Charlotte After Dark

Chapter 1: Live a Little, Charlotte

"Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind." C.S. Lewis

I was supposed to be having the time of my life.  

Unfortunately for me, I was stuck at an overcrowded club with dollar jello shots trying to corral my friend Chloe while wearing a Halloween costume that was way too short and unforgiving in all the wrong places. We had been separated from our other friends for what felt like hours.  

"Charlotte," my friend Chloe pleaded. "Just one more song, please?" 

Chloe was my roommate back at the Lennox College where I was attempting to study to become a doctor. Chloe was doing really well at studying the different types of boys in each of the fraternities. She was a model-like girl with short platinum blonde hair and a smile that belonged in a Colgate commercial. I, on the other hand, had long, dull blonde hair and could only reach five-foot-six with the aid of a tall pair of stilettos. 

It was Halloween and we were out at one of the hottest spots in the city, Bathory, packed in like sardines with all the other college students. The jostling from the crowd trying to move made it pretty difficult to enjoy my first weekend out since I came to Lennox College.  

I rolled my eyes as Chloe pleaded with me with her sapphire blue eyes. I let out a sigh of desperation and exhaustion. 

"Fine," I said. "But I'm finding somewhere to sit down. " 

"Ugh, Charlotte sometimes you are such a Debby downer!" Chloe whined.  

I felt like I was swimming through a rip current in a sea of people as I tried to force my way through the growing crowd. A stranger dressed as a pirate looped his arm around me and drew my closer to him, gyrating his hips in ways that were otherwise unnatural. I slammed my fists into his chest, pushing me away from him.  

"Get away from me!" I exclaimed.  

"Aw, baby, come on, it's Halloween," was all he responded.  

I continued to push through the crowd until I found an empty table full of empty champagne bottles and glasses. I made one final push through the abundance of people and sat down quickly with a loud, exhausted thud. I rapidly freed my aching feet from the pair of heels I had borrowed from Chloe.  

I glanced over at another nearby table to see a burly man looking right back at me. In a room full of drunken college students dressed in Halloween costumes, he didn't fit in very well. In fact, he stuck out like a sore thumb: he was only wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. The most surprising thing, however, was his eyes. Even from so far away, his eyes were so entrancing, almost unearthly as they continued to stare right back at me. I felt paralyzed as he looked at me like a lion stalking his prey. I felt a shiver overcome me.  

"Hey!" Chloe interrupted, stepping between me and the stranger's gaze.  

Suddenly, I felt like I had been woken up from a deep sleep. Chloe as waving her hands in front of me, trying to get my attention.  

"Earth to Charlotte!" Chloe said.  

"What? Oh, sorry," I said.  

"What has my friend Charlotte so entranced?" Chloe said, glancing over to the man.  

"Don't look at him!" I said, feeling my cheeks grow red with embarrassment.  

"Oh, well I understand why you were staring. What a hottie!" She said.