Becoming Somebody

Chapter 28 - "Excuse me?"

The cheerful sunshine outside contrasted starkly with Charlie's mood. Cassius had been gone for one day, and she already felt hollow inside. They had talked about his trip. He promised to call her as often as he could, and reassured her that the last thing he wanted to do was break up. She was grateful they had worked it out, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to miss him.

Her phone rang. It was Alex. Charlie answered, slightly disappointed. "Hey Alex."

"Hey babe, get dressed we're going to the beach," Alex said cheerfully.

"Ugh, no, I'd rather stay inside and be a vampire," Charlie groaned.

"Not an option, I'm picking you up in 10. Be ready, bye!" Alex hung up before Charlie could protest any more.

Charlie got dressed and got into Alex's car when she arrived. Alex had just passed her driver's license test, so she was very excited to drive everyone everywhere. Charlie cheered up slightly as Alex turned up the music and sang to her. By the time they arrived at the beach, they were both singing "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd at the top of their lungs.

They met a bunch of people from school there. Charlie was happy to see that the "popular" group had become more inclusive over the year. It wasn't just the cool kids who were invited to hang out, nearly everyone was there. Taylor and Tim were on some romantic day date,  or else they would have been there too. 

She sat and tanned next to the beach volleyball court, watching her friends jump around and dive in the sand. She felt weight on her towel as someone sat down next to her. She looked over. It was Tony.

"What's up, kid?" he said to her, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Tony, what are you doing here?" she asked, confused. She had no clue he was coming.

"Me and some of my friends are playing on the next volleyball court over," he pointed. "I saw you over here alone and I wanted to keep you company."

She frowned and turned away from him, putting her eyes back on the game. "I'm good, thanks."

"Hey, what happened between us Charlie?" he asked.

She sighed, pushing her sunglasses up to rest on the top of her head. She turned to face him again.

"Nothing, Tony. We kissed, you never called, it didn't work out. Pretty simple."

"Charlie, I got sick that weekend after we were out in the rain," he said, trying to explain. "That's why I wasn't at school."

"But you still had a phone, didn't you?" she said, shooting down his explanation.

He frowned. "Well, yeah, but I figured I would just see you at school the next day. But when I saw you, you practically ran in the other direction."

"Yeah, seems like I dodged a bullet," she replied sarcastically.

"I'm not a bad guy, Charlie," he said, shaking his head. "This was just a misunderstanding."

She nodded. "You're right. But even so, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm with Cassius and we're happy, so-"

He interrupted, "So where is he, then?"

She blinked at him. "Excuse me?"

"If you're so happy with Cassius, why didn't you invite him to the beach?"

She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She couldn't believe Tony said that.

"He's... he's out of town, otherwise he would be here."

"What kind of guy leaves his girlfriend for the summer?" Tony asked.

She just stared at him, mouth wide in shock. He smirked, knowing she wasn't going to answer, and got up and walked away.