. Even though he couldn't see Carl, he was sure Carl was shaking his head.
"I think Charlie Rivers might have a crush on her. If we get Shirley to help foster those feelings, we might be able to get her bound to us tighter than if she merely felt indebted to us."
"You think that that stupid girl is-"
"You would do better to not finish that sentence," Heathcliff snapped at Carl, not bothering to look at him. "You should realize how many people who work with us are either like young miss Rivers or have those they care about like her. You might not care for people who have those attractions, but that's not for you to decide. I really believe they don't choose whom they are attracted to. Nor do I believe it's our place to say if they can act on those attractions. What they choose to do in their own relationships is their own business and isn't for us to dictate what they can or can't do."
"Sorry," Carl muttered. Not that he thought Carl thought any differently now.
"Anyway, as long as my niece is open to that kind of thing we should be able to move forward with that." Heathcliff paused as he looked through the open door to the dining room, where Shirley was eating her lunch, her own mind clearly elsewhere. "You never know what might come out of such a relationship."
_
Charlie hung back from the rest of the group as they walked back through Petals' forest. She didn't completely blame them for being mad at her, it was kind of her fault anyway. Though, she couldn't think of a way to have avoided this situation. She had in mind that if they asked her why she was walking so slowly that she'd blame it all on her being tired and not wanting to overexert herself while she allowed her magic to recover.
"So, whatcha thinkin' about?" Beth asked her from ahead of her.
"Nothing really," she replied, hoping Beth would leave it at that while knowing that wasn't going to happen.
"Who was the girl you kept looking at in Heathcliff's office?" Beth asked.
"Shirley," she answered. "She was one of the counselors at the math camp."
"So, you have the hots for her huh?"
"What?!" she cried in surprise.
"Oh yeah, I saw how you looked at her. You have a crush of your own."
Charlie couldn't think of how to respond to that, but felt her face heat in embarrassment.
"Don't worry, I doubt the others noticed, but what do you intend to do about it?" Beth asked, startling her as she found Beth waiting for her on the other side of a green crystal as she walked past it.
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I mean I wouldn't mind if she'd like me, but she is a lot older than me. She probably wouldn't be as interested in me."
"You never know," Beth replied. "She might be more open than you think, but if she is, I'd be worried about you."
"Why?"
"I'd be worried that she'd be using your feelings to manipulate you."
"Why would she do that? She was helping protect me during the camp."
"Yeah, she was protecting you, but likely at the direction of that Heathcliff," Beth said, putting her arm around Charlie's shoulders.
For once, Charlie didn't mind the contact, but rather leaned towards her friend. "Why would that matter?"
"If Heathcliff directed her to get you in bed with her, she might try that," Beth commented. "At least that's the feeling I got from her."
"Why would he ask her to do that?" Charlie wasn't as sure about what was going on as she was a minute ago.
"Look at it this way," Beth suggested. "You told us that Heathcliff's people had tried to mention about magic to you before they asked you to open the gate. Since the reason they wanted to do that was to get you indebted to them, what if they used Shirley to try and get you in pretty much the same way?"
"But she wouldn't do that," Charlie protested weakly. She really didn't know if Shirley would or not, but she didn't want her to be capable of that.
"I hope not, but that's why I'm worried."
"Well, what's to worry about anyway?" she asked. "It's not like we'll be hanging out with her much or anything."
Beth shook her head. "You never know what's going to happen. I hope I'm mistaken, 'cause I'm not sure what it might affect." Then after a moment, she added, "And I don't want to see you get hurt because of anything like that happening."
"No more than who that Alex was that you mentioned when we first met Petals or who gave me this necklace, unless it's the same person," Charlie replied, absently fiddling with the pendant, trying to ignore Beth's last statement by pushing the thought to the back of her mind.
Beth sighed, which said to her that she wasn't going to give any information about the pendant or the mysterious 'Alex.' Which didn't bother her. She'd decided not to worry about those details. If the person who gave her the necklace didn't come forward, then she wasn't going to worry about it. After all, she liked the indigo butterfly, so it wouldn't be a total loss for her if the giver didn't reveal themselves to her.
"By the way, what was it at Heathcliff's that had you almost in a panic?" Beth asked, as the outline of the sequoia came into view.
Charlie sighed herself. She'd kinda hoped that Beth had forgotten about that. "It's just that it felt like you guys weren't happy that I was letting what I learned from Arachii the same time that I was telling Heathcliff about it. I guess my mind wasn't sure what to do about that."
"Don't worry," Beth assured her. "They may not have liked it, but they'll get over it. I mean, it's not like you were keeping it a secret for months and months from them. You know, like about the crystal."
