F&P Chapter 5

Apr 13, 2008

The next few days flew by in a blur. I had no idea what was going on except for the fact that my best friend wouldn’t speak to me, and that the school’s hottie was walking me around the hallways. Yeah, who knew? I spent my afternoons in detention, where Gavin and I passed notes like crazy. Darren didn’t even look at me. It was perfect. And that scared me. Not many times in my life did things go perfectly well. Like, when I was bored and my father left my mother because I was an unplanned baby. He didn’t want me. And if that isn’t enough of a self-esteem booster, there’s the fact that in middle school I was labeled as the school’s slut and I had to switch to some fancy private school which my family, well my mom, could NOT afford. It only lasted about a month there before I got kicked out for punching some bratty girl in the face for saying that she understands why my dad would leave my mother alone with me. She deserved it. And I felt good. So I switched back to the high school I was originally supposed to attend, while I worked like crazy to pay off the debt for just one month at a swanky private school. To top it all off, I had to go to court as a witness to a robbery at the little convenience store where I worked. So things never went perfectly well. And now that I think about it, Darren was right there beside my through all of it. He never once judged me, or anything. I was always Charley. Not Charlene Erica, the unplanned child, or Charlene, the bully at a private school, or C-dog as the guys who hung out at my place of employment called me. Most of all, I wasn’t Charley Do-me, the 7th grade slut. I was just. Charley. A girl who hated her name as much as the next guys. He never had standards for me, but he never doubted me either, I was his best friend, how could I leave him on my front porch like that?
But there’s Gavin. He doesn’t know anything about my past. I can start over with him. He doesn’t know what I’ve been through, and he doesn’t need to know. I have a clean slate. And he’s just so hot. “Babe. Babe. Charley.” he was saying as he was waving his hand in my face. I slapped his hand out of the way. “I’m fine. Really, I am. I was just spacing out. You know, didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” I said that last part really loudly because next to us in the lunch line was Darren and Merribeth. Darren scowled and muttered something under his breath. Hah, he thinks it was because I was up with Gavin. Really, I may be experienced, but hey, I have my standards. And I definitely would not do it with Gavin after dating him for a week, and only knowing him, well, a week. If only he knew it was because I was watching a best of the 80’s movie marathon.1 Oh well, let Darren think what he wants. Let jealously seep though his veins. He’ll put his active imagination to use here for sure. “Babe, lets go to our table” Gavin said as he preceded towards our quiet yet still noticeable table by the window. We enjoyed our lunch, what I enjoyed the most was the glances from Darren, the green-monster all in his eyes. We walked to American History, said our goodbyes and then kissed, like we do everyday. Except this time, when I walked in the room, instead of going to my desk, the teacher asked me to come to his desk. “Charley, guidance wants to see you. You know the way.” So off I went to the direction of the office where I always seem to end up. Only this time, I had no idea what to expect.