Becoming Somebody

Chapter 27 - "Can we talk?"

'What am I supposed to do now?' Charlie thought. It was a thought that had been bouncing around her head for days, ever since she learned about Cassius' trip. Selfishly, she didn't want him to go. She didn't want him to have an amazing experience with a bunch of new people. What if he forgot about her? What if he met another girl? She didn't think her heart could take it.

"Earth to Charlie," Taylor said.

They had been sitting watching Netflix at Taylor's house for hours. Charlie was trying to run away from her thoughts by binging television, but it wasn't working, obviously.

"Yeah, sorry, what's up?" Charlie said, snapping out of her painful daydream. Day-nightmare was more like it.

"Are you even watching anymore?" Taylor was annoyed. "Like, did you even realize Joe locked Beck in the vault?"

"Yeah, yeah, I did. He's crazy," Charlie lied unconvincingly.

Taylor sighed. "Look, I know you're sad about Cassius. I understand, I really do. I don't know what I would do if Tim was going away for the summer. But you can't just ignore him forever. It's not his fault his parents got him that trip."

"I'm not ignoring him," Charlie said defensively. "I just haven't seen him for a few days... or answered his texts. Or phone calls. Whatever."

Taylor raised both eyebrows at her. "He's blowing up your phone, like as we speak. Can you please just answer it? For my sanity, if nothing else. The constant buzzing is driving me insane."

Charlie hadn't even heard her phone buzzing. It was stuck between the cushions of the couch. She fished it out and saw 5 missed calls from Cassius. Taylor was right, she needed to talk to him. Just as she was about to call him back, her phone lit up with his name again.

She breathed out, then answered, "Hi Cassius."

"Charlie! You finally answered," he said. "Listen, can we talk? I need to tell you something."

Charlie's stomach dropped. Wasn't 'Can we talk' code for 'Let's break up'?

"Sure," she said in a monotone voice. "When do you want to talk?"

"Can you meet me at our beach in 20 minutes?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, and hung up. Was it really still going to be "their beach" after this?

She drove to the beach and parked. She saw his car, so she knew he was already there. She walked out onto the sand, trying to find him in the moonlight. He was standing next to the lifeguard tower, looking out at the waves.

"Hey," she said as she approached.

He turned around, and smiled when he saw her. "Hi Charlie," he said.

"What'd you wanna talk about?" she said, her voice dull and cold. She could face him while he broke up with her, but she didn't have to be happy about it.

"Charlie, I want you to know I'm going on that trip," he started, his voice more serious than she had ever heard before. "But before I go, I wanted to tell you something."

"And what's that?" she asked, trying not to cry.

"I love you, Charlie Jackson. I'm in love with you. That's what."

She stood there, shocked. His words didn't quite sink in at first, but then they did. She burst into tears.

"Oh no, I'm sorry! What's wrong?" he asked, reaching out to put his arms around her. "I didn't mean to upset you, Charlie. I just wanted you to know... I can't leave for the summer without you knowing that you're all I'm gonna be thinking about until I get home. Why are you crying?"

She took a deep breath. "Because, I love you too, Cassius Green."