"Are they upset about that?" Charlie asked, suddenly worried about that. She never thought that she'd be part of group a friends like them and suddenly she thought that she'd lose them and couldn't figure out why that bothered her so much.
"Doubt they're really upset about it, more just annoyed, I think. I mean, that's, what? About the third or fourth piece of information you revelaed you knew and didn't tell them, pretty much right away," Beth replied.
Charlie nodded and continued walking with Beth in silence, not sure what else to say about the matter. Especially since there wasn't anything she could do to change those facts.
"So, what else do you have planned for the rest of the summer?" Beth asked after they passed the sequoia. "Anything special?"
Charlie thought about it and couldn't come up with anything specific outside of the usual yearly events. "My dad's birthday is on the twelfth of August, but otherwise no other plans," she answered.
"In that case, would you like to spend the night at my place for a week or two?" Beth asked. "I think we can learn more about what we can do with our magic if we work together on our experiments."
Charlie thought about it. While she would rather not, mostly because she'd never slept over at anyone else's house before, it did sound appealing to her. She might even learn more about Beth than she had already. Which she was surprised to realize that she found that rather appealing.
"I'll ask my parents, but otherwise I think it shouldn't be a problem. I mean, as long as we keep coming back to my place so I can at least take care of my garden," she said. Then realized something that she hadn't said but had wanted to before now. "By the way, thanks for taking care of my garden. I really appreciate it."
"No problem, bestie," Beth said, pulling her arm around Charlie's shoulders tighter. "That's what friends are for."
_
In the end, the only one with any problem by Charlie staying at Beth's was Cherie, and it was clear to Charlie that she was very annoyed by that fact. Maybe it was that she hadn't been allowed to do that in the past or maybe because she was used to Charlie always being around their home, but she was. Charlie couldn't help but wonder if there was anything she could do about it.
So, she knocked on her sister's door that afternoon, before they were called down to dinner. "Mind if I come in, Cherie?" she asked, wondering what she might learn from her sister through this attempt.
"Go ahead," was the reply.
Charlie opened the door and entered her sister's room. The room was covered by her latest band preferences, movies she really liked, and some pictures sporadically placed of her and her friends doing one activity or another.
Cherie was sitting on her bed, her phone in her hand, doing something with it while resting with her back against the headboard and wall. Maybe a game or browsing an app or browser, Charlie never could tell.
Charlie walked over to stand by her sister's bed, not sure if she should sit on the bed, at her sister's desk, which was still covered in its usual clutter, or somewhere else. However, she was more concerned at the moment with healing any possible rift between her and her sister.
So, as she reached Cherie's bed, she didn't waste any time in saying her piece. "Cherie, did I do something to upset you?" she asked. She was confident she hadn't, but at the same time, it was never wrong to go forward with extra caution. Especially since she really didn't know what the problem might be.
"No, you didn't do anything," Cherie replied, not looking up from her phone.
Charlie waited a minute before she could tell Cherie wasn't going to add anything more. "Then what's the problem? I mean, you used to be annoyed that I didn't hang out with anyone and that I spent all of my time, especially during the summer, at home."
Cherie didn't respond right away. Charlie was beginning to wonder if she was going to reply at all to her question, when suddenly she put her phone down and looked directly at Charlie, her eyes glistening with tears, not quite ready to be released. "You want to know why? Well, I always thought that it would be better if I didn't always have you around here when I'm with my friends and that I'd like it if you were gone while I was here sometimes." Cherie stopped to take a deep breath as she absently looked towards her desk. Charlie wasn't sure what else to do, so she waited patiently. "Then you're not here basically at all this summer. Or even the last two months of school. I didn't realize how much I counted on you being here."
"Would you like me to spend more time with you?" Charlie asked, not sure if that's what her sister was getting at. After all, they rarely spent time together outside of family activities, so she wasn't sure what her sister meant.
"I'm not sure," Cherie said, a tear starting to flow down her cheek.
"Is there anything that I can do for you?" Charlie wasn't sure if she should do anything for her sister at the moment, like trying to comfort her or if that would make things worse.
Cherie looked at Charlie directly. The first time she did since Charlie came into the room. "Would you be willing to spend the night in here tonight?" Cherie asked.
Charlie knew that that wasn't what her sister wanted most, but she accepted that, given there was supposed to be severe weather that night. "Sure, I'll do that," Charlie said, sitting on her sister's bed. "Maybe when we go to bed you can tell me what's really bothering you."
Charlie was surprised when Cherie's face went beet red. "W- what do you mean?" Cherie stammered.
Charlie smiled, hopefully reassuringly. "I mean that the severe weather tonight isn't what's got you upset right now. I'm happy to spend the night in your room instead of mine if you want that, but what I really want to know is what problem there is between us."
"There's no problem," Cherie said, her voice telling Charlie that she wasn't aware of one.
"Then why were you so annoyed when you found out that I was spending a week at Beth's?" Charlie held her hand out to her sister, not sure if Cherie would take it.
Cherie did as she replied, "I think it might be that I miss you being around. It was almost like you went from being constantly here to being almost a ghost around here." Cherie took another deep breath. "Then…"
Charlie again waited patiently for her sister to continue, but when it became clear that she wasn't going to, Charlie tightened her grip on her sister's hand. "Whatever it is, I promise I won't get mad. We're sisters, I'll always be there if you need me, even if I can't do anything right away for you."
"Thanks, but I think I shouldn't say anything more. I mean, I'm not even sure of what I wanted to say a moment ago," Cherie said, smiling encouragingly at her.
"Well, if you're sure you don't want t say anything about it right now that's fine, but if you change your mind, I'll be ready to hear you out, okay?" Charlie said.
"Thanks," Cherie said. Then after a minute she took a deep breath. "I'll be okay, thanks for hearing me out, okay?"
"No problem," Charlie smiled happily at her sister. "I just didn't want any problem to come up between us. I mean one more than has before. Those went away on their own, but it felt like this one could drive us apart and I don't want that."
"I don't either," Cherie replied, picking her phone back up. "Even though you're not the sister I would have liked, I think you're good enough."
Charlie swatted playfully at Cherie. "Thanks a lot."
Cherie laughed as she returned her full focus back to whatever she had been doing on her phone. Charlie was about to get up and leave her sister's room, when their mother called out to them that it was dinner time.
_
Both Charlie and Cherie weren't happy that their mother was called into work for an extra shift towards the end of dinner, but neither of them could do about it. The only consolation that their mother wasn't happy about it either, something to do about a raise she was supposed to get but had been delayed multiple times. Charlie wasn't sure of the details, but figured her mother had it under control.
So, in the end, she went to her room and picked up the book she'd started at camp. Mostly so she could finish it and return it to Beth. It was a mystery book and while it wasn't very long, maybe a hundred pages, she wasn't even halfway through it yet. One thing she didn't understand is why she could read through gardening books that were at least twice as thick as this book in a quarter of the time she'd been working on this one.
The only blessing she had about it was when the storm the weather had predicted showed up, the power went out. Which meant Charlie lost her light for her book. It also meant that it had to be bedtime, since she couldn't do anything else.
Unless she wanted to use her magic, but she'd already agreed with her friends that at times like these around their families, it would make it harder to keep them from learning about magic.
So, she merely put her book down and went to change into her nightgown as the rain began to pelt the roof and occasional lightning flash lit up her room, followed by thunder. Sometimes is was really loud and close, other times rather distant. She also wasn't surprised to hear the sounds of running and someone bumping into walls. She figured it would be her sister, in full panic mode from the combination of the dark and severe weather.
Charlie was about to put her nightgown on, when Cherie burst into her room and only knew where Charlie was as a flash of lightning shone through the window at that moment. Cherie ran over to Charlie, glomping her with enough force to knock her over and cause her drop her nightgown.
"Why didn't you come to my room already?" Cherie wailed, her terror in full force.
Charlie wrapped her arms around her sister, trying to push out of her mind that she was in just her underwear. "I was getting into my nightgown when you came in. You know I wouldn't leave you alone during this," Charlie said, hoping her words were comforting to her sister. "But wouldyou at least let me get my nightgown on?"
Cherie might have let her do that right then, but as soon as she finished her request, another flash of lightning lit up the room and Charlie could see her sister hadn't even started to get ready for bed herself. That flash was followed almost immediately with a loud crash of thunder.
Charlie could feel her sister trembling as she held Charlie close. Charlie couldn't help but sigh. It might be a few minutes before Cherie was calm enough for Charlie to finish getting ready for bed herself. Sometimes her sister's phobia could be a headache by itself.
If the power hadn't gone out, then maybe Cherie wouldn't be so panicked right now, but there wasn't anything Charlie could do, and while she briefly considered using magic on her sister to help calm her, even the thought of doing that left a sour taste in her mouth. It felt like it would be almost as bad as making her sister do something because she wanted her to, rather than talking with her about it first.
While it probably was only a few minutes, it felt like it was an hour or two before Cherie was able to let go of Charlie enough so she could get her nightgown on. After which, Charlie accompanied her sister to her room, where Cherie merely took her clothing off until she was in her underwear before climbing in the bed. Charlie knew better than to try and get Cherie to put her pajamas on, given how close some of the lightning was striking to their home. So, Charlie got in her sister's bed with her and tried to get to sleep with her sister curled tightly, almost like she was trying to curl up in a ball, next to her.
Maybe it was that she knew her sister was in her underwear, which did make Charlie a little uncomfortable, or how she rarely was in her sister's room, or maybe it was the posters in her sister's room that put Charlie on edge, but she was having a rather difficult time getting to sleep.
While she heard her sister's breathing become deep and regular, she didn't begrudge Cherie being able to get to sleep so quickly. If anything, it let Charlie relax a little more, as she wouldn't need to deal with her sister's panic. At least for tonight.
As she couldn't sleep, Charlie let her mind go over the events that had occurred recently. Not just the meeting of Arachii, but also what Beth ahd said about what Heathcliff might try if he learned about her crush on Shirley. While she wouldn't mind a relationship with the older girl, she kept in mind that she was probably too young to even attract any real interest from Shirley. At which point, Charlie felt her breathing stop for a moment as she finally connected what Beth probably was worried about.
Yes, Charlie was likely too young for Shirley to really be interested in, but if she was, then would Charlie look at anything else but that a girl she liked, liked her back? Would she consider anything that might ruin the fantasy she probably would be living in in her mind?
A swirl of emotions began to form in Charlie as she considered what a relationship with the older girl might look like, both benign as well as worst case. While it let her know she really needed to let her feelings towards Shirley go, she couldn't help but wonder if she somehow succeeded in doing that, if those feelings wouldn't just return if Shirley showed an inkling of interest in her. For any reason.
Even though it took a while, she eventually did fall asleep. Not that she could say when that was. However, given where her thoughts were at that time, her dreams were rather troubled, but at least when she woke up, while she couldn't remember the dreams, the storm had passed and a sunny morning shone through her sister's window. Cherie still curled next to her, still asleep.
_
"So, you're saying you agree with me now?" Beth asked Charlie.
They were sitting on Beth's bed in her room. The room was in the middle of being redecorated. There were still newspaper articles of various subjects hung on parts of the walls, but a few were clearly in the process of being torn down. Mostly as space was needed for things being put up. At the moment posters of nature scenes were being put up. The only part of the walls that didn't seem to be getting touched was a poster of 'Glitter Force' that Charlie had been wanting to ask about, but not sure if she should Mostly because she wasn't sure she really wanted to know.
"On the subject of Shirley and Heathcliff, yeah, I agree that I may have a problem there," Charlie said, not sure what she could do about it at the moment.
"You know what to do about that, right?" Beth asked, leaning against the wall by the head of her bed.
"Maybe," Charlie admitted. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if that it would be enough."
Beth nodded. "Good, even if you have a terrible idea, acknowledging it might not be enough, at least then you'll keep your mind open to other ideas as well."
"Mostly I think if I keep away from Shirley, I should be fine," Charlie said, her eyes boring a hole in the center of Beth's quilt.
"Given we don't have any plans of frequenting Heathcliff's place, that should be good," Beth acknowledged.
Their conversation was interrupted at that moment by a knock on Beth's open door. Both of them turned to see Beth's oldest sister, Stacie, at the door.
"Need something Stace?" Beth asked.
"Just wanted to remind you, it's time," Stacie replied before leaving the doorway. Then a moment later they could hear the sounds of Stacie going down the stairs. Stacie was around ten years old, stood around four foot two, had blond hair and blue eyes. Aside from her eyes, she looked almost like a younger Beth.
"What's time?" Charlie asked.
"My family gets together to watch a series on Netflix. We have a tradition of watching it together after lunchtime, at least when we're on summer break," Beth replied, as she slid to the edge of her bed before getting up.
"What series do you watch?" Charlie asked.
"Glitter Force," Beth said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Charlie paused in climbing off of Beth's bed. "You mean like that poster?"
"Yeah, the same," Beth said, not looking at Charlie, but walking casually towards her door. "Want to watch with us?"
Charlie shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
"That's the spirit," Beth said cheerfully.
Charlie followed Beth as she went downstairs and entered the living room. The couches were already filled with Beth's six siblings. Stacie was at the left armrest of the big couch with the remote, Beth's brother Dale was sitting on the floor, resting his back against the couch in-between couch cushions, while Beth's next oldest sisters, Katie and Lisa were sitting above him, and Beth's youngest sister, Harriet, was in an infant car seat, on the armchair, which is where Beth moved to sit.
Dale was around twelve, stood around four foot seven, had brown hair, and hazel eyes that were the exact shade as Beth's. Katie had blond hair, crystal blue eyes, was about three foot eight, and was five. Lisa was a redhead with almost sea green eyes, was only about two inches shorter than Katie and was four. Harriet was only eight months old and had brown-blond hair and sea blue eyes.
Charlie took a minute to navigate her way over to the loveseat that was still open and sat, not sure what to expect Glitter Force to be like. All she really knew from the poster was that the main characters were girls and that it was an anime. Part of her was curious, but the bigger part of her was already bored. While she'd gotten a little bit interested in My Little Pony, she still didn't find watching TV or any streaming service that interesting.
What surprised her most was not that they watched the intro, but that Beth and her siblings sang the song with the TV. She thought that they were all more interested in the series as it had been something they'd all done together for a while, rather than each of them being a super fan of the series.
One thing Charlie noticed almost right away about the series was that they were already partway though the series. Not that she really minded, as she didn't really follow the series anyway. The next thing she noticed was that Dale was just as into the series as his sisters. Though close to the end of the third episode, some of his friends knocked on the door and he acted like they saved him from 'suffering through watching' the series that he clearly loved.
Maybe it was to avoid getting teased by it from his friends or maybe it was something else, but Charlie wasn't so worried about that. It wasn't her business anyway.
As she watched the series, she found herself mildly interested in it, but not enough that she wanted to see all of it from start to finish. She was happy that it wasn't as boring to her as she had expected that it would be. Though, she still wouldn't mind doing something else, but not enough to complain as they watched five episodes before their mother got home.
While Beth's mother did work as an escort, during the day she primarily worked at a convenience store. She was around five foot seven, had blond hair, and hazel eyes, a little darker than Beth's, and Charlie thought she'd heard from Beth that her mother was around 34.
The credits for the fifth episode had just started when she opened the front door. "I'm home!" she called out, at which point Stacie backed out of the series as everyone but Harriet rushed over to greet their mother. The younger they were, the faster they rushed to their mother.
When they finished the greetings, their mother looked at them and asked, "Where's Dale?"
"He left about forty minutes ago with some of his friends," Beth said.
"Okay, as long as he's back before dinner," she commented absently.
"Would you like a snack?" Katie asked.
"Thanks, but I'm good, dear," she replied, carefully making her way through her children. "I think I'll just have a nap before I need to go out later."
"What would you like for dinner, mom?" Beth asked.
"Doesn't matter. Order pizza if you like," she said.
Beth sighed, clearly unhappy with the response, while her sisters cheered at the idea of pizza. It was clear Beth had other ideas of what she would have liked as an answer.
Charlie stood away from them, not sure what else she could do at the moment. She assumed that Beth's mother was tired and giving a quick answer to a problem she didn't have the energy to deal with, but at the same time, it felt like it might be a common occurrence that she returned home this tired.
When her mother went into her room and closed the door, Beth returned to her own room and Charlie followed her. When Charlie entered Beth's room, Beth was laying face down on her bed, her head directly laying on her pillow.
"Want to talk about it?" Charlie asked, not sure what else to say or do.
Beth turned her head so she could speak clearly. "Not really, but it's not like letting it go would do any good."
"You didn't look happy with what your mom said about dinner."
"Yeah, that's her go-to solution for dinner. I hoped that she'd just tell me to make something, but the others are now looking forward to pizza, so likely I'll need to place the order, since I know where my mom keeps her credit cards."
"Would you rather make something for you and me and order pizza for your family and we could have a dinner in here?" Charlie asked, not sure where this idea was coming from.
"Sounds good, but not really. I asked my mom because I knew that she'd be too tired to make anything later and this was the only chance I could think of to try and get something else, and also to try and do something for her," Beth said, her tone starting off casual, but ending up sounding depressed.
"Is there anything you'd like me to help with?"
"Maybe, but we'll see what will need to be done later," Beth replied. "I can't say what my mom will ask me to do later while she's out. Though, it would be nice if there was a list I could just follow."
"Would you like me to read to you?" Charlie asked, not wanting to exactly caring If she read to Beth. She was just hoping that it might make it easier to get through the book. "I'm still working on that book you made me borrow."
"Hey, I didn't make you do anything?" Beth protested, rolling her body so it was resting on its side. "You just didn't look in your bags after I switched it out for your gardening book."
"Call it what you will, I still hadn't agreed to borrow it."
Beth laughed. "Maybe, but if you want to read it now go ahead. I've read it before, so I don't need to hear you read it. I'll be fine watching you read if I don't take a nap myself."
"When do you need to order the pizza?" Charlie asked.
"Well, it's almost three now, so probably in an hour or an hour and a half," Beth answered. "I should be done with a nap if I take one now, by then."
Charlie shook her head as she settled down on the floor next to Beth's bed, resting her back against the bed. She pulled out the book from the bag she'd packed for the week-long stay while Beth pulled her covers over her as she settled in to take a nap.
_
The doorbell rang, waking Charlie up. The doorbell itself wouldn't have woken her under normal circumstances, but it was clear something was wrong with it, given it was so much louder than any other doorbell Charlie had heard.
Charlie heard running to the front door and whoever was running almost reached it before the doorbell was rung again. Now that she was awake, Charlie had to cover her ears with how loud the doorbell was. The clock in the room indicated that it was almost five, which surprised her. She didn't realize she'd fallen asleep, but while she'd gotten through several pages, it felt like it should be closer to four than five. Which she assumed meant that she'd napped for around an hour.
"Please don't ring the doorbell again," Charlie heard Beth plead with whoever was at the front door.
"Sorry, didn't realize your doorbell was broken," the person said. Charlie didn't recognize the voice, but it sounded familiar. She just couldn't place it right away. All she could tell was that it was a girl.
"Why're you here anyway?" Beth asked. "I thought you were going to be gone for the entire summer on that trip."
"We got back this morning, my grandma had an emergency at work," came the reply. "I came over after I got your email." The sound of the person's voice indicated that they'd entered the house.
"Well, can we talk about this later?" Beth asked. "Now isn't a good time and can't you talk with Allison about this first?"
"I need to talk with you about it now and you know Allison isn't going to be available until at least next week so you're it. You're the only one I can talk to about what you said in that email. I mean, how am I supposed to know if she's going to find that she does have a shot with this Shirley, regardless of their age difference? I know I was supposed to invite her to my birthday party and I chickened out, but I'm not sure if I can handle it if I lose my chance like this," the other girl said, sounding like she was coming closer. Charlie wasn't sure if she should move or do anything. Part of her was wondering if she should even be hearing what's being said at this moment.
"There's really something you need to know first," Beth pleaded, sounding rather desperate, which surprised Charlie. Who was this that was visiting?
"Then there's the part that I already have it planned how to ask her out to homecoming," the girl continued, either ignoring Beth or not hearing her at all. "All I really need is to keep her single until then. I mean, I know I gave her that necklace in her locker back in April and it wasn't until around the last week of school that she started wearing it and I was starting to worry that she wasn't going to wear it at all. So, I know she's at least open to a relationship, but I need to keep her from getting involved with someone else first. You've been able to give us good information about her since we made that deal for you to become friends with her and your help has been great."
Charlie was getting a sinking feeling in her stomach about who it was that was talking, even though her name wasn't coming to mind. It also sounded like she was heading towards Beth's room, which made Charlie feel like she should hide, not that she could think why that was.
"Alex, please, I need to tell you something first," Beth yelled at her. However, it seemed like whichever 'Alex' this was, wasn't paying any attention to what Beth was saying.
"Now you sent me an email that said she had a bit of a crush on this 'Shirley' and that she-" the girl stopped midsentence as she reached Beth's room and saw Charlie. When Charlie saw the girl, she recognized her as Alex Samuels, one of the cheerleaders she'd sat with during lunch during the past school year. Charlie felt her own mind deflate as she tried to wrap her mind around not only that fact, but all that she just heard from her through her rant to Beth.
Beth came up next to Alex and stopped, looking like she didn't know what to do in this situation. Alex looked like she couldn't tear her eyes away from Charlie and her face began to turn a bright red, not that Charlie could blame her. After all, if what she had said was true, and if she was the one who had the crush on that Beth had alluded to when they'd first met Petals, then having her crush learn about it through that would be terribly embarrassing. Charlie found that she wasn't able to say anything either. If this was the Alex that was interested in her, then she wasn't sure she should say anything.
Finally it was Beth who was able to break the tension, as she pulled Alex out of the doorway, breaking the eye contact that seemed to have frozen both Alex and Charlie. Then, when Alex was out of sight, Charlie realized that her own face was burning up and it didn't help that she could hear the conversation between Beth and Alex.
"How could you let me go on like that with her here?" Alex wailed.
"I tried to tell you, but you weren't listening. That is why I was trying to get you to agree to talking about your problems later," Beth said, almost so quietly that Charlie couldn't hear her.
"You should have shoved me out of your house then," Alex retorted.
"Yeah, if I did that, then it probably would have ended our friendship," Beth said.
"Maybe, but it would have stopped me from making such a fool of myself in front of her," Alex complained.
Charlie could imagine Beth shaking her head at that. "Come on, I know you're upset about how she found out, but you should have known that I was keeping things under control and you didn't need to worry," Beth pleaded.
Alex sighed. "Maybe, but I'm not sure if I can go through with my plan now," she said, sounding rather defeated.
Charlie finally found the strength to move forward and step outside of Beth's room, where she could see Alex and Beth. Beth and Alex were facing each other, though Alex was facing away from Charlie. "Um, Alex?" Charlie ventured. "Would you be willing to talk with me for a minute?"
Alex stiffened at the sound of Charlie's voice. Then she slowly turned away, the look in her eyes bringing to mind for Charlie a cornered rabbit. "About what?" she squeaked out.
"Just to talk," Charlie said as calmly as she could. She wondered if she should treat Alex like a startled animal, but part of her felt like that would be demeaning to Alex somehow. "I get the feeling that if we don't talk, we probably won't talk at all."
A look of fear flashed through Alex's eyes, but it disappeared almost the moment it appeared that Charlie wondered if she imagined it. "Okay," Alex said so quietly that if Charlie wasn't looking at her while she said it, Charlie wasn't sure if she'd have realized it was Alex who spoke.
Beth sighed. "Use my room, it'll be about as private as anywhere else in this house," Beth said, sounding rather defeated.
Charlie nodded her thanks to Beth. Though, she would need to talk with Beth later anyway, but right now Alex was the bigger concern for her.
Alex followed Charlie back into Beth's room, walking a little woodenly. It was clear she'd rather be pretty much anywhere else at the moment. She sits at Beth's desk as Charlie sits on Beth's bed. Alex is clearly waiting for Charlie to break the ice, especially with her gaze so focused on the carpet, so after she's settled, Charlie takes a deep breath before talking. Not that she had any idea of what to say to begin with. Nor was she able to keep her eyes on any place for more than a minute or two.
"I've wondered who might be interested in me," she began lamely. "I really liked the necklace and I'm sorry it took me so long to wear it. I left it in a drawer in my desk and forgot about it." Charlie couldn't help but chuckle nervously. She wasn't sure if admitting she'd forgotten about the pendant would be a good thing or not, but couldn't take back what she'd just said.
"I'm glad you liked it," Alex said, her gaze remaining on the carpet.
Charlie waited a minute before deciding Alex wasn't going to say anything else. "I guess you're worried about me liking Shirley," Charlie said, hoping to get more of a dialogue going, but not sure how.
At Shirley's name, Alex jumps a little, her gaze flashing up to Charlie for a moment before returning to the carpet. However, she doesn't say anything. Charlie wasn't sure if how hard she should try, but felt like she shouldn't stop here.
"Well, while I like her and wouldn't mind going out with her, she is, I think, nineteen and I seriously doubt that she'd look at me like that and if she did, I'd be suspicious she was up to something," Charlie said, hoping to at least relieve Alex's apparent fears about Shirley.
"I thought you liked her," Alex said, so quietly Charlie almost didn't hear her.
"I do, but I don't trust her uncle and the people that work for him," Charlie said, settling her eyes on Alex's hands. "So, if she did show an interest in me now, I'm not sure it wouldn't be her uncle directing her to." Charlie took a deep breath before continuing, especially since Alex didn't show signs of saying anything at the moment. "I mean, you know how it is, where you like someone but at the same time aren't sure about them. Where you don't know anything about them, but you can't help but like them."
"Yeah, I guess I kinda know about that," Alex admitted, her eyes looking at Charlie shyly. "You're one person that was like that for me."
Charlie felt herself blush at that response. She even had to retrace the conversation to figure out what it was that she had had in mind to say next. "So, I just want you to know that I don't plan on getting involved with Shirley, even if she's interested." Charlie paused before adding, "I mean, at least for the near future."
"Could I call you Charlie?" Alex blurted, then immediately blushed to the point Charlie wondered if she was trying to compete with roses with how red she was turning.
"Sure, that's what everyone calls me," Charlie said, chuckling nervously again, not sure why Alex asked that.
"Thanks," Alex replied, wringing her hands. "Charlie, I didn't plan on asking you this so soon, but would you go to the homecoming dance with me?"
Charlie's mind short-circuited at the question. She hadn't gone to any of the dances in her freshman year, so not only would she be going to a dance this next year, she'd be going with someone. The dances in the next year had not even crossed her mind with everything else that had been going on. It took her a few minutes before she could even think coherently again.
Alex waited, seemingly patient, but to Charlie it looked like she might be on pins and needles waiting for a response. Finally Charlie took a deep breath and gave her answer. After all, how bad could it be?
"Sure, I'd be happy to go with you," Charlie said. "But I'm curious, what was your original plan?"
Alex blushed again, but looked like she wasn't as uncomfortable as before. "It's stupid," she said.
"Maybe, but I'd like to hear it if you're willing to tell me," Charlie pressed. If Alex really didn't want to tell her, then Charlie wasn't going to hound her on it, but she was interested in knowing what it was.
"Well, it's that I was thinking on the first day of school to ask you during the opening assembly. I'd find a way to sit next to you during the assembly and drop a note in your lap," Alex said.
Charlie couldn't help but laugh, at which point Alex got up and started to leave the room, her face completely crimson.
"Wait don't go!" Charlie called after her, struggling to contain her laughter. "Sorry I laughed, I just found it funny and not in a bad way."
Alex turned back to Charlie. "Okay, but please don't do that again," Alex requested quietly. "I used to get that a lot from my ex."
"Sorry," Charlie repeated. "Though, will you tell Beth and Allison that you asked me?"
Alex hesitated. "Eventually at least," she said. "I mean, I'm sure they'll want to know if I'm giving up on your from you finding out like this." Alex started wringing her hands again.
Charlie stood up and started walking over to her. "If you do or not, that's up to you. I was just wondering."
"Would it be alright to call you sometimes?" Alex asked.
"Ummm," now It was Charlie's turn to hesitate. "I don't have a phone." Charlie wasn't sure how this would be received. After all, this was really the first time she found herself regretting that fact.
"Well, if you do get one, Beth can give you my number," Alex said, but Charlie was confident that Alex thought Charlie was making an excuse not to give Alex her number.
"You can ask Beth if you'd like," Charlie said. "Whenever she has to call my mom, and my mom doesn't really like Beth."
"Then I'll talk to you at school, okay?" Alex replied.
"That'd be great," Charlie said, smiling brightly at Alex. Which Alex blushed furiously again in response.
Then stumbling over her own words, she quickly left, almost running into the pizza deliveryman as he was bringing up the pizzas.
Then once the pizzas were paid for, Beth returned to her room. Charlie had sat back on Beth's bed, not sure how to handle this turn of events.
"Are you okay?" Beth asked, sitting next to Charlie on her bed.
Charlie looked up at Beth slowly. "Yeah, I'm okay," she said. "Just trying to digest everything that happened."
"I bet it's a lot to take in," Beth said.
"By the way, what did Alex mean about you making a deal with her to try and become friends with me?" Charlie asked, recalling a piece of Alex's rant.
"Ummm, well…" Beth hesitated, then after a minute she sighed. "I guess it probably would be best to tell you all of it. First, when Alex first started liking you around last December, Allison asked me to find out all I could about you. Hardly anyone knew anything about you at school. I mean, no one even knows when your birthday is," Beth said, laughing when she mentioned about Charlie's birthday. "So, I started using Stacie to use her contacts to learn what she could about you from your sister. We learned a little, but nothing really helpful. All we learned were a few pieces about you, like what colors you liked or your interest in gardening. Nothing really substantive."
"Well, at least that explains who was bothering my sister about me," Charlie mused. "Cherie was blaming me for that."
"Sorry about that," Beth said. "But anyway, Allison and Alex made a deal with me to try and become your friend. Though, I guess it could also be termed a bet. If I tried to become your friend and failed, then they'd give me two hundred dollars. If I succeeded, then I wouldn't get anything from them. We didn't know if you would be someone who would push me away or if you'd be amenable to a friend. Though, when the rumor about us sleeping together started, Alex freaked out a little and started thinking that I'd betrayed her."
"Yeah, that's an unpleasant memory," Charlie commented, recalling the grilling she got from the cheerleaders because of it.
"Well, after that, Allison asked me about it and I assured her it was the rumor mill going into overdrive, since you've never been seen hanging out with anyone before. That and I have pretty much taken you hostage," Beth said.
"So, if we didn't become friends, you'd have gotten two hundred dollars?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah, I didn't think much about it, I mean, I could certainly use the money, but when they offered it to me, I wasn't sure if that could possibly hurt any friendship we may form if you learned about it," Beth said, her tone taking on a nervous tone as she neared the end of her statement.
Charlie pulled Beth into a hug, surprising both of them. "Maybe if I learned about it shortly after I began thinking of you as a friend, I'd have told you to get lost, but now I trust you. If you did get two hundred dollars for being my friend, I wouldn't care," Charlie said when she pulled away from the embrace. Then after a moment, she added with a smirk, "All I'd ask for is my cut."
Beth laughed. "Yeah, I bet you would. Though, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some gardening tool or thing you might have your eye on."
"Probably," Charlie admitted.
"Thanks for being so accepting," Beth said.
"Thanks for making me your project," Charlie replied, again surprised at how much she really meant that. Then another thought occurred to Charlie. "Did your mom get woken up by Alex ringing the doorbell?"
Beth laughed. "No, I doubt she'd wake up if I drove the car through the entire house. When she's asleep, it's hard waking her up."
"Well, at least she has that going for her," Charlie laughed.
"Want to get some pizza? I ordered you a regular sausage pepperoni pizza, since I doubted you'd be as interested in the pineapple, ham, and anchovy pizza we normally get," Beth said.
"Thanks. I doubt I'd be able to eat that," she said, and she was indeed grateful to not have to make that choice. Eat that kind of pizza or go hungry. She'd likely choose to go hungry.